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Tribe will hold alcohol referendum vote Page 6 Seed bank works to protect genes of WNC plants Page 34

On the Cover:

Three Western North Carolina Democrats — Scott Donaldson, Phillip Price and Steve Woodsmall — have announced their intent to challenge Congressman Mark Meadows this year for his 11th District seat. All three challengers recently spoke about issues at a joint event in Highlands last week. (Page 3) Congressman Mark Meadows. Donated photo

News

A look ahead: Candidates to file for partisan offices ..............................................5 Tribe will hold alcohol referendum vote ........................................................................6

Amanda Swimmer named Beloved Woman ..............................................................7

Chief Sneed survives suspension attempt ..................................................................8

Glenville no wake zone request will go to Raleigh ....................................................9 Cathey family starting new business at Walker Service ......................................10 Court dismisses majority of Mystic Lands claims ..................................................12 Franklin hears suggestions for Whitmire property ..................................................14 Businesses voice concerns over river district plan ................................................15 Health News ......................................................................................................................19

Opinion

Whatever you think honey, really ..................................................................................20

A&E

Louisville honky-tonk band to rock Waynesville ......................................................24

Outdoors

Seed bank works to protect genes of WNC plants ..............................................34

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S UBSCRIPTIONS

Unseating Mark Meadows

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER

Asheville Republican Congressman Mark Meadows’ extreme partisanship, attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and hypocritical fiscal responsibility make him a prime target for electoral defeat this year, according to three Western North Carolina Democrats who plan to challenge Meadows for his 11th District seat.

First, though, those candidates will square off against each other in a Democratic Primary Election for the right to face Meadows in November; others may yet come as well –- the filing period for candidates doesn’t end until Feb. 28.

Whoever wins that primary, they’ll face an uphill battle against a popular, powerful and nationally recognizable figure at the vanguard of the conservative movement in America today.

Learn more

Prospective candidates for the 11th Congressional District seat currently occupied by threeterm Asheville Republican incumbent Mark Meadows still have until Feb. 28 to file necessary paperwork to run. Here’s how you can learn more about those currently in the mix:

• Scott Donaldson, D-Hendersonville www.scottdonaldsonforcongress.com

• Phillip Price, D-Dyartsville www.price4wnc.org

• Steve Woodsmall, D-Pisgah Forest www.woodsmallforcongress2018.org

• (i) Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville www.meadowsforcongress.com

declaration was perhaps indicative of the mood of national and local Democrats still smarting from the stunning November 2016 loss by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Liberal pundits predict a “Blue Wave” of nationwide Democratic gains in response to President Donald Trump’s first half-term, and lingering disputes over gerrymandered districts could still change the 11th District significantly, but what’s also unclear is if any of it will be enough to aid anyone in unseating Mark Meadows.

THEWHO

Asheville-area Democrat Matt Coffay became the first candidate to declare his intention to run against three-term incumbent Meadows in April 2017.

Although Coffay unexpectedly dropped out of the race shortly thereafter, his early

Phillip Price became a candidate around that same time; born in Atlanta, he moved with his family at a young age to the DallasFort Worth area, attended high school in Nashville and then moved to Western North Carolina before going on to study at Western Carolina University; from there, the singer-songwriter moved to Chapel Hill to focus on music and touring the East Coast with his band.

Returning to WNC, he got his real estate license, which he said inspired him to open “a small recycling business with a mission to preserve a piece of the past, by reclaiming and re-using old growth lumber from structures that would otherwise by demolished or left to deteriorate.”

Price has since been joined in the race by two other candidates.

Scott Donaldson performs urological surgery in Hendersonville, but has practiced from Burlington to Raleigh and New Orleans to New Zealand. He’s currently the Chief of Staff at Pardee Hospital, serves on the board of directors and chairs the Medical Executive

that if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem, and it’s time for people to step up and be part of the solution.”

“I’m running for Congress because I’m sick of being lied to by the current congressman and our current Congress, and I feel like I can do a lot better,” said Price.

“I’m running for Congress because I believe health care is the principal problem we’re seeing in this nation. It’s certainly something I hear every day, and we just need to create in our system, in our nation, something similar to what every other nation has, and that’s a single-payer system,” said Donaldson.

Meadows, they say, earns bad marks for the job he’s done representing the people of Western North Carolina.

Donaldson’s chief complaint is that the recently passed Trump tax bill neuters

Obamacare while also adding almost $2 trillion to the deficit, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

“I think the most recent thing, the $1.7 trillion gift that was given — you drag $1.7 trillion through a boardroom, it’s just amazing what people will say,” he said. “I think this concept of fiscal responsibility, meaning that you can deprive people of education and health and these types of things due to fiscal restraints, doesn’t seem to work when you’re willing to give them money for very dubious profit stakes.”

Price, too, lists Obamacare as his chief inspiration in opposing Meadows.

“He’s been trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act which has provided health insurance for over 44,000 people in the 11th District — including myself, who otherwise didn’t have heath insurance,” he said.

Woodsmall took a slightly different tack when asked for his biggest reason for running.

Committee, all after a 12-year stint as an assistant professor of urology at Duke.

Donaldson is also an author and radio personality heard four times a day Monday through Friday on Hendersonville’s WTZQ, where he shares anecdotes about and reflections on “patients he's treated and people he's met,” according to his website.

Dr. Steve Woodsmall isn’t a medical doctor like Donaldson, but he does have a master’s degree in business administration and a Ph.D. in organization and management. A career Air Force officer who retired at the rank of major, Woodsmall serves on the Transylvania County Planning Board and as an assistant professor and program coordinator of business and organizational leadership at Brevard College.

Woodsmall’s campaign manager is fellow Brevard College professor and Town of Canton Alderman Dr. Ralph Hamlett.

THEWHY

The three candidates come from disparate backgrounds, but they seem to share a similar motivation and a common cause.

“I’m running because, as I tell people, I’m mad as hell and I can’t take it anymore,” Woodsmall said. “I learned in the military

“It’s hard to name one,” he laughed. “I will tell you the one thing that I first noticed about him was when he was in Brevard last year at a Chamber of Commerce event and he took some Q&A and every question, I think three questions he was asked and the answer to all three was, ‘We need to find conservative solutions to these problems.’ Where I come from, we don’t look at problems as ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’ or that sort of thing, we try to look at the evidence and we try to come up with the best solutions.”

The common themes that pervade the campaigns of Donaldson, Price and Woodsmall — tax cuts, Obamacare and partisanship — didn’t arise simply out of happenstance; Democrats around the country are eyeing the opportunity to pick up seats in Congress this year based on the perceived unpopularity of such measures.

“This election is about health, it’s about health care,” Donaldson said. “It’s affecting more and more of us on a daily basis. It’s affecting me as I stand here, with my daughter who just had surgery. This is what I’ve done my entire life, which is health care.”

Whether they’ll be able to capitalize on those sentiments largely depends on the candidates themselves, and before any of them get the chance to face Meadows in November, they’ll have to differentiate them-

selves from each other first.

“I think I can elocute that health care for all is an inalienable right and that we all need access to it,” Donaldson said. “We’re all gonna be better once we don’t have to worry about your stinkin’ premiums and copays and all this nonsense every year.”

While Donaldson thinks his boots-onground experience at the forefront of the national healthcare debate sets him apart from the others, Price says his actual boots on actual ground in the 11th District are what make him the preferred choice among Democratic voters.

“I think the number one reason [is], I am from this district,” he said. “I’ve lived here for 33 years, and I’ve lived in six counties in this district, including Macon County, Jackson County and Transylvania County, and the other two candidates don’t have that connection.”

Meadows isn’t originally from Western North Carolina, a fact that doesn’t seem to have hurt him a bit during his three previous and successful campaigns.

“I feel like if you’re going to represent a people, an area, then you need to have some roots in that area and know the people, be part of the community,” Price said. “He doesn’t represent us, he represents big money like the Koch brothers, and the other high-dollar donors to his campaign.”

Woodsmall says his experience and education are what sets him apart.

“I’ve been involved in government both in the military and subsequent to that in working on government contracts and in government organizations, so I know how that business works,” he said. “I have a master’s in business and a Ph.D. in management, and between my military experience and my education, those will inform me well in terms of looking at some of the issues and decisions we have to make in Congress.”

THEHOW

Despite an admittedly uphill battle, Donaldson, Price and Woodsmall are all enthusiastic about their chances to defeat Meadows — and each other — in this year’s round of balloting.

Also enthusiastic, albeit in an unlikely place, were those who gathered at the Hudson Library in far-flung Highlands to hear the three candidates speak Feb. 2.

That the gathering took place in Meadows’ proverbial backyard — he made his name and much of his fortune working in real estate in the affluent Highlands and Cashiers area — is notable, as was the

turnout of over 60 people on a night calling for dangerous ice and snow.

Also notable is the emergence of Indivisible Highlands, a left-leaning group that, according to co-leader Dave Kukor, has about 100 members.

“We started about a year ago,” he said. “We are a political advocacy group. While we tend to be center or left of center, we try to be non-partisan. We’re trying to make an impact on local, state and national levels.”

The group’s impact remains to be seen, but its very existence could be a sign of eroding Republican support in the affluent mountaintop community nestled southeast of Franklin in Macon County.

30.1%

0.5%

35.2%

34.2%

Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, Jan. 1, 2018.

But they’ll have lots of work to do to turn Highlands blue; Meadows has seen strong support in the area — and across the district — since his first election in 2012, and his support only seems to be growing.

That year, Meadows bested Democrat Hayden Rogers by 14 percent, earning 59 percent of the vote in Macon County.

In 2014, Meadows defeated Democrat Tom Hill by 26 percent, growing his totals in Macon County to 65 percent of the vote.

In 2016, Meadows beat Democrat Rick Bryson by 36 percent, with a slight uptick to 68 percent support in Macon County.

Reversing those gains will be a tall order for Democrats; even with a projected 10point swing in some races across the nation, Meadows appears poised to remain safely entrenched despite the supposed coming of the Blue Wave and the historical tendency of the president’s party to lose seats during the first mid-term elections of his term.

But there’s still a lot of time until the May 8 Democratic Primary, and even more could happen between then and the Nov. 6 General Election, so long as Trump remains America’s most unpredictable President.

What’s still uncertain, however, is whether any of it will be enough to help Donaldson, Price, Woodsmall — or anyone else — in unseating Mark Meadows.

A look ahead: Candidates to file for partisan offices

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER

Election season is right around the corner, as candidates begin filing paperwork to run for a variety of partisan offices from the federal level on down to state and local races in North Carolina.

The candidate sign-up period starts Monday, Feb. 12, and ends Wednesday, Feb. 28. Until it’s over, there will be plenty of uncertainty and speculation regarding who might run in the May 8 Primary Election.

What is certain, however, is which offices are up for partisan election in The Smoky Mountain News coverage area. Aside from U.S. House of Representatives District 11 Congressman Mark Meadows and 30th Prosecutorial District Attorney Ashley Welch, who are up for election in all four counties, here’s the county-by-county lineup:

Haywood County

www.bit.ly/HCBOE

• N.C. State Senate District 50 (Jim Davis)

• N.C. State House District 118 (Michele Presnell)*

• N.C. State House District 119 (Mike Clampitt)*

• Board of County Commissioners (Mike Sorrells, Bill Upton)

• County Sheriff (Greg Christopher)

Elliott named Jackson schools superintendent

The Jackson County Board of Education has chosen Kimberly Elliott, Ph.D., to serve as the new Superintendent of Schools.

Elliott was one of four finalists interviewed for the position left vacant with the departure of Mike Murray.

“We are blessed to have Dr. Elliott serving at the helm of the Jackson County Public Schools. The school board conducted a thorough search and ultimately realized that the experience, talent and vision we need from a superintendent was already sitting in that chair serving as the interim superintendent,” said Board Chairman Ken Henke. “We look forward to working with her to advance the good work being done in the Jackson County Public Schools.”

Elliott is completing her fifth year with the Jackson County Public Schools. She has served as assistant superintendent,

• Clerk of Court (Hunter Plemmons)

• Register of Deeds (Shari Rogers)

• Tax Collector (Mike Matthews)

Jackson County

www.jacksonnc.org/board-of-elections.html

• N.C. State Senate District 50 (Jim Davis)

• N.C. State House District 119 (Mike Clampitt)

• County Commission Chair (Brian McMahan)

• Board of County Commissioners (Boyce Dietz, Charles Elders)

• Sheriff (Chip Hall)

• Clerk of Court (Ann Melton)

• Register of Deeds (Joe Hamilton)

Macon County

www.maconnc.org/board-of-elections.html

• N.C. State Senate District 50 (Jim Davis)

• N.C. State House District 120 (Kevin Corbin)

• Board of County Commissioners (Ronnie Beale, Gary Shields, Jim Tate)

• Sheriff (Robbie Holland)

• Clerk of Court (Vic Perry)

• Register of Deeds (Todd Raby)

Swain County

www.swaincountync.gov/Elections/ elections-home.html

• N.C. State Senate District 50 (Jim Davis)

• N.C. State House District 119 (Mike Clampitt)

• County Commission Chair (Phil Carson)

• Board of County Commissioners (Danny Burns, Ben Bushyhead)

• Board of County Commissioners (unexpired term of David Monteith, current appointee Roger Parsons)

• Clerk of Court (Hester Sitton)

• Sheriff (Curtis Cochran)

• Register of Deeds (Diana Kirkland)

*indicates elected officials who only serve part of a county

associate superintendent and most recently as the interim superintendent. She has been a public school administrator in North Carolina since 1999.

Elliott has a long history of partnership development, strategic planning, grant management, fiscal management, program evaluation and most importantly teaching and learning. She is focused on student success and educational interventions partnered with professional learning communities. She is relationship-driven and believes strongly in the use of collaboration with families and communities to create school systems of excellence.

“As superintendent, I intend to foster, support and challenge our educators to surpass recent milestones and to ensure that the best interest of every student is our guiding principle in decision-making,” Elliott said. “I want to thank the Board of Education for their confidence in me and I am humbled to serve the staff, students and families as the superintendent of the Jackson County Public Schools.”

Elliott’s appointment was effective Feb. 2 and her initial contract is for a four-year term.

Quality Trailers, Quality Prices

TASTE OF LOCAL

Meet some of the local farmers and suppliers for Ingles and sample!

Crooked Condiments ( Woodfin) – Apple butter, mustard and sauces

Dolci Di Maria (Swannanoa) – Gluten free treats

Hickory Nut Gap Meats (Fairview)

Mimi’s Mountain Mixes (Hendersonville) – cake, bread and pretzel mixes

Munki Trail Mix (Asheville) – Globally inspired trail mix

New Sprout Organic Farms ( Swannanoa) – Organic Produce

Smiling Hara (Bakersville) – hempeh

Sunburst Trout ( Waynesville)

Sunny Creek Sprouts ( Tryon)

Tribal Grounds Coffee (Whittier)

Unicoi Preserves ( Sautee, GA) – preserves using local grapes & fruit

Woogie’s Mustard Sauce ( Asheville)

Tribe will hold alcohol vote

Referendum question will seek approval for ABC and package store

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

What began as an effort to get rid of alcohol permits granted in conjunction with a 2015 state law ended with the Cherokee Tribal Council’s vote to put out a referendum question that will either keep alcohol access the same on the Qualla Boundary — or significantly increase it.

During the referendum election — a date has not been specified — voters will be asked one question: whether a tribally owned package store and ABC store should be opened on tribal land.

The discussion began in October 2017, just weeks after a slew of new councilmembers — including Councilmember Lisa Taylor, of Painttown — was sworn in. Taylor introduced a resolution asking for a referendum vote on expanding alcohol sales outside of casino property. If voters said no, the thought was, then a handful of controversial off-casino permits granted under what’s known as the Blue Ridge Law would go away.

The Blue Ridge Law is a state law that says tourism establishments — including hotels and restaurants — located within 1.5 miles of a Blue Ridge Parkway on-ramp can receive alcohol permits without a local referendum vote. The 2011 Tribal Council adopted the portion of state law that includes the Blue Ridge Law into tribal code, and in 2015 the state made the changes necessary on its end for the two laws to fit together.

However, then-Principal Chief Patrick Lambert would not allow Blue Ridge Law permits to be granted, saying that a 2012 referendum vote in which tribal members overwhelmingly said they did not want alcohol sold off casino property should take precedence. Lambert was removed as chief by impeachment in May 2017, and when Principal Chief Richard Sneed took office the permits were allowed to move forward. Three restaurants have received Blue Ridge Law permits at the direction of Tribal Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission Chairman Pepper Taylor.

A REQUESTTOLOBBY

Lisa Taylor’s initial legislation was aimed at allowing the people to vote to do away with the Blue Ridge Law permits, but the various attorneys advising Tribal Council quickly said that the referendum vote would have no impact on Blue Ridge Law permits, which are exempt from referendum approval.

So, Taylor introduced a new resolution, this one requesting that Tribal Council instruct its lobbyists to “use all means possible” to get the state legislature to remove “this offending section (the Blue Ridge Law) and any other sections in the General Statutes

like that. You don’t have to go there and spend your money.”

However, several tribal members attending the meeting were quick to voice their opposition to any increase in alcohol availability on the Qualla Boundary, especially in light of the 2012 referendum results. In that vote, 60 percent voted against creating an ABC store on tribal lands, 61 percent voted against the sale of alcohol in restaurants on tribal lands and 66 percent voted against the sale of beer and wine in grocery or convenience stores.

that pertain to authorization of any particular permits or licenses to be issued upon our lands that do not strictly adhere to our local referendums.”

“The alcohol board law says that they’ll keep the best interests of the people, and I don’t think what they done by issuing permits was in the best interest of the people,” Taylor said during the Feb. 1 council meeting. “The best interest of the people is what they went and voted on, and that was at the casino only.”

In her resolution, Taylor contended that the state law implementing the Blue Ridge Law and other provisions for referendum-free alcohol permits on tribal land was “lobbied for by a few private individuals and the local TABCC Board without approval of the enrolled members of the Tribe.”

The resolution met a cool reception from Tribal Council, with Chairman Adam Wachacha, of Snowbird, and Vice Chairman David Wolfe, of Yellowhill, saying that they felt it was premature. Two items down on that month’s council agenda was a vote to finalize the wording for the alcohol referendum vote, and Wolfe and Wachacha said it made sense to wait on the outcome of the referendum before directing tribal lobbyists to seek changes on the state’s end.

“If the referendum does pass, it will put this whole thing in a backspin,” Wachacha said.

Bob Blankenship, a founding member of the TABCC who has since rotated off, told Tribal Council that Cherokee got “the best deal of any Indian tribe in this country” when North Carolina granted it the ability to form

its own alcohol commission. However, compliance with state alcohol law was part of the deal, and that includes the Blue Ridge Law.

“I think it’s a mistake to mess with this,” he said. “We have worked for years to get it done.”

Collette Coggins, also a former TABCC member, agreed with Blankenship and took issue with Taylor’s assertion that the Blue Ridge Law was implemented as the result of any individual person’s “agenda.”

“It’s the whole tribe’s agenda,” she said.

Even restricted to casino property, alcohol sales are big business in Cherokee, with Sneed stating during a previous council meeting that sales at the casino bring the tribe $20 million annually.

What the tribe needs to do, Blankenship said, is to “move ahead and take full control of alcohol, including an ABC store,” because otherwise suppliers will just continue to set up shop right outside of the boundary, with alcohol flowing into Cherokee while the money stays outside.

“There are some questions that we need answered. He’s exactly right,” acknowledged Councilmember Tommye Saunooke, of Painttown. “Catamount (Travel Center) moved right in just 300 yards from us, and what do we get? The problems and the beer cans. None of the revenue.”

Sneed said that allowing alcohol sales would also open the door to future economic diversity.

“Talk to anybody in commerce, and they will tell you that if we’re going to continue to diversify, we’re going to have to have alcohol sales in restaurants,” he said. “You may not

“The point is this: Yes, you did give the TABCC the power and authority to control alcohol — at the casino only. Not anywhere else,” said Mary Crowe, of Yellowhill.

“Every time the people have said no, but still we have this few, small group of people who somehow their opinion, their wants and their needs outweigh the voice of the whole people, and that’s just beyond me,” added Becky Walker, of Birdtown.

“Question: what is the personal agenda?” asked Councilmember Albert Rose, of Birdtown, bristling against Walker’s accusations. “You’re hammering us up here, and I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

The problem, Walker said, is that the original lobbying for the Blue Ridge Law was at the direction of a select few, and not at all a representation of the will of the people.

“Anyone who wants to go to Raleigh can go to Raleigh and lobby for anything they want,” Rose replied.

“Not on tribal dollars,” said Walker. At that, a boo came from the audience, and the clock reached 5 p.m. Wachacha announced that, per tribal law stating that Tribal Council shall “normally” convene at 8:30 a.m. and recess at 5 p.m., the meeting would recess until 8:30 the next morning. Councilmember Bucky Brown, of Snowbird, requested that his constituent Onita Bush be allowed to speak first, as she’d driven an hour to get there and been waiting all day.

“You owe us this time Adam (Wachacha), you really do,” Bush said.

“And I’ll give it to you, tomorrow morning at 8:30,” Wachacha said.

The two went back and forth until Wachacha finally told the video technician to take council off the air and recessed the meeting.

When Tribal Council returned to its chambers the next morning, there was no further discussion on Taylor’s resolution to lobby for repeal of the Blue Ridge Law. Councilmember Jeremy Wilson, of Wolfetown, moved to kill the resolution and Rose seconded the motion. Taylor moved to pass, but her motion

Amanda Swimmer named Beloved Woman

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

Alifelong potter, storyteller and keeper of Cherokee traditions, 97-year-old Amanda Sequoyah Swimmer was given the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ highest honor last week when Tribal Council named her a Beloved Woman.

“I don’t think there’s anybody more deserving of this award who’s had an effect on this tribe — not only her, but her family, her children and the legacy,” said Councilmember Perry Shell, of Big Cove, which is Swimmer’s community.

Born Oct. 7, 1921, on the Qualla Boundary, Swimmer is the mother of 10, grandmother of 22, great-grandmother of 41 and great-great-grandmother of nine.

She demonstrated pottery making at the Oconaluftee Indian Village for more than 50 years, volunteered in Cherokee’s middle and elementary schools teaching pottery and has won many awards for her work, which is on display in North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico.

She won the N.C. Heritage Award in

failed to receive a second.

Ultimately, nine of the 12 councilmembers voted to kill the resolution. Brown voted against the move to kill, Taylor abstained and Councilmember Tom Wahnetah, of Yellowhill, was absent.

ABC STOREREFERENDUM APPROVED

That wasn’t all for the day’s alcohol-related discussions. Later on the agenda, council discussed another one of Taylor’s resolutions — the latest iteration of the referendum question. Taylor offered suggested language for the referendum: “To allow ABC permits to be issued to allow retail sales of alcoholic beverages on Tribal trust land at locations other than casino property,” with voting options “For” and “Against.”

However, that wording drew criticism.

“The question is too broad, because as it stands right now there’s no regulation on the front end,” Sneed said. “If you put this out there now and it passes, the next day anyone who has four walls and wants to apply for an ABC permit can do that.”

Instead, Sneed suggested, the question should ask for permission to open a tribal ABC store as a way to “ease into the business.” Tribal Council could then build regulations for more widespread alcohol sales in case a later referendum approved them.

Michael Gross, attorney for the TABCC, stepped in to say that the regulations Sneed spoke of were already in place. The tribe has already adopted state alcohol laws, which spell out rules for granting alcohol permits.

1994, the Mountain Heritage Award in 2009 and was granted an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina Asheville in 2005.

Swimmer has also invested heavily in Cherokee children, serving as a foster grandparent for 20 years, in which capacity she spent time with daycare-age children, telling them stories and singing in Cherokee.

“All that explains everything, why she deserves this award and this honor,” said Councilmember Richard French, of Big Cove, who submitted the resolution, after the list of accomplishments was read.

Swimmer, surrounded by family, approached the podium to offer her thanks to Tribal Council.

“Thank you for bringing me up here just to look at my ugly face,” she said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

“I’ve got a whole bunch of grandchildren,” she continued. “There’s one right there, about 2,000 more somewhere.”

Laughter rippled through the room one more time before Swimmer continued on a more serious note, offering her best advice

The question

Tribal Council approved a referendum question for a future vote that will read:

To allow ABC permits to be issued to allow retail sales of alcoholic beverages on Tribal trust land at a tribally owned package store and ABC store [ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST

The question passed 10-1, with Chairman Adam Wachacha, of Snowbird, opposed, and Councilmember Tom Wahnetah, of Yellowhill, absent.

