SMN 06 20 18

On the Cover:

Chancellor David Belcher has been an undeniable driving force for positive change in the region since taking the reins at Western Carolina University in 2011. Though Belcher recently succumbed to brain cancer, the community in which he lived and loved will remember him fondly, and his colleagues are committed to carrying on his legacy. (Page 6) WCU photo

News

Capacity use fees proposed for Waynesville ............................................................3

Bumpy road for vehicle tax proposals ..........................................................................4

Input sought for Waynesville comprehensive plan ....................................................5

Central Haywood gym will come down ........................................................................9

Answers still wanted in Bryson City K9 death ........................................................10

Penalty for trespassing on Cherokee land to increase ........................................14

Officers, DA explain challenges within the system ................................................16 TWSA to set new fee levels ..........................................................................................18

Work begins for Green Energy Park makeover ......................................................20

A&E

Bluegrass act coming to Cataloochee Ranch ........................................................28

Outdoors

Synchronous fireflies display beauty in the Smokies ............................................42

CLARIFICATION

In regard to a June 13 story in The Smoky Mountain News, Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran denies the allegation that he asked the Bryson City Police Chief Greg Jones to fire his political opponent Rocky Sampson from the department.

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S UBSCRIPTIONS

Sidewalk seating could come to Waynesville’s Main Street

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER

Customers of downtown Waynesville’s restaurants and bars may soon be told to “hit the bricks” — but in a good way.

“As I understand it, we’ve had an informal agreement with the merchants for years that they could use the first two feet from the building, out, to put in planters or a chair, dog bowls full of water,” said Rob Hites, Waynesville’s town manager. “I think it really adds a lot to the downtown, but we’ve never really formalized it in policy.”

New downtown Waynesville restaurant Sauced, which now occupies the former digs of Tipping Point Brewing on Main Street, made the request for tables outside the building.

In order for that to happen, an encroachment has to be granted; that encroachment legally takes part of the sidewalk out of the public sector and “attaches” it to the property.

Both the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation’s Department of Alcohol Law Enforcement ALE and the town prohibit serving alcohol on sidewalks, a problem the encroachment — and some required moveable fencing — solves.

The proposed ordinance would only apply to public sidewalks that are more than 10 feet in width and are located in Town Commercial or Mixed Use zoning districts. Up to three feet may be used for outdoor seat-

ing, eating, signage or other embellishments. Outdoor sales of any kind will be prohibited. Encroachment applicants would if so granted have to renew their encroachments on a yearly basis and carry appropriate liability insurance that reflects the existence of the encroachment. Although the ordinance doesn’t say it, the town could in the future charge a nominal fee for the work associated with processing the requests.

“I think it really adds a lot to the downtown, but we’ve never really formalized it in policy.”

— Rob Hites, Waynesville town manager

The town will also likely implement some sort of policy and then consider the request of Sauced afterward.

Waynesville has unusually wide sidewalks for a city of its size, and some of the widest can be found in front of Sauced, thanks to a bulb out; a downtown survey attached to the request says that there’s more than 17 feet of sidewalk in front of the establishment, compared to just under 10 feet in front of Earthworks Gallery.

The Americans with Disabilities Act,

A request by one local restaurant has led the Waynesville Board of Aldermen to consider a policy on outdoor seating. Cory Vaillancourt photo

according to Hites, says the town needs to maintain at least five feet of unobstructed path, but after conferring with Mayor Gavin Brown, both Hites and Brown realized that couples armed with shopping bags, strollers or pets might find that a tight squeeze.

As written, the proposed ordinance

Capacity use fees proposed for Waynesville

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER

Infrastructure in municipal sewer and water systems isn’t cheap, but a debate recently settled in the General Assembly clarified what towns can charge new customers for connecting to the existing system while also anticipating the system’s future needs.

“The new fee structure is much more fair,” said Waynesville Town Manager Rob Hites.

During the 1990s, towns charged fees to developers seeking to extend water and sewer to their developments. Some towns charged not only for the prior cost of building water and sewer plants as well as trunk lines, but also for the projected future costs of adding capacity to the system.

A lawsuit filed by developers in Moore County that went to the state Supreme Court resulted in a ruling stating that although sanitary districts could charge for future use, towns could not; millions of dollars collected by towns for “future use” had to be repaid.

Waynesville’s capacity use formula was developed in 2006 did not take into account the cost of future system development; as these issues emerged, Waynesville placed a moratorium on collecting capacity use fees in late 2016. In July 2017, House Bill 436 made it through the General Assembly.

“What we did under our old policy was, we charged by water meter size and water line size,” said Waynesville Town Manager Rob Hites. “The standard that was set by House Bill 436 was by the gallon, which actually is a better standard, because you can break down the cost of a sewer plant by the number of gallons and come up with a per gallon rate.”

Sponsored by Rep. Mike Clampitt, RBryson City, the “act to provide for uniform authority to implement system development fees for public water and sewer systems in North Carolina and to clarify the applicable statute of limitations” limits somewhat the exposure of towns that collected fees,

because towns argued that developers had passed those fees on to their customers.

What the act also does is require municipalities to set any capacity use fees by only after completing a study on what, exactly, those future costs will be.

Last September, Waynesville aldermen contracted with Asheville consulting firm McGill and Associates to the tune of $8,500 for just such a study. Hites said at the time that developers like to have all the cards out on the table, and would appreciate the certainty such a study would bring.

McGill presented the report to the town a few weeks ago; it was posted on the town’s website, and presented to aldermen June 12.

“What the new report does is it establishes, by gallons, what we should charge,” Hites said.

The proposal outlines the estimated daily water and sewer needs of various kinds of developments, from barbershops to churches to hotels and motels, and establishes a maximum allowable charge.

demands an unobstructed 7-foot width for passage so as not to compromise public safety and to prevent diners from being constantly bumped by pedestrians.

A public hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 26, during the regular Waynesville Board of Aldermen meeting.

Churches, for example, are projected to use three gallons of sewer capacity per seat. Churches with kitchens use five per seat and churches with daycare facilities use 25 per person.

Based upon the existing value of Waynesville’s system — about $43 million — and also based upon looming capital projects on the horizon, new customers operating such establishments would be charged according to actual projected use instead of the size of the water line.

“Using that structure, we’re changing from a three-quarter inch meter, to a one bedroom apartment, or two bedroom apartment, or a house,” Hites said. “In some cases it might bring the rate down, in some cases it might bring the rate up.”

In similar fashion, the town also recommends abandoning the practice of charging different rates based on whether or not the customer is within town limits.

Waynesville Aldermen will conduct a public hearing on the McGill report and the proposed rates and structure contained therein on June 26. For more information, visit www.waynesvillenc.gov.

Bumpy road for vehicle tax proposals

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER

With municipal budget season coming down to the wire and those municipal budgets coming down to the penny, two Haywood County town governments are hoping to avoid property tax increases by introducing vehicle registration fees.

During the FY 2018-19 budgeting process earlier this year, the Town of Canton factored in to its revenues a $30 vehicle registration fee that would apply to all vehicles registered in the town, with the exception of government vehicles, non-motorized vehicles like trailers and the inventory of auto dealers.

In similar fashion, the town of Waynesville has proposed a $15 vehicle fee. The town of Maggie Valley instituted a $5 vehicle fee several years ago in order to boost road maintenance funds.

“Far and away,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, “most of the calls I get as mayor are about potholes.”

By law, the first $5 of the vehicle tax can be used for any purpose. The next $5 must be used for public transportation, if the town has such a system. The rest, up to the maximum of $30, must be used for streets or roads.

“Fixed incomes don’t increase that often, but expenses do,” Canton-area pastor David Vos told the Canton board June 14.

But Vos’ comments against Canton’s proposed fee are indeed a two way street; with a flat tax base and ever-increasing costs — notably personnel and insurance — governments must look wherever they can for revenue to maintain services.

Canton’s fee would raise by Town Manager Jason Burrell’s estimate around $60,000, and Waynesville’s would raise about $147,000, per town documents. Both are right around the amount of money a 1-cent property tax increase would bring.

Canton’s proposed 2018-19 budget again holds Haywood County’s highest property tax rate where it’s been since 2007 at 58 cents per $100, but again takes a large appropria-

Be heard

A pair of public hearings next week will decide the fate of proposed vehicle taxes in Waynesville and Canton. The Town of Waynesville hopes to add a $15 fee, and the Town of Canton is proposing $30. Public hearings will be held in both towns to solicit citizen input.

CANTON

• Date: Thursday, June 28

• Time: 6:30 p.m.

• Location: Stamey Municipal Building, 58 Park St., Canton

WAYNESVILLE

• Date: Tuesday, June 26

• Time: 6:30 p.m.

• Location: Town hall, 9 South Main St., Waynesville

tion of fund balance to do so.

Waynesville’s proposed 2018-19 budget asks for its second property tax increase in the past three years — 1 cent, that would raise the rate to 49.57 cents per $100 of valuation.

Waynesville’s $15 request was met with minor opposition June 12 when two people spoke against it in the broader context of the budget hearing, but resistance in Canton was much greater during the town’s budget hearing June 14 and didn’t come strictly from the 40-odd members of the public, many of whom were there specifically to oppose it.

“We missed our chance tonight,” said Alderman James Markey. “We missed our chance to tell the public exactly what this would be used for.”

Markey’s comments seemed to be directed at Burrell, who has a list of priorities but couldn’t speak to them specifically without the formal approval by the board because the proposed $30 could still be revised down-

Canton’s proposed vehicle fee could be used to fill potholes like these, on

“What will $30 get us — what projects could we fund? And what would a lower amount result in?”

— Kristina Smith, Canton alderwoman

ward or eliminated from the budget altogether at a subsequent public hearing.

Based on his observations, Markey voted against holding a public hearing on the vehicle tax at all, but was outvoted by the rest of the board.

“I don’t like the idea of imposing additional financial expectations on Canton citizens any more than they have expressed a desire to bear them. With that in mind, I would have supported the vehicle fee even at the full amount at our last meeting if I had

seen a clear case made as to how this additional funding would have a direct impact on our roads,” he said June 18. “Continuing infrastructure improvements was a main point of discussion during the campaign last fall, but so was transparency.”

Going forward, he explained, he expects that “if we are going to ask the citizens to bear additional financial responsibility, we will be able to point to how the additional funds will be used to the improvement of our town.”

Alderwoman Kristina Smith, who was elected during the same 2017 election as Smathers and Markey, seems to hold a view similar to Markey’s.

“For this new vehicle tax, what I need is to know what — specifically — this will bring the Town of Canton’s citizens and — more importantly — what it could prevent us from doing — to improve our streets and sidewalks in the short and long-term if we went without,” Smith said. “$30 per registered vehicle is a tough pill to swallow, so what I need to know is what will $30 get us — what projects could we fund? And what would a lower amount result in? Overall, it comes down to the data.”

Both Canton and Waynesville will hold public hearings dedicated solely to the issue of the vehicle tax. Budgets must be passed by July 1, so if the proposals are revised or rejected, any streets-related expenditures stemming from the tax would also be revised or rejected.

Markey said he will not be at the June 28 public hearing, citing a previously scheduled out-of-town trip.

Input sought for Waynesville comprehensive plan

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER

For months, town officials have been hard at work creating the framework and the process for updating the Town of Waynesville’s 16-year-old comprehensive plan. Now, it’s time for residents to have their say.

“This is our first opportunity to allow for the community to weigh in,” said Jackie Turner, associate manager of planning for Stewart, Inc., the Raleigh-based engineering firm charged with facilitating the update process, including an upcoming workshop. “There are people who have been waiting to say something about a particular area of interest. It might be a developer, it might be someone who’s looking at particular housing needs, people wondering about the business climate. This is a chance to hear from all sorts of people, and there’s going to be someone there to listen, to take their information down, and to talk about what their vision is.”

Waynesville’s current comprehensive plan was created after a similar process played out around the turn of the century and is representative of the hopes, dreams and fears of the community, and the decisions made within it will go on to affect everything from agriculture to zoning for the next two decades; the current plan is referenced regularly in all manner of town decision making.

and cultural land features,” she said. “So it covers a lot more than just someone thinking it’s about residential versus commercial versus industrial development.”

A steering committee has already weighed in, as have a number of stakeholders, however their input carries no more weight than that of the public.

“The one thing we don’t want people to say four months or six months from now is, ‘You know, you prepared this comprehensive plan for the community, and only 50 people had a chance to have input,’ or ‘These are all the consultant’s ideas.’ We very much want this to be Waynesville’s plan — it needs to be by, for, and about Waynesville.”

Comprehensive plan workshop

• Time: 3 to 7 p.m.

• Date: Thursday, June 21

• Location: Town of Waynesville Recreation Center, 430 Vance St., Waynesville

• For more information or to follow the development of the plan, visit www.waynesvillenc.gov/comprehensive-planupdate. To take a brief survey on your vision of and goals for the town, visit www.bit.ly/towcomp.

The workshop will consist of an open house format featuring several stations where input will be collected, but will also feature short presentations from Turner at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Refreshments will be available, as will an activity table for children.

“It’s self-paced. It will be engaging and can be fun, hopefully not stuffy. I will do a brief presentation so people can sit and get background, or if they have questions and answers as a group,” said Turner. “We’ll be giving people a little bit of an education. I know a lot of people understand what a comprehensive plan is, but a lot of people don’t. The last one was done in 2002, and 16 years is a while.”

“Even though it’s a comprehensive land use plan, it also looks at transportation, it looks at economic development, it looks at the preservation of open space, or natural

To that end, residents who miss the workshop can always leave input with the town’s planning department, or in an online survey that will be available at least through the end of this month.

After the workshop is completed, Turner and Stewart will compile all the information collected. Based on that feedback they’ll begin to identify oft-repeated themes repeated that reveal the community’s goals, which will be compared to the goals from other plans including the existing 2020 plan.

Once that’s complete, Stewart will draft specific recommendations and action steps for how those goals might be accomplished. These will be presented in a draft report that will be presented to the public some time this fall.

The History of “Texas Pete” Hot Sauce

When you think of North Carolina hot sauces, the first one that comes to mind may not be Texas Pete®. The first time I saw Texas Pete® at a North Carolina food show I was perplexed and remember thinking, “Wait a minute, that’s a North Carolina company?” The fact that it has a whole other state in its name often confuses people who are then surprised to learn this family-owned company, Garner Foods, started making hot sauce in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1929 and still occupies the same factory just outside of downtown Winston Salem.

The legend behind Texas Pete® hot sauce is that originally the Garner family thought about naming their hot sauce “Mexican Joe”. At that time many in the United States associated Mexico with hot and spicy foods; but the patriarch and founder of Garner Foods, Sam Garner, vetoed that idea and used the nickname of one of his sons, so it became “Texas Pete”.

(Source:https://www.texaspete.com/the-legend/)

What's your favorite hot sauce?

Find a wide assortment of hot sauces including local and regional brands at Ingles!

A life that changed lives

WNC mourns death of WCU Chancellor David Belcher

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

From the moment Western Carolina University Chancellor David O. Belcher announced he’d been diagnosed with brain cancer — more than two years ago, in April 2016 — the diagnosis ceased to be the burden of an individual person. It became the burden of the entire Catamount community, and when at age 60 Belcher finally lost his battle with cancer on Sunday, June 18, grief rippled quickly through the WCU campus and past the borders of Jackson County, threading through the mountain region and out into all the lives and communities that Belcher had touched during his years on earth.

“Please allow me to express my heartfelt appreciation for the incredible outpouring of love and support from the Western Carolina University community throughout our seven years here, but especially since David’s diagnosis in April 2016 and his decision to go on medical leave at the end of the 2017 calendar year,” his wife Susan Brummell Belcher wrote in a letter to the university community the afternoon David Belcher passed away. “We could not have made this unexpected journey without you.”

Belcher took the reins at WCU on July 1, 2011, hired to follow the 16-year-long administration of John Bardo. An accomplished pianist, Belcher began his career in 1988 at the music department of Missouri State University, moving into administration as assistant dean in 1993 and then in 1994 as dean of the College of Arts and Letters. In 2003, he moved to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs until taking the helm at WCU.

“Remember always that we — that you — are in the business of changing lives. And with your continued passion, support and commitment to this university, there is no limit to what you can accomplish.”

the students who studied there, but that the many students who come from families of limited financial means or who are the first in their families to go to college mean that there’s plenty of work to do to ensure Western makes the biggest impact possible.

“Remember always that we — that you — are in the business of changing lives,” said Belcher during his parting words to the Board of Trustees in December. “And with your continued passion, support and commitment to this university, there is no limit to what you can accomplish.”

When Belcher came to Cullowhee, he inherited some thorny problems. The university had a strained relationship with the local community, and state funding cuts left WCU facing a $4.85 million budget deficit.

“Send your most positive thoughts to our IT system. It cannot malfunction this year,” Belcher said during an address to university faculty following his 2011 appointment, eliciting a laugh from the audience.

Despite the challenges, in his 2012 inauguration speech Belcher laid out an ambitious list of promises to the WCU community. He pledged to develop the public-private partnership Millennial Campus, create a leadership academy for faculty and staff, organize an annual summer tour of the region for institutional leaders, convene a consortium of educational leaders from across Western North Carolina and make fundraising for endowed scholarships the school’s number one philanthropic priority. By the time he stepped down as chancellor on Dec. 31, 2017, Belcher’s administration had made significant progress on all five fronts.

‘THEBUSINESSOF CHANGINGLIVES’

David and Susan Belcher came as a team, jointly falling in love with the Catamount community immediately upon their arrival.

“We worked at several universities together, and they’ve been great places to help and work with, but when we got here it was a place we loved,” said David Belcher in an October 2017 interview with The Smoky Mountain News, weeks before announcing his cancer had returned.

Belcher said he loved the do-it-yourself energy of the campus and the intelligence of

A new Health and Human Sciences building stands in the Millennial Campus, with a medical office building now in the planning stage. The university holds an annual leadership academy that graduates 12 WCU employees each year, with the capstone experience a weeklong bus tour giving participants the chance to see firsthand the communities WCU serves, from Asheville to Hayesville. WNC’s educational leaders have banded together to improve the cross-institutional pathway from preschool to college, and the effort is playing out on a statewide level as well, with UNC President Margaret Spellings forming the My Future N.C. Commission, a

‘Forever in our purple-and-gold hearts’

Outpourings of support and sadness were in ample supply once news of Western Carolina University Chancellor David Belcher’s death reached the Catamount community at large. From political leaders to staff to students, nearly everyone had a story or a sentiment to share about how Belcher had impacted them.

“David Belcher’s passion, integrity and vision have forever shaped and strengthened the university that he loved so much. David’s fierce belief in Western Carolina University’s ability and responsibility to change the lives of students and transform the region it serves inspired the Catamount community, and it inspired me.”

- Margaret Spellings, president, UNC System

“If you had the chance to know him, you admired him. If you had the opportunity to work with him, you respected him. If you had the honor to call him friend, you loved him. He brought us leadership, which made us stronger. He brought us transparency, which instilled us with trust. He brought us music and laughter, which gave us joy. His stamp will forever be on this campus, in this region and in our hearts.”

personality, artistry and humanity shined so brightly.”

- Brian Railsback, chair, WCU Faculty Senate

“Dr. Belcher’s tenure marked a deeply positive shift in employee morale and engagement. He showed us what one person working with purpose and a generous spirit could accomplish. He made us feel like we were valued and that our work made a difference. Under his leadership, WCU came together as a community with pride of place. Dr. Belcher’s enthusiasm and energy was infectious; after hearing from him, you couldn’t help but to aim higher, work harder and give more.”

- Mandy Dockendorf, chair, WCU Staff Senate

“There is a renewed sense of pride among alumni as a result of his tenure at WCU, which was characterized by a unique ability to motivate others and empower them to thrive under his leadership. We are forever grateful for his vision, dedication and the lasting impact he and Susan have made in the lives of our students, community and alumni.”

- Robin Parton Pate, president, WCU Alumni Association

didn’t say a whole lot. We just understood and had sympathy with each other.”

- Boyce Deitz, commissioner, Jackson County

“Dr. Belcher was not only a chancellor but a friend to our community and an advocate, supporter. He and Susan would visit the store often, and I was always amazed by the man’s tenacity to just remember things. We’d go to the (WCU) ball games and he would reflect back on my kids, always called them by name.”

- Mickey Luker, commissioner, Jackson County

“Chancellor Belcher was a passionate leader that inspired all who knew him to strive for greatness. He had a contagious smile that would light up a room. His influence will carry on forever in the hearts of those who had the privilege of knowing him.”

- Richard Sneed, principal chief, Eastern Band

- Patricia Kaemmerling, chair, WCU Board of

Trustees

“His advice on how to get from A to Z was genius. He made my job much easier. His incredible administrative skill might have been easy to miss because he made it look so easy and because his huge

“Chancellor Belcher never failed to make the student voice the loudest in the room. He will forever be in our purple-and-gold hearts, and remembered for leading this institution into a new era. He will be missed as more than just our chancellor, but also our friend, cheerleader and hero.”