“If the referendum were to pass, in the language as it’s written you would not have to go back and try to decide what types of establishments qualify for what types of permits,” Gross said.

If the tribe had its own ABC store, Sneed said, it would keep all the revenue from that store — as opposed to the business tribal members currently give to off-boundary stores, none of whose revenues goes back to the tribe. Those funds could be earmarked for rehabilitation services, he said, most of which are needed because of pill and heroin addictions, not because of alcohol. Current annual costs for such services sit at $7 million.

“We can go get it if we want it,” TABCC member Bruce Toineeta said of alcohol.

“That’s a given, but we could hold that profit right here, and we could dictate what happens to that money.”

to Tribal Council.

“Do the right thing that you should do for the people,” she told councilmembers. “Put the Lord first in everything you do. Don’t leave him out. He’s going to show you what you have to do. He showed me many times, and he’s in my heart.”

Swimmer concluded by offering council a prayer in the Cherokee language, with her family then surrounding her for a series of photos to celebrate the joyful event.

In response to Sneed’s suggestion, Rose moved to alter Taylor’s proposed question. Instead of asking voters to approve retail alcohol sales off casino property in general, he said, the question should ask voters to approve opening a tribally owned ABC and package store. Taylor moved to retain her original question as a second question on the ballot but failed to receive a second. Tribal Council ultimately adopted Rose’s question instead.

Some tribal members in attendance were skeptical about the promises of new revenue, citing past assurances of doubled per capita payments if alcohol were approved for the casino. According to a 2009 story in The Smoky Mountain News, payments were expected to more than double from about $8,000 annually to about $17,000 annually by 2015. Payments have been rising, but more gradually — currently, per capita totals just north of $12,000 annually.

Others questioned how heavily the dollar signs should figure into this equation.

“Remember, is that money more valuable than your life, the tribe’s life, your grandchild’s life, future generations?” asked Lea Wolfe, of Painttown. “Is it more valuable? Not all money is good money, and you better remember that, because these actions have consequences.”

Some questioned whether tribal government would respect the outcome of the referendum, whatever it may be.

“What about we have this referendum and it don’t pass. Do you still have plans on doing it anyway?” asked Sheila Standingdeer, of Big Cove.

“The cart’s been sitting there a long time

The list of Beloved Women is a short one, and the list of living Beloved Women is even shorter. Swimmer is now the third living Beloved Woman, joined by Myrtle Driver and Ella Bird. The last person named Beloved Woman was Shirley Oswalt, in 2017. Oswalt has since passed away from cancer. The tribe also has two living Beloved Men — Jerry Wolfe, who was given the title in 2013, and Robert Standingdeer, given the title last month.

waiting on a horse, and the horse has been that the people let it happen,” Walker added. “The Blue Ridge Law was a wedge drove in from the side, so there’s a little space alcohol can be sold, and you all are going to leave it alone and let it happen. So the message I’m getting is people in Yellowhill can vote in a referendum and it won’t mean anything because alcohol will still be at Saunooke Village.”

Tribal member Ashley Sessions, of Birdtown, asked whether now was the best time to hold such an important vote. During the Feb. 1 session councilmembers had announced that an audit report delivered earlier that week had proven that the Tribal Council election held in September — in which Sessions was a candidate — had been tampered with. SMN requests for a copy of the audit have not yet been returned.

“I don’t think it is a good idea to put this out with that (election) board sitting right now because of the fact that they mentioned an election has already been tampered with,” Sessions said.

While those in the councilhouse held markedly different opinions on alcohol consumption, the need for revenue from its sale and many other topics, the vote wound up yielding a cohesive voice in support of the referendum question.

Ten councilmembers voted in favor of the question, with Wahnetah absent and Wachacha voting opposed.

“I have my own reasons,” Wachacha said by way of explanation.

The next step will be for council to confer with the EBCI Board of Elections to determine a date for the referendum and approve funds to conduct it.

Sneed survives suspension attempt

Tribal Council declines to hear resolution suspending chief as investigation unfolds

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

An attempt to have Principal Chief Richard Sneed suspended during an investigation into the legality of settlement payouts he approved hit a wall last week when Tribal Council voted to remove the resolution, submitted by a pair of Snowbird residents, from the agenda.

“I know we’ve got some discussions with other members of council on the rules of procedures and the process we should go by in order to qualify as an impeachment for suspension,” said Chairman Adam Wachacha. “I don’t know if this resolution meets that criteria.”

The resolution in question was not seeking to initiate an impeachment or an investigation — it was a follow-up to a resolution Tribal Council passed in January calling for a third-party investigation into the legality of a $700,000 payout Sneed approved in November. That resolution had not specifically mentioned impeachment. However, if the investigation reveals that the allegations are true, impeachment could be an option.

Snowbird members Sherry Smoker and Onita Bush submitted their resolution based on a law Tribal Council approved in September, outlining procedures to be followed during any future impeachment. The law contains a section that says “any official subject to impeachment shall be suspended from their elected office during the pendency of any investigation or impeachment proceeding and shall continue to be suspended until the conclusion of the investigation or impeachment proceeding.”

The Smoker/Bush resolution outlines a list of allegations against Sneed and states that “in accordance with the law and to assure fairness and completeness in the pending investigation,” Sneed should be suspended and required to turn over all tribal property, with Vice Chief Alan “B” Ensley serving as acting principal chief and signing the document.

However, Wachacha appeared to read the resolution as falling under a portion of the new law that deals with how impeachment investigations can be initiated. That section says that any tribal member can bring forward an investigation resolution but requires such resolutions to come with attachments showing evidence to back up the allegations. The evidence must also adhere to the N.C. Rules of Evidence.

“It probably wouldn’t have made it to the floor, but I didn’t realize that in 117A-7 that there was criteria that had to be met in order to qualify as a suspension,” Wachacha said.

Further, he said, it’s not evident that the pending investigation — a request for proposals process closed out last week — qualifies as an impeachment investigation. The tribe would be better served to wait for the outcome of that investigation before discussing suspension, he said.

“The minutes from the last meeting, I’ve had them transcribed and nowhere in there do any of the councilmembers state anything about an impeachment,” Wachacha said.

Councilmember Richard French, of Big Cove, made it clear in submitting the investigation resolution that he wasn’t of the opinion that Sneed had violated the law — or that he hadn’t. He told council that he simply wanted the matter investigated so that tribal members could have the facts. The word “impeach” did not appear in the resolution. However, the word did come up during discussion in council.

Tribal member Lori Taylor, of Big Cove, said that she saw impeachment as a possible

“We drove a long way to get here Adam, and that was on a promise,” said Bush, who lives in the Graham County community of Snowbird. “Yu’ns held it early this morning, and that was not right.”

Vice Chairman David Wolfe, of Yellowhill, ultimately moved to hold the suspension resolution, with a second from Councilmember Perry Shell, of Big Cove.

In favor of holding the resolution were Councilmembers Jeremy Wilson, of Wolfetown; Albert Rose, of Birdtown; Tom Wahnetah, of Yellowhill, Wachacha, Wolfe, Shell and Owle. Opposed were Councilmembers Lisa Taylor, of Painttown, and Brown. Councilmembers Saunooke and French abstained.

“I’m going to need clarification from an outside attorney. That’s my abstention, and I’ve asked you for that,” Saunooke said.

“There’s not one of us sitting here that wants to do something wrong. I know the AG is a hired employee and so is Ms. West, but we need somebody that’s unbiased to say this is A, B, C.”

That suggestion met with harsh criticism from Sneed later in the session.

outcome of the investigation. And so did Councilmember Boyd Owle, of Birdtown.

“Was it illegal or was it not illegal?” Owle said of Sneed’s actions. “Once that question is answered, we can move forward or we can look at impeachment.”

Legislative Counsel Carolyn West, in response to Wachacha’s concerns, agreed that evidence meeting the N.C. Rules of Evidence must be attached for the resolution to be considered and told council that the items listed in the resolution were simply hearsay.

Attorney General Mike McConnell added his opinion that the resolution might violate confidentiality, as it discusses personnel policy violations.

“It doesn’t mention any specific names, but I think it’s easy to identify the people suggested to have been involved individually,” he said. “My position is that in the personnel policy these violations are considered confidential.”

The resolution refers to individuals “in critical positions with the power to cover this up at the same time as being a party subject to gain financially” — ostensibly, the seven people named in the lawsuit, filed in open court, that resulted in the $700,000 settlement.

McConnell also expressed his belief that the resolution’s clause giving the vice chief the right to sign it violated the tribe’s Charter and Governing Document, which states that the principal chief must sign off on resolutions.

When asked by Councilmember Tommye Saunooke, of Painttown, Wachacha acknowledged that he had not spoken to Bush and Smoker about holding their resolution, but said he had spoken with Councilmember Bucky Brown, of Snowbird, on the matter.

Later in the day — closer to the time the resolution was originally scheduled to be discussed — Bush told Wachacha her opinion on how he’d handled the resolution.

“My question on this is does Tribal Council not trust their counselor?” Sneed said, as members of the audience said, “No!”

Sneed said that sentiment was hypocritical, as tribal members are also prone to criticize non-Cherokee attorneys who come to give legal advice. While McConnell is not Native American, West is Cherokee.

“For anyone to suggest that either he (McConnell) or Carolyn (West) would give poor legal advice or try to mislead us — these are sworn attorneys with the N.C. State Bar,” Sneed said later. “They have a reputation to uphold. They have standards that they go by.”

Sneed also found himself facing a pointed question from Saunooke: where did the money for the payouts come from? At least some portion of it came from tribal funds, but it’s unclear where in the tribal budget those funds had been housed.

Sneed asked that council skip to a different item on the agenda — a Beloved Woman designation for elder Amanda Swimmer, who had been waiting to be recognized — before he delved into his answer. Before Sneed could get back to Saunooke’s question, Wachacha interrupted him to ask for West’s opinion as to whether Sneed should answer, given the pending investigation. West said she believed the matter should not be discussed until the end of the investigation.

Sneed did not answer the question but had plenty of comments to offer on the situation at hand. He lambasted Brown for holding a community meeting in Snowbird to inform members there about what was happening — that shouldn’t have happened with an investigation in progress, he said — and said that none of the people calling for his suspension have contacted him to hear his side of the story. He also criticized Tribal Council for allowing tribal members to give their thoughts on the payouts during last month’s session.

“If this was a case that was in the court, the court would throw it out because you guys blew it,” he said.

Glenville no wake zone request will go to Raleigh

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

An effort to get a no wake zone instituted on Lake Glenville will move forward following a split vote of the Jackson County Commissioners Jan. 29.

After a 20-minute public hearing that drew seven speakers — some in favor of the no wake zone, and some opposed — Republican commissioners Charles Elders, Mickey Luker and Ron Mau provided the majority vote to petition the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to approve the designation. Democratic commissioners Brian McMahan and Boyce Deitz voted against it.

Commissioners have been discussing the issue since August 2017, when a group of Glenville residents approached them about a possible safety hazard stemming from increased recreation on the north end of the lake. That part of the lake includes two small islands, owned by Duke Energy but open for public use, that people enjoy swimming and paddling to. The group of residents told commissioners they were concerned by the speed at which boats often traveled through the passageway between the islands and the shore — they felt that it was only a matter of time before an accident happened and proposed that a no wake zone be established to avoid that eventuality.

A no wake designation would require boats to travel at a slow enough speed to create no appreciable wake when progressing through the area.

Commissioners agreed it was worth looking into and asked that the Wildlife Commission evaluate the request. However, a report completed by a local Wildlife Commission officer yielded a recommendation that the Wildlife Commissioners deny

“I want everybody to enjoy the lake, but safety is my biggest concern,” concurred resident Margaret McRae.

However, not everybody was supportive of the no wake zone.

“You can look forward to more requests for no wake zones if this gets approved,” said Tom Drake. “At some point people just have to be responsible for how they operate their boats.”

There isn’t much relationship between speed and wake, he added, with large boats creating substantial wakes even at low speed and many of the fastest boats — which are smaller — able to zip along with little to no wake.

“We don’t need more rules,” added David Allen, owner of A-1 Marine in Glenville. “We just need people to abide by the rules.”

Resident Ray Jimison agreed with that assessment, saying that he lives within view of the launch ramp at Pine Creek, which already has no wake buoys on it.

“Ten times a day people speed past the buoys, actually ski around the buoys at 25, 30 miles per hour, totally ignoring it,” he said. Without enforcement, instituting a new no wake zone won’t make much difference, he said.

judgment of the officer’s recommendation than to attempt to override it, with McMahan questioning the efficacy of a no wake zone.

“I think at the end of the day, some of the comments made by the general public said it’s almost a non-enforceable issue, and it creates a bigger issue than what exists now,” McMahan said. “We did our best to look at it and I’m not in favor of moving forward for that reason.”

In a follow-up interview, Luker said that he’d been invited out several times during peak season to see the issue firsthand, and it’s definitely a safety hazard. The Wildlife Commission report, meanwhile, was completed during the fall — not during peak season.

“It may be that eight months out of the year it’s not an issue, but the other four months it is,” Luker said. “In my opinion you have to look at the worst-case scenario, and that is peak tourist season when I was there and got to observe it.”

the request — Officer Chris Wilkins said the boat traffic was “very light” and currently posed no safety concern.

Asking the Wildlife Commission to override that recommendation required Jackson County to hold a public hearing on the issue and its commissioners to pass a resolution asking for the no wake zone.

Joyce Waterbury, lead organizer of the no wake zone effort, told commissioners during

The north end of the lake includes two small islands, owned by Duke Energy but open for public use, that people enjoy swimming and paddling to.

the public hearing that traveling the passageway at no wake speed would take only 22 seconds more than traveling above it.

“This risky situation is relatively new. It is arising in the last three or four years as a direct result to the improvements to the boat ramps at the north end of the lake and the creation of the Pines Recreation Area,” she said. “History in this case is not a predictor of future events. The neighborhood collectively is supportive of the improved access to the lake. We’re trying to ensure it’s safe access.”

“We just want to prevent the chance of a terrible accident or possible death,” agreed Ray Ferri, who has lived on the lake for 25 years.

“I’ve been there 12 years, and I can tell you that the traffic on the lake has more than doubled. It might have even tripled in the past 10 years. The enforcement has been halved,” he said.

Discussing the resolution, McMahan and Deitz both said they’d do better to trust the

The resolution ultimately passed, meaning that its next stop will be before the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission during its Feb. 28 meeting in Raleigh. If the Wildlife Commission approves the request, Jackson County will be required to fund the buoys. The buoys will cost an estimated $3,000, with Jackson County paying $1,500 and Glenville residents in favor of the no wake zone offering to pay the remaining $1,500. Contact information for wildlife commissioners is online at www.ncwildlife.org/About/Commissioners.

A Bridge to Frog Level

Cathey family to breathe new life into Walker Service

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER

For generations, the people of Waynesville looked to the auto repair shop at the intersection of Branner Avenue and Depot Street as a place to get oil.

Now, after years of vacancy, the space is set to reopen and again give area residents the ability to visit the former Walker Service

for oil, albeit oil of a completely different sort.

But the owner of the forthcoming Corner Station Olive Oil Company sees the whole endeavor as much more than simply converting the parcel to retail use for the first time in more than a century; amidst the continuing evolution of Waynesville’s economy, Cathey Bolton sees the business as being potentially transformative in uniting two very different business districts with two very different identities and, consequently, two very different fortunes.

ONTHELEVEL

“My great-grandfather, with his brother, opened up an auto parts store in Frog Level in the 1920s,” said Bolton, owner of Art on

Depot in Frog Level for nearly 10 years.

Clayton Walker then bought the property at 136 Depot Street and opened up Cherokee Station before renaming it Walker Service. After almost 90 years in operation, the business closed forever in 2015.

“The family was ready to sell,” Bolton said. “We had it on the market for a little while. The rest of the family didn’t want to have anything to do with it, so my mom, dad and I decided to keep the building.”

It was a bold move for the Cathey family, from whence Bolton received her first name. The building sits just down the hill from Waynesville’s bustling Main Street retail core, and just up the hill from the historic charm of Frog Level.

At the top of that hill sits the former Tipping Point Tavern, recently sold to restaurateurs best known for their Universal Joint regional chain. At the bottom of that hill sits a rundown strip with few successful businesses, but scads of potential.

Bolton’s current business is emblematic of that potential.

“It’s a working ceramics studio,” she said of Art on Depot, which she opened in November 2008. “People can come in here, watch me work, they can see the process and ask me questions, they can shop all of my functional pottery — everything is microwave, dishwasher and oven safe.”

Bolton, a former president of the Frog Level Merchants Association, admits that it was “probably the worst economic time — ever — to open up a non-essential business” but has done well in the space nonetheless.

“It was difficult, but 10 years later, I’m still here. I’m glad to still be here rockin’ and rollin’,” she said. “If you have a good product, most of the time it will move itself.”

Bolton said her current Frog Level business couldn’t subsist on retail sales alone, because Frog Level doesn’t get nearly the foot traffic of the businesses up the hill.

“You’re not necessarily going to make your money with retail traffic,” she said. “It’s wonderful when I get it. I love having that connection with all my customers, but it’s the wholesale that’s been my bread and butter, and to be able to be here, sell my product in the retail shop, and I could be working on large wholesale orders at the same time, and then I have my online sales — it’s a little mix of this, that and the other.”

But the rebirth of the aptly named Corner Station comes as a direct result of Bolton’s ceramics.

“I have such a passion for food and good wines and pottery and being able to combine all of my favorite things together — olive oil is a huge thing right now,” she said. “I already make a whole line specific for olive oil companies, so I was like, ‘Why not?’”

One of Bolton’s most popular items is a garlic and ginger grater dish that she says is designed to hold olive oils for bread dipping. “Those are my biggest sell-

“Hopefully in the next few years it will be one of those one-stop shopping experiences you can have.”

— Cathey Bolton

ers and I sell them to olive oil companies up and down the East Coast. Most are small businesses.”

Hence the gourmet olive oil retail shop and tasting room that will sell products under its own label with a vintage gas station theme.

“We’ll have approximately 55 different olive oils and balsamic vinegars,” Bolton said. “Part of the shop will be gourmet-type, foodie-type items like mustards and local honeys. I’d love to have a small freezer that keeps local cheeses. I would like to have a small selection of wines and craft beers, so people can come in and buy their olive oil, buy some cheese, they can buy crackers.”

While Bolton does hope to offer alcohol, she said she has no plans to acquire an onpremise serving license. She does, however, have plans to incorporate a small restaurant or café within the building itself.

“We are fitting up the other side of the space in hopes of a restaurant coming in and my hope is that they will have a brown bag, so you can buy wine from me or from them,” she said.

An outdoor seating deck will eventually

Pathways Center receives grant

Haywood Pathways Center in Waynesville is the recipient of The John William Pope Foundation’s 2018 Joy W. Pope Memorial Grant in Human Services.

Pathways Center will use the one-time, $100,000 grant to help fund the construction of an emergency/short-term shelter for homeless families. Increased need and a local motel’s closing expedited the project. When completed, it will be the only emergency housing in Haywood County for homeless women with children and will be able to accommodate up to 10 families at a time.

“Haywood Pathways Center is extremely honored to receive this prestigious grant,” said Haywood Pathways Executive Director Mandy Haithcox. “We look forward to expanding to include moms and kids, so that they can also benefit from services to help break the cycles of homelessness and build solid foundations for the future.”

Sign up for Civilian academy

The 2018 Class of the Waynesville Civilian Police Academy is set to begin classes on Thursday, March 1, at the Waynesville Police offices on South Main Street.

The Civilian Police Academy gives citizens the opportunity to become more familiar with a wide range of police department activities, including police operations, uniform patrol, traffic services, investigations, K-9 units, DWI

be phased in as well once the retail shop opens, hopefully by Mother’s Day. When it does, it will be the first time anyone not having car trouble might consider venturing down the hill from Main Street to the old garage. From there, Frog Level is just a hop, skip and a jump away.

“To me, it’s a bridge,” Bolton said, noting that she doesn’t consider the shop a downtown Waynesville business or a Frog Level business, and hopes to rebrand the entire area as “Corner Station.”

The Cathey family also owns the building on Branner Avenue behind the service station, currently home to the Basulto Academy of Defense and formerly home to a vape shop that’s currently being refitted for rental. Bolton says there are plans to somehow tie the two structures together.

“Hopefully in the next few years it will be one of those one-stop shopping experiences you can have. I think it’s just perfect for that. And I hope it’s going to be even more of a bridge for the shops and for this area to develop down here. That is one of my big big hopes, and a reason for people to come down here.”

detection, school resource officers/DARE, drug abuse, crime scene processing, special response teams, as well as a session for you on your own personal safety.

The 2018 Academy will meet for eight consecutive weeks on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Waynesville Police Department from Thursday, March 1, through Thursday, April 19. The Academy is open to all Haywood County residents 21 or older for free.

For an application, email wpdcpa@outlook.com or call Kristie Holcombe at 828.456.5363. Completed applications must be submitted by Feb. 23.

Haywood Dems to hold precinct meetings

The Haywood County Democratic Party is holding the 2018 precinct organizational meetings at various locations throughout the county between Feb. 5 and Feb. 19.

“We’re continuing the cluster meeting format that we adopted in 2016,” said Party Chair Myrna Campbell. “Instead of having 28 individual meetings, we’ve combined two or three precincts together and reduced the meeting sites to 13.”

The meetings are free and open to any registered Democrat residing in the precinct. The primary order of business for the 2018 meetings is the election of delegates to the county convention scheduled on Saturday, March 24, where candidates will be showcased and the election of precinct officers if any vacancies have occurred during the past year.

A complete listing of meeting times and locations are at www.haywooddemocrats.org.

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Court dismisses majority of Mystic Lands claims

BY J ESSI STONE

Mystic Lands property owners may have prevailed in court over one issue a few weeks ago, but a majority of the other claims against developer Ami Shinitzky have previously been dismissed.

In February 2015, a group of seven (along with three of their spouses) property and homeowners of Mystic Lands — a gated community development along the Nantahala River, Mystic River, and two neighborhoods up by Queens Lake, Mystic Forest and Mystic Ridge — filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Property Owners Association against Shinitzky and his development company. The plaintiffs made 10 claims against the developer, but nine out of 10 have been dismissed and only one of the claims was appealed. The plaintiffs also initiated another lawsuit — called the Taylor lawsuit — making additional allegations, but that was also dismissed.

“We held court several hearings where they (plaintiffs) brought up all the arguments about maintaining their multiple claims of financial wrongdoing,” said Craig Justus, Shinitzky’s attorney. “The court wasn’t convinced — the court entered an order allowing the Property Owners Association to dismiss these claims due to there being an absence of proof of financial malfeasance.”

The plaintiffs have only appealed one claim out of the nine dismissed related to the devel-

oper rights as declarant to appoint directors to the Property Owners Association, while the remaining tenth claim, the developer’s alleged failure to build an astronomical observatory and lay asphalt on the Mystic Ridge roads was heard in the recent Swain County trial.

DISMISSEDCLAIMS

The nine dismissed claims and various allegations fell into four categories:

The first, financial misappropriations such as the developer using POA funds for a water system for his use, cashing a check

belonging to the POA, withdrawing POA funds for his personal use, and otherwise interfering with the proper management of the POA’s financial affairs.

Secondly, Justus said the plaintiffs were unable to prove that Shinitzky used POA funds for his own benefit. He said the only thing they could point to was a $1,600 bookkeeping error where the time for developer work was mistakenly allocated on the time sheets and not accounted for on POA records. It was later discovered and corrected.

“That’s not misappropriation — that’s just a bookkeeping error,” Justus said.

Plaintiffs’ claim that the POA board did not approve advances Shinitzky made to the POA, in accordance with the provisions of Mystic Lands’ Covenants and Restrictions, in an amount exceeding $260,000 to make up shortfalls mostly during the recession years, and therefore was not valid and refundable. In the third claim, the plaintiffs claimed that Shinitzky’s right as the declarant of the development had expired. These rights, laid out in the N.C. Planned Community Act, grants the developer — who takes a substantial risk in his development investment — the right for a certain

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number of years, or until 95 percent of his inventory has been conveyed to buyers, to appoint the members of the POA board and to not be liable for the payment of assessments.

Justus said it’s common for developers to have this type of declarant control outlined in a POA covenants. However, he denies the plaintiffs’ claims that Shinitzky abused his power by appointing and dismissing specific members to the board that would vote the way he wanted them to vote.

“The POA has always operated the community and the appointees don’t owe Ami (Shinitzky) a dime. Everyone has large investments in this community,” he said. “And Ami appointed only property owners to the Board of Directors even though the bylaws do not require it.”

None of these allegations survived prior courts’ hearing. In spite of the objections by the plaintiffs, they are all dismissed, and Justus said Shinitzky and his development company were exonerated.

As to the voluntary advances the developer made to the POA in the difficult times

long run. By 2009, Justus said property owners were aware of the situation, were presented with another option and agreed to it.

In July 2016, Superior Court Judge Marvin Pope Jr. ruled that the claims on behalf of the POA could be dismissed with prejudice, and that the POA did owe Shinitzky — $256,244 — with a resolution but did not address how the debt would be repaid. Judge Pope separately dismissed the claims related to the expiration of declarant rights as well as the Taylor lawsuit.

THERECENTTRIAL

Two matters were before the jury in January: the remaining un-dismissed tenth claim for the paved roads and observatory and Shinitzky’s counterclaim for damages he suffered as result of the plaintiffs’ alleged defamatory statements and actions.

According to plaintiffs, to entice people to purchase lots in Mystic Lands, the developer agreed in writing that he would complete and pave all roadways. Once Mystic Ridge came

when many lots remained unsold and many others were in distress and not paying their assessments, Justus said Shinitzky never confronted the property owners regarding the $260,000 liability on the POA books or demanded prompt repayment.

The plaintiffs claimed that this matter first came to their attention in an October 2014 annual meeting after Greg Diehl, the POA director at the time, had spread the word around the neighborhood. In fact, Justus said the debt had accumulated over several years and was always recorded in the POA accounting records. There were also multiple written communications to the POA membership that developer advances to cover shortfalls had accumulated over $200,000. In other words, Justus says it was never hidden.

“My client even acknowledged he didn’t know whether it would get paid back,” Justus said, not an unlikely possibility in case the development was to fail as so many others did during that time.

Lastly, lots purchased at Mystic River were supposed to include a septic system, but the system envisioned turned out to be impractical and far pricier to owners in the

“We held court several hearings where they (plaintiffs) brought up all the arguments about maintaining their multiple claims of financial wrongdoing. The court wasn’t convinced.”

— Craig Justus, attorney for developer Ami Shinitzky

nity at Mystic Lands, now lost because of these lawsuits and the public allegations made, Justus said, “Banks had shut down and you couldn’t get a loan, so a number of folks (Mystic Lands property owners) worked together to get it done [the completion of the clubhouse].”

The property owners worked cooperatively to lend their own money to the developer in the amount of $550,000 to help fund the capital project knowing it could attract more people to invest in Mystic Lands and support property values. They were repaid over the ensuing years. Two of the plaintiffs were part of this group too, and were paid back at above market interest rates.

“And those property owners got paid back 8 and 10 percent or better — they got almost double what the market rate was,” Justus said. “My client put in much more money to

finish it, and if you take a look at the drawing compared to what’s there it’s better than what that drawing showed.”

As for the observatory, Justus said many of the plaintiffs had already purchased their lots before having any concept of what the observatory would look like or even that one would be built. The artist rendering, which was just an early idea, was done in 2009 while most property owners purchased land before 2007. Justus said that the observatory was built to be able to accommodate more people at once, and built with blueprints provided by the dome maker — a national expert in astronomical observatories.

Justus added that during the recession the current property owners understood it wasn’t a good time to build the observatory — hardly any homes built for owners to be there to enjoy it, but yet another expense for the POA to maintain.

“Everyone in the community knew it was not a good time to build — the board of directors, which later also included (plaintiffs) Fred Yates and Tom Anderson, made the decision not to have the developer construct the observatory yet because there weren’t enough homes to use it.” However, now with the observatory complete prior to the end of the trial, it has become a moot point.

As for Shinitzky’s counterclaims, he did not prevail. The jury found that he did not meet the level of proof required by the jury instructions.

There are still legal issues to be addressed after the verdict, which will come before the court in the coming days.

into being a year or so after Mystic River, he would build a rotating dome astronomical observatory there.

Plaintiffs claimed that they fulfilled their part of the contract but Shinitzky did not complete the amenities within a reasonable time. They asked the judge to order Shinitzky to pave the roads and build the rotating dome observatory at Mystic Ridge.

While it’s true that the roads at Mystic Ridge lots have not yet been paved, as it became apparent to Shinitzky that paved roads in the mountains are a hazard in winter conditions and a liability not an asset. Justus said the $1 million clubhouse — at a far higher cost than was required — was completed in 2011 despite being in the middle of the recession, no lots selling and no revenue generated.

This happened long before the plaintiffs filed suit against his client. The boathouse at Mystic Ridge, which was envisioned as only a simple wooden shed, was built at 10 times the cost as a second clubhouse. Justus said that his client’s decision to not pave some of the roads was not a financial decision to try to save money.

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Best uses offered for Franklin’s Whitmire property

Town spends $14,000 on land study

BY J ESSI STONE

N EWS E DITOR

The results of a $14,000 study that assessed the best uses of the town-owned Whitmire property revealed to the Franklin Town Council what residents have been asking for all along.

Residents and councilmembers have all had differing opinions on what to do with the 12.7-acre tract it has owned since 2004 — some want to see the town sell it to a private developer for some kind of commercial mixed-use while others want the town to hold on to the property and make it into some kind of park or recreation facility.

An assessment from WR-Martin Management Consulting found that a passive recreational and/or cultural use would indeed be the best use of the property based on a list of factors the board asked the consultants to consider.

The other two potential uses that rated high were land banking — meaning the town just holds on to the property — and a mixed development of housing and commercial businesses.

When considering potential uses, the consultants looked at whether the use would add quality of life for residents, increase the town’s property tax revenue, address the need for more affordable housing, protect existing neighborhoods, potentially create new jobs, historic preservation, complementing the town’s other East Franklin projects and project feasibility.

Consultant Mike Morgan said a passive recreational use wouldn’t add jobs or money

to the town coffers but it would meet most of the other objectives the town set forth. Whatever way the town decides to go, Morgan said Franklin had a unique opportunity to development a beautiful piece of land in the middle of town. With the greenway across the street, the proposed river overlay district, efforts to preserve the Nikwasi Mound and the town’s bicycle and pedestrian plans laid out, the Whitmire property could easily tie into all of those projects.

“Even if we go with mixed use, folks would want to live there, especially for that group of individuals looking for condo-style living, that doesn’t want to mow grass but wants to ride bikes and be in the river,” he said.

Morgan also told the board a recreational and/or cultural use would allow the town to apply for a PARTF (Parks and Recreation Trust Fund) grant from the state for up for $500,000 for a particular project. The grant would require a 50 percent match from the town and would require a good bit of community input before an application could be submitted.

While Morgan said the rolling-hill property wouldn’t be ideal for any ball fields or a basketball court, it would work well for walking trails, a large covered picnic shelter that could be used for town events, bouldering rocks for kids to climb on, disc golf course and restroom facilities.

Councilmember Joe Collins, who has been in favor of selling the property to a private developer, asked why the financial benefits of selling the property wasn’t a factor. He said the town being able to replenish its fund balance should have been a major consideration.

“We did look at that. If the town sold the property at tax value — about $1.4 million — but the town is in good financial shape. Your debt ratio is very low and it’s not like the town

is needing $1.4 million to go toward a particular project,” Morgan said. “It’s certainly an option, but it would go into the fund balance. As a former town manager, I would not recommend you take a general fund asset like that and put it into your water fund needs. That would not be prudent.”

Franklin doesn’t owe any money on the property and just has to occasionally mow the grass. The town purchased the property for about $1.4 million in 2004 with plans of constructing new town hall facilities there, but that plan fell through. The property was appraised for about $2 million back in 2008, but Morgan said a new appraisal would be needed if the town wanted to sell.

“If you choose multi-use, I’d recommend an appraisal and start actively marketing it for that use,” he said.

Morgan said the town did need to consider a few factors if it plans to market the property for private development. A small portion of the property is in a flood plane and the land is steep on one side, but for the most part, he said the land could be cut and filled without a problem to make it suitable for a private development.

Morgan also pointed out that the town was allowing Franklin Tubular to use about three-fourths of an acre of the Whitmire property for its own personal parking lot.

“It was approved by town many years ago. There’s no revenue — you’ve just allowed them to do it. But that’s part of your best, flattest property,” he said.

Morgan also pointed out that there is an adjoining 3-acre tract for sale next to Whitmire for $299,000. If the town was inclined to purchase that property, he said the site would be open to even more possibilities, including a larger development or even a recreation project. Morgan said the town could possibility use the purchase price as the match for the PARTF grant.

Councilmember Barbara McRae pointed out that the 3 acres — which has been on the market for many years — includes the old Sloan House that is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The board plans to discuss the Whitmire property and potential uses during its annual planning retreat tentatively scheduled for March 2-3.

Franklin businesses wary of proposed river district

Plan goes back for planning board review

BY J ESSI STONE

N EWS E DITOR

Franklin Town Council seemed poised to approve a new zoning designation — the River Overlay District — until a packed room of business owners presented the board with a list of concerns Monday night during a public hearing.

The proposed River Overlay District is something the Franklin Planning Board has been working on for the last 10 months as a way to utilize the Tennessee and Cullasaja rivers that flow through the middle of town. Similar to what Asheville has done with the River Arts District, Franklin Town Planner Justin Setser wants to create a sense of place along the river corridor with budding retail and restaurants, river access points, greenway access and improved sidewalks.

“The primary goals of this overlay district is to protect the Little Tennessee River from erosion and storm water runoff to create a better water quality,” Setser said. “Better water quality will create more recreation and water revenue for the town of Franklin and Macon County.”

As for his undeveloped lot, it’s already surrounded by developed land — Currahee Brewing, McDonald’s, and Dollar General — so the extra restrictions would not help him in marketing that lot to a private developer who would have to spend additional money to meet the district guidelines.

Other property owners were also concerned with the prohibited uses, which would make their businesses noncompliant in the River Overlay District. However, Franklin Town Attorney John Henning Jr. said those existing businesses would be deemed “permitted noncompliant” properties and would be able to continue operat-

ing as is until the owner decides to do any kind of major renovation or redevelopment.

While property owners along the corridor — mostly on Highlands Road and Depot Street — are excited about the concept and goals of the district, many of them had concerns the additional land-use restrictions would have a negative impact on their businesses.

Orville Coward Jr. is a local attorney who also owns storage buildings on Highlands Road. Under the proposed overlay district, storage facilities would not be an allowed use. His concern is that the proposed district doesn’t include a “casualty loss” provision to allow a landowner to rebuild a similar structure in the case of a fire, flood or other natural disaster.

“If my storage building was destroyed by a fire and I couldn’t rebuild it, my land wouldn’t have any other use,” Coward said. “This does affect landowners’ rights.”

Dennis Sanders agreed that a casualty loss provision was needed. He owns two properties on Lakeside Drive — he has a long-term land lease with Hardee’s and owns a vacant lot less than an acre right behind it. The acre has been for sale for quite some time with no bites.

“I don’t disagree with the vision but with the effects on properties. Should someone at Hardee’s burn the place down I’m not sure they’d want to build the way the restrictions would require,” he said.

In looking over the proposed district, Councilmember David Culpepper said he’s concerned the town would be “trapping landowners into arrested development” by requiring landowners to cut into their own square footage to be able to meet the new sidewalk, landscaping and parking lot requirements.

“I worry that specifically could stop redevelopments,” he said.

Councilmember Barbara McRae asked Setser about why the planning board felt storage facilities should be a prohibited use in the district along with things that could pollute the river like asphalt and chemical plants.

Setser said the thinking was that the district wants to attract a variety of new businesses that attract foot traffic to Franklin — like more retail shops and restaurants — instead of more storage facilities.

Councilmember Brandon McMahan said he was ready to approve the proposed district but after hearing from about a dozen property owners, he said he’d like the board to table a decision until it can be discussed more during the annual planning retreat.

The town council decided to send the proposed plan back to the planning board with a list of concerns to be considered for a revision. The complete proposed plan can be viewed at www.franklinnc.com/planning-department-franklin-nc.html.

Sylva selects muralist

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

Amuralist has been chosen to create the painting that will soon decorate a blank white wall on Mill Street’s Ward

Plumbing and Heating building. From a field of 21 applicants, the Sylva Public Arts Committee selected Brevard native Aaron Harris for the job.

Harris, who goes by the name Eron Hare on his illustration work, currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, and is a graduate of Brevard High School and the Rhode Island School of Design. He’s done work for The New York Times, The New Yorker — and, more locally, Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard. He completed the 13-by-30-foot map mural in May 2017.

The arts committee had envisioned a design recalling a vintage postcard. Harris’ design features the text “Greetings from Sylva, N.C.” The word “Sylva” is done in block letters, with each letter showing a different scene special to the town — the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, trout in the Tuckaseigee River, Jackson Paper and the Jackson County Public Library building.

It’s a general concept so far, subject to suggestions and changes from the arts committee.

“The art committee will recommend changes,” Town Manager Paige Dowling told town commissioners during a Jan. 25 meeting. “He (Harris) will finalize his concept with those recommendations, but this will be the only opportunity the board has to approve it.”

The proposal met a favorable reception from commissioners, with a unanimous vote to accept it.

“I think it looks great,” said Commissioner David Nestler.

The arts committee approved the design in a 3-2 vote, with one member absent. Of the 21 applications received, nine were from Jackson County or an adjacent county, and 14 were within the 300-mile secondary preference area, Dowling said.

The mural, planned to be approximately 22 feet tall and 53 feet long, will be funded through a $10,000 state grant for downtown revitalization, awarded by Jackson County. It will be complete by summertime.

“I just hope that people will see what we’re doing and they will help donate to that, because I don’t believe we’ll get another grant like we got in the next year or two,” said Mayor Lynda Sossamon.

Smoky Mountain News Writers Pen Books

$12 and is available at local bookstores. Online orders can be made at www.paypal.me/hollykays, with $15 covering shipping.

Set amid the windswept prairies of Wyoming and the rounded mountains of Southwest Virginia, “Shadows” follows the story of Dana Stullman, whose world turns upside down when her boyfriend dies in a car accident.

$20 and is available at local bookstores. Online orders can be made at www.paypal.me/yobrodobro. Price includes shipping.

“If You Can't Play, Get Off the Stage: Bluegrass in Western North Carolina and Beyond” is an extensive look into the genre of bluegrass music, all the wild characters and mesmerizing sounds radiating from one of the great art forms.

Small wins award nursing excellence award

Jessica Small, a nurse with Harris Regional Hospital, has been named as the hospital’s latest ‘DAISY Award’ winner.

The DAISY Award is a nationwide recognition program that celebrates extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care demonstrated by nurses in hospitals across the United States. It was established by the family of Patrick J. Barnes in his memory.

Small has been a nurse since 2016 and lives in Cullowhee. She currently cares for patients in the Harris Regional Hospital Emergency Department and previously worked on the women’s and children’s floor of the hospital. Award candidates are nominated by patients and family members impacted by the outstanding patient experience delivered by nursing staff.

Jackson assessing community health

The Jackson County Department of Public Health and the Healthy Carolinians Steering Committee of Jackson County has begun the Community Health Assessment (CHA) process to ultimately produce a product with and for the community at the conclusion of the year.

A CHA Work Team is being assembled and the Jackson County Department of Public Health is asking community members to participate. The team will be tasked with reviewing data and survey results to guide health prioritizations and assisting with community forums.

For more information, contact Janelle Messer, Health Education Supervisor, at 828.587.8238 or janellemesser@jacksonnc.org.

Church offers grief support

The GriefShare program will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21 to May 23 at First Alliance Church located at 31 Promise Lane in Franklin.

It meets weekly for 13 weeks downstairs in the main church building.

GriefShare groups meet to help members face these challenges and move toward rebuilding their lives. Each session includes a video seminar featuring expert interviews, real-life case studies, dramatic reenactments, and on-location video. After the video, group members discuss what was presented and what is going on in their lives.

The cost is $15 to cover materials and scholarships are available. Register at www.franklincma.com. For more information about GriefShare in Franklin, contact Pastor Scott Eichelberger at 828.369.7977, cell 828.200.5166 or scott@franklincma.com.

Ladies Night with Macon Health

“Let the Good Times Roll”

Franklin.

Bonnie Peggs from Angel Medical Center will be guest speaking about loneliness. This month’s charity and proceeds will go to Kid’s Place. Items they need include snacks for children, toilet tissue, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and children stickers. Monetary donations are also welcomed for Ladies Night Out Gap funds.

Ladies Night Out will have one program at 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at AMC. All women are invited to attend this meeting and are asked to encourage all the women in their life, who are over the age of 13 years, to attend with them.

Mission CEO makes ‘Power 100’ list

Ronald A. Paulus, president and CEO of Mission Health, has been named one of North Carolina’s “Power 100” by Business North Carolina magazine.

The publication’s editorial staff and publisher chose 100 distinctive leaders from across the state that guide their respective institutions to excellence through the employment of innovative thought, progressive initiatives, and energetic partnerships. Paulus has led Mission Health for over seven years during a time when the healthcare industry has been undergoing serious changes, including sweeping changes in reimbursement, regulatory requirements, insurance reimbursement, and the many trials that are unique to rural healthcare.

Mental health recovery course offered

NAMI Appalachian South, the local affiliate of National Alliance on Mental Illness, is offering the nationally recognized and applauded Peer-to-Peer education course on recovery and wellness for adults challenged with a mental illness.

This is a 10-week series offering a holistic approach to recovery through a combination of lecture, discussion, interactive exercises and stress-management techniques in a safe, confidential environment of sincere, uncritical acceptance so that each individual can explore their own

experiences and make choices concerning their own options.

The course is taught by trained NAMI peer mentors who themselves are in recovery from mental illness and can share their unique coping strategies with others.

The class will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays starting March 7 at Angel Med Center classroom in Franklin.

Class size is limited. To register or for more information, contact Jennifer at 828.371.5996.

Bentley joins Blue Ridge Health

Blue Ridge Health recently hired Jonathan Bentley, FNP, to join its team as a medical provider at the Sylva practice.

Having worked in nonprofit primary care in Sylva since 2011, Bentley has experience in the community and the passion for preventive medicine and community health that Blue Ridge Health promotes and practices.

“My professional and personal values align with Blue Ridge Health, so I couldn’t be happier to join them. My job as a full-scope family health provider is to help people manage their health and enjoy their lives,” he said.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to help our young people grow, our athletes improve, our working-class folks feel better on the job, and our grandparents keep up with their little ones.”

828.477.4334.

Reduce your risk of diabetes

Project 24 is a lifestyle change program that helps atrisk individuals reduce their chances of developing type 2 diabetes through a series of 24 onehour group classes. Combining classes with individual sessions with a trained lifestyle coach, Project 24 gives participants the information and tools necessary to maintain a healthy weight, prepare simple and healthy meals, and find time to be physically active.

Project 24 classes are held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Mondays at Haywood County Health and Human Services. Anyone interested in participating should contact Megan Hauser at 828.356.2272.

Trio works to improve telehealth

InTouch Health, the leading enterprise telehealth platform, announced partnerships with North Carolina-based Mission Health and Pennsylvania-based Jefferson Health to jointly develop new telehealth solutions to improve patient access and quality of care while reducing overall healthcare costs.

Over five years, the partners will continue their commercial relationships and identify new areas — primarily within acute care and outpatient care — where providers can use telehealth technology to streamline access to care and increase care coordination. Leveraging the scalable InTouch Telehealth Network, a collaborative team from all three organizations will work to develop software and systems applications to support these goals for use by Jefferson, Mission, and the broader healthcare market nationwide.

• Kim Mulholland, a certified Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator, has joined The Fitness Connection. Trauma informed yoga is adaptable to all ages and differing levels of physical abilities and is an adjunctive practice useful for individuals coping with toxic stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, relational experiences of trauma, low self esteem, addictions and more. Visit www.sonhineyoga.com to register.

• Paul McDowell has been named Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer for Mission Health. McDowell assumes the role previously held by Charles Ayscue, who retired in early January. McDowell joined Mission Health in January 2013. During his tenure, he has held leadership positions in Mission Health’s Finance division as Vice President and most recently as Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

• Waynesville Yoga Center is offering a number of workshops during February, including Flows Bros + Beer from noon to 1 Saturday, Feb. 1; Couple Thai Massage from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 1; Yoga Basics Deep Dive from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 17; Meditation from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18 and Deconstructing Cravings from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 24. Space is limited: call

828.246.6570 or register at WaynesvilleYogaCente r.com.

Whatever you think honey, really

“I’m absolutely starving,” my wife says, digging through her purse for something as I walk into the kitchen, clearing my throat to get her attention. “Wow, don’t YOU look nice!”

I do feel pretty spiffy. I am wearing my new brown pants and a striped blue shirt. My belt and my shoes match. My hair is combed and sprayed, though it is really not so much “hair” as the suggestion of hair, a few brave and resilient strands that remind me on darker days of crabgrass growing in the crack of a sidewalk. She finds this preferable to the way I used to wear my hair, which is not at all — in those lonely days before she came into my life, I shaved my head, fancying that I looked more like Yul Brynner or Mister Clean than Uncle Fester.

When you are married, there are certain unmentionable negotiations that are invisible to the public, but are nonetheless an indispensable part of the marriage contract, the hidden truths between the lines, if you will. If you are married, you know what I mean. So I have the hair I have, and I looked about as “nice” as I am going to look.

On the other hand, my spouse is stunning, every bit as beautiful as the day we met. Everything about her knocks me right out. I have never gotten used to it, that feeling I get when I see her. So here we are celebrating our fourteenth anniversary, and we are going out to dinner and movie.

Picking the movie is not usually too difficult. If I pick something too scary or too “depressing” or a “guy movie” in which some troubled anti-hero saves the world or his daughter from terrorists, I know that she will get to spend the next several days giving me hell over it, which she just loves. Or I might choose a movie that we both enjoy. She wins either way. Then there is the matter of choosing a place to eat. Of the fourteen years we have been together we have spent approximately twelve of them trying to decide what to eat. Or where to eat. Or whether to eat. It usually starts just as this conversa-

Who is it that has blood on their hands?

To the Editor:

There is an ad posted on Donald Trump’s campaign website and YouTube page. It states that if the Democrats are soft on illegal immigration, then they would have blood on their hands by being “complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants.” Let’s not worry right now about whether Democrats are soft on illegal immigration, that is fodder for another letter. Let’s focus instead on the claim of complicity.

In December 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 28 innocent people, including 20 children. President Obama begged Congress to act by passing common-sense gun control. Congress did nothing. More shootings, more nothing.

In December 2016, under President Obama, the Social Security Administration issued a rule that stepped up its efforts to pass the names of people who lack the mental capacity to “manage his or her own affairs” to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. This action would prevent an individual who is in this system from legally purchasing a weapon. President Trump and Congress rescinded that rule on the grounds

tion already has.

“I’m absolutely starving!”

“Me, too!” I’ll say. “What are you in the mood for?”

“I don’t care,” she will respond, somehow meaning it in spite of what is soon to follow. “You pick.”

I would not say that this is a trap so much as it is a quagmire, conversational quicksand. The more I flail, the faster I will sink. I already know this, but what can I do?

“How about Frog’s Leap?”

“Great food, but do we really want to spend that much for dinner? Think of what we could do with that money.”

I am thinking. The car does need new tires. Eventually, we need to get some work done on the walkway in the back yard. Our daughter will need a prom dress. And yet, I am still hungry. And I do look nice.

“OK, then, how about Chinese food? I could really go for some cashew chicken and wonton soup!”

Now we are in the car, heading east on I-40. It is about 5:45 p.m. and our movie doesn’t start for about four hours. For normal people, this is plenty of time to plan and eat a meal. But we are not those people. She is wearing the expression of someone who just took the cap off a bottle of slightly curdled milk and sniffed. No commentary is necessary.

“I guess not,” I say. “OK, then, how about Italian?”

“The girls and I just ate at Frankie’s yesterday,” she said. “I like Italian, but maybe not tonight.”

“Hey, I’ve got it!” I say. “We’ve been meaning to try one of those Korean restaurants in Asheville. I’ve got a friend who says they are amazing.”

that it was overly broad.

When Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured almost 500 in Las Vegas in October 2017, the Trump administration declined to discuss the issue in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, stating that “it would be premature for us to discuss (gun) policy.” It has been four months and still no discussion.

Who exactly has “blood on their hands?”