- Katherine Spalding, president, WCU Student Government Association

“His legacy and the mark that he left here on our community is immeasurable, and it is with a great amount of loss that we will miss him.”

- Brian McMahan, commission chairman, Jackson County

“Last time I saw Dr. Belcher was in the grocery store, and I was kind of having a hard time with some things I’d been going through. He and I had a long hug and embraced and

“Dr. Belcher was nothing short of a champion in the Western North Carolina community — he was a leader, a visionary, a mentor and a dear friend to so many over the years, beloved by the entire Western Carolina institution where he served as Chancellor. Though he spent the last years of his life battling several challenging health circumstances, Dr. Belcher never wavered and conducted himself as he so often did: with impeccable character, class and integrity.”

- Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville

Belcher serenades WCU’s December 2017 graduates with a pair of air horns (left) as they are recognized onstage. Belcher receives a hug from a pair of WCU students (right) during an impromptu rally held in April 2016, the day after he’d announced that he’d been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

B ELCHER, CONTINUEDFROM 6

high-level task force formed to examine those pathways on a larger scale.

And scholarships have certainly become WCU’s top philanthropic priority, with the Lead the Way campaign to raise money for endowed scholarships having to adjust its goal upward when it neared its original aim of $50 million much more quickly than expected. The Belchers played an instrumental role in the campaign’s success, in October 2017 announcing a $1.23 million scholarship gift and challenging others to follow in their footsteps. That call was heeded, with multiple gifts of $1 million or more rolling in since.

The Belcher administration has seen a laundry list of other accomplishments as well. Freshman retention skyrocketed from 73 percent between fall 2011 and fall 2012 to reach Belcher’s goal of 80 percent retention by 2020 five years early, in 2015. Belcher worked to secure $110 million in state funding to replace WCU’s 1970s-era Natural Sciences Building, guided implementation of the N.C. Promise tuition reduction program, and consolidated economic growth-related graduate and undergraduate programs at a new instructional site in Asheville — to name a few of many milestones reached.

LEADINGWITHPASSION

Anyone in a position of leadership can expect to be criticized and disliked at times, if only by a vocal minority. The more visible the role, the more ironclad the rule.

Belcher, however, seemed to be exempt from that maxim. Even before his cancer diagnosis, students, staff, faculty and community members had mainly positive things to say about their chancellor. After his death, the outpouring swelled.

“David Belcher, my friend and our chancellor, was a truly inspiring leader with an uncanny ability to touch the soul of everyone he met,” said Pat Kaemmerling, chair of the WCU Board of Trustees. “With his razorsharp wit, his intense focus on the pursuit of excellence and his abounding love for students, David re-energized our Western Carolina University community.”

Memorial service planned

The public is invited to a memorial service with Susan Brummell Belcher and the entire Belcher family to celebrate Dr. David Belcher’s life and accomplishments, at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center on the Western Carolina University campus.

A dessert reception will follow the service in the Bardo Arts Center Star Lobby. Those unable to attend in person can watch the service via live stream.

In lieu of flowers, the Belchers request that memorials be directed to foundation endowments at the universities that shaped David Belcher’s life — Western Carolina University, Furman University, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Missouri State University.

In addition to his wife of 14 years, Belcher is survived by his brother Philip Burgess Belcher and wife Kelly of Asheville; sister Elizabeth Belcher Mixon and husband Ben of Rock Hill, South Carolina; and sister Miriam Belcher Ponder and husband Dean of Huntersville. He also is survived by his aunt, Martha White of Allendale, South Carolina, and nephews and nieces Owen Belcher and wife Olga Shupyatskaya, Kera Belcher, Sarah Mixon, Eleanor Mixon and Noah Ponder.

Share condolences, watch the service or learn more about Belcher’s life by visiting www.wcu.edu/davidobelcher. To honor Belcher’s memory with a donation to WCU, visit www.wcu.edu/engage/give-to-wcu.

Nobody relied on that energy more than Dr. Allison Morrison-Shetlar, who was charged with taking over as acting chancellor after Belcher stepped down.

“I learned a lot from David Belcher,” she said. “I worked with him for over four years, and he is a colleague and a mentor and a friend, and he supported my development as an educator. What he has done is he has built a tremendous team to move the mission of

the institution forward. He has really met the educational goals and needs of the region, and in studying under him it’s been my goal to continue his legacy, and to continue the impact that he has had on the region and in the state.”

Belcher had many qualities that made him such an exemplary leader, MorrisonShetlar said, but two stand out among the rest: passion and humor.

Belcher was a full-force-ahead, give-it-110percent sort of person, and he was a people person. He loved the students and spent the time to understand them and talk with them, Morrison-Shetlar said, and he had a passion for education and a desire to engage others toward the goal of improving educational opportunities across the region. Belcher was a familiar face at all manner of community and university events and an avid supporter of Catamount activities, from the concert hall to the football field — the outpouring of condolences and shared memories on Belcher’s memorial website contains just as many posts from students as from elected officials and community members.

“Dr. Belcher stopped me on campus one morning just to talk. That day changed my life, knowing that someone so influential and of stature cared for every individual on campus. Thank you for being the reason I made it through and fell in love with my school. Your memory will never be lost and your contagious spirit will continue to empower all students at WCU,” Catamount Madeline Slaughter wrote on the site.

Next to passion, said Morrison-Shetlar, stands humor.

“Because of his sense of humor, because of his ability to connect with people through humor and through being well-informed and impactful, his humor again engaged people and brought them to the table,” she said.

FOLLOWINGTHELEGACY

When Belcher announced the return of his cancer and his decision to go on medical leave, university leaders had to shelve their feelings and develop a plan to fill Belcher’s soon-to-be-empty office. Though MorrisonShetlar agreed to serve as acting chancellor,

she quickly announced she would not apply for the permanent job. The Board of Trustees formed a chancellor search committee that included trustees, university faculty, staff and community leaders, hosting a series of forums to gather input from all members of the Catamount community as to what they’d like to see in a new chancellor.

For many, it was a hard question to answer — because really, they just wanted to be able to keep the one they had.

“We’re not going to get another Dr. Belcher,” WCU alum Ted Yoder said during a Feb. 5 community forum. “We’ve got to watch the danger of expecting too much. We can’t find somebody just like him — there’s nobody like him. But there are plenty of people out there who would love this place and love to serve and help us grow and be a better place to be.”

The WCU community will soon find out who will be given the task of attempting to follow Belcher’s legacy. During a closed-session meeting Friday, June 1, the Board of Trustees approved a list of three finalists for the chancellor’s job. Those names are now on the desk of UNC President Margaret Spellings, who will select one name to put forward for approval from the UNC Board of Governors. The board’s next scheduled meeting is Friday, July 27, at Chapel Hill — during her charge to the search committee in January, Spellings had asked the group to work toward having a new chancellor on the job by mid-August.

“They will have big shoes to fill,” said Morrison-Shetlar of the new chancellor. “It’s a bit of a cliché, but I can also say there’s a solid foundation for the next chancellor to build on.”

While the road forward will be hard, the university can walk it knowing that it has the blessing and confidence of Belcher himself.

“I am truly sad that I can no longer walk this path with you, but know that I am relieved and glad that our university will be in such good hands. Your hands,” Belcher told trustees in December. “I am so proud of the many wonderful things that we have accomplished together, and I am comforted by thoughts of the brighter future to come for Western Carolina University.”

Central Haywood gym will come down

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER

An engineering report issued to Haywood County Schools June 11 resulted in unanimous approval of a resolution by the board that same day declaring Central Haywood High School’s gymnasium “unsound and unsafe,” but complicated funding streams have left Haywood officials wondering where to find some of the money to replace it.

“That’s a great question,” said Chuck Francis, chairman of the HCS board. “We can build stuff, but it’s hard to find money to tear stuff down.”

Therein lies some gallows humor in that Haywood Schools probably wouldn’t have a problem paying to build a new structure, but probably would have a problem finding money to tear down a deteriorating structure that’s falling apart on its own.

“I’m not sure exactly if we can use lottery money for this or not,” Francis said, referring to the state’s education lottery proceeds. “There’s a lot of strings attached to that money.”

Lottery funds can be used for classroom construction or instructional buildings, including gymnasiums, but not necessarily for things that aren’t directly related to student instruction, like central office operations, land purchases, or school bus garages. Demolition may not qualify, either.

Repairs had been made to the 65-year-old gymnasium at several points in the past, but large cracks high in the concrete masonry walls are no longer able to be patched, according to the report.

The 2004 back-to-back storms devastated much of Western North Carolina, especially Canton and Clyde; Francis said the gymnasium took on “three or four feet” of stormwater.

According to a press release issued by HCS, Director of Maintenance Joe Buchanan has been directed to solicit bids for demolition, a process he says is underway and as yet has no definite timeline.

“We’ve got the funds that we set aside for the renovation of that gym, so hopefully we’ll be able to continue to use that for the demolition, but it’ll depend on what that number comes back to,” said Buchanan.

Accommodations were immediately made for students who used the gym.

“Right now we’ve temporarily got the physical education kids in the auditorium,” Buchanan said last week, before school let out for the summer. “We have an electrical class that uses that gymnasium and a foods class,

“I believe there are too many deficiencies and too much damage to feasibly repair or reinforce the building,” reads the report from Asheville-based Dunn Structural Engineering. “Each of the structural systems (roof framing, roof diaphragm, walls, columns and foundations) are weakened or fundamentally unsound. Further, the walls, which provide the lateral resistance to wind and seismic loads, do not meet the current building code or design standards. The building is also located in the floodway, leaving the foundations and walls subject to further compromise and potential loss of stability. It is my opinion that the building is beyond repair and should be raised [sic].”

That’s disappointing news for Francis.

“The sad part is, [hurricanes] Frances and Ivan did a lot of damage to the building and the board made best decision they could at the time, so we got another 14 years out of it,” he said.

and we are already looking at spaces in Central Haywood to accommodate those.”

But Buchanan is eager to see the building go.

“As soon as possible,” he said. “So we don’t have to worry about the safety of our staff or students or the community.”

It’s unclear whether or not there will be a new building up by next fall, but both Francis and Buchanan said it seems to be the will of the board to replace the gym at the school, which serves about 100 students.

“Right now, that is the consensus of the board,” Buchanan said. “They want some type of facility back there for the children of Central Haywood High School.”

Francis said the building also serves as an important gathering place in Clyde, and has hosted basketball games and served as a locker room for local youth football teams as well as a meeting space for the community as a whole.

As a young, multi-platform entrepreneur, I have greatly appreciated the amount of public engagement and vocational exploration that the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce has afforded me. Both personally as an ambassador, and professionally with Moxxie Marketing, they have shown an incredible amount of support. The Chamber provides a perfect setting to better engage with our community through philanthropy, as well as other acts that shape the whole county. I truly can’t wait for all of the amazing things this county will be able to do in the next decade with a Chamber like ours!

— Calab Tate, Moxxie Marketing

Answers still wanted in Bryson City K9 death

Town could face a breach of contract lawsuit

BY J ESSI STONE

N EWS E DITOR

It’s been several months since a young police K9, Kanon, died while in the possession of a Bryson City Police Department employee, but the local community and the nonprofit organization that donated the Dutch shepherd are still seeking answers to what really happened.

Bryson City Police Chief Greg Jones said the cause of Kanon’s death was nothing more than a tragic accident. To the best of his knowledge, he said the K9 most likely choked on a piece of his Igloo doghouse inside his kennel in the middle of the night.

“He kept chewing on the dog house, doing it every day and we couldn’t stop him,” Jones said. “I am a dog lover and this upset me so bad I had a stroke. It’s all I could think about in the hospital for four days.”

Despite the chief’s anguish over Kanon’s death, Carol Skaziak, founder of the Throw Away Dogs Project in Pennsylvania, said she couldn’t help but think there’s more to the story that isn’t being told. While she was told Kanon died in the early morning hours of March 13, she has reason to believe he had died several weeks before and two former employees with the police department are backing up her claims.

Thomas Carswell, a former administrative assistant for the department who now works for the Sylva Police Department, said he was informed of Kanon’s death long before his last day on March 1.

“I asked the chief one day what the deal was with Kanon and he said Kanon was dead — that he had bit off a piece of his kennel and choked on it,” he said.

Josh Freeman, who served as a Bryson City police officer for eight years until he resigned in April, said Kanon’s death was definitely suspicious. Whether it was an accident or not, he recalls hearing about the K9 death weeks before March 13. He remembers helping direct traffic one morning in late February when he heard the news.

“The chief pulled up and he was mad. I asked what was wrong and was told the dog was dead — that he had choked on a piece of plastic,” Freeman said.

Skaziak said the more questions she asks, the more push back she is getting from town officials and the police department.

“I’ve gotten no respect from any of them. I’m trying to be patient but I don’t know what’s taking so long. I’m literally getting nowhere,” she said. “There has been a breach of contract and I have a civil suit on my hands.”

Skaziak said she won’t stop until she gets answers regarding Kanon’s death and those responsible are held accountable. She has

K9 Officer Kanon was kept at Jeff Fowler’s home in an enclosed kennel and doghouse.

Donated photo

“We have a police officer dead and I want the person who killed him to pay for that. It’s against the law whether you have two legs or four legs.”

— Carol Skaziak, founder of the Throw Away Dogs Project

posted pictures of Kanon on the Throw Away Dogs Project Facebook page with the hashtag “#justiceforkanon” and keeps her followers updated on any developments. She admits her followers may have gone overboard by writing hateful letters and making phone calls to the town and police department, but she says it’s only because the situation is so unbelievable and she feels like Bryson City officials aren’t taking it seriously.

“I’m looking for justice for this police officer,” she said. “He was a K9 police officer whether they want to believe it or not. He’s not just a dog.”

THROW AWAY DOGS

The Throw Away Dogs Project is a nonprofit organization with the mission of savings dogs from shelters, training them to be K9 officers and relocating them to communities who need their skills. Experienced K9 law enforcement officers train the dogs for at least six months before they’re adopted out.

Since the nonprofit formed in 2014, Skaziak said she’s placed 24 dogs with law enforcement agencies all over the country. Most recently they trained a pit bull and donated him to an agency in Texas and donated a K9 black lab to an agency in Nebraska.

“We can train any dog that has the poten-

tial — they have to have the prey and hunt drive and focus needed to be a K9,” she said.

Skaziak said she goes to great lengths to ensure her dogs are properly trained and placed with the right dog handler. Before she donates a dog, she requires the handler to come to meet the dog in Pennsylvania so she can see whether the pair will be a good match.

She said Bryson City Police Department K9 officer Chris Dudley is the one who reached out to her organization and requested a dog for their agency. According to Skaziak, Dudley told her he was getting ready to retire his K9 Mikey and that the department desperately needed a new one to combat the drug problems in Bryson City. She said she was impressed with his adamant request for a dog and after conducting several interviews with him, she felt comfortable inviting him up to meet Kanon.

Skaziak said she was clear it needed to be the handler that came to get the dog, and Dudley signed a contact information document stating he would be Kanon’s handler.

Dudley and Assistant Police Chief Brian Jenkins also signed a K9 adoption agreement, which states that the agency understands the canine is to live with the assigned handler at all times.

By signing the agreement, the police department also agreed to complete the

required training for the handler and the K9 to be certified together as a unit within 150 days of the adoption. If that training isn’t completed within the 150 days, the agreement states that the agency will forfeit the donation and the dog shall be returned to Throw Away Dogs Project.

The agreement specifies that if for any reason the donated canine is unacceptable for training or if any unforeseeable circumstances occur, the dog should be returned to the nonprofit immediately. Agencies are not allowed to sell, give away or surrender the dog to any other shelter.

In filling out the application questionnaire dated Sept. 5, 2017, which had Chief Jones’ signature at the bottom, he specified the department had the necessary equipment and vehicle needed for the new K9 and that the police department chief and the town had authorized and agreed upon funding for an additional K9. However, during a follow-up interview, Jones said the town did not know about the department getting Kanon and that he had never signed anything claiming that it did.

“The town didn’t know anything about this. I hadn’t asked them for permission,” Jones said.

In the past, he said, any K9 used by the department has been a privately owned dog. When Jones had his K9 Sarge, he personally bought him, paid for his training and had him certified on his own dime before contracting with the town to provide K9 services in exchange for the town insuring the K9 on its insurance policy. Once he had the dog donated, his officer certified and the unit trained together, Jones said he planned to

approach the town about adding Kanon to the town insurance.

Bryson City Mayor Tom Sutton said the town manager and the town board didn’t know anything about the K9 until after it passed away.

“We didn’t know they had the dog until after the dog was deceased,” he said. “They went through the Throw Away Dogs Project first — I’d rather them not do it that way but they tried to show some initiative and it didn’t work out well for them, but there was no wrong doing.”

KANON

Just like all the dogs the nonprofit adopts out, Skaziak said Kanon, a 2-year-old Dutch shepherd, was very special to her. She rescued him from being euthanized at a shelter because she saw his potential to be an excellent K9 officer.

“He was such a special boy, he just needed someone to care for and love him,” she said. “He had so much energy and he was good at what he did.”

Dudley and Jenkins traveled up to Pennsylvania in November 2017 to meet Skaziak and Kanon. Seeing Dudley and Kanon hit it off, Skaziak allowed him to take the K9 back with him to Bryson City.

Chief Jones has plenty of experience with K9 officers — he trained five K9s in the military and has worked several of his own K9s during his law enforcement career in Western North Carolina. After meeting Kanon, he said it was clear he had the talent but needed

strong guidance because he was a biter and liked to chew on everything.

“It was probably a mistake getting the dog — he was young and not trained,” he said.

“He was quirky but had a strong nose. He needed to be socialized and he needed to know his handler. He had been bounced around a lot.”

Skaziak disputes Jones’ comments about Kanon’s training and biting habits. With a strong snout, she said her K9 handlers were able to train Kanon to sniff out every narcotic smell except marijuana within six months. The only training he needed was to be certified with his new handler in North Carolina.

“Kanon has never bit anything — he’s not a destroyer — but that’s not to say he wouldn’t bite on something in his kennel if he was being starved or not getting what he needed. But he lived with my trainer for six months and there was never a problem,” she said.

Skaziak said Kanon was only adopted out one time before being donated to Bryson City and his return to Throw Away Dogs Project had nothing to do with his job performance.

A small agency in Tennessee returned Kanon after it was discovered that the handler had lied on his job application and did not have the proper training to be an officer, let alone a K9 handler.

“The officer had lied on his application so they had to fire him,” Skaziak said. “They said they had to return the dog and Bryson City should have done the same thing.”

WHATWENTWRONG?

When Dudley and Jenkins returned to Bryson City with Kanon, Jones said the plan was for Dudley to retire his K9 Mikey, who is going on 11 and having health problems, and take Kanon into his possession. That’s not what happened.

“I assumed Chris would take the dog, but he didn’t take the dog,” Jones said. “I had just hired a young officer (Jeff Fowler) and I thought he had what it took to be a K9 officer.”

While the police department was still working toward getting Fowler’s law enforcement certification, Jones said he sent Kanon home with Fowler. The department supplied Fowler with food, a doghouse and a kennel for Fowler to keep Kanon at his house and begin bonding and training with him.

Skaziak said Kanon should have never been sent home with someone who wasn’t a certified officer. However, Jones said Fowler had graduated from Basic Law Enforcement Training and was an employee with the police department at the time.

“He was getting paid to come in and answer phones and be behind a desk to greet visitors – he could do everything the rest of the department can do with the exception of making arrests,” Jones said. “He had the authority to have the dog.”

Jones said the state certification process for Fowler was taking longer than expected due to a couple of charges that showed up on his background check.

“He told me from day one that a couple years ago he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a female – normally if you’re charged and convicted it would be a no go but he was charged and within a couple of days it was voluntarily dismissed by the state and expunged from his record,” Jones said.

Even though it had been expunged, Jones said the issue caused the certification process to drag on longer than normal. In the meantime, he said Kanon was doing well within Fowler’s care.

“He was almost over his quirkiness, but one morning I was ready to send him back up North because if I couldn’t get the officer’s certification back from the state I had to take him off the payroll,” Jones said.

But there was a lot going on at the department during the time — the police department was in the process of moving into its new office space inside the federal building and Jones said it was a bit chaotic for a while.

KANON’SDEATH

On the morning of March 13, Jones said Fowler called him to let him know Kanon had died sometime in the night — probably from choking on a piece of plastic he had chewed off of his doghouse. He said he contacted Throw Away Dogs Project to let them know what had happened and that he wanted to have a memorial for Kanon when the time was right.

“The dog had been out there (in the kennel) for several hours,” Jones said. “I took and

had it cremated the same as I did for my dog Sarge when he passed.”

Skaziak remembers the entire incident differently. She said she likes to keep in communication with the agencies because she wants to make sure the dog is doing well and also likes to document the unit’s progress on the Throw Away Dogs Project Facebook page so followers can see the good work they do.