Sandra Leafe Waynesville

Trump’s detractors are the hypocrites

To the Editor:

I read the article by Smoky Mountain News columnist Chris Cox titled, “I can’t stomach the hypocrisy of Trump’s enablers,” which appeared in the Jan. 24 issue.

Well, I can’t stomach the hypocrisy of the president’s detractors, including that of Mr. Cox.

Mr. Cox cites an affair that Mr. Trump supposedly had with a porn star that, in the eyes of Mr. Cox, seems to warrant branding our President as a bad man. However, he

“Yeah, I know,” she says. “But do we really want to take that chance? Do you remember the last time we tried that little restaurant downtown? That didn’t turn out so well, did it?”

“No, I guess it didn’t. How about Mexican?”

“We always eat Mexican. You know it’s my favorite, but I am just not feeling it tonight, especially before a movie. You know how it makes me so sleepy.”

“Tupelo Honey?”

“For an anniversary dinner?”

“You know, babe,” I say, “I don’t think I’m being fair. Why don’t you just tell me what you’d like and we’ll go wherever you want?”

“Really, anything is fine,” she says, pausing for a minute to check the glove compartment for Tic Tacs. “Have you ever had the feeling that you are really, really hungry, but nothing sounds good?”

No, I have not. When I am this hungry, I could eat a bucket of corndogs. I could eat the bucket. I could put Ragu on a manhole cover and call it a pizza. What she is saying makes absolutely no sense at all to me. I need to be straight with her if we are ever going to get to the restaurant, or any restaurant. I need to be compassionate and loving, but I also need to be firm.

“Oh, sure,” I say. “Isn’t that the worst?”

We end up at an earlier showing of the movie, where we inhale two large buckets of popcorn. I could have eaten my seat cushion.

“It’s just 9 o’clock,” I whisper, as the credits roll. “I bet we could still find a few places open. Are you still hungry, or did that popcorn do the trick? Should we go somewhere and grab a bite?”

“Sure,” she said, clutching my arm tightly. “You pick.” (Chris Cox is a writer and teacher. jchriscox@live.com.)

doesn’t seem to remember that Bill Clinton, a disgusting satyr, had sex in his office in the White House!

I agree that Barack Obama appeared to have decent morals, but he was a glib-talking “do nothing” President who cost a lot of people in this country a lot of money with his Obamacare plan.

Our economy has been booming since Donald Trump who, thank goodness, is not a politician but a business man, took over leadership. Can Mr. Cox spare a kind word for someone who is not a liberal leftist?

JoAnna Swanson Hazelwood

Electoral College idea just won’t solve problem

To the Editor:

That was a clever rebuttal (Jan. 24) from Samuel Edwards to my column on why North Carolina should adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact to elect the president instead of relying on the dysfunctional Electoral College. Too clever, I’m afraid.

He would have the electoral votes awarded by congressional district, with the statewide winner getting the two electoral votes that represent the senators. That would be quite

convenient for his side, since so many more congressional districts are gerrymandered to favor Republicans than Democrats. If every state did it, the legislatures — which are gerrymandered themselves — would be rigging the presidential elections every time they redistrict.

The people supporting the national popular vote have looked at this, as I suspect Mr. Edwards has also. George W. Bush would have won even more electoral votes in 2000, when he lost the popular vote, and in 2004 when he won it. In both cases, the disparity between the people’s vote and the electors’ votes would have been greater.

Mr. Edwards’ remedy would preserve the main feature that five times has skewed the electoral outcome against the people’s choices. That’s the fact that each state, large or small, gets the same two votes representing its senators. Leave this in place, and candidates would still spend nearly all their time and money on the dozen or so “battleground” states. If anything, this problem would be worse.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is being confronted with a case from our own state that should make it finally able to see and smell political — as opposed to racial — gerrymandering when it is before them. The gerrymandering chieftain

F

in Raleigh boasted that he gave the Democrats three congressional seats because he couldn’t find a way to give them only two. If the court finally cracks down on this noxious practice, Mr. Edwards might want to think more carefully about what he’s wishing for.

Martin A. Dyckman Asheville

Meadows

protects Trump

Instead of our democracy

To the Editor:

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, and some of his fellow Republican representatives may just have become a danger to our national security. Their theatrics in attacking the FBI and counter intelligence measures is likely to weaken our ability to protect the nation from Russian and other cyber attacks on our democracy.

Rep. Meadows claims the attack is not political, but the facts point to the opposite. Rather the whole manufactured issue of the “Nunes Memo” appears to be an attempt to protect President Trump and his minions from themselves.

Let’s look at the facts. Having read the “Nunes Memo,” I find it has no real support for the assertion about the supposed connection between the surveillance of Carter Page, who became a Trump advisor, and the so-called dossier. According to reports, Page was of interest to the FBI as early as 2013 due to contacts with known Russian spies. Page also came to the attention of the FBI and counterintelligence based on a tip from an Australian diplomat who reported Page making statements that suggested an improper relationship with Russian agents.

The initial FISA warrants to monitor Page apparently had nothing to do with the dossier. The Nunes memo is a concocted sham to discredit what the FBI may have on Trump, the Trump family, and the campaign.

If Trump has nothing to hide about his relationships with Russia and Russian oligarchs, why did we see the lying about meetings with Russians? Multiple people involved in the Trump campaign initially lied, or “omitted” from disclosures that they had held meeting with Russians. If you have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide, why lie about it.

We know that according to all reports President Trump was involved in making up a false story about why his son and son-in-law met with Russians in Trump tower. If it was just a typical attempt to get opposition research, why not just say so. The secrecy suggests that more than politics as usual was going on.

Which brings us back to the FBI and counterintelligence. We need these agencies to function independently of politics to protect us from illegal and dangerous outside interference. Trump seems intent on making the FBI leadership loyal only to him and not the country. Rep. Meadows and his fellow Republicans seem intent on helping to accomplish that task. Meadows has sponsored a bill to “investigate the investigators” as stated in his weekly newsletter. Where is the bill to investigate Russian meddling in our elections and Russian cyber trolls? Meadows should be looking after our safety as a nation instead of trying to protect Donald Trump from his own actions.

Norman Hoffmann Waynesville

Your gift can unlock a child’s potential

Among the many gifts my parents gave me, both the most powerful and the most mysterious were the books that lined the shelves on either side of our stone fireplace. My dad built the fireplace as a source of heat in the large room that he added to our trailer, and its heat and light provided an ideal place for a child to read the books that arrived through the mail in boxes with exotic labels like Works by Jules Verne or Disney’s World of Fantasy. Even the books I could not read haunted me with the words I deciphered on their spines, such as Native Son, The Way of All Flesh, and Sense and Sensibility.

As an adult, I now understand the powerful influence these books had on the person I became. I now understand the wealth the books provided, the wealth provided to any child whose options increase exponentially in a reading environment, and I understand this because I have studied it for most of my teaching career. The mystery of those books’ presence still remains, however, because I will always wonder how my self-educated parents knew then what 21st century research has proven to me and other educators: reading is the single most important activity linked to a child’s learning.

I recently read that gifted children are more likely to be read to daily, have books in their homes, and go to the library at least once a month. What the passage neglected to say is that children who are read to, who own books, and who have access to libraries are also the children who will be identified as gifted. Teachers and researchers have known for some time the direct relationship between children’s reading and literacy scores, but we now know that there is an equally strong relationship between children’s independent reading and academic success overall. On the other hand, there is an inverse relationship between lack of reading and academic failure, and studies of our prison populations reveal the even sadder fact that 80 percent of our prison inmates are illiterate.

It is common sense that the more time we spend on an activity, the better we become at its execution. So it stands to reason that children who spend time reading outside of school will score better on reading achievement tests. But take that further. Every part of life,

every part of education, every part of a relationship requires words, and the more children read, the more comprehensive and precise their collection of words, their vocabulary, becomes. That is why strong reading skills help children outside of as well as in school. Teachers can provide reading instruction to children, and schools can provide periods of time for children to practice the skill. However, it is only if a teacher is perceptive, or has a schedule or a curriculum that permits it, that she or he will provide children with a degree of independence in their reading, because the love of reading begins, as do most of our passions, with a choice.

In Swain County schools, an emphasis on reading in the lower grades has improved our students’ reading scores over the past few years. Besides professional development for all teachers, the school system also leaves no stone unturned in trying to find money for books at all levels, from pre-kindergarten through high school.

But there are limits to what the school can do and what dwindling budgets can provide, and that is where Congregations for Children, a partnership between schools and community churches, steps in. C4C, whose ultimate goal is to transform children’s and families’ lives in Swain County, provides volunteers in the schools, and so is aware of the limitations imposed by budget cuts, by numbers of students, by school schedules, and by poverty in our children’s homes. The people who volunteer from our churches are also aware of what reading research says about children who read at home, but many of our school children neither have books in their homes, nor, in the summer months, a way of getting to our libraries. By the end of this school year, C4C wants to provide all of our elementary children with a book that belongs to them, a book that may, if it is the right book, be at least one step in the direction of becoming a stronger reader.

Although neither I (as the Swain High School representative) nor the other volunteers at C4C can give a child the kind of family I had, we can provide these children with the books that will broaden their horizons and let them see that the world is perhaps bigger and more generous than they had ever imagined.

To contribute to the purchase of books, you may make checks payable to the Bryson City United Methodist Church and designate “Congregations4Children Books.” For more information, contact Linda Dills at 828.488.3096 or 828.341.5469.

Events begin at 7:15pm unless otherwise noted. Dinner and Music reservations at 828-452-6000.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9

Kevin Lorenz guitar. Pop, Latin, Classical.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10

Joe Cruz piano, vocals. Beatles, Elton John, James Taylor, Sting.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14

Wine, music and romance go together! Bring your sweetie to the Classic Wineseller and enjoy four delicious wines paired with a scrumptious meal prepared by Master Chef Michelle Briggs, and live music by singersongwriter James Hammel. Starting at 7:00pm, $49.99 per person.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16

Flea Bitten Dawgs ukulele, percussion, vocals. Ukulele Jazz Americana. Tickets are $10 per person and may be applied to each person's dinner purchase.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17

Joe Cruz piano, vocals. Beatles, Elton John, James Taylor, Sting.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23

Tina and Her Pony ukulele, cello, banjo, vocals. Folk-Americana, Originals.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Joe Cruz piano, vocals. Beatles, Elton John, James Taylor, Sting.

tasteTHE mountains

Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE

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

CATALOOCHEE RANCH

119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1401. It’s winter, but we still serve three meals a day on Friday, Saturday and long holiday weekends. Join us for Breakfast from 8:00 to 9:30am; Lunch from 12 to 2:00pm; and Dinner featuring entrees such as prime rib, Virginia ham and lime-marinated chicken, complemented by seasonal vegetables, homemade breads, jellies and desserts. And a roaring fire in the fireplace. We also offer a fine selection of wine and craft beer. Come enjoy mile-high mountaintop dining with a spectacular view. Reservations are

required. For more details, please call 828.926.1401.

CHEF’S TABLE

30 Church St., Waynesville. 828.452.6210

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

CHURCH STREET DEPOT

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

CITY LIGHTS CAFE

Spring Street in downtown Sylva. 828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, espresso, beer and wine. Come taste the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more. Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly. Live music and lots of events. Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER

20 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live

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

COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT

3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley.

828.926.1820 Winter hours: Wednesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

DELLWOOD FARMHOUSE RESTAURANT 651 Dellwood Rd., Waynesville. 828.944.0010. Warm, inviting restaurant serving delicious, freshly-made Southern comfort foods. Cozy atmosphere; spacious to accommodate large parties. Big Farmhouse Breakfast and other morning menu items served 8 a.m. to noon. Lunch/dinner menu offered 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Come see us. You’ll be glad you did! Closed Wednesdays.

FERRARA PIZZA & PASTA

243 Paragon Parkway, Clyde. 828.476.5058

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

and Tuesday 5 to 9 p.m. with large cheese pizzas for $9.95.

FRANKIE’S ITALIAN TRATTORIA

1037 Soco Rd. Maggie Valley. 828.926.6216 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley. frankiestrattoria.com

FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE

44 Church St., Downtown Waynesville

828.456.1930 Serving lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors. .

J. ARTHUR’S RESTAURANT AT MAGGIE VALLEY

U.S. 19 in Maggie Valley. 828.926.1817

Open for dinner at 4:30 to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round. Children always welcome. Takeout menu. Excellent service and hospitality.

JUKEBOX JUNCTION

U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3

p.m. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

LOS AMIGOS

366 Russ Ave. in the Bi-Lo Plaza.

828.456.7870. Open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 10 p.m. for dinner Monday through Friday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy the lunch prices Monday through Sunday, also enjoy our outdoor patio.

MAD BATTER FOOD & FILM

617 W. Main Street Downtown Sylva.

828.586.3555. Open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Sunday brunch 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Handtossed pizza, steak sandwiches, wraps, salads and desserts. All made from scratch. Beer and wine. Free movies Thursday trought Saturday. Visit madbatterfoodfilm.com for this week’s shows.

MAGGIE VALLEY CLUB

1819 Country Club Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine. Open seasonally for lunch and dinner. Fine and casual fireside dining in welcoming atmosphere. Full bar. Reservations accepted.

MAGGIE VALLEY RESTAURANT

2804 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

828.926.0425. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Daily specials including soups, sandwiches and southern dishes along with featured dishes such as fresh fried chicken, rainbow trout, country ham, pork chops and more. Breakfast all day including omelets, pancakes, biscuits & gravy. facebook.com/carversmvr; instagram @carvers_mvr.

MOUNTAIN PERKS ESPRESSO BAR & CAFÉ

9 Depot St., Bryson City. 828.488.9561

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

NEWFOUND LODGE RESTAURANT

1303 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee (Located on 441 North at entrance to GSMNP).

828.497.4590. Open 7 a.m. daily.

tasteTHE mountains

Established in 1946 and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Family style dining for adults and children.

PATIO BISTRO

30 Church Street, Waynesville. 828.454.0070. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Breakfast bagels and sandwiches, gourmet coffee, deli sandwiches for lunch with homemade soups, quiches, and desserts. Wide selection of wine and beer. Outdoor and indoor dining.

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR

Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center

70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley 828.926.0201

Home of the Maggie Valley Pizzeria. We deliver after 4 p.m. daily to all of Maggie Valley, J-Creek area, and Lake Junaluska.

Monday through Wednesday: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. country buffet and salad bar from 5 to 9 p.m. $11.95 with Steve Whiddon on piano. Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11:30 to 8 p.m. 11:30 to 3 p.m. family style, fried chicken, ham, fried fish, salad bar, along with all the fixings, $11.95. Check out our events and menu at rendezvousmaggievalley.com

SAGEBRUSH STEAKHOUSE

1941 Champion Drive, Canton

828.646.3750 895 Russ Ave., Waynesville 828.452.5822. Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Carry out available. Sagebrush features hand carved steaks, chicken and award winning BBQ ribs. We have fresh salads, seasonal vegetables and scrumptious deserts. Extensive selection of local craft beers and a full bar. Catering special events is one of our specialties.

SMOKEY SHADOWS LODGE

323 Smoky Shadows Lane, Maggie Valley 828.926.0001. Check Facebook page for hours, which vary. Call early when serving because restaurant fills up fast. Remember when families joined each other at the table for a delicious homemade meal and shared stories about their day? That time is now at Smokey Shadows. The menus are customizable for your special event. Group of eight or more can schedule their own dinner.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN SUB SHOP

29 Miller Street Waynesville 828.456.3400

Open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. A

Waynesville tradition, the Smoky Mountain Sub Shop has been serving great food for over 20 years. Come in and enjoy the relaxed, casual atmosphere. Sub breads are baked fresh every morning in Waynesville. Using only the freshest ingredients in homemade soups, salads and sandwiches. Come in and see for yourself why Smoky Mountain Sub Shop was voted # 1 in Haywood County. Locally owned and operated.

SPEEDY’S PIZZA

285 Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.3800

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

TAP ROOM BAR & GRILL

176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville. 828.456.3551. Open seven days a week serving lunch and dinner. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tucked away inside Waynesville Inn, the Tap Room Bar & Grill has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Full bar and wine cellar. www.thewaynesvilleinn.com.

VITO’S PIZZA

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

WAYNESVILLE PIZZA COMPANY

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

Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters.

Ever since you left town

Louisville honky-tonk band rolls into Waynesville

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFFWRITER

For the better part of the last four years, Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters have zigzagged to and fro every nook and cranny of the Southeast and Midwest.

Dive bars and sticky floors. Big stages and grand occasions. All tied together with a sound that weaves the grit of honky-tonk, the vulnerability of Americana, and the sheer force of shoot-from-the-hip rock-n-roll.

Fronting the band of his namesake, Dittmeier possesses a voice of heft and swagger, one that sees and exposes the trials and tribulations of his native Kentucky and its inhabitants. Sometimes left behind, often forgotten altogether, with a sense of loss and confusion, and yet, always in search of the silver lining of whatever situation one may find themselves in.

It’s what Dittmeier does, and does with such ease, which is tell the story of the human condition — mile after mile, stage after stage, night after night.

Smoky Mountain News: With this latest (untitled) album, give me a little rundown of what the listener can expect. What is the thought process coming into this album?

Nick Dittmeier: It’s going to be bigger sounding, more production. I still want to make records that you feel like you’re in the

room with the band. But, the new one definitely has more studio polish to it. It’s being recorded in Indianapolis, Indiana, at a studio called the ARK Barn. It’s a studio that sits in the middle of a cornfield. We were recording one Saturday and someone knocked on the door wanting to buy corn from the family corn stand and couldn’t find someone to pay. The thought process is really just picking the best songs and stripping down anything gratuitous in the structures.

SMN: And how is that current thought process for the album different from the intent of the previous release?

ND: The last record we made, “Midwest Heart/Southern Blues,” was essentially recorded in three days. We never really intended that, but we knew the songs so well and just got in, hammered them out, and then it occurred to us how close we were to being done. I was really trying to make a very loose sounding record and was inspired by bands like The Replacements, Elvis Costello, and The Bottle Rockets.

SMN: What have these last four years on the road and onstage taught you as a performer and a band, personally and professionally?

ND: Personally, how large of a place the world is. When we’re out in it, how many genuinely generous people there are in the world that have offered help — it blows my mind. Even little things. I think most people that don’t play music are genuinely curious about musicians. People ask us really personal things, sometimes to try to get a feel of what our lives are like. On a professional level, learn-

WANTTOGO?

Renowned Kentucky honky-tonk/Americana act Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters will perform at 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at Boojum Brewing in Waynesville.

The show will be held in The Gem, the newly opened downstairs taproom underneath Boojum’s Main Street restaurant and bar. Admission is $5 at the door. Ages 21 and over.

For more information on the group, visit www.nickdittmeier.com.

“I just want to not lose any equipment and don’t want anyone to get hurt. We have larger long-term goals, but I want to work, create things, and let the dust settle where it will.”

— Nick Dittmeier

ing how to take care of yourself and try to have some semblance of normalcy from day-to-day. One of our strengths is being consistent and professional, always letting the music and the show come first.

SMN: The style of music you are playing — Americana/rock — is having such a resurgence in recent years. What do you attribute that to, and what does that say about where we are today, in terms of the ever-changing

consumer taste and the industry in general?

ND: The most prominent and up-and-coming artists in the genre have been at this so long and are creating at such a high level. There’s been an insane amount of development going into these acts. There’s a big advantage to slower growth for an act. I also think the genre has been very accommodating to fans and have done a lot to take good care of them, and also honor the bedrock artists of the genre. The music is really versatile, where it can be played at a small house show as well as on an internationally distributed TV show.

SMN: Do you need to see humor in everyday life to survive this industry? If so, why?

ND: Absolutely. You wouldn’t be able to do this without a sense of humor. Just for the fact that you see so many bizarre things and so many things just happen out of your control. There’s so much that could wrong on the road. I just want to not lose any equipment and don’t want anyone to get hurt. We have larger longterm goals, but I want to work, create things, and let the dust settle where it will.

This must be the place

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

‘And

the morning came with bells on’

Hola.

I’ve been saying that an awful lot while currently down here in Cancun, Mexico. Ten days of feetin-the-sand with a cold-drink-inmy-hand. Isn’t that the words to a county song or something? If not, should be, eh?

HOT PICKS

1

Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will celebrate its anniversary with Humps & The Blackouts (psychobilly) at 9:30 p.m. Feb. 9-10.

2

Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters (honky-tonk/rock) 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9.

3

4

5

Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Lyric (funk/rock) at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10.

While spending Christmas in Upstate New York at my girlfriend’s parents’ home, they offered the two of us the chance to jet down from Waynesville at the end of January to join them on the Gulf Coast south-of-theborder. So, as any good opportunist worth their salt would do, we took’em up on it. Heck, any of us in Western North Carolina could use a little sizzle on the skin after the unrelenting winter that has resulted in a tug-of-war with the impending spring

And with the rollercoaster of vicious political and economic banter coming from Washington, D.C., and every mouth with an armchair quarterback opinion on the matters-at-hand, it’s been nice to disappear below the border, into oblivion and obscurity from the things that keep you, me, and all of us, up at night.

It’s been awhile since I really left the United States. Granted, I’ve spent the better part of the last decade of my life traveling extensively around the country (the better part of that decade throughout Southern Appalachia and the Southeast). But, I’m antsy to keep pushing ahead, my directional

Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host Bird In Hand (Americana) at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9.

The Cut Cocktail Lounge (Sylva) will host a “Great Gatsby Party” with a live band (gypsy/jazz) 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10.

marker pointed outward, abroad or “across the pond,” as my mother always says.

Beyond growing up on the Canadian border and visiting the country innumerable times (for mostly teenage shenanigans), I didn’t leave the United States until I studied abroad in Ireland when I was a sophomore in college at Quinnipiac University (2005).

Sitting there in the airport bar in LaGuardia Airport, in the international terminal, surrounded by the fine folks from my ancestral homeland, I sipped on a Guinness and wondered just what in the hell I was getting myself into.

Who I was when I left for Ireland that semester was not who I was when I returned. Once I crossed that Atlantic Ocean, the possibilities were as endless as they were unknown. I remember when the pilot men-

tioned over the loudspeakers that we were coming into Shannon Airport. Looking out that cabin window, I’d never (even to this day) seen grass as green and a landscape as lush and wild as those wide-open fields and jagged cliffs of the West Coast of Ireland.

For the next four months, my colleagues and I roamed the country, bouncing between old-time back alley pubs and vast ocean views, disappearing into Wednesday afternoon art/history museums and Saturday night rave bars. A hearty, intoxicating mix of real Irish and European culture — past and present.

Every other weekend, at least it seemed, we’d find some inexpensive flight from Shannon to wherever we felt like going. Visiting our Quinnipiac peers who were studying abroad in London or that whirlwind excursion to the Rhineland of Germany with that random daytrip to Luxembourg. And what about that weekend in the small coast town of Fishguard, Wales, on the Irish Sea, huh? I don’t think I’ve ever danced that much in my entire life, before or since.

Those memories kept swirling through my head when my girlfriend and I arrived in Mexico. It had been awhile since I went through an immigration office, let alone deal with language barriers and cultural differences, eagerly trying to find my way along as smoothly as possible.

It’s that reminder I’ve always been aware of, and have experienced for most of my life, but have yet to dust off since 2005, which is simply remembering how big this wondrous world of ours really is once you step outside of not only your own country, but also yourself.

Though my wanderlust has always been in full swing, it’s the international wheels now, once again greased and ready to be put in motion. I find my girlfriend and I already kicking around ideas of “Where to next?” and how we could put the pieces of the financial puzzle together.

It’s a sense of youthful exuberance one rekindles seemingly out of nowhere, regardless of age. That childlike wonder of exploration and discovery that easily slips through our fingertips once the daily obligations of adulthood come knocking. Some folks either forget it’s gone, never get it back, or, perhaps, maybe even reclaim it later in life.

My goal is to hold onto it, right here and now. It’s something I’ve practiced and preached since I returned to Quinnipiac from Ireland for that spring semester, telling tall tales of adventures found and seized upon with gusto to all of those who hadn’t done a semester abroad or were preparing to go soon.

I was 20 years old back then. While on this trip to Mexico, I turned 33. Blowing out my birthday candle, atop a surprise plate of two scoops of coconut ice cream mere yards from a roaring ocean, I already knew what my wish would be. I was — and remain — living in it. And I knew, truthfully, that what I felt back there in Ireland was something ancient and tangible. It remains. And once that’s in your blood, there’s no getting it out, thankfully.

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

Smoky Mountain News staff writer, Holly Kays, will present her debut novel, Shadow of Flowers, on Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.

PMA to rock O’Malley’s

Jackson County rock/reggae act Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) will perform at 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at O’Malley’s Bar & Grille in Sylva.

“Our music is full of inspiration from these mountains. Water, mountain landscapes, nature, trails. They all take part in the inspiration process for us. We are proud to call Sylva home and our sound

could not be what it is without this town,” said guitarist Miller Watson. “It’s also really cool to see the similarities in bluegrass music and reggae and how they took shape from the development of African banjo. It’s also nice to bring a touch of reggae to these mountains.”

Cover is $2 at the door.

www.facebook.com/pmamusic.

Gospel choir celebrates ‘Black History Month’

The Jackson County Arts Council host The Inspirational Gospel Choir under the direction of Kayleigh Naylor in celebration of “Black History Month” at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, in the Community Room of the Jackson County Library in Sylva.

The Inspirational Gospel Choir has been on the campus of Western Carolina University since 1973. Most of the members are WCU students. Through the enlightening and glorifying melodies of gospel music, these dedicated, talented musicians will certainly give an uplifting, enlightening performance to help celebrate “Black History.”

This event is free and open to the public.

Franklin welcomes The Diamonds

Doo-wop legends The Diamonds will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

In 1957, The Diamonds released an instant million selling hit “Little Darlin’.” The song continues to sell worldwide and

Bryson City community jam

A community jam will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer, anything unplugged, are invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen.

The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of

has been dubbed “the National Anthem of Rock and Roll.”

To date, it has sold approximately 20 million copies and led to many honors and accolades including three Gold Records, 33 appearances on “American Bandstand,” the “American Graffiti” and “Happy Days” soundtracks, and inductions into the “Vocal Group Hall of Fame” and the “Doo-Wop Hall of Fame.”

Through the years since the release of “Little Darlin’,” The Diamonds have learned one important lesson-the durability of this classic rock and roll music is as much about the future as it is about the past. As a result, The Diamonds continue to expand their audience to this day, performing in a variety of venues and settings worldwide.

Tickets are $20. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.524.1598 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com.

Grampa’s Music in Bryson City.

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 — year-round. This program received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment of the Arts. 828.488.3030.

On the beat

• Andrews Brewing Company (Andrews) will host the “Lounge Series” with Somebody’s Child (Americana) Feb. 10. All shows are free and begin at 5 p.m. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host Twelfth Fret (Americana) 8 p.m. Feb. 9, Taylor Martin (singer-songwriter) 8 p.m. Feb. 16 and 1898 (Americana) 8 p.m. Feb. 23.

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host an acoustic jam with Main St. NoTones from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 9 and 16. Free and open to the public. www.blueridgebeerhub.com.

• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters (honkytonk/rock) 9 p.m. Feb. 9. $5 at the door. www.boojumbrewing.com.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Kevin Lorenz (singer-songwriter) Feb. 9 and Joe Cruz (piano/pop) Feb. 10. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host a Love S(t)ings Lip Sync Battle at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10. All shows are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. www.curraheebrew.com.

• The Cut Cocktail Lounge (Sylva) will host a “Great Gatsby Party” with a live band (gypsy/jazz) 10 p.m. Feb. 10, Bird In Hand (Americana/folk) 8 p.m. Feb. 23 and DJ Gemini Moon Feb. 24. All shows are free and open to the public.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Ben Morgan & Jesse Stephens (singer-songwriter) Feb. 10 and Scoundrel’s Lounge (Americana) Feb. 17. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night Feb. 7 and 14, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo Feb. 8 and 15. All events are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Isis Music Hall (Asheville) will host “Bluegrass from Italy” 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11, “Valentine’s Evening” with Jeff Thompson & Aaron Price (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Feb. 14 and “Gimme Some Lovin’” with Kat Williams & The Richard Shula Trio 8:30 p.m. Feb. 14. For more information about the performances and/or to purchase tickets, visit www.isisasheville.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Shane Davis (singer-songwriter) Feb. 9, Lyric (funk/rock) Feb. 10, Troy Underwood (singersongwriter) Feb. 16 and The UpBeats Feb. 17. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. There will also be an open mic night at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• The Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Cherokee) will host a back porch old-time music jam from 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 17. All are welcome to come play or simply sit and listen to sounds of Southern Appalachia.

• Pub 319 (Waynesville) will host an open mic night from 8 to 11 p.m. on Wednesday with Mike Farrington of Post Hole Diggers. Free and open to the public.

• Salty Dog’s (Maggie Valley) will have Karaoke with Jason Wyatt at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, Mile High (classic rock) 8 p.m. Wednesdays, and an Open Jam with Rick 8 p.m. Thursdays.

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic at 6 p.m. on Thursdays and live music on Friday evenings. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com.

• Sneak E Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) will host line dancing every Friday at 7 p.m. and contra dancing every other Friday at 8 p.m. 828.586.6440.

• Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host Bird In Hand (Americana) Feb. 9 and Andy Ferrell (singer-songwriter) Feb. 16. Both shows begin at 7 p.m. 828.586.1717 or www.soulinfusion.com.

• The Strand at 38 Main (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic” night from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. 828.283.0079 or www.38main.com.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Cashiers) will host Troy Underwood (singer-songwriter) Feb. 9 and The Paper Crowns (Americana/blues) Feb. 16. All shows begin at 9 p.m.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host Resonant Rogues (Americana) Feb. 10 and High-5 (rock/Americana) Feb. 24. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m.

• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will celebrate its anniversary with Humps & The Blackouts (psychobilly) Feb. 9-10. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m.

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Laura Story returns to Franklin

Acclaimed contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Laura Story will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

This special evening is designed to be a perfect “date night” event and is presented by Heart for Families, a faith-based community coalition that works to make a generational impact by enriching marriage and family relationships.

Story is a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her music career began in 1996 when she met Shane Williams from the band Silers Bald. Williams asked Story to join the band and she became their bass player. After releasing four independent albums with Silers Bald, Story’s manager suggested she record a solo album. She left the band in 2002 and began working on her first album “Indescribable.”

Story’s song “Blessings” earned Story a Grammy for “Best Contemporary Christian Music Song” in 2012, as well as “Song of the Year” at the GMA Dove Awards.

In addition to touching millions of lives with her music, Story has written a 30-day devotional book based on the song “Blessings.” Each chapter of What If Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops? contains thoughts, prayers, quotes, and a journaling page for readers to recall blessings

Piano lessons for senior adults

The next session of Haywood County Arts Council’s popular “Mind the Music!” classes begin the week of Feb. 27.

If you are aged 55 and older and you wish to learn to play the piano, these classes are for you. The classes begin the week of Feb. 27 and continue through the week of March 27. Register by Feb. 7. Space is limited.

Studies show that older adults who actively participate in music benefit in many areas of life, including physical, mental, psychological, and social. These lessons will be ideal for older adults that may have taken (or wished they had taken) piano lessons as children. Students are invited to learn in a no-stress environment,

they have seen in their own lives. She has also written When God Doesn’t Fix It, a story that was written after her husband suffered many complications after his brain cancer diagnosis. It helps readers understand that when life takes unexpected turns, faith in God will lead their way.

Aside from making music and writing books, Laura works at Perimeter Church in Atlanta, Georgia, as a senior worship leader. Tickets start at $15. To purchase tickets, or to find out more information about this or any other upcoming show at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, visit www.greatmountainmusic.com or call 866.273.4615.

with small classes of only two to four people. The cost for the five classes is $60, plus a materials fee for a music book (less than $20).

If you are interested in signing up for classes, email director@haywoodarts.org or call 828.452.0593. Deadline is Feb. 7. The number of classes/spaces offered is limited. www.haywoodarts.org.

Junior Appalachian Musicians fundraiser

The Jackson County Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program is partially funded by the NC Arts Council and the Jackson County Arts Council. However, fundraising is still needed to keep the program going. Claymates in Dillsboro has agreed to donate 10 percent of their sales from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, to the Jackson JAM Program. This is a good opportunity to take your kids (and their friends) and let them purchase a piece of pottery to decorate and have “fired” in the kiln. It’s a fun thing to do on a winter Saturday afternoon and it helps keep the JAM program alive.

Please contact the Jackson County Arts Council if you have any questions or if you would like to make a monetary or instrument donation to the JAM program at info@jacksoncountyarts.org or 828.507.9820.

On the street

‘Black History Month’ at WCU

Western Carolina University will observe “Black History Month” with a series of films, performances and presentations, including a talk by the successful inventor who created the Super Soaker water gun.

February is designated as “Black History Month” in recognition of African-American accomplishments and contributions throughout American history. All WCU events are open to the public, but some may require preregistration or charge an admission fee.

Wednesday, Feb. 7

• WCU Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity Education Series presents “Gate Keepers with Porsha O.,” 3:30 p.m. in the UC Raleigh Room.

• Civil Discourse guest speaker Ibrahim Kendi, author and historian, 7 p.m. in the UC Grandroom.

Tuesday, Feb. 13

• “Tunnel of Oppression,” 20-minute interactive tours featuring scenes depicting oppression and discrimination of marginalized groups, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the UC Grandroom.

• Southern Circuit Film Series presents “Liyana,” an award-winning animated documentary about orphan children in Swaziland, 7 p.m. in the UC theater.

Wednesday, Feb. 14

• “Tunnel of Oppression,” 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the UC Grandroom.

Monday, Feb. 19

• “The Impact of Innovation” by Lonnie Johnson, former NASA engineer and inven-

tor of the Super Soaker and more, 6 p.m. in the UC Grandroom.

Students also can participate in WCU’s Diversity Dialogues by visiting go.wcu.edu/diversity.

For more information on “Black History Month” at WCU, contact Ricardo NazarioColon, WCU chief diversity officer, at 828.227.3251 or diversity@wcu.edu. For information on “Black History Month” and other events, go to the campus calendar at www.wcu.edu/event-calendar.

Haywood history speaker series

The popular “Haywood Ramblings” series presented by the Town of Waynesville Historic Preservation Commission will return.

The speaker series will focus on the historic resources and rich heritage of Waynesville and Haywood County. Each event runs from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Town Hall Board Room on Main Street and is free to the public.

• “History of Cataloochee Valley,” presented by Patrick Womack. Thursday, March 1.

• “Prominent Waynesville Families,” presented by Sarah Sloan Kreutziger. Thursday, April 5.

• “History of Main Street, Waynesville,” presented by Alex McKay. Thursday, May 3. In case of snow, the event will be automatically rescheduled for the second Thursday of the month.

Folkmoot fundraiser at Classic Wineseller

In its efforts to bring more yearround cultural programming to the region, Folkmoot is partnering with The Classic Wineseller for a fundraising event to purchase stage curtains in the Sam Love Queen Auditorium of the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.

The evening will feature tasty wine, live music and delicious food from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville.

With its strategic plan to renovate the Historic Hazelwood School and fill it with arts and cultural programming, Folkmoot has solidified and strengthened its partnerships with organizations like Haywood Regional Medical Center, the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, and the Cherokee

• The Cut Cocktail Lounge (Sylva) will host a “Champagne Class” with sommelier Cara Freije ($15 or $20 for two people) 7 p.m. Feb. 10, Mardi Gras Crawfish Boil at 5 p.m. Feb. 13 and Edward Gorey Birthday Celebration Feb. 22.

ALSO:

• The “Masquerade Ball” will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Camp Living Water Main Building in Bryson City. The evening will be a fundraiser for the Pirouettes Traveling Dance Competition Team. Full formal wear required. Tickets sold at the door, $10 for adults. 828.557.2948.

• Line Dance Lessons will be held on Tuesdays and Waynesville. Times are 7 to 8 p.m. every other Tuesday. Cost is $10 per class and will feature modern/traditional line dancing. 828.734.0873 or kimcampbellross@gmail.com for more information.

• “Laughing Balsam Sangha,” a meeting for

Preservation Foundation; started vents like international dinners, a quilt show, historical lectures and allowed handicraft artists to rent space.

The menu will include spinach pastry cups, Caesar salad, shrimp tortellini, Spanish steak, or pomodoro pasta and a dessert of California cheesecake with a choice of chocolate port or raspberry port sauce.

One glass of wine or nonalcoholic beverage, taxes and gratuities are included in the fundraising cost of $60 per person. Visit www.folkmoot.org to purchase tickets online or call the office at 828.452.2997 to purchase tickets over the phone. Tickets are not available at the door.

Folkmoot is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating many cultures in one community. The Folkmoot Friendship Center is located in the Historic Hazelwood School at 112 Virginia Avenue in Waynesville.

Mindfullness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, meets will meet from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays at 318 Skyland Drive in Sylva. Included are sitting and walking meditation, and Dharma discussion. Free admission. For more information, please call 828.335.8210, and “Like” them on Facebook.

• There will be a free wine tasting from 1 to 5 p.m. Feb. 10 and 17 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 828.452.0120.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Feb. 10 and 17 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. www.papouswineshop.com or 828.631.3075.

• Free cooking demonstrations will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays at Country Traditions in Dillsboro. Watch the demonstrations, eat samples and taste house wines for $3 a glass. All recipes posted online. www.countrytraditionsnc.com.

On the wall

College of Fine and Performing Arts turns 10

Celebrating 10 years at Western Carolina University, the College of Fine and Performing Arts has many special activities planned, including an alumni weekend Feb. 9-10 to honor graduates in music, theater, film and visual arts.

Reunion activities will include a reception, a campus tour and a luncheon honoring alumni and faculty emeriti, along with concerts, films and exhibits.

“Come to Cullowhee and help us celebrate 10 years of inspiring art,” said George Brown, dean of WCU’s College of Fine and Performing Arts. “This is an amazing opportunity to gather with friends and kindred spirits, perhaps rediscover the campus and be amazed by both the changes and our future plans.”

Friday highlights include:

• Welcome Home Social 5 to 7 p.m. in the Grandroom of A.K. Hinds University Center on Feb. 9, with burgers and beer.

• Entertainment options beginning at 7:30 p.m. with theatrical performance of “J.B.” in Hoey Auditorium; WCU Wind Ensemble at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center, “Shifting Gears”

Vasilik gallery demo at HCAC

As part of “Winter Arts Smokies Style” in downtown Waynesville, the Haywood County Arts Council welcomes renowned watercolor artist Ann Vasilik to hold a demonstration from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts on Main Street.

All galleries will be open till 7 p.m., with music, snacks, art, and other special offerings.

Vasilik, a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has lived in Asheville since 1988. She received a bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Philadelphia College of Art and has worked as a painter and teacher in

feature film screening in the University Center theater, or an alumni art exhibit in the Fine Art Museum of the Bardo Center.

Saturday highlights include:

• Guided campus tour by bus, 10 to 11:30 a.m.

• Explore the Arts, 1:30 to 3 p.m. with the Best of Controlled Chaos Film Festival in the University Center theater, a trivia competition in University Center’s Illusions Club, paint your own ceramics at the Bardo Arts Center’s ceramics studio and join in a gamelan (tuned metal percussion instruments) music session with WCU music professor Will Peebles, no experience necessary.

• “Shifting Gears” hosted screening of movie written by College of Fine and Performing Arts alumnus Keith Harris, 4 p.m.

• Wine reception and light hors d’oeuvres at Illusions Club, 6 p.m.

• Entertainment options beginning at 7:30 p.m. with “J.B.” at Hoey Auditorium, choral concert at the recital hall of the Coulter Building or alumni art exhibit in the Fine Art Museum.

As part of the alumni weekend activities,

Virginia, California, Hawaii, North Carolina and the Republic of the Philippines. She has had numerous one-woman shows and has received many awards and commissions. Her work is contained in private and corporate collections. Her art is featured in the gallery this month as part of our Juried Artists 2018 show.

About her work, Vasilik shares, “Control of spontaneity is one of the contradictions of watercolor for me. The transparency of the washes bringing solid objects to life is the other. I love looking at the world around me and capturing the quality of light and dark; to ‘see’ with excitement and passion.”

Visit www.haywoodarts.org for more information on shows and events.

the college will honor several distinguished alumni and will recognize three retired faculty members with emeritus status. Included among the faculty emeriti being recognized are:

• Robert A. Holquist, retired music professor and director of choral activities. During his 23-year tenure, he maintained an active schedule as a conductor, bass-baritone soloist and educator, and directed regional choral clinics in North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.

• The late Alfred “Wig” Wiggins Sr., who died at age 80 in February 2017. A retired professor of fine arts, he founded WCU’s Black Theatre Ensemble, providing black students an opportunity to perform and share their history and culture. He was a 2001 recipient of the North Carolina Governor’s Award for Excellence.

• Joan Byrd, who taught ceramics and retired in 2014 after a 46-year career in the School of Art and Design. She and her husband, George Rector, now operate Caledonia Pottery in nearby Speedwell.

Among alumni being recognized are:

• Garrett Wilson, recipient of the School of Art and Design Young Alumni Award. A 2014 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in interior design, Wilson is a designer at Young Office commercial design firm in Asheville and is serving as director of the regional International Interior Designers Association for Western North Carolina. He lives in Burnsville.

• Nicholas Gattis, recipient of the School of Music Young Alumni Award. A 2010 graduate with a bachelor’s in music education, Gattis is a Charlotte middle school teacher and a National Geographic Teaching Fellow.

• Tyler MacKenzie, the School of Stage and Screen’s Young Alumni Award recipient, is best known for starring in the Broadway smash “Hamilton.” A 2013 graduate with a bachelor’s in musical theater, he now lives in Brooklyn.

For more information and to register, visit the College of Fine and Performing Arts Alumni Weekend webpage at arts.wcu.edu/alumni-weekend or contact Ellen Wolter Perry at 828.227.2757 and elperry@wcu.edu.

Galley opening in Franklin

The Franklin Uptown Gallery has opened for the 2018 Season.

An exciting new artist exchange exhibit will feature artwork created by members of the Valley River Arts Guide from Murphy. The opening reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9. It is open to the public. Within the exhibit, the artist members of the Macon County Art Association have created exceptional paintings, jewelry, fine crafts and other unique items.

For information on hours and art classes, contact the gallery at 828.349.4607.

Franklin mixed media showcase

Crissy Stewart’s mixed media art will be on display during the month of February in the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

Stewart is a Western North Carolina based visual/mixed media artist. Her work has been included in exhibitions at several gallery spaces in Asheville, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, at the Brooklyn Art Library; and in Swannanoa at ArtSpace Charter School. Stewart earned a BFA in painting from Western Carolina University in 1995. Since then she has primarily worked as a social worker, but has continued to make art.

Stewart’s art practice is developed within an interdisciplinary framework that explores the cultural and personal resources of information through familiar artifacts, language and imagery.

New Sylva art showcase

Gallery 1 Sylva will celebrate the work and collection of co-founder Dr. Perry Kelly with a show of his personal work at the Jackson County Public Library Rotunda and his art collection at the gallery.

The show opens with a reception for Kelly from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10. All work is for sale. Admission is free. Children are welcome.

Gallery 1 has regular winter hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. art@gallery1sylva.com.

• Mad Batter Food & Film (Sylva) will host a free movie night at 7:30 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. For the full schedule of screenings, visit www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

ALSO:

• “Paint Nite Waynesville” will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursdays (Feb. 15) at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. Sign up for either event on the Paint Night Waynesville Facebook page or call Robin Arramae at 828.400.9560. paintnitewaynesville@gmail.com.

• There will be a “Thursday Painters Open Studio” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at the Franklin Uptown Gallery. Bring a bag lunch, project and supplies. Free to the public. Membership not required. For information, call 828.349.4607.

‘Passion and Perseverance in Photography’

Sylva Photo Club will present “Passion & Perseverance in Photography” with Georgia photographer Tommy Meyer at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, in the Cullowhee Methodist Church on the campus of Western Carolina University.

Meyer will speak about having a passion and perseverance to reach excellence in the art of photography. His passion is for adventure that includes landscapes, wildlife, and action photography. He also specializes in wedding photography, underwater photography, and contract photography.

In 2017, one of his photos was the “Best of Nine” in Explore Georgia, the state’s official Instagram. Also, four of his photographs were selected of 100 featured by Nikon Asia’s Instagram that was part of Nikon’s Centennial celebration. Beautiful samples of his work can be found on www.instagram.com/mcsmeyer.

This month’s “Show and Tell” subject is “adventure.” Bring photographs that represent adventure to you for showing at the meeting. Gentle comments can be offered if chosen. A maximum of five images should be contained on a flash drive to download onto the club’s computer.

Cost for this program on Feb. 10 is $5 donation for guests (applied to membership for this year). Annual membership to the Sylva Photo Club is a $20 donation, $10 for students.

Sylva Photo Club encourages meeting like-minded people to promote photography knowledge, friendship and photographic opportunities. They can be found at sylvaphotoclub.wordpress.com, Facebook at “Sylva Photo Club” or email sylvaphotoclub@gmail.com.

Photography showcase in Waynesville

There will be an artist meet and greet for photographer Linda Dickinson from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Haywood County Public Library lower level auditorium in Waynesville.

Dickinson’s photography is presented through “Art Works @ The Library,” a collaboration of the Haywood County Arts Council and the Library. Dickinson’s black and white photography exhibit titled “Waynesville and Environs, A Black & White Perspective” is on display through March. The public is invited and light refreshments will be served. For more information, email dickinson.nc@gmail.com or call 828.545.0144.

CUSTOMER APPRECIATION

• The Waynesville Fiber Friends will meet from 10 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of the month at the Panacea Coffee House in Waynesville. All crafters and beginners interested in learning are invited. You can keep up with them through their Facebook group or by calling 828.276.6226 for more information.

• A “Youth Art Class” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon every Saturday at the Appalachian Art Farm on 22 Morris Street in Sylva. All ages welcome. $10 includes instruction, materials and snack. Email appalachianartfarm@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.

On the stage

School of Stage and Screen presents Pulitzer winner

“J.B.,” a modern retelling of the Biblical story of Job, will be presented by Western Carolina University’s School of Stage and Screen as part of the school’s Mainstage theatre season.

Shows are set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, through Saturday, Feb. 10, and at 3 p.m. on both Feb. 10 and Sunday, Feb. 11, with all performances in Hoey Auditorium.

Written by American playwright and poet Archibald MacLeish and featuring acrobatics and aerials, the free verse play relates the story of Job with a circus tent as the setting. The roles of God and the devil, portrayed by

HART winter season continues

Each year, HART in Waynesville presents a festival of plays in its intimate 60-seat Feichter Studio. The space is located backstage in the Performing Arts Center at the Shelton House.

Shows include: “Twelfth Night” (Feb. 916), “Women and War” (Feb. 23-March 4), “Mass Appeal” (March 23-April 1) and “In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play” (April 6-15).

Tickets are only $10 with general admission seating, but reservations are recommended as many shows regularly sell out.

To make reservations or for more information call the HART box office at 828.456.6322. HART is located at 250 Pigeon Street in downtown Waynesville.

Open call for HART productions

The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will hold auditions for principal roles in its 2018 season on Sunday, Feb. 11 and Monday, Feb. 12, at its location in Waynesville.

two circus vendors named Mr. Zuss and Nickles, respectively, battle for the soul of J.B., an exceedingly wealthy American banking executive, after he is stripped of his family and wealth. The play, which premiered in New York in 1958, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two Tony Awards.

The campus production is directed by Claire Eye, WCU assistant professor and program coordinator for theatre.

Adrian Beck, a sophomore from Greensboro, will portray J.B., while Charlie Cannon, a senior from Greenville, will take on the role of Mr. Zuss, and Silas Waugh, a junior from Catawba, will portray Nickles.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for WCU faculty and staff, and seniors. For tickets or information, call the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center box office at 828.227.2479 or visit bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

Directors for all of the theatre’s productions, except “Sense and Sensibility,” which has already been cast, will be in attendance to see actors interested in being considered for principal roles. All chorus and dance company casting for large musicals will be done at a later time. Actors are discouraged from attending both evenings of auditions.

HART is primarily a volunteer based community theater but offers limited stipends to professional actors cast in leading roles. To qualify as a professional, actors must have a professional head shot and résumés with credits at other professional theaters or be enrolled in actor training programs at area universities. Auditions must include a prepared monologue and musical selections if auditioning for lead musical roles. Actors with prepared monologues will be seen from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Musical auditions and auditions for plays will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Community theater actors are not required to have photos, résumés or prepared audition material beyond 16 bars of a song with sheet music if auditioning for musical roles. Priority is given to volunteer actors in all casting. An accompanist will be provided for those auditioning for roles in musicals. Additional information is available at www.harttheatre.org.