While most agencies she has worked with love to send her pictures and updates on the K9, Skaziak said communication with the Bryson City Police Department was almost nonexistent once they took possession of Kanon.

“This wasn’t happening with Bryon City —  I couldn’t get in touch with them, which I thought was odd,” she said.

the dog was and told Jones she didn’t want Kanon to be cremated until an autopsy could be performed. She was given the number to Bryson City Veterinary Hospital and called to tell them not to cremate Kanon and discuss plans of how to transport his body back to Pennsylvania.

After her initial conversation with the vet office, Skaziak said the office called her back saying they made a mistake and they had not seen Kanon in their office that morning.

“They said, ‘If you want to ask us any more questions, contact my lawyer. The dog was taken to get cremated somewhere else,’” Skaziak recalled. “They wouldn’t give us any information on where he was. I told them not to have the dog cremated or they’d have a

lapse between Kanon’s death and the ashes being sent was due to him being hospitalized and trying to organize a memorial for Kanon.

“When I got better we planned a memorial at Deep Creek Church, but apparently it didn’t get noticed right in the newspaper so no one showed up,” Jones said. “It was just me sitting there crying with Kanon’s ashes.”

Skaziak said the moment she received the ashes and saw the piece of clay with a paw print on it, she questioned whether it was Kanon that was even cremated on March 13. Kanon was a Dutch shepherd, which are more slender dogs with smaller paws, but Skaziak said the paw print given to them was too large to be Kanon’s. She said it looked more like the size of a German shepherd paw.

“I am a dog lover and this upset me so bad I had a stroke. It’s all I could think about in the hospital for four days.”

— Greg Jones, Bryson City Police Chief

She was made aware Dudley was reinstating his K9 Mikey and that Kanon would be assigned another handler, but she said Jones wouldn’t give her a name of the officer.

“He told us it was another police officer, but we had no idea he wasn’t certified yet,” she said. “Fast forward to March, I had such limited contact with them I texted Chris Dudley because I wanted to know if Kanon was OK. I just had a funny feeling. I started communicating with them through Facebook because at least I could see they read my messages but they wouldn’t respond to my calls.”

Skaziak finally had her K9 trainer reach out to Dudley. She said Dudley responded by saying he had nothing to do with Kanon and that they needed to contact the police chief. She said she didn’t get a call back from Chief Jones until the morning of March 13 when he told her trainer that Kanon had died in the early morning hours from either choking or strangulation.

Skaziak said she immediately asked where

major lawsuit on their hands. He said it was too late.”

Skaziak did obtain a copy of a cremation order from Peaceful Paws Pet Cremations in Sylva. The order form is dated March 13, 2018, for “Kannon” and the owner name is listed as James Jones (Chief James Greg Jones). The form also states “no charge” for the cremation and the clay paw print.

Skaziak received Kanon’s ashes in the mail and a brief letter signed by Town Manager Regina Mathis dated May 11.

“First I would like to express that the Town of Bryson City is deeply saddened by the death of Kanon. We are very sorry for the unfortunate event that led to his death. It was reported that he had chewed and ingested a piece of plastic from his dog house and choked or strangled on it,” Mathis wrote in the letter. “We would like to honor Kanon by sending his ashes back to Throw Away Dogs Project along with a flag and a baked paw print.”

Jones explained that the extended time

Skaziak called the crematory where Kanon was allegedly cremated and spoke to a woman who said she picked Kanon up from Chief Jones. Skaziak said the woman told her she met the chief in a parking lot and he handed her a body bag containing the dog to be cremated. She sent the woman a picture of Kanon to see if she could confirm it was Kanon who was cremated.

“I asked her if she could confirm it was him. She got quiet. Then she said, ‘I didn’t open the bag, all I do is cut a hole in the bag and pull the paw out to make the print,’” Skaziak said. “I don’t think it was my dog. I had such a bad feeling and I think he died beforehand because we had no communications from them. I think he died and they didn’t know what to say to me.”

Jones maintains Skaziak’s accusation that Kanon was killed or that the ashes returned to her weren’t Kanon’s is outrageous.

“No one killed this dog. We loved Kanon,” he said.

WHATNOW?

Besides a strong reprimand from the town board, Jones said no one in his department received any disciplinary action because of the events that led to Kanon’s death.

Mayor Tom Sutton said there had been no internal investigation into the incident and he doesn’t see the need for one.

“Our police chief responded when the dog died — he’s an experienced K9 handler himself,” he said. “It’s been dealt with and I’ve asked the folks at Throw Away Dogs Project what I can do to resolve it but I’m not sure what they want. They say they want honest answers but this isn’t something you’d call SBI on.”

Skaziak heard Fowler had since been fired from the department, but Jones said that’s not the case. Jones does not have hiring or firing powers, but Town Manager Regina Mathis does. Sutton confirmed that Fowler was taken off the payroll but had not been fired.

“His certification hasn’t come through yet — it was taking too long and we’re a small department and have to fill the spot,” Sutton said. “We’re still hoping the paper trail will lead him back here.”

Fowler went before the Criminal Justice Education & Training Standards Commission in Raleigh in May as the next step toward getting his certification. Jones said the state board cleared him and a few other people have to sign off on the paperwork before Fowler will officially receive the credentials he needs to be able to patrol and arrest.

As Skaziak continues to seek answers and help from anyone who will listen, she has not yet filed a lawsuit against the town or police department.

“We have a police officer dead and I want the person who killed him to pay for that. It’s against the law whether you have two legs or four legs,” she said. “The police department gave this dog to an ex criminal I want them to pay. They didn’t respect this donation that was supposed to better their community.”

Looking to the future, Jones said it’s unlikely the town will be able to afford a new K9 dog and everything that comes along with it — training classes, proper K9 transport, veterinarian bills and pseudo-narcotics needed for training purposes.

The cost can be upward of $15,000 just for a trained K9. The 2018-19 state budget does include a $15,000 allotment for Bryson City’s K9 unit in the fight against drugs in the community, but Jones is unsure if that money will come through now that the department lost Kanon.

While Dudley, the department’s only K9 officer, wouldn’t comment on Kanon’s death, he did say his K9 Mikey should probably be retired soon. While Mikey is still eager to go to work with Dudley every day, his health is declining.

Without a K9 on staff, Jones worries about the department’s ability to be able to fight the growing drug epidemic.

Sutton said he’d also have a hard time approving a new K9 unit when Mikey retires considering the cost as well as the high turn over rates at the police department right now.

“I would say no right now because of a lot of personnel turn over. It’s a lot of expense to take on if you’re not sure you’ll have someone committed to that,” he said. “It worries me we’d commit to the animal and not be able to utilize it efficiently if we don’t have a full-time handler.”

Penalty for trespassing on Cherokee land to increase

Law would target persons who have been banished by Tribal Council

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

Enforcing banishments could become easier for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians depending on the fate of a bill that would heighten the penalty for trespassing on Cherokee land.

“When the tribe created the ability through ordinance for Tribal Council to exempt or banish non-enrolled lawbreakers from tribal land, it sounded like a great idea in theory,” said Principal Chief Richard Sneed. “But at the time we would banish people who were drug dealers or criminals breaking the law repeatedly on tribal land and would exclude them, but there was nothing in the law that had any deterrent to it to keep them from coming back on tribal land.”

As it stands now, returning to the Qualla Boundary after being banished is a Class 3 Misdemeanor, the least serious type of misdemeanor. Even a person with five prior convictions would get a maximum penalty of a $200 fine and 20 days in prison for the offense, with a minimum penalty of one day of community service — if the crime was

even prosecuted. State prosecutors are busy, and they wouldn’t always pursue a crime occupying the same class as removing a shopping cart from a grocery store parking lot or making frivolous 911 calls.

As outlined in the bill, the first instance of entering Cherokee land after banishment would merit a Class 2 Misdemeanor, and any subsequent offense would be a Class I Felony. A Class I Felony, the lowest felony level under state law, comes with a prison sentence of three to 12 months and is the same level of offense as crimes such as making terroristic threats or stealing a dog. Reclassifying the trespassing crime would give banishments more “teeth,” Sneed said.

“We don’t banish a lot of people in the first place, but when we do they’re usually serious offenders, and we don’t want them on tribal land,” said Sneed.

According to a list of banished people published by The Cherokee One Feather, 92 people are currently banned from Cherokee land through banishment resolutions, the oldest of which was passed in 2000. None of those people are enrolled members — the EBCI has rarely if ever banished an enrolled member from tribal land in recent history. Banishment resolutions typically list various criminal convictions as the basis for excluding a person from the Qualla Boundary.

While Cherokee has its own justice system, it generally can’t prosecute people who

aren’t tribal members. The sole exception to that rule is in the Violence Against Women Act, which permits Native American tribes to prosecute perpetrators of domestic violence whether or not they’re members of the tribe.

“The state would have to take it up, and they’ve got bigger issues to deal with than a Class 3 Misdemeanor because somebody’s on tribal land,” said Sneed.

The bill to institute stronger penalties for trespassers was originally introduced to the House of Representatives April 11 as a bill dealing with how state employees should be paid when on leave due to a temporary incapacity to perform the work. However, in the third version of the bill filed April 13, it was rewritten to address trespassing penalties on the Qualla Boundary. It passed the House by unanimous vote April 26 and then traveled to the Senate, where it also passed unanimously after coming to a vote June 12. The House then concurred with

the Senate version of the bill the next day, in yet another unanimous vote. It was presented to Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday, June 15, and was still awaiting his signature as of press time.

“I think it was an appropriate response to dealing with individuals with nefarious intent that come on tribal lands,” said Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin. “It sets up a mechanism to banish them from the tribal lands. If they violate that banishment, there is an appropriate response.”

Davis was a champion of the bill on the floor of the General Assembly, said Sneed, speaking in favor of it before the Senate took its vote. Sneed also thanked Governmental Liaison Bill Taylor, Vice Chief Alan “B” Ensley and Tribal Council for their work in support of the measure.

“It demonstrates how important it is to be a presence and to build those relationships with the members of the House and the Senate so they know what our issues are and why it’s important to us,” he said.

A June 7 action from the Cherokee Tribal Council may have helped to push the issue forward. During a meeting on that day, the body voted unanimously to approve a resolution Taylor submitted in support of state legislation to “make it a violation of state law for a person to enter onto tribal lands if that person is subject to an exclusion resolution duly enacted by Tribal Council and approved pursuant to tribal law.”

If enacted, the new penalties would apply to offenses committed on or after Dec. 1.

Public invited to NAACP picnic

The Haywood County Unit of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) is hosting a free picnic from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the American Legion Field, 171 Legion Field, Waynesville.

The menu will feature hamburgers, hotdogs and vegetarian options. The NAACP urges interested persons to bring a chair or blanket or sit under the tent; play games or socialize; listen to music by the DJ; reconnect with old friends or meet new ones. Children and families are invited anytime during the afternoon. There will be activities for everyone.

“We want to let people know that we are present in the community and that we are an organization made up of all races,” said NAACP President Chuck Dickson. “We want to provide an opportunity for folks from diverse backgrounds to interact and hope to welcome new members.”

While it is not necessary to a member of the NAACP to attend the picnic, membership applications will be available for those wishing to join the oldest civil rights organization in the United States. The event will be held rain or shine.

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Please stop in to fill out application or email resume to haywoodheating@bellsouth.net.

Haywood Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.

1275 Asheville Rd. Waynesville

JUNE CLASS SCHEDULE

MONDAY

9-10 AM: Slow Flow Yoga w/ Sara • 10:30-11:30: Gentle Yin Yoga w/ Sara • 5:45-6:45: Mixed Level Flow Yoga w/ Candra • 6-7: Yoga Basics w/ Sara • 7- 8: Buti Yoga w/ Jay

TUESDAY

9-10 AM: Gentle Yoga w/ Jay • 10:30-11:30: Flow + Myofascial Release w/ Jay • 12- 1: Qi Gong w/ Bill • 5:306:30: Gentle Yoga w/ Hanna • 5:30-6:15: Barre Above* w/ Jay • 6:30- 7:30: Fluid Unwind w/ Hanna • 6:30- 7:30: Mixed Level Flow @ Lake Junaluska w/ Kendall

WEDNESDAY

9-10 AM: Flow + Deep Stretch w/ Sara • 10:30-11:30: Gentle Yin Yoga w/ Sara • 5:45-6:45: Mixed Level Flow Yoga w/ Maura • 6- 7: Hot Stone Restorative w/ Amber • 7-8: Intro to Flow + Restorative w/ Maura

THURSDAY

6- 7 AM: Sunrise Yoga w/ Michael • 9-10: Gentle (Chair) Yoga w/ Jay •10:30-11:30: Mixed Level Flow w/ Abbie •10:3011:30: Gentle Yoga @ Lake Junaluska w/ Amber • 2:15 –3:15: Qi gong w/ Bill • 5:30-6:15: Barre Above* w/ Jay • 5:15-6:15: Movement and Meditation w/ Amber • 5:45-6:45: Mixed Level Flow Yoga w/ Maura • 6:30-7:30 PM: Gentle Yoga w/ Amber • 6:30-7:30 PM: Candlelight Flow w/ Kendall FRIDAY

9-10 AM: Hot Stone Restorative w/ Amber • 10:30 – 11:30: Gentle Yin Yoga w/ Sara • 12- 1: Barre + Flow w/ Jay •

9-10 AM: Mixed Level Flow Yoga w/ Michael or Candra • 10:30-11:30: Beginner Flow Yoga w/ Maura

Laying down the law

Officers, DA explain challenges within the system

BY J ESSI STONE

N EWS E DITOR

If you don’t have much experience within the criminal justice system, trying to navigate the system can be frustrating.

A lack of understanding can lead to residents finger pointing and feeling like the law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges within the system don’t have any sympathy for their situation.

Ashley Welch, 30th Judicial District Attorney, organized a criminal justice forum in Waynesville last week to assure the community that her staff and local law enforcement agencies are doing the best they can despite the challenges they face.

“I’m here because I care about what I do and I care about the people who work for me,” she said to the packed room at Waynesville Police Department. “The justice system is far from perfect and we get frustrated with it every day, but there are all these laws and sentencing requirements that we have to work within. I’m not telling you you’ll be happy by the end of this meeting, but I hope you’ll have a better understanding of it and what we’re trying to do.”

Welch explained the difficulties of prosecuting those types of offenses.

“If they’re picked up on drunk and disorderly — an incredibly low misdemeanor — they’re not getting jail time for that,” she said.

“But if you have someone who’s homeless and they can’t get a $500 bond to get out — they sit in jail 15 days on a drunk and disorderly and when they come up before a judge they plead guilty, get time served and they’re right back at it.”

With limited staff and resources, Welch said her office had to make tough decisions when it comes to what cases to prosecute.

The 30th Judicial District currently has 14 prosecutors to cover every court in seven counties. When a district court docket in Haywood County can include up to 400 cases for one day, it’s no surprise that things like speeding tickets and misdemeanor drug charges get reduced or plead down. Welch said certain cases of people passing a school bus or failure to maintain a lane are taken more seriously. Prosecutors also take a violator’s past record into consideration.

Police Chief Bill Hollingsed said the police department gets many questions and accusations hurled at it through social media. However, he said social media is not a good platform for him to respond to those questions and concerns, which is why having public forums is a good idea to discuss what’s happening in the community.

“This is not the same community I grew up in 20 years ago,” he said, referring to the

drug problems facing Waynesville.

While 10 years ago, the drug of choice on the streets was methamphetamine, today the police department is dealing with the opioid crisis and an increase in heroin use as well because it’s a cheaper alternative to prescription opioids. Hollingsed said the increase in drug use also fuels other crimes like theft, breaking and entering, child neglect and domestic violence.

“We’ve had 10,000 more calls this year than we had seven years ago with the same number of officers as we had in 1967,” Hollingsed joked. “But seriously we only have four officers on a shift with that many calls. Anytime you increase the work load by that much you tend to need more people to handle it.”

Complaints about speeding on residential streets is one of the biggest quality of life concerns people have, Hollingsed added, but it’s impossible to patrol every street in town to catch speeders or any other suspicious neighborhood activity. He suggested neighborhoods concerned about drug activity call the police department to discuss setting up a neighborhood watch group.

“We’re happy to set that up for people,” he said.

Business owners also complained about homeless people who loiter around in Frog Level during the day waiting for a meal at The Open Door food ministry. Yvonne Wadham, owner of Frog Pond Estate and Downsizing, said people get drunk and use drugs, urinate in the alleyways and get into fights with one another. She calls the police but said the culprits vanish before the law arrives.

“The businesses suffer from it — tourists are scared to come around there with needles and drugs everywhere,” she said.

Even if these people are caught in the act and arrested for low misdemeanor charges,

Waynesville Police Officer Tyler Trantham addressed the crowd saying the department was making headway with neighborhood drug problems even if it seems like progress is slow. What he’s found is complaints from one neighborhood typically stem from one person or one home. If he can remove that person from the situation, he can quiet the neighborhood.

“In the last three years I’ve dealt with numerous incidents where no one was arrested but I worked with a landlord to remove the problem — that’s one way to keep it out of court system. We’re not going to arrest our way out of this problem,” he said. “We have to understand due process — a defense attorney has a job to do just like I do — that’s the beautiful thing about this country. We may all need it someday.”

Instead of demonizing the homeless people causing problems in Frog Level, Trantham said the community needed to start thinking of them as human beings with mental health and drug addiction problems instead of just thinking of them as criminals that need to be locked up at the detention center.

Along the same lines, Welch asked people to be patient when waiting on the DA’s office to prosecute cases involving drug dealing and trafficking as it requires much more proof than a typical drug possession charge. Unless the DA can prove the person is dealing, the charge is often reduced to felony possession.

“People think we aren’t doing anything but some investigations take time,” she said, adding that it took two years and a wire tap to be able to bring down 52 drug dealers in Macon County.

Despite the setbacks, there are a few promising solutions to help cut down on the drug epidemic as well as the over crowding in the jail. Haywood Pathways Center recently received a grant to hire caseworkers to work in the detention center in hopes of reducing recidivism. Waynesville Police is also working on implementing the LEAD program, meant to divert people with drug addiction from jail to a rehab program.

TWSA to set new fee levels

Upfront fees will be less than current levels

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

Hookup fees are set to fall for water and sewer customers in Jackson County, but how much will depend on the outcome of a budget process that’s set to wrap up at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 25.

A 2017 state law forced the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority to reset the fees — formerly called impact fees, now known as system development fees — according to a specific process outlined in the legislation. When that process concluded, TWSA found that existing fees were higher than the new legal ceiling for system development fees in the northern end of the county, though the process generated a ceiling above current rates in the southern end of the county around Cashiers. The proposed budget, which Executive Director Dan Harbaugh presented to the

board June 12, planned for system development fee revenues to come in at 62.5 percent of the amount collected in 2017-18. However, Harbaugh said, that number is only a placeholder and will change once the board makes its final decision as to how the fees should be charged.

“The average amount that was going to be generated from these options (for new fee amounts) is about 60 percent of what we would have generated based on the old impact fees,” he explained June 12. “There is a savings for the customer.”

Upfront fees have been a topic of contention in Jackson County in recent years, with opponents saying that TWSA’s rates are unreasonably high, deterring businesses from opening or expanding and therefore impeding economic development. Supporters, meanwhile, say that the fees are a fair way for new users to buy into the system and that eliminating or reducing them would be unjust to existing users who have already paid the fees — they would find themselves paying higher rates to make up the difference for new users. The 2017 law pushed that debate to the forefront, and now the board must decide how to restructure its upfront fees under the new regulations.

RECOMMENDATIONS FORCHANGE

Over the past several weeks, TWSA’s finance committee has spent more than four hours in meetings about system development

Be informed

The TWSA board plans to pass its 2018-19 budget during a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 25, at the TWSA boardroom on 246 West Main Street in Sylva.

During a June 19 meeting, which fell after The Smoky Mountain News went to press, the board discussed the finance committee’s options for setting system development fees and held a public hearing on the proposed budget.

The proposed budget is online at https://bit.ly/2JOICKh.

fees and various methods for setting them, and the group came up with several options for the board to consider.

The simplest method of charging fees would be based on a unit known as an ERU — equivalent residential unit. Basically, an ERU is the number you get when you divide the total amount of water or sewer that residential customers in the system use by the number of residential customers. Use for other, larger users can then be based on how many average residences their use is equal to.

This method would be the simplest to calculate, but the problem is that it’s based on the actual amount

of water or sewer that each customer uses — and the state requires TWSA to plan its capacity based on a substantially larger figure. The upfront fees are intended to pay for expansion of the system to replace the capacity that each new customer takes up, so calculating the fees based solely on ERUs wouldn’t provide enough revenue, Harbaugh said.