Grief and redemption in the wilds of Wyoming

I fled him down the nights and down the days; I fled him down the arches of the years; I fled him down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter.

— “Hounds of Heaven”

by Francis Thompson

Ther friends and family and angered by the platitudes of the local minister, Dana packed and left for a job that would take her over 1,000 miles from her family and Chris’ grave. For a year, Dana’s plan appears to be work-

he first time we meet 22-year-old Dana Stullman, she is in the midst of adapting to her new environment. As she rushes about, attending garage sales and buying household items, we learn that after a year she has finally adjusted to the late-April weather of Buffalo, Wyoming, and the challenges of her new job as a reporter for the Buffalo Chronicle, the local newspaper. She is combining business with pleasure as she clicks pictures of the customers in the Habitat sale (good for an article in the paper), buys a few used books and exchanges chit-chat with one of the county commissioners about the new tax. Then, she prepares for a 35-mile trip down the interstate to Walmart (where the groceries are cheaper).

Despite Dana’s good humor and energy, the reader is soon aware that an unspoken darkness has cast a shadow over this young woman’s life. As she realizes that she is driving too fast on the interstate, she slows down thinking, “Great way to die, just like he did.”

So it is there we learn that this bright young woman is stricken by an event so tragic, it has forced her from her home in Virginia and has brought her to Wyoming. His name is Chris, and as the past floods Dana’s memory, we learn that they had planned to get married. Dana remembers her friends, her own parents and Chris’ parents who had treated her like a daughter. But in a single instant, a drunken driver had destroyed her future. Unable to bear the looks of sympathy from

‘Smoky

Mountain Voices’ welcomes David Joy

ing. She makes a new friend of Sandy Hallerman, a middle-aged woman who runs an organization that collects coats for needy children. She strikes a sympathetic chord with Dana when she reveals the loss of her husband and Dana becomes a frequent visitor at Sandy’s home where she raises horses. As their friendship deepens, Dana finds new interests: horses and archaeology!

Out riding with Sandy, Dana literally stumbles over a bone that is “prehistoric.” Dana does an article for the Chronicle, and

Novelist David Joy will be the next guest on “Smoky Mountain Voices,” a live interview series conducted by Smoky Mountain News Arts & Entertainment Editor Garret K. Woodward, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, in the taproom at Nantahala Brewing in Bryson City. Joy, who has written a series of critically acclaimed novels set in the modern-day Southern Appalachians, recently received the Western Carolina University Alumni Association’s Young Alumnus Award.

Joy, a Charlotte native who now lives in the Plott Creek community of Haywood County, earned his bachelor’s degree in 2007 and his master’s degree in 2009, both through WCU’s Department of English. His first novel, Where All Light Tends To Go, was a finalist for

for a brief time, CNN, NPR and NBC are interested, but when the painstaking work at the archaeology site becomes tedious and boring, they go away. Dana, however, is fascinated and spends much of her free time watching the bones emerge. It turns out to be a “multiple site,” and the archaeologists become excited about the opportunity to explore the ancient life of the triceratops in Wyoming.

There is an additional significant factor about the archaeology site on Sandy’s land. In addition to a bespectacled and aging archaeologist, the archaeology staff includes a young intern named Aaron who takes an interest in Dana and eventually invites her to dinner at a local restaurant. He is a winsome fellow, but Dana is still grieving for a young man buried in Virginia.

At this point, Dana finds her new life and all of her carefully constructed defenses against the past threatened. She receives a call from Chris’ parents. Dana is distressed to learn that Jeff and Linda are taking a vacation and intend to visit Dana in her new home. She had always found Chris’ parents a bit cloying in their affection for both their son and their future daughter-in-law. Now, they are coming to see her and in a short time, their Winnebago is parked in a local campground. What to do?

Dana decides to do her best to be a good host and take them on a hiking trip into some of Wyoming’s scenic wonders.

So it is that Dana leads Chris’ parents to a place called Soldier Park, which contains the graves of an Army survey party in 1877. The hike goes well until a thunderstorm floods a nearby creek and the three hikers find themselves trapped. Rain falls and Dana and Jeff (who has sprained his ankle) discover that their survival will require a cooperative effort.

As the three beleaguered hikers struggle to build a shelter and ward off the cold rain, they

the International Dublin Literary Award, one of the top honors in the publishing world. His second novel, The Weight Of This World, was released last year to critical acclaims. A third novel, The Line That Held Us, is due out this summer.

The series is free to attend and open to the public. A short Q&A session in the taproom will follow the conversation. The interview will also be streamed live on Nantahala Brewing’s Facebook page. www.davidjoy.com or www.nantahalabrewing.com.

Journalist releases debut novel

Set amid the windswept prairies of Wyoming and rounded mountains of southwest Virginia, Shadows of Flowers is a debut novel about love, loss and the power of place from award-winning Smoky Mountain News journalist Holly Kays.

She will host two readings at the following locations: 7 p.m.

talk. As Linda talks, Dana realizes that they are all suffering the same heartache. It is here that the final barriers come down and Dana feels the floodgates open. Linda and Jeff share their personal grief and assure Dana that they need to have her in their lives. Dana senses that a bond has been established.

In the morning following the storm, the three hikers manage a perilous crossing of a flooded creek and eventually find their way back to Buffalo.

However, back on Sandy’s porch, Dana begins to realize that she has solved nothing by running away. She needs to find room in her life for both Chris and his parents. She also has the time to ponder the events that made her realize the truth. When she considered the results of the thunderstorm and the flooded creek, she sensed that perhaps this violent natural event had served to bring them together. While they shivered in their wet clothes, their true relationship became apparent.

Eventually, Dana would wonder about her religious beliefs. Had she not felt that God had failed to save Chris in that terrible car accident? Is it possible that God does have a plan and that, in time, it will be revealed? When she made her decision to leave Virginia, had her flight merely required Him to reveal the truth by an alternate plan? Also, this alternate plan might provide room for Aaron, that winsome fellow in the archaeological digs.

I decided to introduce this book review with a passage from a famous religious poem, “The Hounds of Heaven.” When I read the poem, I am aware that there is little difference between Francis Thompson’s flight to avoid God’s love and that of Dana Stullman. Thompson fled from God as he moved through a lifetime of misguided choices. In the end, he surrendered.

I believe that Dana did, too. Her favorite image — the shadow of flowers on a tombstone — suggest the ephemeral nature of life; a shadow cast on a cold stone. Life is short. If you have something to say, speak.

Friday, Feb. 9, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, and 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Waynesville Public Library. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at both readings.

Kays is a writer and journalist who makes her home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Having earned more than 20 state and national awards during her news reporting career thus far, she covers a range of topics for the regional newsmagazine The Smoky Mountain News and explores the area’s many hiking trails with her four-legged best friend whenever possible.

Originally from Williamsport, Maryland, she is a graduate of Virginia Tech’s creative writing program and began her reporting career at small newspapers in Idaho and Wyoming. This is her first book.

Shadows of Flowers retails for $12 and is available online at www.paypal.me/hollykays for a $16 payment that includes shipping. www.facebook.com/shadowsofflowers.

A diverse portfolio Seed bank works to protect genes of WNC plants

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

It’s been just about 10 years since the day Joe-Ann McCoy, then living in Iowa and working as the national medicinal plant curator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, got a life-changing call from her home region of Western North Carolina.

It was the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville, and they wanted to know if she’d be interested in trading her secure government job for a position funded by grants and contracts, moving to the Asheville area, and starting up a seed bank.

“There was nothing here. There wasn’t a single lab,” McCoy said.

BANKINGFORTHEFUTURE

Since taking on the project in early 2008, McCoy, Ph.D., has built from the ground up a program that now includes three labs and the lofty mission of conserving, studying and identifying uses for the region’s proliferation of native plant species.

“It serves numerous purposes,” McCoy said of the seed bank, called the N.C. Arboretum Germplasm Repository. “It’s longterm conservation, it’s economic development, it’s finding nutritive compounds for potential growers in the region to grow as crops. It can be drug discovery. It can be endophyte discovery. The whole collection turns into a research tool.”

So far, McCoy — assisted by one staff technician and a rotating cast of volunteers and student interns — has preserved seed from about 2,000 species of plants, most of them stored in vacuum-sealed bags filed in a freezer set to -4 degrees Fahrenheit. Those seeds are known as “orthodox” seeds and account for about 95 percent of plant species. The remaining 5 percent, known as “recalcitrant” seed, must be stored at a substantially lower temperature to remain viable — they

are preserved in a container of liquid nitrogen. Every decade or two, seeds are retrieved from the freezer, tested for viability, and then returned to cold storage.

“This isn’t just seed banking for year-toyear,” McCoy said. “This is seed banking for long-term.”

Years from now, if a species goes extinct or becomes so rare that its genetic diversity is threatened, the hope is the existence of a seed bank will mean that the species could one day be restored to the landscape. The bank also maintains a file of plant “vouchers,” cards that each feature a dried sprig of a fruiting plant along with information such as the date of fruiting and location found.

Preserving seeds is far from being the only way McCoy spends her time these days. When she was originally hired, state funding supported the seed-banking mission, but over the years that funding has dwindled to nothing. As a result, she spends at least half of her time working on research contracts she accepts in order to support the unfunded seed bank work.

“We came here to start the seed bank, but it has turned into not being our main project because it’s not funded by the state,” she said. “I would like to see the seed bank be the main focus, but research and product development are also a large focus.”

DEMOTIVATINGPOACHERS

That’s not to say that the research contracts don’t often involve some fascinating projects. Perhaps the most exciting area McCoy has found herself exploring is endophyte research.

Like gut microbes that live in human digestive systems, endophytes are living organisms that live inside of plants — 10 to 20 different microbes per plant, passed down through the seed. Widespread use of pesticides and herbicides can kill these microbes, however, thereby changing the medicinal

Plant ‘vouchers’ preserve fruiting sprigs of various native plants and record information such as location found and date of fruiting. Holly

value of future generations. Microbes can also vanish through sterile breeding.

About eight years ago, McCoy started an endophyte collection — the microbes are extracted from plant samples, separated out into their individual types, and then propagated so that the lab can continue to have a supply of endophytes without harvesting more plants. From there, the research looks at the microbes’ medicinal value.

“We need to preserve as much of it as possible and determine if the endophytes have any of the bioactivity the plant has, so we can make a product out of the endophytes and get people away from the plant,” McCoy explained.

Plants prized for their medicinal value often face particular pressures in the wild from poachers who harvest them beyond their ability to repopulate. If scientists could identify the compounds that create that sought-after medicinal effect, the thought is, then they could grow the substance in labs without harm to the wild population.

Of course, the poster child for medicinal plants facing undue pressure from poaching is ginseng, and ginseng is unlikely to benefit from endophyte research.

“The price is getting way too high, and that’s a death wish on a plant,” McCoy said.

Wild ginseng roots, found in the mountains of Western North Carolina, can sell for hundreds of dollars per pound in Asian markets, which value them for a variety of medicinal effects. That high price tag motivates many to illegally harvest it, and it puts substantial pressure on a plant that’s already finicky about its growing conditions. Ginseng requires a very specific type of environment to thrive, and it takes more than five years for a ginseng seed to grow into a plant of harvestable size. Its seeds fall into that 5 percent category of “recalcitrant” seeds that must be stored at extremely low temperatures to remain viable long-term.

“It’s even more in trouble than people think it is,” McCoy said.

Unfortunately, Asian buyers value it as much for the gnarled shape of its roots as for the purported medicinal effects, meaning that the marketing of endophytic ginseng compounds might not have much effect on demand.

“I work with a lot of medicinal plants, and this one is all visual,” McCoy said. “It could be that the microbes in the soil are making it get more gnarled. That would be great if we could find something like that associated with it.”

LESSONSFROMTHE CHEROKEE

Clearly, there’s much more yet to learn.

But for McCoy, moving forward means looking backward to the practices of this region’s earliest residents — the Cherokee.

There’s an “unwritten law” in the world of plant collection, she said, that says the first thing a collector should do upon arriving in a new place is to get in touch with the native people. So, when she arrived in North Carolina to start the seed bank, she was quick to contact the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

“Ever since I’ve started, we’ve had a project going,” she said.

Currently, she’s working on seven grantfunded programs through the tribe, including helping the EBCI set up its own seed bank. The idea is apparently catching on in Indian Country, with McCoy giving a talk last year to more than 20 tribal chiefs during a United Southeastern Tribes conference in New York on the virtues of seed banks. The tribes wound up signing a memorandum of understanding to start an intertribal seed bank program.

“We’re working toward getting that funded too, because the tribes don’t have a seed bank set up,” she said.

McCoy is also working on a pair of highstakes projects with the EBCI that could result in tribal members being able to gather culturally important plants on national park land. An agreement with the

Waynesville seed library opens

The Seed Library of Waynesville will open for business Monday, Feb. 12, allowing anyone with a library card the chance to come and choose some seeds.

Located in the North Carolina room of the Waynesville Library, the self-serve library allows cardholders to browse the drawers of the seed library and take some home to plant, after writing down seeds chosen on the form provided.

Returning the seeds after harvest is not required to use the library, but it is encouraged, as the library is entirely self-sustaining. The seed library inventory is online under the “seed library” tab at www.haywoodlibrary.org.

Three tons of trash removed in litter pickup

A trash cleanup on upper Scotts Creek in Sylva Saturday, Jan. 27, yielded more than 3.5 tons of trash hauled to the landfill.

This section of Scotts Creek has acted as a de facto dumping station for some people, with all manner of small and large trash items scattered along the slope. A group of 33 volunteers, including three workers from

Great Smoky Mountains National Park concerning sochan — also known as greenheaded coneflower — is pending following research McCoy conducted showing that the Cherokee method of harvesting actually benefits the plant’s ability to reproduce.

She’s now working on a similar study to compare how ramps are impacted when the plants are left alone, harvested via the non-

the town of Sylva, participated in the pickup. The town contributed the use of heavy equipment to help remove some large appliances from the edge of the creek.

The cleanup was organized by the Tuckaseigee River Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Members of the Western Carolina University Fly Fishing Club helped as well.

harvest rate. The National Plant Germplasm System has a similar mandate. Collectors aren’t supposed to take more than 20 percent from a population.

“It’s kind of interesting that they’re that similar, because the USDA did a scientific study and came up with that number,” McCoy said.

Cherokee method of digging up the whole plant, or harvested via the Cherokee method of slicing the plant at the base. The study will run for two or three years before concluding, but so far, McCoy said, it’s looking like the Cherokee method is sustainable.

From that standpoint, it seems as though tribal members know something that science has only recently figured out. According to tribal tradition, McCoy said, harvesters should pass by three plants before harvesting one plant — a 25 percent

The ongoing research on endophytes may corroborate another longstanding Cherokee assertion — that place, not just species, is important when collecting plants.

“What we’ve found is that this population is going to have different bioactivity than that population due to the microbes,” McCoy said. “That could justify why they were so determined they had to go to this population (in the Smokies) where they were banned.”

It’s been 10 years, but the job is far from done. And, as far as McCoy is concerned, it never will be. There will always be more species to collect, more diversity within species to strive for, and more to learn about how best to conserve the plants that make Western North Carolina what it is.

“A seed bank is a never-ending thing. You never get caught up,” she said. “There’s always more species.”

Learn more about the N.C. Arboretum Germplasm Repository at www.ncarboretum.org/impact/germplasm-repository.

Seed library has same open hours as main library. For questions or to donate seeds, contact Kathy Olsen at 828.356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net.

Farmers market conference planned

A workshop for farmers market managers and vendors will come to Rocky Mount on Thursday, March 8.

The event will offer a chance for market managers and vendors from across the state to gather and exchange ideas that can be used on the local level. Sessions will focus on recruiting and retaining shoppers; developing a board of directors; food safety and funding

opportunities. There also will be lunch and networking opportunities.

Cost is $20 with a Feb. 26 registration deadline. Full agenda and registration form are online at www.ncagr.gov/markets/agribiz. Kevin Hardison, kevin.hardison@ncagr.gov or 919.707.3123.

Funded by an N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission grant and organized by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Haywood plant sale kicks off

The annual plant sale sponsored by the Haywood County Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Association is underway, with all manner of edible and native plants available by advance order.

Offerings include berries, asparagus, fruit trees, nut trees and native plants including perennials to attract pollinators, sold at prices the association describes as “exceptional.” Due to popular demand, perennial plants will be significantly larger than in previous sales, with most in one-gallon containers.

Order forms are available at the Haywood Extension office on Raccoon Road in Waynesville, by calling 828.456.3575 or via email to mgarticles@charter.net. Orders are pre-paid and due by March 16. Edibles will be available for pickup April 7 and native plants will arrive May 19.

Proceeds will fund education-related horticulture projects in Haywood County.

Rock faces closed for peregrine falcon protection

Nine rock faces in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests will be closed to climbing, rappelling, hang-gliding and other activities through Aug. 15 in order to protect the rare peregrine falcons that nest there.

Closed rock faces are:

n Nantahala District – Whiteside Mountain and Pickens Nose (east face)

n Pisgah District – Looking Glass Rock (north face) and Cedar Rock (north face, Morning Glory portion)

n Appalachian District – Whiterock Cliff and Buzzard’s Roost

n Grandfather District – N.C. Wall and Shortoff Mountain (in Linville Gorge), Big Lost Cove Cliffs.

Wildlife biologists in North Carolina have been working since the 1980s to help peregrine populations recover after they dwindled to just one mating pair in North Carolina in the 1950s. Nesting success is perhaps the greatest challenge to species recovery — peregrine falcons mate for life and return to the same site each year for nesting. If a pair is disturbed, they will leave the site and may not nest again until the following year. Disturbance can also prompt young chicks that have not yet learned to fly to run off the edge of the cliff to escape.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and Southern Appalachian Raptor Research monitored the falcons in 2017. As a result, Victory Wall in the Pisgah Ranger District will not be closed this year. However, sections of Cedar Rock and Pickens Nose have been added to the list of closed sections.

The Forest Service is currently assessing whether ice climbing has any impact on the timing and success of peregrine falcon nests.

N.C. grants Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit

A North Carolina permit granted to the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline last week — given together with the establishment of a $57.8 million fund for environmental mitigation and clean energy — cleared the last major hurdle for the project to proceed.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality issued the necessary water permits for the project to go forward, and the ACP and its partners Duke Energy and Dominion Power agreed to put $57.8 million into the new fund. DEQ had required the ACP to submit additional application information on five occasions. Based on input received during a public comment period, the water permit includes numerous “stringent” requirements such as stream and wetland monitoring and protection, well testing, regular inspections

Conservation easement added at Sandy Mush

and construction stormwater protections, according to a release from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.

“Preserving clean water and the integrity of the communities where this pipeline is constructed will be a priority,” Cooper said. “I have asked our environmental regulators at DEQ to hold this project accountable and to continue to insist on clean water, effective sedimentation control and high air quality along the path of the construction. At the same time, I am continuing to push for more renewable energy, especially solar and wind.”

Environmental groups are not happy with the deal, however, saying that the pipeline will have adverse effects on environmental and human health and that the $57.8 million fund won’t be nearly enough to cover costs incurred.

A new conservation easement in Boyd Cove will protect 88 acres adjacent to thousands of already-protected acres in the Newfound Mountains of Sandy Mush in Buncombe County.

Landowners Pattie and Ed Ellis have lived on the property since 1981, raising their two sons, learning to work the land and living close to the earth on their homestead. The conservation easement, held by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, will prevent future development on the tract, protecting the forested cove to ensure that habitat and water sources there remain undisturbed for future generations. The Ellis family has documented more than 100 species of plants and animals during their years living there, as well as 15 springs.

“Sandy Mush is a special place, and we are glad to be part of the movement to preserve it,” says Ed Ellis. “When we learned about friends and neighbors in Sandy Mush conserving their properties, we wanted to do the same.”

Boyd Cove adjoins Robinson Rough Preserve, also protected by SAHC, and sits within a network of conservation lands that include the Long Branch Environmental Education Center, Sandy Mush Herb Nursery, Little Sandy Mush Bald Preserve and other privately owned properties. The property contains a diversity of plant life. SAHC photo

“This fund does not begin to cover the costs of the damage to North Carolina’s waters and communities. Not only will many landowners and residents close to the pipeline have adverse impacts to their health, land use, safety and quality of life, but it will be mostly people of color and low income who will be impacted,” said Hope Taylor of Clean Water for North Carolina.

The 600-mile underground pipeline is planned to start in West Virginia, pass through Virginia, make a lateral move to Chesapeake, Virginia, and then continue south into eastern North Carolina to its terminus in Robeson County. Two shorter laterals would connect to Dominion Energy facilities in Brunswick and Greensville counties. Federal approvals and approvals in West Virginia and Virginia have already been granted.

Haywood Waterways recognizes water champions

Five “Water Champions” were recognized for their work to protect water quality in Haywood County during Haywood Waterways Association’s annual awards ceremony in December.

n Pigeon River Award. This award is usually given to a person or organization that’s made a significant contribution to protecting Haywood’s land and water resources, but this year Haywood Waterways broke tradition and gave the award to a project — the Dotson Branch Stream Corridor Restoration and Water Quality Improvement Project, a multipartner, large-scale effort that is having tremendous impact on the county’s waterways.

Locally managed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Haywood County Soil & Water Conservation District, the project is working to improve water quality in Dotson Branch. The stream was extremely degraded by sediment and nutrient loading from livestock, and there was very little streamside vegetation to help filter pollutants. The project included restoring 10,000 linear feet of stream channel, stabilizing 18,600 feet of eroding stream bank, planting 10.7 acres of streamside trees and shrubs, and fencing 3.5 miles of streambank to keep livestock out.

remove it from the state list of impaired waterways; implementing stormwater collection and treatment in Maggie Valley to protect Jonathan Creek; and starting stream restoration projects at East Street Park and Chestnut Park in Waynesville. Sprague is involved with a variety of other water quality projects as well, including erosion control, greenway development and stormwater control.

n Richard T. Alexander Volunteer of the Year

A multi-partner project to improve Dotson Branch won this year’s Pigeon River Award from the Haywood Waterways Association. Donated photo

n Big Creek Award for Partner of the Year Lynn Sprague of the Southwestern N.C. Resource Conservation and Development Council received this award in recognition of the many projects he has developed and grants he has managed toward water quality. Recent projects include working to remove a dam and creating a watershed action plan for Beaverdam Creek; starting the Fines Creek Watershed Restoration Project to

Wildlife hearing rescheduled

A public hearing on proposed wildlife management regulations originally scheduled for January has been rescheduled to Thursday, Feb. 15, at Haywood Community College in Clyde, due to snow on the original date.

The hearing will offer a chance for the public to offer input on 35 changes to wildlife management, fisheries and game lands that the N.C. Wildlife Resources commission is proposing for the 2018-2019 seasons. Approved proposals will take effect Aug. 1.

Proposed changes include adding two

Award. Bob Kimzey and husband-and-wife team Les and Julie Taylor earned this award. Kimzey’s award recognized his service collecting water samples as part of the Volunteer Water Information Network, in which capacity he sampled Plott Creek and Allens Creek sites monthly from 2008 to 2017, when he retired. The Taylors were recognized for their work collecting water samples, participating in multiple stream cleanups and recruiting new members to Haywood Waterways.

n Board member recognition. Andrew Bowen,former planning director for Maggie Valley, was recognized for his service on the Haywood Waterways Board of Directors from 2016 to 2017. A $50 donation in his honor was given to the Pink Francis Scholarship Fund at Haywood Community College.

weeks to the beginning of the bear season in the western part of the state, changes to bag limits and season lengths for deer. View the complete listing of proposed changes at www.ncwildlife.org/portals/0/proposedregulations/2018-public-hearings-booklet.pdf.

Anyone can come and give comment during the Feb. 15 meeting, and those unable to attend the meeting can submit written comments through Thursday, Feb. 22. Submit comments online at ncpaws.org/PAWS/WRC/PublicComments /PublicEntry/ProposedRegulations.aspx, email them with a full name and address to regulations@ncwildlife.org, or mail them to Rules Coordinator, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, 1701 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699.

Take the plunge

The annual plunge into frigid water — for a cause — will return on Saturday, Feb. 17, with Haywood Waterways Association’s sixth annual Plunge Benefit-t-t-ting Kids in the Creek and Environmental Education.

Plungers are wanted to jump — or even just dip a toe — into the brand-new, never-beenused Canton Pool during the event 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participation is $25, $10 for kids under 18, or free for those who raise sponsorships. All proceeds benefit Haywood Waterways’ environmental education programs, including Kids in the Creek, which has reached 13,000 kids in its 20-year history.