The other options involve dividing TWSA users into “bands” based on the size of their meters. In the past, TWSA had 19 meter band categories, but in the proposed budget that would go down to eight. Because some bands would be combined, users could see a shift in what they’re being charged. For example, someone whose meter is on the low end of their band could find themselves paying more than they used to while someone on the high end of that same band could pay less. The trick will be to set the rates in such a way that they’re fair for users of all meter sizes.

The finance committee recommended that TWSA achieve this by calculating the average fee for all current TWSA meter categories inside the band. Those customers would be charged the lower of that average rate or the legal ceiling for the band.

The committee also wants to see parity between fees for northern system and southern system users, recommending that the board adopt a uniform system development fee schedule countywide. This means that the ceilings calculated for the northern system will control, because they’re lower than those for the southern system.

In addition, the committee recommended that the board charge different fees for commercial customers than for residential — the existing impact fees for residential customers are about 67 percent of what commercial customers pay, but the board will have to decide how that should translate into the new fee system.

THEBIGPICTURE

While TWSA expects to see $141,000 less in its capital reserves account for 2018-19

Authors needed for Swain book day

The Swain County Genealogical History Society wants to celebrate the people and their work by having a Book Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 21 at Riverfront Park in Bryson City.

This will be an opportunity for people to meet the writers/authors/researches of these books, purchase autographed copies and hear some of the writers/authors speak. SCGHS is recruiting people who have written/complied books with the subject matter about history, genealogy, stories, people, culture, folklore/folk stories, and/or historical fiction of WNC. Each writer/author will have space to display their books. Authors and writers will set up tables under the shelter or may bring a canopy to be on the lawn. There is no charge for having a space and there

than for the current year budget — partially due to an expected $43,500 decrease in system development fee revenues from the 201718 budget — the proposed operating budget will be level with the amended 2017-18 budget. However, most fees will see a 2 percent increase.

“For the first time since FY 2012-13, the budget does not require a transfer from reserves to supplement revenues for current debt service,” Harbaugh explained in his budget message.

In 2017-18, TWSA had to take $197,000 from reserves in order to cover its $643,000 in annual debt service payments. In 2018-19, those payments will be covered by actual incoming revenues, a better financial practice than drawing from reserves.

However, in coming years TWSA will have to come up with another way to cover its debt payments, because the slate of projects listed on its 20-year capital improvements plan means that debt commitments will increase, and it won’t be feasible to pay them solely out of fee increases.

That’s why TWSA’s finance committee is recommending that the organization decide on a target minimum for its reserves account.

“Going forward when we’re going to write budgets and understand what rates need to do and fees need to with respect to increases, we need to know what your ground zero is going to be in your savings account,” explained Mike Byers, a member of TWSA’s finance committee and Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance at Western Carolina University.

Other public bodies like cities and counties typically adopt such minimum levels, letting elected officials know that it’s OK to fund projects from savings so long as a certain amount of money remains in the account. According to the University of North Carolina School of Government’s Environmental Finance Center, TWSA has $10.7 million in reserves, enough to fund its operations for 1,205 days — 3.3 years. The center uses audited data from fiscal year 2017 to generate its statistics.

will be no admission charge. Vendors will need to provide their own table and/or canopy.

To sign up for a space, authors/writers should contact Verna at 828.488.2932. Deadline to sign up for a table is July 18 or when all spaces are filled.

Free tired leg seminar offered

Haywood Regional Medical Center is holding a free tired leg/ varicose vein educational program at 5 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at the Vein Center on the second floor of the hospital.

Dr. Al Mina and Dr. Joshua Rudd will lead the program. Interested community members are asked to register for this session by calling 828.452.8346. Space limited – RSVP required.

Work begins for Green Energy Park makeover

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

An idea to turn the Jackson County Green Energy Park into a campus for creativity, learning and animal adoption now has some legs after commissioners voted unanimously June 18 to spend $45,000 on a master plan for the project.

The county will engage with the engineering firm WithersRavenel, which has an office in Asheville, to create the plan and provide cost estimates for completing it.

“Once we get that master plan completed, we will be able to acquire services from an architect and start developing and designing the actual facilities themselves,” County Manager Don Adams told commissioners June 18.

The county decided to go with an engineer for this initial planning step in order to choose the best locations for the buildings from a structural standpoint. The team will take borings and various other measurements to determine which areas could best serve as building pads. The resulting master plan will include three potential locations for building pads with estimated costs for each, Adams said.

According to the contract, the preliminary park program would include relocating the existing recycling center, organizing land uses and access around artist studios and building an animal rescue facility with dog

runs, an innovation center for use by university-level researchers, a dog park, walking and biking trails and parking. The engineer-

ing fee will be $44,420 with up to $1,800 in reimbursable expenses. The work will be done within 10 weeks.

Public discussion of the Green Energy Park project began in March, when leaders

from Jackson County, Dillsboro and Western Carolina University met to discuss WCU’s pitch that the park be transformed into a campus featuring a “maker’s space” that would give students and community members a place to create, combining art with

pays for the buildings and infrastructure, while state funding to the college covers staffing, equipment and materials.

The Green Energy Park was created to turn methane gas captured from the old landfill next door into fuel for a series of

The preliminary park program would include relocating the existing recycling center, organizing land uses and access around artist studios and building an animal rescue facility with dog runs, an innovation center for use by university-level researchers, a dog park, walking and biking trails and parking.

engineering and design.

“This could be a living laboratory and design center for the county,” said Arthur Salido, an associate professor of analytical chemistry at WCU, during the March 5 meeting. “This space would reflect the interaction of art and design with the school’s business to advance contemporary Appalachian culture and regional innovation.”

The center could be managed through an agreement similar to what Jackson County has with Southwestern Community College, WCU representatives said — the county

artisan studios. Right now it’s a standalone entity, by itself up a spur off of Haywood Road in Dillsboro.

By running with the campus idea, Adams said, the proposal wouldn’t be just about one program or building — it would be about turning the property into a true campus with multiple complementary uses housed right there. In addition to the makers space and existing artisan studios, the preliminary plan would be house a sorely needed new animal shelter on the property, hopefully making use of nearby WCU students to volunteer there.

Partin Ways Band

Burgers & Hot Dogs

(while they last)

Jackson passes $71.67 million budget

One-cent tax hike

aimed at school safety

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

Jackson County Commissioners voted unanimously June 18 to adopt a $71.67 million budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

The final budget is $500,000 more than the version originally proposed May 21 and $3.12 million more than the current year budget.

Much of that increase is due to increased spending on school resource officers, counselors and teachers. After February’s tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida, commissioners committed to increasing school safety standards in Jackson County, spending $400,000 for security cameras and monitors and $27,000 for architectural designs to address safety issues in the county’s nine schools.

The new budget includes funding for four new school resource officers, a juvenile detective and six school counselors, a total annual cost of $667,000. In addition, the county will fund three additional classroom-teaching positions, an annual cost of $191,700.

Other new costs include hiring a director for the consolidated Health and Human Services Department — the salary range is $74,000 to $145,000 — $165,000 to take ambulance service in the Qualla area to 24 hours, $95,000 for two additional sheriffs road deputies and $287,000 for shooting range improvements at Southwestern Community College.

The new budget includes a tax increase

Summer events at Lake Junaluska

Lake Junaluska's Summer Activities Program is in full swing for the summer. All those from the surrounding community are encouraged to join in the fun, and with the exception of the yoga classes, all events this week are free.

On Monday, June 25, come to Lake Junaluska's Nanci Memorial Gym at 9 p.m. to enjoy an outdoor movie. This week's movie selection is National Treasure.

On Tuesday, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. come to Lake Junaluska's Inspiration Point near the Lambuth Inn to enjoy a mixed flow yoga class surrounded by the natural beauty of the lake. The classes are led by Waynesville Yoga Center professionals and cost $14. A gentle yoga class will beheld at the same location at 10:30 a.m. June 28.

On Wednesday, June 27 at 9:30 a.m. meet in front of Lake Junaluska's Colonnade (right next

of 1 cent per $100 of property value. The tax hike is estimated to bring with it $918,000 in revenue, to be earmarked for safety spending, such as additional school resource officers.

“Of all the budgets I’ve been involved with, which span right now 12, this probably flowed the best of any of the budgets I’ve been a part of,” said Commission Chairman Brian McMahan as the board prepared to pass the budget. “I very much appreciate the timeline and how you (County Manager Don Adams) facilitated it. I know it does require a tax increase of 1 cent and that’s something that none of us take lightly, but we recognize the significant impact on our community and the need to protect our kids in the school system. Our kids are worth every bit of what we’re going to do, and I very much support it.”

Jackson County Schools Superintendent Kim Elliott attended the meeting as well, along with several members of the school board. Elliott thanked commissioners for the increased education funding granted in the new budget.

“I don’t remember a time here in my time — in six years — that we have seen such great collaboration,” she said. “We have always been great friends, and the boards have gotten along very well, but this amount of collaboration between two boards is commendable.”

Commissioners held a budget hearing on Monday, June 4, but nobody came to deliver public comment at that time.

The new budget will be posted online at www.jacksonnc.org/financedepartment/jackson-county-budgetdocuments.

to the Kern Center) for a naturalist-guided tour of Lake Junaluska's beautiful trails and plants.

Jackson Arts Council to hold meeting

The Jackson County Arts Council cordially invites all current members of the Jackson County Arts Council, local and state officials and executive members of art centers and educational institutions to its 2018 Annual Members Meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, June 25, at the Community Room of the Jackson County Public Library Annex. A small reception will follow in the atrium downstairs. This year the JCAC has been able to sponsor many different events, artists, organizations and art forms throughout the community and purchased a baby grand piano for community use in the JC Public Library Community Room. For further information or questions, contact the Jackson County Arts Council at 828.507.9820 or email info@jacksoncountyarts.org.

Community Almanac

Quilters celebrate 10 years of service

The Quilts of Valor bee of the Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild marked 10 years of awarding handmade quilts to veterans with a luncheon that included sister groups from Western North Carolina and North Georgia. Since draping a quilt over the first recipient in 2008, the QOV bee has presented 897 quilts to area veterans, now averaging about 100 quilts per year. The national Quilts of Valor Foundation, created in 2003, has awarded 187,000 quilts to United States veterans.

A Quilts of Valor Exhibit will be part of the Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild quilt show, “A Heavenly Quilt Walk,” in downtown Franklin, Sept. 21-22. For more information about Quilts of Valor and the guild, visit www.smokymtnquilters.org.

The station partnered with seven pregnancy centers to bring awareness to their services including pregnancy tests, counseling, ultrasounds, and post-abortion programs. Every dollar donated was directly given to one of these seven pregnancy centers: Mountain Area Pregnancy Center in Asheville, Pregnancy Care Center Hickory in Hickory, Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center in Franklin, Hope Resource Center in Knoxville, Crisis Pregnancy Center Gastonia in Gastonia, Carolina Pregnancy Center in Spartanburg and Palmetto Woman’s Care Center in Rock Hill.

Alzheimer’s chapter expands

The Alzheimer’s Association – Western Carolina Chapter is expanding its team of volunteers to serve individuals and families in the mountain region of North Carolina.

Learn about free library resources

Staff from the Haywood County Public Library will be at The Strand from noon to 2 p.m. Friday, June 22, to share information about the library’s digital apps and online resources that are available 24/7, free with your library card.

Library card applications will be available and staff will also have information about this year’s “Libraries Rock” summer reading program, including special events throughout June and July.

The Strand Theater is located at 38 N. Main St, Waynesville.

Cancer survivors to be honored

In honor of National Cancer Survivors Day, the physicians and staff of the Haywood Cancer Center will honor survivors who are living with and beyond cancer. Survivors, family and caregivers are invited to take part in the 31st Annual National Cancer Survivors Day at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24, at the Laurel Ridge Country Club Pavilion in Waynesville with food, music, survivor crafts and a special butterfly release.

Sponsored by the physicians and staff of the Haywood Cancer Center, 600 Hospital Drive, Suite 10, Clyde.

Cruso Club to hold scholarship dinner

The Cruso Friendship Club will host a chicken dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Cruso Community Center, 13186 Cruso Rd., Canton, for an evening of food, fun and history. to support the Jervis-Alexander Scholarship Awards to students attending Pisgah High School.

Established in 1998, the Friendship Club provides two $1,000 scholarships annually to qualifying seniors. The Jervis-Alexander Scholarship Award honors two women, Essie Jervis and Pitsy Alexander. Both were retired teachers from the Cruso community, and it was their desire to help a young man and woman from the Cruso/Bethel area to further their educational goals.

Guest speaker, Tom Alexander, former Haywood County Sheriff and son of Pitsy Alexander, will attend the scholarship fundraiser to discuss its history and educational efforts in the community. Cost is $9 a plate. Children 6 and younger eat free. Tickets sold at door. www.crusonc.com or 919.949.0943.

Arts Council awards super volunteer

The Haywood County Arts Council announced its first quarter Super Volunteer, Stephanie QuisGarrett.

Quis-Garrett moved from Lebanon, New Jersey, to the mountains of Western North Carolina where she settled with her husband in the Bethel community. Retiring from her job at the USGA, she was anxious to explore her passions and to make new friends. The gardens were tilled, the seeds were planted and art classes began.

She learned all about the Haywood County Arts Council and became one of its most dedicated volunteers.

Radio donates to pregnancy centers

Listeners of the Christian radio station The Light donated enough money on May 10 to provide 1,426 women with ultrasounds and faith-based support through the station’s “Heartbeat of Hope” campaign.

Alzheimer’s Association Community Educators (ACE) are public speakers, teachers, and key volunteers on the Western Carolina Chapter team. They raise awareness, teach dementia specific education workshops and connect attendees to chapter services. ACEs work in their professional, civic, and personal spaces to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s and are empowered to identify gaps, areas of need, and areas of interest and fill those through education.

For more information about joining the ACE Team, complete the online Volunteer Interest Profile www.act.alz.org, email infonc@alz.orgor call 828.398.5780.

Hiring effective nonprofit leaders

Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment will be offering several nonprofit workshops.

The first workshop will be on hiring effective nonprofit leaders from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 30, at WCU’s instructional site at Biltmore Park in Asheville. The workshop, entitled, “How to Hire Nonprofit Leaders that are Truly Effective,” will cover strategies for hiring effective leaders including executive and development directors, COOs and CFOs, HR directors, board officers and members.

For more information and to register for this or any of the other seminars and workshops offered by WCU’s Office of Professional Growth and Development, visit pdp.wcu.edu.

Event raises funds for Mountain Mediation

Mountain Mediation Services recently hosted the second annual “Bridges to Peace” event.

This year’s raffle and event proceeds raised $1,379 to help Mountain Mediation Services’ Bullying Prevention, Conflict Resolution and other Youth Services. Jenny Cooper was the first-prize winner with a three-night stay in a beachfront condo in Myrtle Beach. Other winners included

ALSO:

• Macon County Cancer Support Group will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 21, in the cafeteria of Angel Medical Center, Riverview Street, Franklin. A representative from the Williamson Fund Lovelights program with Cancer Care of WNC will be our guest speaker. Everyone is welcome.

• Now through July 4, adopt a kitten from FUR of WNC at the special, low adoption fee of $35. The kittens are vaccinated, spayed/neutered and micro chipped. Make an appointment at www.furofwnc.org, by emailing furofwnc1@gmail.com or calling 884.888.CATS.

• The Beaverdam Community Center will host its annual summer potluck dinner at 6 p.m. Monday, July 9, at 1620 N. Canton Rd. Canton. Bring a covered dish and come enjoy neighborly fellowship.

Becky Lindsey, Amy Sue Bass, April Chastain, Deanna Allan, Julie McGhan, Sarah Walker, April Dawn Hicks, Reanna Lehman, Chad Parker, Sarah Altman and Kristin Rowe.

For more information about bullying prevention, restorative justice, mediation or other youth services Mountain Mediation Services provides, call 828.631.5252 or visit mountainmediation.org.

Harrah’s gives $30,000 to MANNA

Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos recently presented a gift of $30,000 to MANNA FoodBank of Asheville as part of Manna’s annual signature fundraising event, The Blue Jean Ball.

MANNA FoodBank is a service organization that provides food to residents in need, serving 16 counties in Western North Carolina and has been historically integral to Harrah’s Cherokee’s community involvement.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is hiring

Project MARS/AmeriCorps of Big Brothers Big Sisters WNC is recruiting for full-time positions in Haywood, Swain and Transylvania counties. AmeriCorps members will recruit, train, match and guide mentors; provide one on one and small group academic assistance; and provide resource development.

Members serve children directly within the schools day to day; providing mentoring, academic assistance and resources for success. Members will collaborate with teachers, staff and administration to identify children that would most benefit from mentorship.

Living allowance, health insurance stipend, education award and loan forbearance available. Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree. Contact Katie Snow at katies@bbbswnc.org or at 336.354.3325.

No harm in striving to understand each person

Do not decry this generation for pushing the boundaries of respect/understanding/acceptance.

People today like to deride certain aspects of our generation. They speak sarcastically about how “everyone has to have their own place, everyone is individual and unique, everyone deserves safe spaces.” As if this is somehow inherently wrong or a bogus notion.

As a recent college graduate, I’ve heard a lot of this lately and I understand the point they’re trying to make. That the world does not revolve around you, or any single person for that matter; that each person is only one small part of the larger whole; that there won’t be a way around many of the hardships in life, they must be faced head on; that there won’t always be a “safe space” when things get tough.

This is all true, and we would do well to learn from it. Universities are the places where much of this language and action begins, and while they can sometimes be havens, bubbles of blue, somewhat removed from certain realities of society, there is great value in what students are trying to accomplish. There is no harm in trying to understand more clearly the intricacies of yourself and the human beings all around you in order to treat them with greater respect. What people want/need to be called, who and how they love, language that

Surely we can do better

To the Editor:

Sunday morning in America (Father’s Day). Politicians eat steak, plump and happy, while playing political games. Immigrant children separated from parents, anxious and afraid.

A disgrace to America Surely, we can do better than that.

Paul Strop Waynesville

The perfect name for Trump’s problem

To the Editor:

In response to Dennis Ford’s letter, “The standard today is a double standard,” which appeared in the June 13 issue, let me offer this. I want to thank you for what you referred to as the “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” I couldn’t have named it better, the affliction borne by Trump supporters.

Lying is the standard today. Anyone who will take the time to research the matter comes quickly to a clear understanding that our President is in fact the Liar-in-Chief. In his own words, for one example, “at a closed-door fund-raiser,” Trump bragged about this tactic, gleefully recounting a White House meeting with Trudeau in which he insisted, against Trudeau’s protestations, that American had a trade deficit with Canada. “I didn’t even

should and should not be used because it is harmful, etc. And safe spaces, which have arguably received the most flack, were never intended to upset anyone. They were intended for minorities of any kind — sexuality, gender, race, mental state — to have a place they could go where they were free from the ridicule they face in everyday life. Let us live in our heightened respect for one another.

Hannah McLeod

Entitled Republican politicians have taken this a step too far and shat on the term “political correctness,” and it has become a trigger used by those who resist the change necessary in order to create a more accepting/open/respectful society. But it is respect — for all those around you — and nothing more.

As we enter this primary season the mantra has come back, with Republican politicians running ads that declare they are “not politically correct,” or they “don’t stand for political correctness,” as if it is some sort of divisive issue.

But if we replace this term with its essential meaning, respect, we can begin to understand these politicians’ real motives and

LETTERS

know,” Trump told the crowd. “I had no idea.” President Trump accidentally told the truth there. “I had no idea.” That’s just the way he rolls. His lies are constant, purposeful and shameful. America is better than this, for the most part.

All of the above holds for the EPA administrator. He lies to benefit his cronies at the expense of America’s natural resources, and his lust for power has been an ongoing saga, an open book.

Let’s all work for the betterment of America, whether or not our “leaders” care to.

Bil Aylor Bryson City

Most body cam videos should be public

To the Editor:

As the Mayor of Franklin, I agree with the efforts of the three Buncombe County legislators who have introduced a local bill to allow Asheville City Council to view police body cam videos. I have to say that this needs to be statewide for all city councils, not just the City of Asheville.

I do not understand the reluctance of some in the General Assembly who are so against this. The Town of Franklin, was among the first in Western North Carolina to have body cams. As a retired law enforcement officer, and as the mayor, I fully supported the town employing these body cameras but was

attitude toward the people they are supposed to represent. It is no surprise that President Donald Trump has referred to Latin American immigrants as rapists and animals, or African countries as shithole countries, or called neo-Nazis “very fine people” when we remember that one campaign point of his was that he was against political correctness. Or, said another way, he was against respecting people that are different than him. He, and so many others, are against taking the time and effort necessary to educate themselves and try to understand people that are different from them. Ironically, at a time like today, when our country is fiercely divided and awash with people trying to lie and manipulate us, this is what our country needs most desperately. To understand the intricacies of the problems and hardships faced by all kinds of Americans so we may move forward in solving these issues.

That is why I see hope in this generation. We have not only created time and space to understand each other more accurately, but we see the importance this serves to a society. Perhaps the next generation of leaders will encompass these ideals, whether liberal or conservative, and will use them to help the nation to the best of their ability.