“The Plunge is a great fundraiser for our education programs, as well a great friend-raiser and tool for raising awareness of clean water,” said Eric Romaniszyn, executive director for Waterways.

awarded for best get-up and top fund-raisers. All plungers will receive a free T-shirt. Donate or register at

Fun is a focus of the event, with bonfires blazing, costumes encouraged and prizes

Meet the birds of Lake J

www.crowdrise.com/6thannualhwaplunge, or request a sponsorship, registration and donation packet from Haywood Waterways at 828.476.4667 or info@haywoodwaterways.org. Event sponsors are wanted as well.

A birding walk beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at Lake Junaluska will be the Franklin Bird Club’s first birding trip of the year.

The group will circle the lake by car with stops to get better views of this magnet for wintering birds. Birders coming from Franklin will meet at 8 a.m. to carpool. RSVP to 828.524.5234. franklinbirdclub.com.

Gear up for Smokies fishing

A fly fishing swap meet and chance to learn from a Smokies fishing expert will be offered Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Rendezvous Restaurant in Maggie Valley.

The swap meet will start at 5:30 p.m., followed by a talk from fly guide Shannon Messer at 6:30 p.m. Those wishing to eat dinner should arrive prior to 6:30 p.m.

Messer is a professional guide and fly tyer known for his dedication to the art of fly fishing while incorporating the art of oldstyle Appalachian fly patterns. A Western North Carolina native, he grew up fishing Cataloochee Valley, lives in Sylva and was recently featured on the TV show “Anglers & Appetites” for his fly tying abilities.

Those wishing to participate in the swap meet should bring unused or unwanted gear to sell, or some cash to pick up a great deal.

The

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Volunteers will be available to assist with federal and state income tax preparation and filing from Feb. 2April 13 in Jackson County. The service is available from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays on a firstcome, first-serve basis at the Jackson county Senior Center in Sylva. It’s also available from 3-6:45 p.m. on Tuesdays by appointment (586.2016) at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Info: 293.0074, 586.4944 or 586.2016. For tax prep sites in other counties: www.aarp.org.

• All human service agencies and churches are invited to an information meeting about the Haywood County Charity Tracker Network. The meeting will be on Wednesday, February 7, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm at the Waynesville Recreation Center. The Haywood County Charity Tracker Network is available to agencies, churches and nonprofits in Haywood County at no cost to your organization. aprice@haywoodministry.org.

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

• Cashiers Area Chamber will hold a business showcase and networking reception from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Cashiers/Sapphire Valley. RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/ya5qzr5s.

• The Waynesville Civilian Police Academy will hold classes from 6:30-9 p.m. on eight consecutive Thursdays from March 1 through April 19 at the Waynesville Police offices on South Main Street. Academy gives citizens the opportunity to become more familiar with a wide range of police department activities. Apply: wpdcpa@outlook.com or 456.5363.

FUNDRAISERSAND B ENEFITS

Healthy Living Festival, which is from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, March 24 at the Jackson County Cullowhee Recreation Center. Applications due by Feb. 16. Applications and info: 587.8238 or janellemesser@jacksonnc.org.

• There is an open call currently underway for artisans, vendors and environmentally-themed booths at the 21st annual Greening Up the Mountains, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 28, in downtown Sylva. Applications can be downloaded at www.greeningupthemountains.com and will be accepted through April 1. For more information, call 554.1035 or email greeningupthemountains@gmail.com.

H EALTH MATTERS

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

■ Complete listings of local music scene

■ Regional festivals

■ Art gallery events and openings

■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers

■ Civic and social club gatherings

• Angel Medical Center’s diabetes support group meets at 4 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month in the AMC dining room. 369.4166.

• Registration is underway for a grant writing and research workshop for nonprofits through the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. Workshop is from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Feb. 13 at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce and Welcome Center, 98 Hyatt Road in Franklin. https://tinyurl.com/yax5m96j. Info: 704.614.8703.

• The popular “Haywood Ramblings” series presented by the Town of Waynesville Historic Preservation Commission will return in the Town Hall Board Room on Main Street. “History of Cataloochee Valley,” presented by Patrick Womack. Thursday, March 1. “Prominent Waynesville Families,” presented by Sarah Sloan Kreutziger. Thursday, April 5. “History of Main Street, Waynesville,” presented by Alex McKay. Thursday, May 3. All events are from 4 to 5 p.m. In case of snow, the event will be automatically rescheduled for the second Thursday of the month.

• The Town of Waynesville is accepting applications from nonprofit organizations for consideration of special appropriations in the upcoming fiscal year 2018-19 budget. Applications available at www.waynesvillenc.gov/government or at the municipal building. Applications due by March 31. Info: 452.2491 or aowens@waynesvillenc.gov.

B USINESS & E DUCATION

• The fourth annual Appalachian Farm School, organized by Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center and its partners, will be held from 6-9 p.m. on Tuesdays through Feb. 27 in the Burrell Building on SCC’s Jackson Campus in Sylva. Designed for anyone in the agriculture business. Topics include business planning, farm evaluation, goal setting and more. Registration required: www.southwesterncc.edu/sbc. Info: t_henry@southwesterncc.edu or 339.4426.

• The Otto Business Alliance Meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Otto Community Center on 60 Firehouse Road.

• Western Carolina University will provide a series of open forums in February allowing the public to share their opinions on the characteristics they would like to see in the next chancellor. The committee’s goal is having a new CEO for the university by Aug. 1. The last forum for community members and alumni will be held in Cherokee from 5 until 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, in the Locust Room at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort. A questionnaire is also available at chancellorsearch.wcu.edu.

• Concealed Carry Handgun Class is being offered from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Feb. 17 at Bethel Grocery Hunting & Fishing at 5692 Pigeon Road in Waynesville. 648.5797 or bethelgrocery@gmail.com.

• The Jackson County Junior Appalachian Musicians program will hold a fundraiser from noon-5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Claymates in Dillsboro. Ten percent of all sales will go to the Jackson JAM program. Purchase a piece of pottery to decorate and have it fired. Info: info@jacksoncountyarts.org or 507.9820.

• The “Masquerade Ball” will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Camp Living Water Main Building in Bryson City. The evening will be a fundraiser for the Pirouettes Traveling Dance Competition Team. Full formal wear required. Tickets sold at the door, $10 for adults. 557.2948.

• Mast General Stores in Asheville, Waynesville and Hendersonville will partner with MANNA FoodBank on Feb. 10-11 to restock the food pantry with a “Be a Sweetheart, Feed the Hungry” campaign that matches each pound of candy purchased with a $1 donation, providing five meals to a hungry individual in the community. www.MANNAFoodBank.org.

• Donations are being accepted for the Southwestern Community College Foundation’s Student Emergency Fund through a fundraiser by Matt Kirby, college liaison for the Jackson County Early College, who’s competing the Georgia Death Race (70 miles) on March 31. Student Emergency Fund helps deserving SCC students who encounter financial emergencies that might otherwise keep them from attending and completing classes. Info: @KirbyRunsLong. Make donations: www.southwesterncc.edu/Foundation and follow listed directions. Assistance: k_posey@southwesterncc.edu or 339.4227.

• A “Zumba party for Puerto Rico” will be held from 6:30-9 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the Mad Batter in Sylva. $10 at the door. Fundraiser for hurricane relief.

• Registration is underway – and donations are being accepted – for the “6th Annual Plunge Benefit-t-ting Kids in the Creek & Environmental Education,” which is from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the new Canton Pool. Donate or register: www.crowdrise.com/6thannualhwaplunge.

• REACH’s Annual Mardi Gras Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at the Root + Barrel Kitchen in Franklin. Tickets are $75; sponsorships range from $500-2,500. Mardi Gras attire, New Orleans menu, jazz band, king and queen crowning. 369.5544.

• The Wildlife Club at Haywood Community College will host its 12th annual Wild Game Dinner at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, at the Haywood County Fairgrounds in Waynesville. Fundraiser for students. Bring your favorite wild game dish, vegetables and/or dessert. Admission: $10 (or $5 if you bring a dish). Children under 12 eat free. Info: 627.4560 or srabby@haywood.edu.

& VENDORS

• Exhibitors are being accepted for the ninth annual

• Southwestern Community College’s therapeutic massage program is offering a massage learning clinic on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday through early May in room 135B of Founders Hall on the Jackson Campus in Sylva. 50-minute Swedish massages ($20) and chair massages ($1 per minute). Appointments: 339.4313.

• An event centered around addiction and recovery will be offered by the Jackson County Public Library, Vaya Health and Jackson County Circles of Hope at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Vaya health trainers Richie Tannerhill and Casey Fox will speak and lead a discussion about addiction and language for a family member. Info: 586.2016.

• A grief support group, GriefShare, will be held from 67:30 p.m. on Wednesdays from Feb. 21-May 23 at First Alliance Church in Franklin. Topics include grief’s challenges, guilt, anger, relationships with others, being stuck and what to live for now. $15 cost covers materials; scholarships available. Register: www.franklincma.com. Info: 369.7977, 200.5166, scott@franklincma.com or www.griefshare.org.

• HIV and syphilis testing will is offered during normal business hours at Jackson County Health Department.

• Classes to help you take control of your diabetes will be offered from 10 a.m.-noon on Wednesdays through Feb. 28 (but no meeting on Feb. 7) at the Canton Library, 11 Pennsylvania Ave., in Canton. Family members, caregivers and friends also welcome to attend. Register at the Senior Resource Center or call 356.2800.

• A “Project 24” program for anyone diagnosed with pre-diabetes – or who knows they’re at risk – is offered at 5:30 p.m. at Haywood County Health and Human Services. 24 one-hour classes. First class was Jan. 22. Info and to register: 356.2272.

• A support group for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), family, friends and caregivers will meet at 6:45 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Jackson County Public Library conference room in Sylva. 293.2503.

• A support group for anyone with MS, family & friends meets monthly at 6:45 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the conference room of Jackson Co. Library in Sylva. No Fee, sponsored by National MS Society. Local contact: Gordon Gaebel 828-293-2503.

• Western Carolina University’s student-run, Mountain Area Pro Bono Physical Therapy Clinic will be open from 6-8:30 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. 227.3527.

• The Haywood County Health & Human Services Public Health Services Division is offering a Night Clinic from 4-6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of every month in Waynesville. Services include family planning, immunizations, pregnancy testing, STD testing and treatment. Appointments: 452.6675.

• Dogwood Insight Center presents health talks at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month.

• A monthly grief processing support group will meet from 4-5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the Homestead Hospice and Palliative Care in Clyde. 452.5039.

R ECREATIONAND FITNESS

The Maggie Valley Wellness Center is offering two yoga classes from 9-9:55 a.m. on Wednesdays through March: Gentle Flow with Candra and Gentle Vin Yin with Jamie. 944.0288 or maggievalleywellness.com.

• Line dance lessons will be offered from 7-8 p.m. every other Tuesday in Waynesville. $10 per class. Modern/traditional line dancing. 734.0873 or kimcampbellross@gmail.com.

• A fitness class with Abel Wellness is scheduled for noon on Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Focus on posture, alignment of vertebra and more. www.abelwellness.com.

• Waynesville Yoga Center will offer “Flow Bros + Beer” from noon-1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Waynesville. Men-only yoga basics class followed by a beer tasting (1-1:30 p.m.). $25. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Waynesville Yoga Center will offer “Thai Massage Workshop” from 2-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Waynesville. $30 single; $50 for couple. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Registration is underway for a “Yoga Basics Deep Dive Workshop” with Shelby McDermott. The workshop is from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Waynesville Yoga Center. $30. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Registration is underway for a “Meditation Workshop” with Amber Kleid. Workshop is from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18, at Waynesville Yoga Center. $30. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Registration is underway for a “Deconstructing Cravings” Workshop with Sara Lewis at Waynesville Yoga Center. Understand the source of cravings and how to reduce them. Workshop is from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24. $35. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Registration is underway for “Spa Weekend,” which is Feb. 16-18 at the Lake Logan Conference Center in Canton. Food, time with friends, massage, mani or pedi, facial, guided yoga and other classes. $320. Stay one night or two. Register: lakelogan.org/events.

• A wide variety of yoga classes are offered daily through the Waynesville Yoga Center. For updated, current listings, visit: http://waynesvilleyogacenter.com/class-schedule.

• Registration is underway for rumba, waltz and line dance lessons that will be offered in February and

March. Beginning rumba is offered on Mondays from Feb. 12-March 19; intermediate waltz is available on Tuesdays from Feb. 13-March 27; and beginning line dancing is offered on Wednesdays from Feb. 14-March 21. A higher level of line dancing is scheduled for Thursdays from Feb. 15-March 22. $60 per person. All classes are from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Info: 356.7060 or 550.3170.

• Registration is underway for a TaijiFit program, which will be presented by International Tai Chi Champion David-Dorian Ross from March 3-4 at the Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center in Clyde. TaijiFit makes Tai Chi, yoga and meditation more accessible. Info: 904.377.1527 or mattjeffsdpt@outlook.com.

S PIRITUAL

• Grace Episcopal Church in the Mountains will hold an open house to highlight its children, youth and young adult Sunday programs from 10 a.m.-noon on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 394 N. Haywood Street in Waynesville. 456.6029.

• Registration is underway for Lake Junaluska’s winter youth retreat featuring Eddie Willis (speaker), Abbye West Pates (worship band) and Joshua Lozoff (illusionist). Retreat is from Feb. 16-19. Register or get more info: 800.222.4930 or www.lakejunaluska.com/winteryouth.

• Registration is underway for a “Healthy and Holy Retreat,” which is Feb. 23-24 at the Lake Logan Conference Center in Canton. Retreat will be led by author Mike Morrell, David Bolt and Dr. Gus Vickery. Opportunity to enrich, rejuvenate and clarify your essential relationships. Register: lakelogan.org/events.

• Registration is underway for the Interfaith Peace Conference, which is Thursday through Sunday, March 1-4, in Lake Junaluska. Topic centers around communicating with civility and respect while upholding core values and religious traditions. Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders will offer lectures, worship, music, prayer and meditation. $150 per person. $60 for students. $10 for CEU credits. www.lakejunaluska.com/peace or 800.222.4930.

P OLITICAL

• The Haywood County Democratic Party will hold its precinct organizational meetings at various locations throughout the county through Feb. 19. Open to any registered Democrat in the precinct. Complete listing of meeting times and locations: www.haywooddemocrats.org. Find out which precinct you live in: https://tinyurl.com/h97ln9p. Additional assistance: 452.9607 or haywooddemocrats@gmail.com.

• Both Bryson City 1 & 2 Precincts will hold their February meeting Tuesday, February 13th at 6:00 p.m. at the Swain County Technology & Training Center 45 W Ridge Dr, Bryson City. Agenda items 2018 elections. All are welcome. Please contact Brenda Donargo with questions 488.1118.

The Town of Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen will conduct a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 in the Town Hall Boardroom in Maggie Valley. Purpose: To consider proposed text amendments to the town’s zoning ordinance regarding height and pitched roofs. Oral and written comments accepted.

• The Jackson County Board of Commissioners will hold a work session at 1 p.m. on Feb. 13 in Room A227 of the Justice & Administration Building at 401 Grindstaff Cove Road in Sylva.

• The February Swain County Democratic Party WhittierCherokee precinct meeting will be Thursday, February 15th at 6:00 p.m. at the Chestnut Tree Inn (formally the Holiday Inn) Hwy 19 South, 37 Tsalagi Rd. Cherokee. Agenda items include preparing for speaker Joe Sam Queen and the 2018 election calendar. All are welcome. For info, contact Brenda Donargo at 488.1118.

• A book study group will be starting at 1 p.m. on Feb. 18 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Franklin. Book: “Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning and Connection for the America We Want” by Francis Lappe and Adam Eichen. 524.3691.

AUTHORSAND B OOKS

• Holly Kays, outdoors editor for The Smoky Mountain News, will read from her new novel “Shadows of Flowers” at two separate events in February. The first is at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9, at City Lights bookstore in Sylva; the second is at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Waynesville Public Library in Waynesville. Book is available at The Smoky Mountain News, Blue Ridge Books and Earthworks Gallery in Waynesville; at City Lights and Sylva Market in Sylva and at Books Unlimited in Franklin. Order: $15 at www.paypal.me/hollykays. Price without shipping is $12. www.facebook.com/shadowsofflowers.

• Novelist David Joy will be the next guest on “Smoky Mountain Voices,” a live interview series conducted by Smoky Mountain News Arts & Entertainment Editor Garret K. Woodward, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, in the taproom at Nantahala Brewing in Bryson City. The series is free to attend and open to the public. A short Q&A session in the taproom will follow the conversation. The interview will also be streamed live on Nantahala Brewing’s Facebook page. www.davidjoy.com or www.nantahalabrewing.com.

• The “Coffee with the Poet” series gathers at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva the third Thursday of each month and is co-sponsored by the North Carolina Writers Network. 586.9499.

• Canton Book Club meets at 3:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month, at the Canton Library. 648.2924.

S ENIORACTIVITIES

• The Mexican Train Dominoes Group seeks new players to join games at 1:30 p.m. each Tuesday at the Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 926.6567.

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

• Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina – an effort to help area residents commit to a healthier lifestyle, will meet from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville.

• A Silver Sneakers Cardio Fit class will meet from 1011 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Waynesville Recreation Center. For ages 60 and above. Cost is regular admission fee to the rec center or free for members. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• Book Club is held at 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800

• Senior croquet for ages 55 and older is offered from 9-11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Vance Street Park in front of Waynesville Recreation Center. Free. For info, contact Donald Hummel at 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• A Hand & Foot card game is held at 1 p.m. on Mondays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• Senior Sale Day is on the third Friday of every month at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore. Patrons 60 and older get 20 percent off all purchases. Proceeds benefit the Sylva Library.

• Pinochle game is played at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2813.

• Hearts is played at 12 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2813.

• Mah Jongg is played at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2813.

K IDS & FAMILIES

• Signups for the upcoming Jackson County Little League Baseball and Softball seasons will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays, through Feb. 10, at the Cullowhee Recreation Department. Signups also offered from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Feb. 3 at the Qualla Fire Department in Whittier. For ages 5-16. $65, with a $5 discount for additional siblings. Bring birth certificate(s). jacksoncountynclittleleague@gmail.com or 226.0061.

• Blue Ridge Books will be hosting “Book Babies” on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 9:30 a.m. Event is a interactive reading group designed for children ages 2 and under. Call 456.8995 to RSVP. Blue Ridge Books in located at 428 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville.

• The 11th annual Father-Daughter Dance is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, at First United Methodist Church in Sylva. Advanced registration: $30 per couple; $5 for each additional daughter. At the door: $40 per couple and $5 for each additional daughter. Registration and payment: www.sylvafumc.org/news. Info: 586.1640.

• Camp Hobbit Hill is currently offering an essay contest to future campers. Winners of the essay contest have a chance to win a free session of camp. Camp Hobbit Hill is a girls overnight camp, with a focus on horsemanship and arts, located in Alexander. The essay must answer one of the following questions (200-250 words), be written by the potential camper, and be submitted to camp@CampHobbitHill.com no later than March 1. Please explain what leadership and community mean to you or How could attending and experiencing camp help you become more actively involved in your community or Tell us how you can be a good role model to other students in school (300 words or less). Further instructions will be available at www.camphobbithill.com. Contestants may enter all sections of the contest, but are only entitled to win one 1st prize. All entries must include name, age, parental contact and return email.

• A “Youth Art Class” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon every Saturday at the Appalachian Art Farm on 22 Morris Street in Sylva. All ages welcome. $10 includes instruction, materials and snack. For more information, email appalachianartfarm@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.

ONGOINGKIDSACTIVITIES ANDCLUBS

• The Canton Library offers a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) program each month. At 4 p.m. on third Tuesday. Children ages 6-12 are welcome to attend. Please call 648-2924 for more information.

• Wednesdays in the Stacks, “WITS”, a new program for children in grades 3-6, on the third Wednesdays of the month from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Macon County Library. WITS will include lots of fun games, prizes, and hands-on activities. This club replaces book club previous held on the third Thursdays of the month. 526.3600.

• Teen Coffeehouse is at 4:30 p.m. on the first, third, and fourth Tuesday at Jackson County Public Library. Spend time with other teens talking and sharing. 12 and up. 586.2016.

• A Lego Club meets on the third Tuesday of each month from 3:30-5 p.m. at Waynesville Library. 452.5169.

K IDSFILMS

• “The Princess Bride” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9, at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free, call 586.3555 for reservations.

• “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory” will be shown on Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free, call 586.3555 for reservations. A WCU film project, 10% of purchases go to WCU.

• “Wonder” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. & 9:45 p.m. on Feb. 16 and 7 p.m. on Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 23 at

Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free, call 586.3555 for reservations.

• An animated children’s movie featuring talking vehicles will be shown at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, at Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Rated G. Runtime: 1:42. Info, including movie title: 524.3600.

• A family movie will be shown at 10:30 a.m. every Friday at Hudson Library in Highlands.

A&E

FESTIVALSAND S PECIAL EVENTS

• 21st annual Greening Up the Mountains is scheduled for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 28. www.greeningupthemountains.com. 554.1035 or greeningupthemountains@gmail.com.

F OOD & D RINK

• Firefly Taps & Grill, formally Blossoms on Main will providing special during the month of February for locals as part of the “February is Love the Locals” month. They will offer southern food and comfort food, but also vegetarian and vegan items, as well as a few items from their Thai menu.

• Sneak E Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) will host the Jackson County Corn Hole Association on Monday evenings ($5 buy in, 100-percent payout), Karaoke with Captain Moose from 7 to 11 p.m. on Tuesdays, Trivia at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and a Guitar Hero Tournament at 7 p.m. on Thursdays. 586.6440.

ON STAGE & I N CONCERT

• “J.B.” – a modern retelling of the Biblical story of Job, will be presented by Western Carolina University’s School of Stage and Screen from Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 8-11, at Hoey Auditorium in Cullowhee. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday and at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets: $20 for adults and $15 for WCU faculty and staff and seniors; available at 227.2479 or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

• Beloved Kentucky Americana honky-tonk act Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters will perform at 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at Boojum Brewing in Waynesville. The show is $5 at the door. Ages 21 and over. For more information on the group, click on www.nickdittmeier.com.

• Doo-wop legends The Diamonds will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $20. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 524.1598 or click on www.greatmountainmusic.com.

• The Highlands Performing Arts Center will screen the MET Opera’s production “L’Elisir d’Amore” live via satellite at noon on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Highlands. Pre-opera discussion led by Beverly Wichman at 11:30 a.m. Tickets: highlandspac.org, at the door or 526.9047.

• HART Theatre will hold auditions for principal roles in its 2018 Season on Sunday and Monday, February 11 & 12 at the theatre’s home, the Performing Arts Center at the Shelton House, 250 Pigeon St. in downtown Waynesville. Directors for all of the theatre’s productions, except Sense and Sensibility, which has already been cast, will be in attendance to see actors interested in being considered for principal roles. Following these auditions, directors will have the discretion of casting from those who auditioned or con-

ducting follow-up auditions at a later date. All chorus and dance company casting for large musicals will be done at a later time. Actors are discouraged from attending both evenings of auditions. Actors with prepared monologues will be seen from 6:307:30pm. Musical auditions and auditions for plays will begin at 7:30pm. www.harttheatre.org.

HART in Waynesville presents a festival of plays in its intimate 60-seat Feichter Studio. Shows include: “Twelfth Night” (Feb. 9-16), “Women and War” (Feb. 23-March 4), “Mass Appeal” (March 23April 1) and “In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play” (April 6-15). Tickets are only $10 with general admission seating, but reservations are recommended as many shows regularly sell out. Season tickets are also available for the winter season. A complete schedule is available on the HART website at www.harttheatre.org.

The Inspirational Gospel Choir will perform a Black History Month Concert from 6-7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, in the Jackson County Library Community Room in Sylva. Presented by the Jackson County Arts Council.

Acclaimed contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Laura Story will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets start at $15. To purchase tickets, or to find out more information about this or any other upcoming show at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, visit www.greatmountainmusic.com or call 866.273.4615.

CLASSESAND PROGRAMS

• A Learn to Crochet class by “She’s Crafty AVL” is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Tunnel Mountain Crafts at 94 Front Street in Dillsboro. Cost: $26.99. Info: 458.5165.

• A “Pottery Butter Dish Class” will be offered from 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11, at Rabbit Creek Pottery in Dillsboro. Cost: $45. All materials provided. Open to ages 16-over. Info: 371.3808.

• Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild will welcome art quilter CynDe Copple, owner of Tsartistry Galley in Franklin, at its 10 a.m. meeting on Monday, Feb. 12, at Tartan Hall, 26 Church Street in Franklin. Copple’s presentation will be about her art quilt journey. www.smokymtnquilters.org.

• CynDe Copple, owner of Tsartistry Galley in Franklin, will hold a quilt-making workshop entitled “Heart and Soul” on Saturday, Feb. 17. www.smokymtnquilters.org.

• A “Pottery Fair House Class” will be offered from 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18, at Rabbit Creek Pottery in Dillsboro. Cost: $45. All materials provided. Open to ages 16-over. Info: 371.3808.

• A “Painting Techniques Class” with Sharon Bunting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, at Claymates at 31 Front Street in Dillsboro. Cost: $25; includes materials. Info: 631.3133.

• An indoor flea market will take place every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in February and March at Friends Of The Greenway Quarters at 573 East Main St. in Franklin. Registration fee will go to FROG.

• Registration is underway for a Beginning Bladesmithing class that will be offered from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, March 3-4, at Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Cost: $300; materials included. Preregistration required: 631.0271 or www.JCGEP.org.

• Registration is underway for a Viking Axe Making Class, which is scheduled for 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on March 17-18 at Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Cost: $380 (materials included). With Brock Martin from WarFire Forge. Register: 631.0271. Info: www.JCGEP.org.

• The Waynesville Photography Club meets at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month on the second floor

of the Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center in Clyde. All skill levels welcome. Waynesvillephotoclub@charter.net.

• Appalachian Art Farm will host a free art session from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the Community Table in Sylva. 273.9682 or MyriahStrivelli@gmail.com.

• The High Country Quilt Guild meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the First Methodist Church in Waynesville. www.highcountryquilters.wordpress.com.

ARTSHOWINGSAND GALLERIES

• An artist meet-and-greet for “Waynesville and Environs, a Black & White Perspective” is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Haywood County Library in Waynesville. Linda Dickinson’s photography. 545.0144.

• Gallery 1 Sylva will celebrate the work and collection of co-founder Dr. Perry Kelly with a show of his personal work at the Jackson County Public Library Rotunda and his art collection at the gallery. The show opens with a reception for Kelly from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10. All work is for sale. Admission is free. Children are welcome. Gallery 1 has regular winter hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. art@gallery1sylva.com.

• Tommy Meyer, a photographer from Gainesville, Ga., will present a program on “Passion and Perseverance in Photography” to the Sylva Photo Club at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, in the Cullowhee Methodist Church. Cost: $5 for guests; fee is applied to membership to the club ($20 donation or $10 for students). http://sylvaphotoclub.wordpress.com or sylvaphotoclub@gmail.com.

• Crissy Stewart’s mixed media art will be on display during the month of February in the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

• As part of “Winter Arts Smokies Style” in downtown Waynesville, the Haywood County Arts Council welcomes renowned watercolor artist Ann Vasilik to hold a demonstration from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts on Main Street. All galleries will be open till 7 p.m., with music, snacks, art, and other special offerings. www.haywoodarts.org.

• Linda Dickinson’s display of black-and-white photography is being displayed at the Canton Public Library Meeting Room in Canton. Show is entitled “Waynesville and Environs, a Black & White Perspective.” 648.2924.

• New artist and medium will be featured every month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

FILM & S CREEN

• “Post” will be showing at the Strand on Main in Waynesville on Feb. 7-8 at 7 p.m., Visit www.38main.com for tickets.

• “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” will be showing at 7 p.m. on Feb. 9, 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. on Feb. 10-11, 7 p.m. on Feb. 12-15 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. Visit www.38main.com for tickets.

• “Loving” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 10, at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free, call 586.3555 for reservations.

A new biographical romance will be shown during Black History Month at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that ended with the Supreme Court’s historic 1967 decision. Runtime: 2:03. Info, including movie title: 524.3600.

• “Acts of Violence” will be shown at 9:20 p.m. on Feb. 15 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. Visit

www.38main.com for tickets.

A 1967 drama/comedy will be shown in observance of Black History Month at 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Story about daughter of a crusading publisher and his patrician wife. Daughter brings home her fiancé, a distinguished black daughter. Runtime: 1:48. Info, including movie title: 524.3600.

• “The Shape of Water” will be showing at 7 p.m. on Feb. 16, 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. on Feb. 17-18, and 7 p.m. on Feb. 19-22. Visit www.38main.com for tickets.

• “The Florida Project” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 at the Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free, call 586.3555 for reservations.

• Free movies are shown every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Madbatterfoodfilm.com.

Outdoors

• Comments on the future of the larger Waterrock Knob and Plott Balsam region are be accepted until Feb. 25 at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/waterrockknobvisionplan or through mail to: ATTN: Suzette Molling, 199 Hemphill Knob Road, Asheville, NC 28803.

• John and Cathy Sill will lead a birding trip on Feb. 9 to Lake Junaluska looking for wintering water birds and other species. Meet at 8 a.m. at Bi-Lo parking lot in Franklin. Sponsored by the Franklin Bird Club. Sign up: 524.5234. https://franklinbirdclub.com.

• Feline Urgent Rescue will hold a special adoption day for cats that are one year old and older from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Waynesville. Adoption fee is $35 on this day only. Kittens also available for $20. Cats have been spayed/neutered, are current on shots, have been tested for feline leukemia and have microchips. Info: 844.888.2287, furofwnc.org or FUR’s Facebook page.

• The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will conduct a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15 at Haywood Community College in Clyde to take comments on proposed changes to 35 agency regulations related to wildlife management, fisheries and game lands for the 2018-19 seasons. Info on all proposed regulations: https://tinyurl.com/yckzxwf6. Submit comments online at https://tinyurl.com/y9uo7qov.

• Registration is underway for a “Mountains-to-Sea Trail” conference, which will be March 23-25 in Elkin. Trail and town excursions; dinner Friday is included. $75; members only. Memberships are $35. RSVP by March 16: http://conta.cc/2ne6UnK.

• Registration is underway for the eighth annual Three River Fly Fishing Festival, which is April 26-28 in Highlands. Fishing competition open to men and women of all skill levels. $500 per team or $450 for those who register before March 15. Includes opening night reception at Wolfgang’s Restaurant, Friday happy hour after closing night dinner and a gift bag. All funds raised benefit the town’s scholarship fund. Register: hilary@highlandhiker.com.

• The Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society and Museum will sponsor its Spring Excursion Saturday, March 24th, – a ride on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad through the majestic mountains and beautiful countryside of western North Carolina from Dillsboro through Bryson City and the Nantahala Gorge. Tickets and pre-purchased meals may be ordered online by credit card at http://www.wataugavalleynrhs.org/

• A Spay/Neuter Clinic is offered from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Tuesdays through Fridays at 182 Richland Street in Waynesville. As low as $10. 452.1329.

COMPETITIVE E DGE

• The largest recreational ski race program in the world, NASTAR Public Racing is happening through the end of February from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sundays at Cataloochee Ski Area. Competitive, easily accessible racing program that allows racers of all ages and abilities to compare themselves with each other, regardless of when and where they race, using a racer handicap system. $10 for two runs or $20 for unlimited runs. Register: nastar.com or at the ski resort’s ticket center on the lodge’s lower level.

• The Cataloochee Thursday Night Race League is open to skiers and snowboarders 18 years or older from 78:30 p.m. through Feb. 22. Individuals race against the clock on a modified GS or slalom course for the better of two runs. The top three challengers in men’s and women’s age divisions will win prizes. Helmets and goggles required. $15 to race or $35 for race entry and night lift ticket. https://tinyurl.com/y9ys99hu.

• Registration is underway for the eighth annual “Valley of the Lilies” Half Marathon and 5K, which is Saturday, April 7, at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. $40 for the half marathon and $20 for the 5K through March 9; $80 for half marathon and $30 for the 5K on race day. http://halfmarathon.wcu.edu or valleyofthelilies@wcu.edu.

FARMAND GARDEN

• A seminar on how to establish and maintain strawberry, blackberry and raspberry patch will be offered by the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service at two separate times and locations in February: 10 a.m.-noon on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the Swain Extension Center in Bryson City; and from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Jackson Extension Center in Sylva. Info and to register: 586.4009 (Sylva), 488.3848 (Bryson City) or clbreden@ncsu.edu.

• A “Starting Plants from Seed” program, featuring master gardener Jim Janke, is scheduled for 2-3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, at Waynesville Library’s auditorium.

The Seed Library of Waynesville will open for its fourth year on Monday, Feb. 12, in the N.C. Room of the Waynesville Library. Self-serve. Info: www.haywoodlibrary.org and click on “SEED LIBRARY” tab. Info: kolsen@haywoodnc.net or 356.2507.

• The Macon County Poultry Club of Franklin meets at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Cooperative Extension Office on Thomas Heights Rd, Open to the public. 369.3916.

H IKING CLUBS

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 7.5-mile hike with a 1,500-foot ascent on Feb. 7 at Purchase KnobHemphill Bald. Register or get info: 404.731.3119 or Djones715@aol.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a seven-mile hike with a 1,700-foot ascent on Saturday, Feb. 10, on Coontree Loop. Reservations and info: 676.0255, 699.8857 or lsbernhardt50@gmail.com.

• Nantahala Hiking Club will have a Kimsey Creek exploration on Saturday, Feb. 10, to Park Ridge. Total distance is five mile. Info and reservations: 524.5298.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a five-mile hike with a 1,300-foot ascent on Feb. 11 at Cove Creek/Caney Bottom Loop. Register or get info: 698.9394 or rivergypsy@sprintmail.com.

⦁ The Nantahala Hiking Club will have a four-mile hike with a 200-foot elevation change on Sunday, Feb. 18, at Cliffside Lake Loop by way of Skitty Creek on Highway 64. Info and reservations: 369.7352.

⦁ Carolina Mountain Club will have an 11.7-mile hike with a 3,000-foot ascent on Feb. 21 at Round Top Ridge. Info and reservations: 273.2098 or PDBenson@charter.net.

⦁ The Nantahala Hiking Club will have a five-mile hike with a 300-foot elevation change on Saturday, Feb. 24, at Panthertown Valley. www.nantahalahikingclub.org.

⦁ Carolina Mountain Club will have a 7.5-mile hike with a 1,400-foot ascent on Saturday, Feb. 24, at Coffee Pot Mountain Loop. Info and reservations: 460.7066 or barbc129@gmail.com.

⦁ Carolina Mountain Club will have a seven-mile hike with a 1,050-foot ascent on Feb. 28 on Moore Cove Figure 8-Loop. Info and reservations: 692.0116, 696.6296 or bbente@bellsouth.net.

• Nantahala Hiking Club holds monthly trail maintenance days from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on every fourth Saturday at 173 Carl Slagle Road in Franklin. Info and to register: 369.1983.

• Hike of the Week is at 10 a.m. every Friday at varying locations along the parkway. Led by National Park Service rangers. www.nps.gov/blri or 298.5330, ext. 304.

• Friends of the Smokies hikes are offered on the second Tuesday of each month. www.friendsofthesmokies.org/hikes.html.

• Nantahala Hiking Club based in Macon County holds weekly Saturday hikes in the Nantahala National Forest and beyond. www.nantahalahikingclub.org

• High Country Hikers, based out of Hendersonville but hiking throughout Western North Carolina, plans hikes every Monday and Thursday. Schedules, meeting places and more information are available on their website, www.highcountryhikers.org.

• Carolina Mountain Club hosts more than 150 hikes a year, including options for full days on weekends, full days on Wednesdays and half days on Sundays. Nonmembers contact event leaders. www.carolinamountainclub.org

• Mountain High Hikers, based in Young Harris, Ga., leads several hikes per week. Guests should contact hike leader. www.mountainhighhikers.org.

• Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, located in East Tennessee, makes weekly hikes in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park as well as surrounding areas. www.smhclub.org.

• Benton MacKaye Trail Association incorporates outings for hikes, trail maintenance and other work trips. No experience is necessary to participate. www.bmta.org.

• Diamond Brand’s Women’s Hiking Group meets on the third Saturday of every month. For more information, e-mail awilliams@diamondbrand.com or call 684.6262.

OUTDOORCLUBS

• The Jackson County Poultry Club will hold its regular meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Jackson County Cooperative Extension Office. The club is for adults and children and includes a monthly meeting with a program and a support network for those raising birds. For info, call 586.4009 or write heather_gordon@ncsu.edu.

• The North Carolina Catch program, a three-phase conservation education effort focusing on aquatic environments, will be offered through May 15. The program is offered by the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. Free for members; daily admission for non-members. 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov.

• An RV camping club, the Vagabonds, camps one weekend per month from April through November. All ages welcome. No dues or structured activities. For details, write lilnau@aol.com or call 369.6669.

• The Cataloochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited meets the second Tuesday of the month starting with a dinner at 6:30 p.m. at Rendezvous restaurant located on the corner of Jonathan Creek Road and Soco Road in Maggie Valley. 631.5543.

MarketPlace information:

The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 every week to over 500 locations across in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties along with the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. For a link to our MarketPlace Web site, which also contains a link to all of our MarketPlace display advertisers’ Web sites, visit www.smokymountainnews.com.

Rates:

■ Free — Lost or found pet ads.

■ $5 — Residential yard sale ads,

■ $5 — Non-business items that sell for less than $150.

■ $15 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2. If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type.

■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad or colored background.

■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold.

■ $300 — Statewide classifieds run in 117 participating newspapers with 1.6 million circulation. Up to 25 words.

■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

Classified Advertising:

Scott Collier, phone 828.452.4251; fax 828.452.3585 classads@smokymountainnews.com

AUCTION

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RESIDENTIAL & ACREAGE TRACTS

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A PRIVATELY OWNED TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY

Is seeking applications/resumes for an Installer/Technician

The successful applicant will need the following:

• Able to climb utility poles

• Good driving record

•The ability to operate and handle hand tools, power tools, hydraulic eqpmnt., ladders, etc.

• Some computer experience would be helpful

• Self-motivated & dependable with the ability to work independently

• The ability to deal with difficult customers and members of the public in a professional, courteous manner

• Be able to handle multitasking and stressful situations in a professional manner

• Be available for “On Call” Duty on weekends and overtime as needed with little notice

• Be able to pass a drug test and background check

This person will be responsible for the installation of telephone, cable, and internet service from the utility pole into a customer’s home, will install and set up modems, digital equipment, etc. in a customer’s home, and be able to detect, troubleshoot, and fix problems as they occur with the services offered to a customer.

Salary is dependent on exp. Benefits are available

Anyone interested should e-mail their resume to: sanders@ccvn.com or fax it to 828.536.4510.

Resumes/applications will be accepted through February 9, 2018. Equal Opportunity Employer Veterans encouraged to apply

BROWN TRUCKINGIs looking for COMPANY DRIVERS and OWNER OPERATORS. Brown requires: CDL-A, 2 years of tractor trailer experience OTR or Regional (Multiple states) in the last 3 years, good MVR and PSP. Apply: www.driveforbrown.com. Contact Brandon Collins. 919.291.7416. SAPA

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Get FAA approved hands on Aviation training. Financial aid for qualified students - Career placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 866.441.6890

FRONT DESK/OFFICE MANAGER

Full Time or Part Time: Maggie Valley Cabin Resort Seeks a Versatile, Energetic & Experienced Front Desk Employee. Customer Service & Computer Exp. Req. Weekends, Nights & Holidays a Must! Call 828.926.1388

FTCC

Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Financial Accountant. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com Human Resources Office Phone: 910.678.7342 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS RAILROAD IN BRYSON CITY Is Hiring for a Dept Supervisor. Eligible for Medical, Dental, Paid Time Off & 401K. Earn train passes, retail and food discounts, passes to area attractions and more! Full Job Descriptions and Applications are Available at: www.gsmr.com/jobs s

TEACHER RECRUITMENT FAIR

To fill 2018-19 Vacancies ~ did you know over 650 teaching positions were filled by 22 Virginia school divisions?Join us on Sat, Jan 27 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. @ Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA. See: www.wvpec.org (Job Fair) to pre-register and for details. NO FEES are required. Sponsored by WVPEC

EMPLOYMENT

IMMEDIATE OPENINGS FOR HVAC

Technicians and Installers. Good Pay and Benefits with Year-Round Work. Experienced Only! Call 828.421.0187 or Apply in Person at 39 Bended Knee Dr., Whittier, NC off Hwy/441 N. EEO

FTCC -

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Human Resources Office Phone: 910.678.7342 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer SAPA

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FURNITURE

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CAVALIER ARMS APARTMENTS

ITEMS FOR SALE

11-HP GENERATOR

New, Never Been Used Homelite #LR5500, 5 Gallon Gas Tank, 5500 Watts, HD 220/115 Cord. $475/Firm. For more info call Richard at 828.316.9557

BORING/CARPENTER BEE TRAPS

No Chemicals, Poisons or Anything to Harm the Environment. Handmade in Haywood County. 1 for $20, 2 or More for $15 each. 828.593.8321

CHAMPION SUPPLY

Janitorial supplies. Professional cleaning products, vacuums, janitorial paper products, swimming pool chemicals, environmentally friendly chemicals, indoor & outdoor light bulbs, odor elimination products, equipment repair including household vacuums. Free delivery across WNC. www.championsupply.com 800.222.0581, 828.225.1075.

WANTED TO BUY

• WANTED TO BUY • U.S./ Foreign Coins! Call Dan 828.421.1616

FREON R12 WANTED: Certified Buyer will PICK UP and PAY CA$H for R12 cylinders or cases of cans. 312.291.9169; www.refrigerantfinders.com SAPA

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18 This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All dwellings advertised on equal opportunity basis.

Breese Broker/Owner 71 North Main Street Waynesville, NC 28786

Cell: 828.400.9029

ron@ronbreese.com www.ronbreese.com

RESIDENTIAL & ACREAGE TRACTS

In Scotland County, NC sold at Auction, Online w/ Bid Center, Begins Closing 2/13 at 4pm, Bid Center at Hampton Inn Laurinburg, ironhorseauction.com, 800.997.2248, NCAL 3936

HOMES FOR SALE

BRUCE MCGOVERN

A Full Service Realtor, Locally Owned and Operated mcgovernpropertymgt@gmail.com McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112.

SINGLE FAMILY RANCH HOME

F.S.B.O. - 57 Pasco Loop, Waynesville, NC. Less than 2 yrs old, 1400sq. ft., 2/BR 2/BA, Vaulted Ceilings, Open Floor Plan, Lamenant/Carpet Floors, SS Appliances, 12’x12’ Outside Bldng., Mtn. Views. A Must See, Perfect Move-In Ready Home, Furniture

Negotiable, 3 Miles from Maggie Valley - No City Taxes. For more information call 919.356.6560

VACATION RENTALS

BEACH GETAWAY SPECIAL.

Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. Mention this add to receive an extra $25.00 discount on all spring reservations. Limited time offering. Call Now 1.800.NCBeach; or visit us at: cookerealty.com

STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT

GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE

Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160. Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.

PET SUPPLIES & SERVICES

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Spay/Neuter For Haywood Pets As Low As $10. Operation Pit is in Effect! Free Spay/Neuter, Microchip & Vaccines For Haywood Pitbull Types & Mixes!

Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville

BREE - A GORGEOUS SNOW WHITE KITTY W/ BRIGHT BLUE EYES. SHE IS A LITTLE SHY. SHE'LL DO BEST WITH ADOPTERS WHO HAVE THE PATIENCE TO GIVE HER SPACE AND LET HER MAKE ALL THE ADVANCES. WE'RE CONFIDENT SHE'LL BE A WONDERFUL, LOVING COMPANION GIVEN SOME TIME AND TLC.

SIOUX - A GORGEOUS CATAHOULA MIX ABOUT 1-1/2 YEARS OLD. HE IS FRIENDLY AND VERY PLAYFUL, AND ALSO FAIRLY LARGE AND ENERGETIC, SO HE'LL PROBABLY WORK OUT BEST IN A HOME WITH OLDER KIDS AND ADULTS. HE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A YARD TO PLAY IN, AND DO FUN ACTIVITIES WITH THE FAMILY LIKE HIKING OR DOG PERFORMANCE SPORTS.

Haywood County Real Estate Agents

Berkshire Hathaway berkshirehathawayhs.com

• Jay Spiro - jay@4Smokys.com

Beverly Hanks & Associates beverly-hanks.com

• Ann Eavenson - anneavenson@beverly-hanks.com

• George Escaravage - gescar@beverly-hanks.com

• Billie Green - bgreen@beverly-hanks.com

• Michelle McElroy michellemcelroy@beverly-hanks.com

• Marilynn Obrig - mobrig@beverly-hanks.com

• Steve Mauldin - smauldin@beverly-hanks.com

• Brian K. Noland - brianknoland.com

• Anne Page - apage@beverly-hanks.com

• Brooke Parrott - bparrott@beverly-hanks.com

• Jerry Powell - jpowell@beverly-hanks.com

• Catherine Proben - cproben@beverly-hanks.com

• Ellen Sither - ellensither@beverly-hanks.com

• Mike Stamey - mikestamey@beverly-hanks.com

ERA Sunburst Realty sunburstrealty.com

• Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com

• Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com

Keller Williams Realty kellerwilliamswaynesville.com

• The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com

Lakeshore Realty

• Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

Mountain Home Properties mountaindream.com

• Cindy Dubose - cdubose@mountaindream.com

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management

• Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com

RE/MAX — Mountain Realty remax-waynesvillenc.com remax-maggievalleync.com

• Holly Fletcher - hollyfletcher1975@gmail.com

• The Real Team - the-real-team.com

• Ron Breese - ronbreese.com

• Landen Stevenson - Landen@landenstevenson.com

• Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com

SuperCROSSWORD

MEDICAL

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St. crossers

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Up to, in brief

Drink cooler

“Tuff —” (1986 hit)

Vegas intro?

Powell of film

Break the connection of

For each

Described

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Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine. Answers on Page 40

One of the Smokies’ finest poets

Editor’s note: This Back Then column by George Ellison first appeared in the Feb. 15, 2012, edition of The Smoky Mountain News.

Olive Tilford Dargan is fairly well known in literary circles as the author of From My Highest Hill (1941), a delightful collection of autobiographical stories set in Swain County, originally published as Highland Annals in 1925. But she is also one of the finest poets the Smokies region has as yet produced.

Dargan was born in Kentucky in 1869. The family moved to the Missouri Ozarks, where her parents founded a school, with Dargan serving as their assistant. While attending Radcliffe College on a scholarship, she met Pegram Dargan, a South Carolina poet then at Harvard. When she moved to Blue Ridge, Ga., to write, he followed her. They subsequently married and settled in New York City.

While in college, she had gone on a camping trip to the mountains of Western North Carolina and had dreamed ever since of living here some day. The dream was realized in 1906 when the Dargans bought a farm at Round Hill in the Almond community above the Nantahala River in Swain County. They traveled widely but after her husband drowned off the coast of Cuba in 1915, she returned to the farm in Swain

BACK THEN

County. When the farmhouse burned in 1923, she moved to Asheville, where she wrote novels under the pseudonym of Fielding Burke. Two of them depict mountain migrants in the Gastonia Mill strike. She died in 1968, eleven days after her 99th birthday.

Dargan published several collections of poetry, including The Cycle’s Rim (1916), sonnets dedicated to her late husband; as well as Lute and Furrow (1922) and The Spotted Hawk (1958), both of which contain verse inspired by her infatuation with the transcendental qualities she intuited in mountain landscapes.

These lines excerpted from “Sall’s Gap” describe her discovery of a springhead: a place of renewal. The “lin” referred to is a basswoood tree with a double trunk. The “forest lillies” are turk’s-caps. Her description in the opening lines of “the sound so near” and the effect it has upon her is uncanny. And there’s a sound so near it seems to bubble Out of your heart and tingle through your skin.

You creep around the lin that rises double And where a clump of forest lillies thin Themselves to to three that rise with little trouble

To a graceful score of feet before they droop

Their spotted heads, you catch your breath and stoop; For you have found it; found the mossy parting Where a mountain rillet breaks into the light; An infant on its seaward way outstarting.

In the concluding lines of “Vain Rescue” she imagines those moments just before death:

But rising now no inner fires outflow, No gleam around me save a pale moon’s haze. I know a wood of beech and birch and snow

That waits my step. And come the June-warm days, Where two brooks wed I’ll find a lulling seat, And stir white pebbles with my slow, bare feet.

(George Ellison is a naturalist and writer. He can be reached at info@georgeellison.com.)

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