(Hannah McLeod lives in Waynesville and graduated in May from Appalachian State University. mcleodh828@gmail.com)

appalled when the legislature stepped in and made it sound as though municipal officials could not be trusted to view the actions of the officers we employ.

I do see the argument that the videos should not be open to anyone who just has a curiosity of what may be on the videos. That could get out of hand. There does need to be a system to keep prurient or frivolous viewing out of the picture. I believe any municipality could come up with a policy to negate casual, frivolous viewing by someone with no interest in the situation but who is just plain nosy. Of course, defining nosy in such a policy would be interesting and challenging. Sort of like defining pornography.

I will be the first to admit that there are situations, such as those involving children or domestic crises, that should be of no concern to the general public unless they are of extraordinary circumstances. In those cases, there must be a guard against an unreasonable invasion of privacy.

Those also do not need to be a concern of the city council as well, unless there are allegations of misbehavior or improper handling of the situation by the officers. I question why a city official or citizen has to take the time of a busy judicial official to make a body cam video public when the judicial system is already swamped with overflowing dockets.

Any legitimate reason to review the videos by a member of the public or media will result in transparency and public trust of our officers. The North Carolina Public Records law allows for the release of law enforcement incident reports — unless there is some investigative or

compelling reason not to release the report. Body cam videos should be treated similarly. The videos also protect the officer from false accusations of improper actions.

Many times when, as an officer, the first thing someone nearly always said to me when I stopped them was, “Why are you picking on me? I haven’t done anything?” Well, with body cams there is about a 90 percent chance to show visually how that person acted and what they said. And probably what they did. A perpetrator would have trouble arguing against such a visual record.

Mayor Bob Scott Franklin

False reporting in sheriff story

To the Editor:

In a news article (Swain sheriff suspends mutual aid to town, opponent claims the move is purely political), it was stated Chris Dudley, the K-9 Officer for the Bryson City Police Department, wrote a letter to Sheriff Cochran following the suspension of the mutual aid agreement expressing his disappointment and tendering his resignation as an auxiliary Deputy for Swain County. SMN misinterpreted my letter and said I was disappointed in the sheriff but that is not the case. My resignation letter had nothing to do with the mutual aid agreement.

I am shocked that SMN would be misleading the public by printing (Dudley said he was disappointed in the

Living in The Valley

During a divorce, one person is required to move out of the family home. After months of rigmarole and this and that, I decided that person would be me. No one particularly wants to leave the place where children grew up and memories were made but then again, it’s easier to cope with the emotions when you’re not constantly staring at wedding china or knickknacks bought on summer vacations.

When I began looking for houses, I got the overwhelming feeling everyone gets when searching for a new home. I also had an additional layer of stress because of my two boys. I wanted this new space to feel happy and safe. I fully believe it’s possible for children to feel “at home” in two different houses, but it takes some careful thought and decision-making by the parents.

was also in my price range.

This all seemed too good to be true.

I immediately called my realtor. She and l looked at the house the next morning. I fell in love. I’d never thought about or had the desire to live in Maggie Valley, but I thought, why not?

The next day (two days after I originally saw the house on Facebook) I put in an offer and after a series of multiple biddings from various interested home buyers, my bid somehow won out and so started the process of me purchasing the property.

From there, I worked with my rockstar realtor and the amazing folks at Champion Credit Union and in only 30 days, I was holding the keys to my new home.

pizza at Brickhouse and Rendezvous, from visits and conversations with Karen at Red Barn, Roger at Dellwood Farmhouse, Dave at Elevated Mountain, Judy at Country Vittles, and Teresa at the Chamber of Commerce, this place truly feels like home. And that’s just naming a few.

I’m also appreciative of the Town of Maggie and how they make recycling and trash pick-up so very easy. I don’t know why but as a single full-time working mom, it’s sometimes the small things that make the days seem easier.

Now we’re “in-season” as they call it in Maggie. The vacation rentals are bustling, motorcycles are in full-force and parking lots are packed. The pig is even back at Butts on the Creek waving and dancing.

The experience of finding and buying my home was a series of God winks and collaboration of awesome, driven local professionals who helped make the finding, inspecting, buying and moving actually happen.

One day, as I was leaving the office, our sales manager called me over to look at a house listed on a realtor’s Facebook page. It was an adorable cabin in the heart of Maggie. It was in a quiet neighborhood with the space and amenities I needed. It

sheriff for his decision after so many years of working his K-9 for the sheriff’s office when in fact I have never spoke to the Smoky Mountain News until the misleading article was printed and posted and I have not worked a K-9 for the Swain County Sheriffs Office for so many year, I have only been living in Swain County for little over a year and a half. So, if the Smoky Mountain News wants to be a reputable news outlet it needs to print the facts. As for Sheriff Cochran goes I feel he and his deputies have done a great job and I look forward to giving a helping hand anytime Sheriff Cochran Needs me or my K-9.

Chris Dudley Bryson City

Such

a sad people we have become

To the Editor:

Based on available evidence, how would we describe the American population? The answer would seem to be that we are a selfcentered, angry, and very fearful people who have no respect for truth or facts. Let’s take these descriptions in order.

A large number of us are concerned primarily with our own possessions. We don’t want to pay taxes lest some pennies might be

I moved last October, a beautiful time of year in Maggie Valley, but with everything swirling around me and my mind full of divorce/single parenting stress, I didn’t really enjoy last fall. In fact, I didn’t really feel settled in my new house until Christmas, at which point I remember standing on the stairs and looking down into the living room with its cozy Christmas tree and decorated stone fireplace and smiling to myself with a strong sense of peace.

Now that I’ve lived in Maggie for over eight months, I’ve fallen even more in love. No wonder visitors come from miles and miles around to visit this gorgeous gem of a valley.

From bike rides down Soco Road to lazy afternoons at the Maggie Valley Club Pool, from birthday dinners at Frankie’s, breakfast at Joey’s, lunch at Willie Brooks and

used to benefit those whom we deem unworthy. That would include those people who need healthcare but cannot afford the high premiums charged by insurance companies. We also definitely would not want any funding for those we think should fend for themselves, such as single mothers and anyone we feel should be able to work any menial job even if that job does not pay a living wage.

On the other hand, we feel angry because we don’t think that we have gotten our due as part of the Great American Dream. This was a large component of the folks who voted for Trump. He promised to get the angry people, who felt left out, their fair share of wealth. The anger is that others are getting advantages not available for those of us who feel left out.

Most of all, we are a fearful people. We fear anyone who looks different or who has a religion we don’t understand. For white folks, this would be anyone who is brown to black in skin color. Anyone who does not speak English as a native speaker is suspected of not belonging in the United States. Most of all, we don’t want anyone from a s_ _ _ _hole country to get any where near our borders.

That brings us to the fact that we will do anything to keep people from crossing our borders. We will allow, if not support, implementing all kinds of inhuman policies

Not only has the town itself been a blessing during a rough year, but I adore my little cabin of a house. The boys and I have made it our sanctuary. We love snuggling under blankets and watching movies, playing board games in the floor, eating meals on the front porch or inviting friends over for a camp fire and marshmallows.

Last September is when I decided to buy a house, I had no idea how everything would manifest. And now as I sit here and reflect upon the past eight months, I feel extreme gratitude, for this house and those who helped me obtain it, for a home that has significantly helped in embracing a new normal, beautiful scenery and access to mountainous hikes, ski slopes and bike routes, and for amazing businesses and business owners who take care of their neighbors and visitors.

As people like to say here in Maggie, I’m proud to live in The Valley.

(Susanna Barbee can be reached at susanna@mtnsouthmedia.com)

to discourage anyone from coming close to our borders. We will tear nursing babies from their mother’s arms and put kids into concentration camps apart from their parents and siblings of the opposite sex. We will make people afraid to ask for asylum or even consider seeking citizenship in this country. We will justify this with quotes from the Bible so that our Christian consciences will not be bothered.

To do all this, we need to suspend our reliance on truth and facts. We have started to do this by electing a president who lies on a daily basis and has installed the most corrupt administration in history. We will tolerate any and all immoral and illegal behavior so long as it protects us form the “others.” We can deny that our actions are influencing the climate or that all people are really created equal. Obviously brown and black people are not equal to white ones.

You might claim that “this is not who we are.” It may not be who we were, but the sad truth is that this is indeed who we have become. Even if some individuals differ from this description, they are allowing those who do fit the description to continue to act in accordance with the aforementioned descriptions. Other nations and history will judge us as a people.

Norman

Hoffmann

Waynesville

Sunday: 12pm-6pm

Tue-Thurs 3pm-8pm

Fri-Sat: 12pm-9pm Monday: Closed

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

THURSDAY, JUNE 21

Italian Wine Pairing Dinner and live music by the mandolin trio Music Nostra. Music begins at 6:30pm. Four Course dinner, wine and music is $55 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22

Bob Zullo guitar, vocals. Jazz, Rock, Pop.

SATURDAY, JUNE 23

Ben Wilson guitar, vocals. Americana, Alt. Country, Originals.

FRIDAY, JUNE 29

Joe Cruz piano, vocals. Beatles, Elton John, James Taylor + More.

SATURDAY, JUNE 30

The Jazz Cats featuring Bonnie Rossa flute, vocals; Brad Keller jazz piano; and, Jean Bolduc percussion. Four course dinner, $39.99 plus drinks, tax, and gratuity.

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

BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL

207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slow-simmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts. Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily. Brown bagging is permitted. Private parties, catering, and take-out available. Call-ahead seating available.

BOOJUM BREWING COMPANY

50 N Main Street, Waynesville. 828.246.0350. Taproom Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday & Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Gem Bar Open Tuesday through Sunday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Enjoy lunch, dinner or drinks at Boojum’s Downtown Waynesville restaurant & bar. Choose from 16 taps of our fresh, delicious & ever rotating Boojum Beer plus cider, wine & craft cocktails. The taproom features seasonal pub faire including tasty burgers, sandwiches, shareables and daily specials that pair perfectly with our beer. Cozy up inside or take in the mountain air on our back deck."

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE

454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville,

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

CATALOOCHEE RANCH

119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1401. Breakfast seven days a week, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. – with eggs,

MAGGIE VALLEY RESTAURANT

bacon, sausage, oatmeal, fresh fruit, sometimes French toast or pancakes, and always all-you-can-eat. Lunch menu every day from 12 noon to 2 p.m. includes homemade soup du jour and fresh-made salads. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night will feature an evening cookout on the terrace. On all other nights of the week, dinner is served family style and includes locally sourced vegetables, homemade breads, jellies, desserts, and a wide selection of wine and craft beer. The evening social hour starts at 6 p.m., dinner is served starting at 7 p.m., and cozy rooms and cabins are available if you love us so much that you want to stay for breakfast, too. Please call for reservations. And see our dinner menu online at www.cataloocheeranch.com/dining.

CHEF’S TABLE

30 Church St., Waynesville. 828.452.6210

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

CHURCH STREET DEPOT

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

CITY LIGHTS CAFE

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

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER

20 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday serving freshly prepared small plates, tapas, charcuterie, desserts. Enjoy live music every Friday and

Saturday night at 7pm. www.classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter.

COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT

3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley. 828.926.1820 Winter hours: Wednesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

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.

FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE

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

GUADALUPE CAFÉ

606 W. Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.9877 Open 7 days a week at 5 p.m. Located in the historic Hooper’s Drugstore, Guadalupe Café is a chef-owned and operated restaurant serving Caribbean inspired fare complimented by a quirky selection of wines and microbrews. Supporting local farmers of organic produce, livestock, hand-crafted cheese, and using sustainably harvested seafood.

HARMON’S

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

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. Reservations appreciated.

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. Hand-tossed 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.

PIGEON RIVER GRILLE

101 Park St., Canton. 828.492.1422. Open Tuesday through Thursday 3 to 8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday noon to 9 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m. Southerninspired restaurant serving simply prepared, fresh food sourced from top purveyors. Located riverside at Bearwaters Brewing,

tasteTHE mountains

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

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR

Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center

70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley 828.926.0201

Home of the Maggie Valley Pizzeria. We deliver after 4 p.m. daily to all of Maggie Valley, JCreek 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

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.

TRAILHEAD CAFE & BAKERY

18 N Main Street, Waynesville. 828.452.3881 Open 7 days a week. You will find a delicious selection of pastries & donuts, breakfast & lunch along with a fresh coffee & barista selection. Happy Trails!

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.

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.

Everywhere I go is a long way from home

A conversation with Trey Hensley

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER

Over the last few years, guitarist Trey Hensley and dobroist Rob Ickes have crisscrossed the country with their unique brand of bluegrass, where the lines tend to blur slightly into the realms of Americana and classic country music.

Fifteen-time “Dobro Player of the Year” by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), Ickes was a founding member of Blue Highway, a pillar of the the genre over the last quarter-century. And with Hensley, you have someone who performed on the Grand Ole Opry alongside Marty Stuart and Earl Scruggs at the age of 11, only to release his debut album and also find himself pickin’-n-grinnin’ with the late Johnny & June Carter Cash just a year later.

Their second release, “Before the Sun Goes Down, earned them a 2016 Grammy nomination for “Best Bluegrass Album.” An explosion of acoustic fluttering, their fingers bolt up and down the fretboards like a pair of hummingbirds. They are living, breathing musical history — a melodic bridge to the past, with one foot firmed planted forward into the future.

Smoky Mountain News: With being an acoustic guitar instrumentalist, what about the notes and improvisational aspects of your sound provides you with a platform to say something you might not otherwise be able to say with your voice?

Trey Hensley: I really portray my feelings more through my guitar playing than my singing. I love the guitar and it feels like it’s a part of me when I’m playing — it feels like breathing. Playing with Rob has really opened up my improvisation, and my playing in general. I always improvised and tried new things before, but Rob is such an incredible musician, and it makes me want to play better.

I’ve been really into jazz the past few years and that has inspired me to take a long hard look at the way I play. Hearing jazz makes me want to say something with my guitar instead of just playing notes. Mentally, it feels like a totally new thing for me. I think hearing Miles Davis play and reading some of his famous quotes about playing really opened up my playing. I want my playing to touch people the way that Tony Rice, Doc Watson and Miles Davis have affected me.

SMN: Though you have always been around bluegrass in some form or another, what is it about that “high, lonesome sound” that really appeals to you?

TH: I think the spirit of it really draws me in. I’ve always loved older music, while loving

Want to go?

Bluegrass act Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley will perform at 8 p.m. Sunday, July 1, at the Cataloochee Ranch in Maggie Valley. Tickets for the intimate performance are $45. A gourmet mountain dinner will be available for purchase before the show. Reservations are highly suggested. This show will sell out. To RSVP, call 828.926.1401 or visitwww.cataloocheeranch.com.

newer sounds as well. Bluegrass embodies that. I feel like my sound has always been equal parts country and bluegrass, with lots of other influences as well. I try to be as openminded musically as I can. I listen to anything and everything. There’s definitely something about bluegrass and traditional country music for me though. Perhaps it’s because I have heard it all my life. I’m not sure. I’m just in my happy place when I hear Merle Haggard or Tony Rice.

I think the freedom and improvisation aspects of bluegrass are really appealing, too. There are no rules. There are audience preferences, but I think a lot of people who come to our shows know some of what they are going to get. We bare our influences pretty directly on our sleeves with our albums. There are blues songs, Texas swing tunes, lots of bluegrass, lots

“I’ve been in music since I was 10. And playing music is never not fun. I always have a blast and playing guitar always touches my soul — it doesn’t get old.”

— Trey Hensley

of country, and it still falls under the bluegrass/Americana bracket after we put our spin on it. There are purists in every genre who only like particular stuff — I’m partially a purist in some ways, especially for country music — but most bluegrass fans are open-minded. You can really hear that in the diversity of bands that are out now, and even the classic bands from yesteryear — it’s a diverse art form for sure.

SMN: What have these years on the road and onstage shown you, and maybe even surprised you — creatively, personally and professionally?

TH: Our first year on the road, we played well over 100 shows, and we continue to play around 80 to 100 shows per year. I think the biggest thing about being on the road is the ability to sharpen your blade musically. It’s basically

a tool to get better and audience participation is a big factor in that. It still makes me feel like an excited 11-year-old kid whenever the crowd claps after a guitar break that I take. I guess that’s surprising to me, that I’ve been in music since I was 10. And playing music is never not fun. I always have a blast and playing guitar always touches my soul — it doesn’t get old.

SMN: As you’ve continued to dive deep into the genres of bluegrass, Americana and folk music, what are you seeing, hearing and discovering these days with those styles of music?

TH: I’m just hearing a lot more love for the music. It seems like so many folks are having great careers in the Americana world. There are so many great songwriters and it’s great to discover new music all the time that’s in the same genre that Rob and I are in. I think people are digging harder these days to find the good stuff. I don’t know that there will ever be a full change in the modern country music world, but Americana has taken the reigns for a lot of us who may not have had a full-time home in other genres.

It’s also inspiring to hear all the great songwriters in the genre. Folks have a lot to write about these days, so I’m inspired to hear folks who can put their feelings and thoughts down in a song. I guess I say all that because I feel like inspiration is everywhere in the bluegrass and Americana world, and I’m just glad to be a tiny part of it.

This must be the place

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

No guarantees how long we’re going to be here, just enjoy life

I, like many of you reading this, was initially shocked and saddened to hear the news of the recent passing of worldrenowned chef, bestselling author and beloved pop culture personality Anthony Bourdain.

What added to that shock were the details that emerged, where his demise, at age 61, came at his own doing, an apparent suicide while in France filming another episode of “Parts Unknown,” his popular TV show on CNN.

Whenever something like this happens, either to a celebrity or someone in our own lives, the usual question arises — why? And that question is seamlessly followed up by — how could this happen, they seemed OK, they seemed like life was good? I remember these questions emerging when beloved comedy star Robin Williams took his own life in 2014. How could the funniest man in the world, who made generations laugh and smile, not want another day or year or decade to do so?

And the same feelings are currently being felt about Bourdain. The globe-trotter who dined in the finest restaurants, drank the best wine and liquor, and interviewed powerful politicians and iconic musicians/artists, all brought together to tell a story about a specific place on our planet, a place we now were all aware of, and hoped to maybe visit someday with same kind of friendly, curiosity-to-no-end qualities Bourdain radiated.

Anthony Bourdain.

what happened and that he was OK.

I remember walking down the long, silent corridor of the psych ward. Each opened door was another room inhabited by someone who “wanted out,” who felt alone and at wit’s end, but probably had someone back home (or somewhere) very worried about them, or would be once they found out what had happened to their loved one. My footsteps echoed down the hallway until they stopped at the door with my best friend’s name on it. He shook his head in embarrassment when I entered.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, brother,” I said to him amid a bear hug of gratitude that he was OK. “We’re all here for you. Nobody is going anywhere, especially you. Love yah, man.” He eventually found his balance in life, his appreciation for every moment, where now he’s a successful businessman in the Midwest, the proud uncle of a niece as vivacious as he was, and remains.

HOT PICKS

1

”An Appalachian Evening” will kickoff with legendary bluegrass act Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Stecoah Valley Center.

2

The Concerts on the Creek summer series will welcome Tuxedo Junction (classic hits) at 7 p.m. Friday, June 22, at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.

3

The “Stecoah Arts & Crafts Drive About Tour” will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 22-23 in Bryson City, Stecoah and Robbinsville.

4

A benefit concert featuring Brian Childers will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24, at the Highlands Performing Arts Center.

5

A comedy by Steve Martin, “The Underpants” will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. June 21-23, 2830, and at 2 p.m. June 24 and July 1 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

Like probably all of you out there, I’ve lost several loved ones to suicide. And yet, there were also several failed attempts with folks who mean everything to me.

Following my first year in college, my best friend tried to take his own life. He and his girlfriend had broken up, and he felt his

life was over. This isn’t to sound cheesy. He truly felt he had no reason to go on. So, he swallowed down a bottle of pain killers and waited for the end. Luckily, someone found him and called 911. They pumped his stomach, only to place him in the psych ward of the local hospital. He called me to tell me

But, not all of these stories and experiences have a happy ending. Several years ago, a dear friend of mine took his life. In the depths of another frigid North Country winter, my group of friends met up for a potluck and some beers one evening, ready to play board games to erase the boredom that can ensue during a never-ending snowstorm. My friend was the only one who didn’t show up to the party, which was odd. He was always present. And the room that night was, honestly, filled with more laughter than I ever remembered having in that town on any given night.

The next morning, my phone rang. A friend on the other end was frantic. “He’s dead. He’s dead,” she said. Once she clarified what had happened, my heart sank into my stomach. I had plans — grandiose plans — with our late friend, we were going to do big things and make great memories together, all of us who knew him were, too.

I’ve always told my friends that no matter what time it is, I will always answer your call. If you need me, I’m here. And I recall one night, a year or two ago, when someone, a good friend, did call.

It was after midnight. She was hysterically crying. She said she wanted to end her life. I told her to not hang up. Through the tears, she spoke of how she felt she was a failure in her life, how nobody wanted her around or cared for her, how the overdue bills and stresses of daily life were piling up, and how “maybe I’d be better off dead.”

After an hour or so, I was able to talk her down. We said goodbye and I went to bed. I awoke the next morning to a text from her thanking me for answering her call. No thanks needed, for that kind of call should always be answered, and should always have a loving voice on the other end.

We’re all in this together. Keep an eye out for those in need, including yourself. It is the damn truth.

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

On the beat

Concerts on the Creek

The Concerts on the Creek summer series will welcome Tuxedo Junction (classic hits) at 7 p.m. Friday, June 22, at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.

The lineup for this year’s series will also include: Carolina Soul Band (R&B/beach) June 29, Crocodile Smile (soul/rock) during the 4th of July Fireworks (starting at 6:30 p.m.), Darren Nicholson Band (Americana/country) July 6, The Super ‘60s Band (classic hits) July 13, Andalyn (rock/country) July 20, Summer Brooke & The Mountain Faith Band (bluegrass/gospel) July 27, Lance & Lea (Americana/pop) Aug. 3, The Get Right Band (soul/rock) Aug. 10, The Colby Deitz Band (rock/Americana) Aug. 17, Geoff McBride (rock/Americana) Aug. 24 and Dashboard Blue (classic hits) Aug. 31.

The concerts are free and open to the public. There will also be food tricks onsite. For more information, call 828.586.2155 or visitwww.mountainlovers.com.

Nashville star plays Nantahala

Americana singer-songwriter Jamie Kent will hit the stage at 8 p.m. Friday, June 29, at Nantahala Brewing in Bryson City. Named by RollingStone.comas an “Artist You Need To Know” and performing onstage with Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, one might say the future of Kent looks quite promising.

Kent has no fear of hard work, playing over 200 shows a year including tours with Huey Lewis & The News, The Doobie Bros, America, Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, Marc Broussard, and multiple showcases at the South By Southwest Music Festival. His new album “All American Mutt,” just debuted at #16 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart.  The show is free and open to the public.

Bryson City gets the blues

There will be an evening of country blues with singer-songwriter Heidi Holton at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 28, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Holton is turning heads with her mastery of the music of the deep South. Original and fresh, traditional with a contemporary flair, her songwriting shines like the sweat glistening on the brow of a Piedmont preacher behind the pulpit on a sultry Sunday afternoon. Following in the footsteps of guitarslingers like Memphis Minnie and Reverend Gary Davis, Holton is making a name for herself in the blues community.

When an opportunity to study with one

‘An Appalachian Evening’

For more information, click on www.nantahalabrewing.com.

Pickin’ on the Square

The Pickin’ on the Square summer concert series will feature Tugalo Holler (bluegrass) at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Gazebo in downtown Franklin.

Other upcoming performers include: The Remnants (oldies/Motown) July 7, Frogtown (bluegrass) July 14, Elderly Brothers (beach/oldies) July 21 and The Clydes (bluegrass) July 28. The concert series is free and open to the public. Bring your lawn chair. Food vendors will also be available.

For more information, visit www.townoffranklinnc.com.

The summer concert series “An Appalachian Evening” will kickoff with legendary bluegrass act Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Stecoah Valley Center.

The annual bluegrass/mountain music series will also feature Fireside Collective (June 30), Buncombe Turnpike (July 7), Helen White & Wayne Henderson (July 14), The Snyder Family (July 21), Salt & Light (July 28), The Jeff Little Trio (Aug. 4), Volume Five (Aug. 11), Unspoken Tradition (Aug. 18) and The Kruger Brothers (Aug. 25)

Tickets for the Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper performance are $25, grades K-12 $10. Tickets are a pre-show dinner are also available for purchase. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

of her favorite guitarists arose, Holton strapped an acoustic guitar to the back of her motorcycle and headed north to Ohio. At the Fur Peace Ranch, she found a mentor and kindred spirit in the legendary Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) and quickly became an accomplished finger picker and slide guitar player.

It wasn’t long before people began to take notice, including blues woman and national treasure Rory Block, who has produced Holton’s sophomore release “Why Mama Cries.” Popular demand keeps Heidi busy, playing about 150 shows a year to a wide variety of audiences. She has opened for notorious bluesman Roy Bookbinder and slide guitar hero Tommy Talton, and has become a regular performer at the Arts and Minds Festival at the Fur Peace Ranch. For more information or driving directions, call the library at 828.488.3030 or visit www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

On the beat

• Andrews Brewing Company (Andrews) will host the “Lounge Series” with Liz Nance (folk/Americana) June 22, Granny’s Mason Jar (Americana) June 23, Alma Russ (Americana/folk) June 29 and Trippin’ Hardie (Americana) June 30. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host Nick Prestia (singer-songwriter) June 22. All shows begin at 8 p.m. www.facebook.com/balsamfallsbrewing.

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host an acoustic jam with Main St. NoTones from 6 to 9 p.m. June 21 and 28. Free and open to the public. www.blueridgebeerhub.com.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Bob Zullo (guitar/vocals) June 22, Ben Wilson (guitar/vocals) June 23 and Joe Cruz (piano/pop) June 29. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. There will also be a special evening with The Jazz Cats at 7 p.m. June 30, which will include a four-course dinner for $39.99 per person. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host Shiloh Hill June 23. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.curraheebrew.com.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Max Gross Weight (classic rock) June 22 and Darren Nicholson Band (Americana/country) 8 p.m. June 30. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Harmon’s Den Bistro at HART (Waynesville) will host karaoke and an open mic at 8 p.m. on Saturdays. All are welcome. www.harttheatre.org.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night June 20 and 27, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo June 21 and 28. All events are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Isis Music Hall (West Asheville) will host Clarence Bucaro 7 p.m. June 20, Elisabeth Beckwitt w/The Sedonas 8:30 p.m. June 20, Scot Sax & Suzie Brown 7 p.m. June 21, Belle & The Band 7 p.m. June 22, AVL Producers Summit 8:30 p.m. June 22, MemoryCare Benefit Concert 8:30 p.m. June 23, The Traveling Ones w/Thomas Kozak 7 p.m. June 27, The Honeylovers 6:30 p.m. June 28, Jesse Terry w/Ryanhood 7 p.m. June 28, Jack Victor & Zack Kardon 6:30 p.m. June 29, Howlin’ Brothers 7 p.m. June 29, Love Canon w/Hank, Pattie & The Current 9 p.m. June 29, South Hill Banks 9 p.m. June 30 and Minas 5:30 p.m. July 1. www.isisasheville.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host George Reeves & David Watt Besley June 22,

Gopher Broke June 23, Nick Prestia (singersongwriter) June 29 and Frogtown (bluegrass) June 30. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. There will also be an open mic night at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Maggie Valley Rendezvous will host Stone Crazy Band (classic rock/pop) from 3 to 6 p.m. June 24 by the poolside tiki bar.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host an open mic night every Thursday, Paul Davis (singer-songwriter) June 22, Frank Lee & Allie Burbrink (Americana/folk) June 23, Paul Davis (singer-songwriter) June 29 and Twelfth Fret (Americana/folk) June 30. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.

• Nantahala Brewing (Bryson City) will host Christina Vane June 22, DownTown Abby & The Echoes June 23, Jamie Kent (Americana/rock) June 29 and Chalwa (roots/jam) June 30. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.nantahalabrewing.com.

• The Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Cherokee) will host a back porch old-time music jam from 1 to 3 p.m. July 7. 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. www.pub319socialhouse.com.

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

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

• Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host Bird in Hand (Americana/folk) 8 p.m. June 23. 828.586.1717 or www.soulinfusion.com.

• Southern Porch (Canton) will host Cody Siniard June 22 and Caitlin Rushing & Sean Holcomb June 23. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. www.southern-porch.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 (Highlands) will host Goldie & The Screamers (soul/R&B) June 30 and Urban Soil (roots/rock) July 7. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m.

On the beat

HPAC benefit concert

A benefit concert featuring Brian Childers will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24, at the Highlands Performing Arts Center.

Titled “Life, Unfurled,” the show will feature Broadway, pop and folk standards. Music by such artists as Mary Chapin Carpenter, James Taylor, Kander and Ebb, Cy Coleman, George Michael, Emily Saliers, and Amy Ray, Irving Berlin, and many more.

Childers is an award-winning singer who has captured hearts all across the nation. The New York Times declares, “An outstanding performance by Childers who proves himself to be a continuing major talent.” His solo performing has taken him to such venues as the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Kennedy Center for the performing Arts, the Staten Island Philharmonic, Dodger Stadium, and the McCallum Theater, to name a few.

The concert is free to all, but donations will be appreciated. Come early to get a good seat, as it will be general open seating. For more information, visitwww.highlandspac.orgor call 828.526.9047.

Angela Easterling.

Songwriter to play Waynesville Library

Singer-songwriter Angela Easterling & The Beguilers will perform at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Waynesville Library Auditorium.

Easterling is a two-time Kerrville New

Folk Songwriting Finalist and a Telluride Troubadour Finalist about whom Vintage Guitar Magazine said, “If Steve Earle was reborn a girl, he would likely be Angela Easterling.”

Roger McGuinn of legendary folk-rock group The Byrds called her, “A bright shining star on the horizon,” and went on to say, “Her gift is so special... brought me back to the time The Byrds recorded ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’ — tradition meets youthful exuberance.”

While retaining an overall Americana feel, you’ll find elements of pop, rock, country and gospel mixed throughout her music. Easterling lives with her partner and their two young sons on the Greer, South Carolina, farm that has been in her family since 1791.

The show is brought to you by the Friends of the Library and the Haywood County Arts Council. Free and open to all. No registration is required.

Groovin’

On the Green

The Groovin’ On the Green concert series will host Porch 40 (rock/funk) at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 22, at The Village Green Commons stage and lawn.

Other performers this summer include: Jay Drummonds & Friends (June 29), Hurricane Creek (July 6), Eat A Peach (July 13), High-5 Band (July 27), Andalyn (Aug. 3), Sundown (Aug. 10), The Krickets (Aug. 17), The Buchanan Boys (Aug. 24) and The Boomers (Sept. 1).

Picnics and coolers are allowed, however concert goers can enjoy delicious food and beverage for sale from the vendors onsite. Concerts are free, but donations are always appreciated. Dogs must be on a leash and under the control of their owners at all times. www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

‘Singing in the Smokies’

The annual “Singing in the Smokies” 4th of July festival will be held June 30-July 4 at Inspiration Park in Bryson City.

Performances by legendary gospel group The Inspirations, Chuck Wagon Gang, The Kingsmen, The McKameys, and The Diplomats. Nearby lodging, camping and RV parking available. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visitwww.theinspirations.com.

Bryson City community jam

A community jam will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 5, 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 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 — yearround. 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 street

Cherokee Nation POW WOW

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ 43th annual POW WOW will be held June 29-July 1 at the Acquoni Expo Center.

The event features world-champion dancers and drums competing for prizes. Vendors from across the country will offer food and arts and crafts items.

Dance competitions are open to participants in five groups and several categories including Traditional, Grass, Fancy, Straight, Jingle and Buckskin. There will also be Northern and Southern Singing prizes and a Hand Drum special. Age groups include “Golden Age” contestants (age 50+), men and women (age 18-49), teens (13-17), Junior (6-12), and tiny tots (under age 5). Specials include Men’s Fancy and Straight, Women’s Jingle, Old Style Fancy Shawl, Cowboy/girl and two Junior specials.

The Pow Wow opens at 5 p.m. Friday, June 29, with a grand entry at 7 p.m. The event continues at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 30, with the grand entry at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Gates open at noon Sunday, July 1, with grand entry at 1 p.m. For more information, call 828.497.7128 or visit www.visitcherokeenc.com.

Nominations sought for Mountain Heritage Awards

Western Carolina University is accepting nominations for the Mountain Heritage Awards, prestigious honors bestowed on an individual and an organization each year for contributions to or playing a prominent role in research, preservation and curation of Southern Appalachian history, culture and folklore.

{Celebrating the Southern Appalachians}

Smoky Mountain Living celebrates the mountain region’s culture, music, art, and special places. We tell our stories for those who are lucky enough to live here and those who want to stay in touch with the place they love.

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The awards will be presented at the 44th annual Mountain Heritage Day on Saturday, Sept. 29, on the WCU campus. Deadline for nominations is Saturday, June 30.

There is a storied tradition of the awards and the recognition given to regional figures, institutions and organizations, beginning with the first presentation in 1976.

Recipients are chosen by a committee comprised of regional and campus representatives. Letters of nomination should not

Line dancing at Stompin’ Ground

There will be a line dancing class held from 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Stompin’ Ground in Maggie Valley. Instructors Kayla Hobbs-Ross and Austin Fish will be teaching traditional and modern line dance lessons. Expect to have a funfilled time, social interaction, and after lessons should you choose to put what you learned to use, Stompin’ Ground will be opening from 8 to 11 p.m. that evening with a live band, huge dance floor, and you can dance the night away. Ask your hosts about a bundle deal should you want to also go to Stompin’ Ground that evening.

Cost is $10 per person. For more information, email kmhobbsmusic@gmail.com or call 828.734.0873.

exceed five pages and should include the full name of the individual or organization being nominated, with a website address if applicable; the mailing address of the nominee; the founding date for organizational nominees; a list of the nominee’s accomplishments; a list of the awards and other recognitions received by the nominee; information about the nominee’s influence in the relevant field of expertise, such as crafts, music or organizational cause; and information about the nominee’s role as a teacher, advocate, leader or curator of mountain culture. Nominations should be delivered to the Mountain Heritage Center offices, located in Room 240 of WCU’s Hunter Library; mailed to Mountain Heritage Center, 1 University Drive, Cullowhee N.C. 28723; or emailed to pameister@wcu.edu.

Indian village now open

The popular Oconaluftee Indian Village will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday through Nov. 10.

As you step into the Oconaluftee Indian Village, you’re transported back to witness the challenges of Cherokee life at a time of rapid cultural change. Tour guides help you explore the historic events and figures of the 1760s.

Visitors can interact with villagers as they participate in their daily activities. The Village also hosts live reenactments, interactive demonstrations, and Hands-On Cherokee Pottery for Kids classes

For more information, visit www.cherokeehistorical.org.

On the street

Waynesville ‘Great Decisions’ series

The final “Great Decisions” series discussion topic “Global Health: Progress and Challenges” will take place from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m. Thursday, June 21, in the auditorium of the Waynesville Public Library.

Prepare to discuss the world. “Great Decisions” is America’s largest discussion program on world affairs. Presented by the Foreign Policy Association.

This program provides background information and policy options for the eight most critical issues facing America each year and serves as the focal text for discussion groups across the country.

Questions may be directed to moderator David McCracken atdem32415@aol.com. Registration is required: 828.356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

• Line Dance Lessons will be held on Tuesdays in 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.comfor more information.

• “Laughing Balsam Sangha,” a meeting for 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, call 828.335.8210, and “Like” them on Facebook.

• CommUnity Square Dancing will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Webster Rock School in Webster. Come as you are. No partner or fancy clothes necessary.

• There will be a free wine tasting from 1 to 5 p.m. June 23 and 30 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.comor 828.452.0120.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. June 23 and 30 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. www.papouswineshop.comor 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.

*Paid for by the Committee to Elect Mark Melrose

On the wall

Artist showcase at Franklin library

Western North Carolina artist Kay Smith returns for a solo exhibit at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. The showcase will run for the month of June.

Part of the display will feature a nautical theme: boats, water, and sea shells to name a few subjects. Another theme will focus on flowers. The rest of the exhibit will feature a mixture of topics ranging from mystical orbs, a rip in time, and a beautiful peacock feather.

Smith’s diverse background provides her a plethora ideas, and inspire her to numerous artistic subject matters. Her exposure to world-wide cultures has allowed her imagination the freedom to explore and interpret everyday objects and put them onto canvas; thus, creating unique works of art. Her medium is oil because it allows her time to play and manipulate her work as she goes along.

Subjects vary from flowers, landscapes, raindrops, clouds, and spiritual subjects — whatever takes her fancy on any particular day. It is Smith’s hope that her artwork will produce a smile or two, bring back a fond memory, or inspire the viewer to create their own reality.

To see more of her art, check out her website,www.kaysfineart.com. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Haywood ‘ArtShare’ donations needed

This year marks the sixth year of the Haywood County Arts Council’s (HCAC) “ArtShare” exhibit.

“ArtShare” is a showing of fine works of art which have been donated to or consigned with the HCAC. The HCAC welcomes pieces from collectors that may be downsizing, changing décor, or who wish to consign estate items to benefit the arts in this community.

“ArtShare” was born out of a desire to allow collectors to be able to pass on art for someone else to enjoy.

The HCAC will accept donations or consigned items in the gallery beginning July 11, though inventory sheets may be turned in prior. Inventory sheets are due no later than July 20. Even if collectors have participated in the past, HCAC encourages them to participate again. Artists may participate by sharing their own work, but only if donating.

If you have questions, call the HCAC at 828.452;0593. “ArtShare” runs from Aug. 3-25.

More information about donating, including show contracts and inventory lists, can be found at www.haywoodarts.org.

Mountain Artisans showcase

The 29th annual Mountain Artisans “Summertime” Arts & Crafts Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 30 and July 1 in the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina University.

Dozens of local artisans. Admission is $4.50 for adults with children under 12 free. Concessions available and free convenient parking.

www.mountainartisans.net.

Interested in basket-making?

Local crafter and talented instructor Junetta Pell will be teaching a basket-making workshop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 26 and 28 at the Jackson County Extension Office in Sylva.

This new basket is 12x12” and 7” deep and has a beautiful wooden “D” handle. Cost to attend the class is around $22. Class size is limited.

To register and to get the supply list, call

the Extension Office at 828.586.4009. Note the extension office has recently moved to 876 Skyland Drive, Suite 6.

Stecoah Drive-About Studio Art Tour

The annual “Stecoah Arts & Crafts Drive About Tour” will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 22-23 in Bryson City, Stecoah and Robbinsville.

With their studios open to the public, the self-guided driving tour highlights artisans who have built a livelihood with their creative talents. Media include pottery, beeswax lanterns and pillar candles, original paintings and drawings, fiber, quilts, photography, artisan cheeses and more.

The tour includes: Nantahala School for the Arts (Southwestern Community College), Sawmill Creek Pottery, Gallery Zella, Stecoah Artisans Gallery, Yellow Branch Pottery & Cheese, Taylor’s Greenhouse, Wehrloom Honey & Essentials and Junk ‘n’ Style.

The Schoolhouse Café at Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center will be open during both days of the Artisans Drive About. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

Professional Crafts Graduate Show

The graduating class of Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts program will exhibit their best work at the 2018 Graduate Show, which will be held through June 24 at the Southern Highland Craft Guild Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville.

This year’s show has work in clay, jewelry, fiber and wood. This exhibit marks the professional debut for many exhibiting craftspeople. The college makes involvement in the installation, organization, and publicity of this exhibit as part of the coursework

New Sylva art showcase

The much anticipated opening of new work by Beth and Ken Bowser will begin with a reception at 5 p.m. Friday, June 22, at Gallery 1 in Sylva. The showcase will remain in the backstreet gallery room until Aug. 4.

Beth, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, has been working with glass since 1980. Her first glass ventures were in stained glass and have expanded to include kiln formed glass. Beth says that inspiration for her art comes from many sources, including nature, her imagination, and what she sees in a piece of glass when she looks at its unique characteristics.

Her stained glass creations include copyrighted designs and numerous commissions in stained glass and kiln formed glass. Her kiln formed works include, but are not limited to pendants, most of which are one-of-a-kind:

• “Paint Nite Waynesville” will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursdays (June 28 and July 12) 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.

ALSO:

• The “Meet the Artist” reception with Brian Hannum (pianist), Wendy Cordwell (cocllagist) and Jon Houglum (painter) will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 29, at Gallery Zella in Bryson City. Enjoy North Carolina wine, food and music. Free to attend. 828.488.3638 or visit www.galleryzella.com.

• The “Movies on Everett” outdoor series will run through Aug. 17 at the corner of Mitchell and Everett streets in downtown Bryson City. Screenings begin at 9 p.m. Family-friendly. Free to attend. For a full schedule, visit www.greatsmokies.com.

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.

• 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.

• 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. appalachianartfarm@gmail.comor find them on Facebook.

for the professional crafts students.

The Professional Crafts program is a twoyear commitment, focusing on all aspects of becoming an independent craft professional. In addition to sharpening their technical and artistic skill in their chosen medium, students also create a marketable line of production work, plan a studio, and become familiar with the craft market.

Mandatory coursework includes photography of finished pieces for gaining entrance into craft shows, creating a business plan, and designing and building a studio tailored to fit production needs.

The Folk Art Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission and parking are both free. 828.627.4673 or visit creativearts.haywood.edu.

bowls, plates, vases and free-hand designs. Both forms of glass art can be found in private residences, business offices, churches, and other settings across the country.

Ken began painting some 60 years ago. He started with oils, but came to know a great watercolor painter near where he lived at the time and found himself hooked on watercolor. For a number of years painting was a hobby, occasionally attending a workshop or painting on Saturdays with a group of fellow watercolorists in northeastern Ohio.

Every other year trips to Colorado and New Mexico with mentor Lowell Ellsworth Smith were always a plus. They ventured to Mexico twice where it was a treat to meet some of the western artists and listen to their adventures in the art world.

Beth and Ken’s work is also available at The Bascom Gift Shop in Highlands and Tsaristry Gallery near Franklin. www.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.

• The Waynesville Fiber Friends will meet from 10 a.m. to noon on the second

• Free classes and open studio times are being offered at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Join others at a painting open studio session from 6:30 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday or from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Thursday. Bring your own materials and join an ongoing drawing course led by gallery artists from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Friday. For information on days open, hours and additional art classes and workshops, contact the gallery on 30 East Main Street at 828.349.4607.

ans. One Grammy-nomina to see them, as they make last year’s sold-out show a ow are $45, with a cookout fore the performance. For 1. And get ready for one g h ted sound. their second at the Ranch. dinner (priced reservations, great show.

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On the wall Glass Catalyst: Littleton’s Legacy in Contemporary Sculpture

The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at the Bardo Arts Center is pleased to announce the opening of its newest exhibition “Glass Catalyst: Littleton’s Legacy in Contemporary Sculpture,” which will run through Dec. 7.

Celebrating the efforts of Harvey Littleton, one of the greatest proponents of using glass as an expressive medium, the exhibition explores the work of contemporary artists concentrating in glass and how they are building off the foundations laid by Littleton during the early years of the Studio Glass Movement. A key work in the exhibition will be a new acquisition to the Museum’s collection: a glass sculpture by Harvey Littleton entitled “Terracotta Arc.”

This piece was unveiled at a special opening reception on June 14 at the Bardo Arts Center, which would have been Littleton’s 96th birthday. Donated by the Littleton Family in honor of WCU Professor Emeritus Joan Falconer Byrd, this sculpture serves as a focal point in the exhibition and a reminder of how Littleton’s impact reverberates through the generations.

Artists featured in the exhibition include: Alex Bernstein, Carol Milne, Hayden Wilson, Matt Eskuche, Shane Fero, Robert Burch, Carmen Lozar, Carole Frève, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Shayna Leib, and Dean Allison. Glass enthusiasts, sculptors, lovers of innovation, and even knitters will especially enjoy this display of works ranging from cast figures to blown glass to delicate lamp-worked forms.

The majority of the artists in the exhibition represent a younger generation of glass sculptors who did not directly work with or

study under Littleton, yet each of them, like Littleton, works glass to its fullest potential by creatively expanding the medium. All of the artists represented in the exhibition take a conceptual approach to their work, ushering glass beyond the functional realm where its traditional roots lie.

Born to a physicist who worked at Corning Glass Works, Littleton encountered glass in a factory setting at an early age. Believing that glass had creative potential outside its applications in industry, Littleton set out to make it possible for artists to experiment with glass in their individual studios. He built a small-scale furnace and other equipment that could be used for blowing glass. This initial experimentation inspired Littleton to share his findings with others.

In 1962, Littleton led a watershed glass workshop at the Toledo Museum of Art that would eventually spark the creation of glass programs at universities, craft schools, and art centers throughout the world. He is often credited with making information about glass widely available. Coming out of an era when glass techniques and formulas were concentrated in Europe and largely kept secret, Littleton took a democratic, and arguably American, approach to his art form by sharing ideas and techniques freely amongst a community of interested artists. His efforts led to the elevation of glass as an art form and the creation of a viable market for artists working in glass.

Regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Thursdays until 7 p.m. For information, call 828.227.ARTS or visit bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

On the wall

Haywood Arts $10,000 challenge

Haywood County Arts Council Board

President Michael Lodico and his wife Mary Alice are giving a great surprise — an end-ofyear gift up to $10,000 in matching funds for all donations to the HCAC annual fund through June 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

All gifts to the Haywood County Arts Council made between now and June 30 will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000. Consequently, when an individual makes a tax-deductible donation of $25, HCAC will receive $50.

Annual fund donations enhance art education, local artists and innovation in art. This year, annual fund gifts supported monthly art exhibits in the HCAC gallery, artist workshops, the Junior Appalachian Musicians program, Mind the Music senior piano lessons, Dance ARIS, Young Artist Concert, art exhibits at the HART and both Waynesville & Canton Libraries, Student Honors Recital, Sunday at the Opry Veterans Day performance, as well as artist receptions and other community events.

To give online, visit www.haywoodarts.orgor visit the HCAC gallery at 86 North Main Street in downtown Waynesville to make a cash donation.

Haywood Arts open call, member show

This July, the Haywood County Arts Council invites its artist members to participate in its annual “Artist Member Show.”

The show is a celebration of our community of artists, allowing them to share their great work at the height of the summer season. The show will run from July 6-28

To participate, member artists should pick out two or three pieces of work that they would like to feature in the show. Then, download a show contract/inventory sheet from the Haywood County Arts Council website or pick one up from HCAC Gallery & Gifts. Email completed forms toartist@haywoodarts.orgor mail to P.O. Box 306, Waynesville, NC 28786. The actual number of pieces shown per artist may vary, depending on space and number of participants.

If you are not current member but still want to participate, there’s still time to join.

For a $40 annual fee or $30 Young Innovator (age 18-39 years) fee, artists get all the benefits of membership: participation in the member show, an artist page on the HCAC website, first calls for work to artists, and more. Artist membership information can be found on the website.

For more information about HCAC programs and events, visit www.haywoodarts.org.

‘Paint & Sip Workshop’

The “Paint & Sip Workshop” will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Friday, June 29, at Gallery Zella in Bryson City.

Enjoy learning to paint with a buddy, daughter, son or even your sweetheart. Take home an incredible memory of your trip to the mountains — your own original painting on canvas. Enjoy a glass of wine (or soft beverage) and a light snack. Your painting instructor Carol Conti has taught painting for over 20 years. Students will be presented with a Smoky Mountain landscape, then Conti will guide you in creating your own master work of art. Cost is $50, which includes all materials. For more information, call 828.488.3638 or visit www.galleryzella.com.

HPAC

‘Live via Satellite’

The last National Theatre of London “Live via Satellite” production of the season “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Highlands Performing Arts Center.

Based on the acclaimed novel by Mark Haddon, adapted by Simon Stephens. Captured live from the National Theatre in London, this critically acclaimed production directed by Marianne Elliot has astonished audiences around the world and has received seven Olivier and five Tony Awards.

Christopher, 15 years old, stands beside Mrs. Shears’ dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain, exceptional at math while illequipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.

Tickets are available online at www.highlandspac.org, at the door or by calling 828.526.9047.

‘Liars Bench’ returns to WCU

A program devoted to preserving, promoting and performing materials dealing with Appalachian heritage and culture,

“The Liars Bench” will return at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 21, in Room 101 of the H. F. Robinson Administration Building at Western Carolina University.

According to Gary Carden, the founder of “The Liars Bench,” “Western North Carolina contained some of the best material in the region since it has gifted storytellers and popular musicians. We also have the best folklore.”

Admission is free. Donations accepted. Additional information is available from Carden via email at gcarden498@aol.com.

HART

presents Steve Martin comedy

A hilarious comedy by Steve Martin, “The Underpants” will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. June 21-23, 28-30, and at 2 p.m. June 24 and July 1 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

In the production, we get a wild satire adapted from a classic German play about Louise and Theo Markes, a couple whose conservative existence is shattered when Louise’s bloomers fall down in public. Though she pulls them up quickly, he thinks the incident will cost him his job as a government clerk. Louise’s momentary display does not result in the feared scandal but it does

‘An Evening with Danny Kaye’

The stage show “An Evening with Danny Kaye” will be held at 8 p.m. June 21-23 and 2 p.m. June 23-24 at the Highlands Playhouse.

When initially approached to play Danny Kaye, Childers dove in and learned everything he could about the comedic genius and in doing so, found a connection and an uncanny ability to channel Kaye in all his unique glory.

Having performed in numerous incarnations of the story of Danny Kaye in “Danny and Sylvia: A Musical Love Story,” (which garnered him the Helen Hayes Award for “Best Actor in a Musical”), “The Kid From Brooklyn,” in both Los Angeles and Chicago and “Danny and Sylvia” Off-Broadway in New York City.

Tickets are available at the box office, online at www.highlandsplayhouse.orgor by calling 828.526.2462.

attract two infatuated men, each of whom wants to rent the spare room in the Markes’ home. Oblivious of their amorous objectives, Theo splits the room between them, happy to collect rent from both the foppish poet and the whiny hypochondriac.

To keep in the spirit of the show, the Harmons’ Den Bistro will be offering up a German inspired feast as part of your ticket. There will be vegetarian options on the menu. All seating is at tables and the doors open at 6 p.m. with the show beginning at 7:30 p.m. for evening performances and opening at 12:30 p.m. with the show at 2 p.m. on Sundays.

“The Underpants” is being directed by Jeff Messer and the cast includes David Yeates, Kristen Hedberg, Marc Cameron, Amanda Klinikowski, Dakota Mann and Tom Dewees.

Tickets are $40 for adults, $38 for seniors and $25 for students and include dinner and the show. To make reservations, call 828.456.6322 or visit www.harttheatre.org.

Musical explores 1960s hits

Overlook Theatre Company will present the hit Broadway musical retrospective “Leader of the Pack: The Musical Life of Ellie Greenwich” at 7:30 p.m. June 22-23 and 2930 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

Ellie Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote hits such as, “Be My Baby,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” and of course, “Leader of the Pack.” Greenwich passed away in 2009. “Leader of the Pack” tells the story of young Greenwich who dreamed of a career in the music industry and longed to hear her songs on the radio. It explores the joys and heartaches of her 40year career that skyrocketed in the 1960s. Tickets are $12 for students and $17 for adults. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 866.273.4615.

Book examines ‘meanness’ in Christianity

The author of this book is a speech language psychologist and university educator. Now in his sixties, Billy has extensive experience in assisting individuals with intellectual disabilities. In addition, Ogletree is a Christian writer with an extensive career which includes more than 70 professional articles, chapters and books which speak directly to his primary interest: “the challenging, but cathartic possibilities associated with following Jesus.” Ogletree’s decision to write Mean Christianity is the direct result of his concern about the growth of what he terms “meanness” in many facets of modern life. This is a term which he defines as conduct that is incompatible with the life of Jesus Christ. The fact that the world is currently split by conflicting political and economic forces adds to the difficulty of recognizing the meanness which frequently masquerades as “a new truth” or even as a traditional belief that has become dangerously distorted.

readers, nor does he address specific examples of meanness in the world of politics, his approach is more subtle. Instead, he advises

Born in Mississippi, Ogletree grew up in a university town in middle-class comfort. The author readily acknowledges that he had an ideal childhood, comparing himself to “Opie” on the Andy Griffin Show. In addition, he has enjoyed the security of a Christian family life that shaped his attitudes and opinions. Although he witnessed the civil rights movement and learned much of what he perceived to be the life of a true Christian, he never experienced violence or poverty.

However, he has always had a sense of what a “Christian life” entails. True Christians are involved in the life that lies beyond the boundaries of their own home. His decision to devote his life to improving the life of the disabled has given him the opportunity to not only serve others, but to become a living example of what Christianity requires of us. In other words to emulate Christ.

Although Ogleetree does not “exort” his

his readers to question the wisdom of “becoming great” by seeking dominion over others as a desirable goal. In like manner, he suggests that the aspiring Christian consider the consequences of “building walls” since they limit or defeat Christ’s goal (to love, aid and assist others).

The chapters of Mean Christianity have the orderly development of “a lesson plan” which enables a teacher to teach a complex subject by breaking it down into a set of sim-

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. Kays will host a reading at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the reading.

It follows the story of Virginia native Dana Stullman, whose world turns upside down when her boyfriend dies in a car accident. At 22, she finds herself moving across the country to escape reminders of the tragedy and the life that preceded it. Becoming

ple components. Early on, it becomes evident that the author has a penchant for citing analogies and with Bill Ogletree, it is the world of sports and athletic activity. In most instances, it is baseball. Certainly, baseball analogies dominate this book.

As a result, such expressions as “playing your position” in baseball become analogous to defining your role in your Christian life. If you are performing in a manner that is in harmony with all components, then the entire system performs efficiently. If an individual player practices his skills and hones them to perfection, then when the opportunity arises to “exercise a double-play,” he will function in harmony with the other members of the team.

We are all on the same team and Christ is in the dugout. He “has your back” and if you falter or make a serious mistake, He may call a “time out” and come with other team members to consult with you (the pitcher) as to the best course of action. Shall we call in a backup pitcher who has been down in the dugout practicing his best maneuvers, or should we allow you to continue? We may be in the “seventh inning.” Christ may “raise the bar” and if so, you must respond by bring into play all of your skills and instincts.

So it is throughout Mean Christianity Ogletree never falters and his purpose, which is to provide an inspiring account of how to live and thrive in a world beset by doubt and confusion. Ogletree poses the questions and provides the solutions. The popular adage, “What would Jesus do?” seems apt since the

lonelier than she could have imagined, Dana finds solace in an unexpected friendship, but her life remains paralyzed until a crisis in the wind-swept Wyoming wilderness forces her to confront the past and choose her path into the future.

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.

Shadows of Flowers retails for $12 and is available online at www.paypal.me/hollykaysfor a $15 payment that includes shipping. www.facebook.com/shadowsofflowers.

author repeatedly advises that we should strive to “emulate” Christ’s behavior, and notes that since Christ failed, but invariably “regrouped” and gathered his courage and “returned to the fray.” Christ may “raise the bar,” but he is also there to provide support. But what about the real issues that plague us? Are we capable of Christian forgiveness? Once we have forgiven a bitter wrong, can we forget it? Exactly what is “Grace”? What about a father’s cancer? Abortion? Homosexuality? Divorce? Is there a solution other than prayer?

For Ogletree, every problem is unique and contains the answer which will come from consideration of all of facets of the problem. It may be difficult to bear and painful, but the need to follow Christ ‘s example is no guarantee of a solution that is painless.

Ogletree would doubtless advise that you consult others and consider those who have dealt with the same problem. As always, any answer that is contrary to Christ’s living example may be meanness that is hidden beneath selfishness or a misguided need to win or keep the approval of others.

It seems logical to conclude that Ogletree’s extensive use of analogy reveals his heartfelt desire to communicate with the largest number of readers possible, and of course baseball is universally popular.

Although I think he is correct, this reviewer never cared for baseball and would have preferred a different analogy — perhaps a symphonic orchestra, or a country and western band. Such an analogy would provide numerous possibilities. Players could be admonished to not play too loud or out of tune, or like Lisa Simpson, “too innovative.” Players could be admonished to stay in tune with their fellow musicians. But is failure to do so, a “meanness”? Just kidding.

Mean Christianity is an excellent guide through our tangled world where arrogance, misguided patriotism and racism are often presented in the guise of loyalty and tradition. Readers may find that meanness is often deceptive and is present in unlikely places.

Literary Hour at John C. Campbell Folk School

The North Carolina Writers’ Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 27, the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown.

At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus. This month’s featured readers will be Linda Grayson Jones, Brenda Kay Ledford and Maura Payne.

The Literary Hour is usually held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public.

The wildest show

Synchronous fireflies display untamed beauty in the Smokies

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFFWRITER

Ientered the lottery on a whim, figuring that, like 90 percent of my fellow entrants, I’d end up with nothing but a polite “thank you for entering” and an invitation to try again next year. I was stunned, frankly, to receive an email that instead began with the word “congratulations” and an invitation to start dreaming about a front-row seat to one of the region’s most spectacular natural phenomena.

That would be the flashing of the synchronous fireflies, Photinus carolinus.

Fireflies are a familiar sight to anyone who’s grown up in the Southeast, yellow lights blinking across grassy fields during the most beautiful hour of any summer day — dusk, as the sun sets and saturated greenery fades slowly to darkness.

But the synchronous fireflies are something different, akin to the hard-partying, sequin-wearing cousin of a demure wallflower type. They stay abed until the sun is gone, waiting for complete darkness to start the party.

The lady fireflies sit on the forest floor, emitting a weak little flash that apparently drives the gentlemen crazy. Perched in trees and shrubbery, the male fireflies flash their part — bright, white flashes sparkle in synchronous waves through the forest. The pattern is consistent, with the males flashing five to eight times in a row before pausing, allowing darkness to take over for a few brief seconds. In that pause, they search for the faint

flash of a potential sweetheart, hoping to find a mate before the night is over.

Like many of the more showy elements of animal behavior, it’s all about reproduction, but standing in the midst of a forest full of blinking fireflies decorating the trees like Christmas lights, it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking there’s a less carnal purpose to the display — a motivation closer to artistry, magic and the pure desire for beauty in the world.

At least, that’s how I’d remembered it when I put my name into the lottery this spring. I’d had the pleasure of seeing the fireflies at Elkmont Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park once before, back in 2014. I remember so clearly standing there as darkness fell, seeing nothing of note, and wondering what all the fuss was about. Then it happened — the unmistakable cacophony of synchronous light. I knew why I’d come.

Synchronous fireflies can be found across the Southern Appalachians, but they have a specific set of habitat requirements that limit their population to pockets here and there.

Living at elevations of 2,000 to 5,000 feet, they’re sensitive to light pollution and trampling of the ground, and they need moist soils, a comfortable temperature range and an

open understory to see each other’s displays. The Elkmont area has all of that, and it’s well known to contain one of the most dramatic firefly light shows around. So dramatic, in fact, that the park had to start running the firefly viewing as a ticketed event, limiting the number of people on any given night and staffing the trail with rangers to ensure that visitors behave in a firefly-friendly manner.

This year, I was to be one of the lucky few granted a parking pass, allowing one carful to park at Sugarlands Visitor Center and ride the trolley up to the Little River Trail at Elkmont.

We arrived on the early end of the things, but not early enough to avoid waiting in a line several trolley-loads deep, populated with a combination of avid outdoors-lovers and folks venturing into the park for the first time. Despite the difficulty we humans always have with waiting, anticipation reigned stronger than anxiety as the line inched forward, finally disappearing as we made our way into one of the City of Gatlinburg trolleys and 6 miles uphill to Elkmont, where the magic was to happen.

As dusk fell and the familiar yellow-flashing fireflies made their appearance, we found a nice spot along the trail, set up our chairs and the camera tripod — synchronous fireflies are one of the hardest subjects to photo-

But the synchronous fireflies are something different, akin to the hard-partying, sequin-wearing cousin of a demure wallflower type.

graph, which of course just fueled my enthusiasm for trying — and enjoyed the fact that the called-for rain had decided to hold off. The Smokies holds 19 known species of fireflies, and several members of that cast provided opening acts as the daylight waned into darkness.

With nothing but moon and stars left to light the sky, I saw them — crackles of light, like so many sparks from a sparkler. They celebrated in bursts through the understory, a soundless crackle-crackle-pop punctuated by the lazy drifting of blue ghost fireflies. It was mesmerizing, and peaceful, though I kept waiting for the show to reach the dramatic heights it had in 2014, when the fireflies had flashed like bulbs strung along the branches of towering trees.

When I looked at the time and saw it was nearly 11 p.m., I was shocked — because the hours had slipped away so quickly in that chair, along the summery green trail with the flashing of the synchronous fireflies and low blue pulses of the blue ghosts, but also because I wondered if my memory had failed me, if I’d somehow built up that 2014 experience to larger-than-life heights, fueled by the repetition of fawning reports emerging from all corners of the internet.

But that’s not what happened, as I learned later. As with people, the seasons hit fireflies differently from year to year. Sometimes, mitigating circumstances force a last-minute change of plans.

This year featured some weird weather, making it harder than

Playground opens for kids with special needs

A new playground designed for kids with mental and physical disabilities is now open in Waynesville.

The All Abilities Playground in the Waynesville Recreation Park, next to the Kiwanis playground, opened Friday, June 15. The town had hoped to open it earlier this spring, but continued rains delayed the final touches.

The playground cost $158,900 in total, though the Town of Waynesville paid only $22,600. A Connect N.C. Bond grant covered $90,300, with the Waynesville Kiwanis Club contributing $10,000, the Evergreen Foundation $25,000, Landscape Structures $6,800 and Pepsi $500.

The All Abilities Playground in Waynesville is now open. Donated photo

Learn tennis

Beginner tennis lessons will come to the Donnie Pankiw Tennis Center at the Waynesville Recreation Park next month.

The five-session series will be held 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, July 12 through Aug. 9, covering essential strokes of the game, how to keep score and beginning strategies for success. Rumi Kakareka will teach the classes, bringing his expertise as a PTR-certified tennis teaching pro with 20-plus years of experience. Kakareka is currently the tennis director at the Laurel Ridge Country Club. $60 for five sessions. Space is limited. Register with Kakareka at 703.966.7138 or rkakareka@me.com.

Grant will fund waterways in Macon

Cartoogechaye Creek will become a little healthier thanks to a $100,000 grant that Mainspring Conservation Trust landed from Duke Energy’s Water Resources Fund.

The grant will fund streambank stabilization

Red light from visitors’ flashlights floods the forest as synchronous fireflies flash. Because white light disturbs the fireflies, the park provides red cellophane for visitors to cover their lights. Holly Kays photo

and repair of a riparian wetland near the Little Tennessee River Greenway in Franklin.

Mainspring purchased the 16-acre property in a collaborative effort with Macon County to expand the popular recreation trail.

“This grant will help Mainspring restore an area that can be used for years to come by the citizens of Macon County,” said Sharon Taylor, executive director. “We thank Duke Energy for its support

and are eager to launch this project so that we can continue restoring an important local waterway.”

Mainspring is one of 16 organizations in North and South Carolina to collectively receive more than $1.2 million in the Water Resources Fund’s seventh grant announcement. The multiyear commitment will leave a legacy of improved water quality, quantity and conservation in the Carolinas and neighboring regions.

usual to predict exactly when the peak display would fall. April 2018 was one of the coldest Aprils on record, and May was forecast to be cool as well — though, in actuality, it turned out to be quite hot, speeding

up firefly development and causing the trolley dates to fall in the middle and later part of the display period instead of smack in the middle, as is the goal. My ticket, dated for the second-to-last day of the event,

would have been on the trailing end, while in 2014 I hit the peak exactly.

But that’s not a disappointment, necessarily. Sometimes quiet and peaceful beauty is just as fulfilling as high drama, and honestly there’s comfort in the knowledge that, as much as we might sometimes like to be, we aren’t yet capable of pinning nature down completely.

We can try, of course. We can take our measurements, make our guesses, design our systems, build our cages. But at the end of the day, wilderness will still fight to be wild, and the fireflies will still flash when they will. And if we’re lucky enough to catch the show — well then, good for us. The only sensible thing to do is sit back, enjoy, and take in the beauty.

Get schooled in the Smokies

From foraging to history, the Smoky Mountain Field School will offer a variety of programs on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this season.

n Learn to identify the plants and trees that the mountains’ early inhabitants used for dye, food, medicines and crafts, while sampling delicious wild flavors appropriate to the seasons, with “Foraging for Food and Farmacy” Saturday, June 23, or Saturday, Aug. 18. Wildcrafter Ila Hatter, of Bryson City, will lead the search for treasures in the woods and fields. The June experience explores the original route from Gatlinburg to Cherokee and a portion of the Appalachian Trail, while the August experience explores the area around the Mountain Farm Museum and the Oconaluftee River.

n Naturalist Esther Blakely will lead a guided ecotour to one of the park’s best-kept secrets, Cataloochee Valley, during “Historic Cataloochee Valley, Smoky Mountain Elk and More” Saturday, Aug. 25. Students will explore the rich natural and cultural history of early settlers to the valley and the park’s formation, with an emphasis on the 2001 elk reintroduction.

n Explore the culture of the Cherokee people with “Cherokee Heritage Adventure,” Saturday, Sept. 22. Students will hear Cherokee legends at the story circle, play traditional games and take a nature walk along the Oconaluftee River Trail to learn how plants and trees provided food and medicines for the Cherokee. Register for either the morning program or the afternoon program. One child age 7-12 may attend with each registered adult.

Each program costs $69. Register at smfs.utk.edu. A cooperative effort between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the University of Tennessee, the Smoky Mountain Field School offers unique learning experiences in one of the nation’s premier national parks.

Explore the Smokies with ranger programs

Summer is in full swing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and rangers are ready with a full schedule of programs to help visitors of all stripes better connect with the mountain landscape.

n Join a ranger for a cup of coffee and find out what’s happening in the park at 10 a.m. every Sunday on the front porch of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Topics for the one-hour program will vary. Coffee provided. Bring a cup. Accessible.

n See what gardening, woodworking and other activities would have looked like for Smokies settlers during a one-hour program offered at 1 p.m. Sundays at the Mountain Farm Museum adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Accessible.

n Enjoy a 4-mile hike to take in two historic cemeteries and learn about end-of-life traditions among the early settlers in the Great Smoky Mountains during a three-hour program offered at 3 p.m. every Monday leaving from the Mingus Mill Parking Area. The hike is moderate in difficulty with stream crossings on bridges.

n A 3.6-mile hike will reach Andrews Bald, the most accessible of the Smokies’ grassy balds, during a three-hour program offered at 10 a.m. Tuesdays leaving from the Forney Ridge Trailhead at Clingmans Dome. A ranger-guided hike to the bald will be followed by a leisurely hike-on-your-own trip back to the parking lot. Bring sturdy footwear, a snack and water. Moderate difficulty.

n Enjoy a guided hike to the former elk acclimation pen site in Cataloochee Valley during a 1.5-hour program offered at 5 p.m. Tuesdays July 3 through Aug. 28, excluding July 24 and Aug. 14. Walking a moderate route less than 1 mile at the Rough Fork Trailhead, the group will explore how, when and why the elk returned to the Smokies.

n Learn the basics of compass orienteering during a fun, farm-themed scavenger hunt offered at 3 p.m. Wednesdays except July 25

Clean up Panthertown

at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The onehour program is recommended for ages 9 and up, though younger children are welcome with parents or older siblings. Easy, but participants should be able to count by fives.

n Discover the subtle differences in tools and trees when the buildings at the

The reintroduction of elk to the Smokies is the topic of multiple ranger programs this summer.

during a one-hour program at 10:30 a.m. Saturdays under the maple tree at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

n Enjoy views, birds, wildflowers and a lovely Appalachian mountain stream during a ranger-led walk along the Flat Creek Trail at 2 p.m. Saturdays. The ranger-led portion of the program will explore about half of the

Mountain Farm Museum were originally constructed during “Adz, Froe, and a Fine Tree,” a one-hour program offered at 10:30 a.m. Thursdays at the Davis Queen House in the Mountain Farm Museum near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

n An evening campfire program will be offered at 7 p.m. every Friday and Saturday between the C and D loops of Smokemont Campground. Topics will vary at each onehour program but are guaranteed to teach something new about the Smoky Mountains. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. Accessible.

n Learn the basics of reading a compass

2.6-mile trail, with participants able to finish on their own or return to the trailhead with the ranger. The trail is moderate in difficulty and begins at the Balsam Mountain Picnic Area.

n Learn about the history of elk through show-and-tell activities during a 45-minute program offered at 3:30 p.m. some Saturdays at the Palmer House in Cataloochee Valley. Stick around to watch the elk come into the fields. Offered June 23, July 7, July 21, Aug. 11, Aug. 18, Sept. 8 and Sept. 22. Accessible. All programs are free and run through Aug. 11 unless otherwise noted.

A guided hike and trail cleanup day will be held 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, June 29, in Panthertown Valley near Cashiers. The group will meet at the Cold Mountain Gap Trailhead and hike in to clean up the Greenland Creek Trail. Email friends@panthertown.orgto sign up.

Volunteers take a break during a gardening work day at Oconaluftee.

War with weeds

Become a weed warrior at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center during a gardening workday 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 30.

Volunteers will remove unwanted plants from the flowerbeds in front of the visitor center and from the Mountain Farm Museum gardens.

The event is part of the Smokies Service Days series, with morning volunteer opportunities offered on Saturdays followed by an optional enrichment adventure in the afternoon. Other scheduled service days include picnic area and campground cleanup at Deep Creek near Bryson City July 7 and campground cleanup at Cosby in Tennessee July 21.

Park staff will provide tools and safety gear, with participants asked to wear closed-toed shoes and bring a lunch if planning to stay for the enrichment activity. Sign up with Logan Boldon at 865.436.1278 or logan_boldon@partner.nps.gov. Space limited in some cases.

Party with the pollinators

Learn about insects and their relatives during a joint celebration of Bug Day and National Pollinator Week, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Cradle of Forestry in America near Brevard.

The day will start with a 10 a.m. caterpillar count, a chance for visitors to help scientists document wiggly life around the Forest Discovery Center. An 11 a.m. monarch butterfly program, 1:30 p.m. children’s butterfly walk, 2:30 p.m. presentation on plant-insect interactions including a short walk and 3:30 p.m. bumblebee search

Dally with daylilies

will follow. The Bug Olympics, crafts and displays will be available throughout the event, and a honeybee hive will be on display from 2 to 4:30 p.m.

Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for kids 4 to 12. Friends of the Cradle, Every Kid in a Park and America the Beautiful passes accepted. The Cradle is located along U.S. 276 in the Pisgah National Forest, about 35 miles south of Waynesville.

828.877.3130 or www.cradleofforestry.com.

Hundreds of daylilies will be on display at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 23, during the Western North Carolina Daylily Club’s annual flower show. Club members will be onsite to provide information on the care and cultivation of daylilies, and the lilies will also be available for purchase. Free with regular $14 parking fee.

Get a handle on pests

A gardening seminar 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, June 22, at the Highlands Community Building in Highlands will discuss pest management and native plant gardens.

The morning session will feature Robert Wyatt, Ph.D. and former executive director of the Highlands Biological Station, and Bob Gale, ecologist and public lands director for MountainTrue. In the afternoon, Kyle Pursel, stewardship coordinator for the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, will give a hands-on demonstration at the Highlands Recreation Park.

The event is the third annual gardening seminar offered by the Coalition for Nonnative Invasive Pest Management. Registration is $10 and covers lunch. Preregister at 222.hicashlt.org or call 828.787.1230. Walk-ins welcome, but preregistration is preferred to ensure adequate materials.

Meet the mountain camellia

See one of the most rare and beautiful Appalachian shrubs in bloom 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at Fires Creek in Clay County.

Jack Johnston, who will lead the trip, is a renowned expert on the mountain camellia, having propagated and studied the species for three decades. The day will include several stops where the shrub is found and end at Alarka Institute in Cowee Valley for a tour of the shrub in a landscape setting, followed by a happy hour.

Space is limited. $35 per person. Register at www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcoming-events.

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I am so impressed with the professionalism, dedication, and innovative ways that she used to sell my home. I highly recommend her & the Waynesville office to all the sellers and buyers in the area.” - Dr. Sherry Manburg, Waynesville, NC (Seller)

The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Tour June 23-24 features 20 family farms. File photo

Join the farm tour

A farm tour including 20 family farms in Yancey, Buncombe and Henderson counties is coming June 23-24, celebrating the 10th anniversary of event organizer Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.

The self-guided tour, offered annually, gives visitors a chance to engage in guided

tours, demonstrations, tastings and handson activities on the land that grows food and fiber for the region.

Passes are $30 and admit one carload of visitors to all farms on both days; on the weekend of the tour prices will rise to $40. Buy tickets at www.asapconnections.org.

Conservation program accepting applications

Applications will be accepted through Aug. 17 for the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which pays agricultural producers who remove sensitive lands from production and plant certain grasses, shrubs and trees to improve water quality, prevent soil erosion and increase wildlife habitat.

The Farm Service Agency stopped accepting applications last fall for the continuous CRP signup. The pause let the U.S. Department of Agriculture review available acres to avoid exceeding the 24 million-acre cap in the 2014 Farm Bill. The program now uses a short signup period to ensure farmers with the most sensitive acreage will enroll in the program and avoid unintended competition with new and beginning farmers seeking leases.

To apply for the program, visit the county FSA office.

Wildlife photo contest

The Wildlife in North Carolina Photo Competition is now open, accepting entries until 5 p.m. Sept. 1.

Sponsored by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the contest is open to amateur and professional photographers of all ages, except employees of the Wildlife Commission, the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and their immediate families. Entrants must subscribe to the Wildlife in N.C. Magazine or be younger than 18.

Photographs taken since Sept. 15, 2014, are eligible. Categories are birds, invertebrates, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, animal behavior, outdoor recreation, wild

Recycling on the uptick

landscapes, wild plants and fungi, and youth categories in age divisions 13 to 17 and 12 and under.

Photos of captive native animals are allowed but not photos of captive, nonnative animals. Photos of domestic animals participating in an outdoor activity with people are acceptable.

A panel of professional photographers and staff from the Wildlife Commission and Museum of Natural Sciences will judge the entries. In each category, first prize is $100, second is $75 and third is $50. The grand prize-winner receives $200 and his or her photo on the cover of the January/February 2019 issue of the magazine. Submit entries online at www.ncwildlife.org/contest.

Recycling is on the rise in North Carolina according to a recently released report showing numbers for all 100 counties and municipalities.

According to the report, there was a 5.3 percent increase in paper and container recycling for fiscal year 2016-2017 as compared to the previous year, with local recycling programs collecting more than 1.7 million tons of traditional and non-traditional materials.

Recovery of metal has also continued to rise, with North Carolina recovering 8,000 more tons of metal than the previous year. However, plastic and glass tonnages have remained essentially unchanged. Counties that ranked higher implemented programs to collect non-traditional materials like asphalt shingles scrap metal, construction debris electronics and wood waste.

The full report is available at deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/waste-management/sw/data/annual-reports.

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Lake Junaluska’s nine-week Summer Activities Program begin on June 4 with a schedule of activities including bonfires, movie nights, nature walks, boat tours and various music events. For a full schedule: www.lakejunaluska.com/summeractivities.

• Nominations are being sought for the Mountain Heritage Awards that will be presented on Saturday, Sept. 29, on Western Carolina University’s campus in Cullowhee. Awards go to individual and organization for contributions to or playing a prominent role in research, preservation and curation of Southern Appalachian history, culture and folklore. Nominations can be sent to pameister@wcu.edu, Mountain Heritage Center, 1 University Drive, Cullowhee N.C. 28723, or drop off in person at Room 240 of WCU’s Hunter Library.

• Registration is underway for participants in the Southwestern Community College Automotive Club’s annual car show, which will take place Aug. 10-11 at the Wayne Proffitt Agriculture Center in Franklin. Entry fees range from $10-25. d_myers@southwesterncc.edu.

B USINESS & E DUCATION

• Evening classes for anyone wanting to obtain a high school equivalency diploma are offered from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays at Haywood Community College in Clyde. 627.4648.

• The Western North Carolina Civil War Round Table meets at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at the HF Robinson Auditorium at the Western Carolina University Campus in Cullowhee.

• A Wilderness First Responder course will be offered June 30-July 8 by Landmark Learning in Cullowhee. Register: www.landmarklearning.edu.

• A Forklift Operator Certification class will be offered from June 26-27 at Haywood Community College in Clyde. Cost: $75. Info or to register: 627.4669 or rgmassie@haywood.edu.

FUNDRAISERSAND B ENEFITS

• The Cruso Friendship Club will host a chicken dinner from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at the Cruso Community Center. Fundraiser for $1,000 scholarships given annually to qualifying seniors at Pisgah High School. $9 per plate. Children under six eat free. Tickets at the door. Info: www.crusonc.com or 919.949.0943.

• Tickets are on sale for “Starstruck,” a benefit for the Highlands Playhouse, scheduled for July 1 at the Highlands Country Club. Multi-course plated dinner and drinks, live auction and live theatrical vignettes from the casts of “Guys and Dolls” and “Damn Yankees.” Tickets: $200. Purchase tickets: 526.2695, HighlandsPlayhouse.org or Playhouse Box Office.

• Registration is underway for the Haywood Healthcare Foundation’s annual Golf & Gala event, which is scheduled for June 27-28 at Maggie Valley Club. Benefits

“Base Camp on the Go” for Haywood County children. $150 for both events or $75 for gala only. HaywoodHealthcareFoundation.org or 452.8343.

• Haywood County Arts Council is matching, dollar for dollar (up to $10,000) it receives through June 30. Donations enhance art education, local artists and innovation in art. To donate: www.haywoodarts.org or visit the gallery at 86 North Main Street in downtown Waynesville.

• The Community Table has a Blue Plate Special fundraiser from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month from January through October in Sylva. $7 minimum donation; dine-in or carry-out. 586.6782.

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS

• The Town of Canton is accepting submissions for its 112th Labor Day Festival – “A Celebration of All Things Made in Western North Carolina.” Deadline for all arts and crafts is 4 p.m. on Aug. 21. Before applying: call 648.2363, email photos to lstinnett@cantonnc.com or mail to: Town of Canton, Attn: Canton Labor Day; 58 Park Street; Canton, NC 28716. Event runs Sept. 2-3 in downtown Canton. Cantonlaborday.com.

H EALTH MATTERS

• The Macon County Cancer Support Group will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, in the cafeteria of Angel Medical Center in Franklin. Guest speaker is a representative from the Williamson Fund Lovelights program with Cancer Care of WNC.

• Haywood County will celebrate the 31st annual “National Cancer Survivors Day” at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 24, at the Laurel Ridge Country Club Pavilion. Food, music, survivor crafts and butterfly release.

• A presentation and demonstration of “Emotions Using Ikebana” will be offered by Susan Cano at 10 a.m. on June 26 at the Folk Art Center in Asheville. Info: 674.9239, komon_cano12@yahoo.com or www.ikebanaasheville.org.

• “Glorious Greens” will be offered from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, at Waynesville Yoga Center. $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Registration is underway for a “Story Based Medicine Course 1: Making Your Own Medicinal Syrups,” scheduled for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on July 7, through the Alarka Institute. Led by Katie Ballard. Cost: $65. Register: www.paypal.me/cedartree. Info: alarkaexpeditions@gmail.com, 371.0347 or alarkaexpeditions.com.

• Registration is underway for a “Story Based Medicine Course II: Hydrosol Distillation,” scheduled for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on July 7, through the Alarka Institute. Led by Katie Ballard. Cost: $65. Register: www.paypal.me/cedartree. Info: alarkaexpeditions@gmail.com, 371.0347 or alarkaexpeditions.com.

• Diabetes classes will be offered from 1-3 p.m. on Mondays from through July 16 at the Canton Senior Center. Register: 648.8173.

R ECREATIONAND FITNESS

• “Summon Your Muse” will be offered from 2-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Experience ways to calm your mind, enjoy enhanced creativity and reduce stress. $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• A Line Dance Class will be offered from 6-7 p.m. on June 30 at the Stompin Ground in Maggie Valley. Cost: $10 per person. 704.657.5769, 734.0873 or kmhobbsmusic@gmail.com.

• Community Square Dance is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, at Webster Rock School. Easy lesson at 6:30 p.m.

• Registration is underway for adult beginner tennis classes, which will be offered from 6-7 p.m. on July 12Aug. 9 through the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. $60 for five sessions. 703.966.7138 or kakareka@me.com.

• Registration is underway for Adult Beginner Tennis Classes, which will be offered from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesdays from July 12-Aug. 9 at Donnie Pankiw Tennis Center at Waynesville’s Recreation Park. Offered by the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. Taugh by Rumi Kakareka. Cost: $60 for five sessions. Register: 703.966.7138 or rkakareka@me.com.

S PIRITUAL

• Lake Junaluska Singers will perform at the Summer Worship Series at 10:45 a.m. on Sundays through Aug. 5 at Stuart Auditorium. www.lakejunaluska.com/singers.

• The Summer Worship Series at Lake Junaluska continues at 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 24, with Bishop Paul Leeland as guest speaker. Leeland is resident bishop of the United Methodist Church’s Western North Carolina Conference. www.lakejunaluska.com/events/worship/summer_worship.

• Registration is underway for Music & Worship Arts Week, which is June 24-29 at Lake Junaluska. Highlighting arts, worship, education and renewal; designed for worship leaders of all ages. Theme: Encounter Jesus. www.lakejunaluska.com/events/worship/mwaw, 800.222.4930 or communications@lakejunaluska.com.

• Registration is underway for the Native American Summer Conference, which is June 29-July 1. Theme: Keeping Ancestral Dreams Alive and Preserving Identity. Spiritual walk, opportunity to learn about substance abuse, historical trauma and health issues. Talent show and ice cream social. https://tinyurl.com/ycfzulhz, 800.222.4930 or communications@lakejunaluska.com.

• A lakeside devotion will be held at 8:30 a.m. every Monday through July 30 at Lake Junaluska’s Harrell Center Porch.

• The Summer Worship Series at Lake Junaluska continues on Sunday, July 1, with Dr. Tracy Radosevic as guest speaker. Leeland is resident bishop of the United Methodist Church’s Western North Carolina Conference. www.lakejunaluska.com/events/worship/summer_worship.

• Lake Junaluska Singers Alumni and Lake Junaluska Singers Worship is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 7, at Memorial Chapel. www.lakejunaluska.com/singers.

• The Summer Worship Series at Lake Junaluska continues on Sunday, July 8, with Rev. Carol Howard Merritt as guest speaker. Merritt wrote: “Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation” and is known for serving churches with a deep commitment to the poor and disenfranchised. www.lakejunaluska.com/events/worship/summer_worship.

• Registration is open for the Festival of Wisdom and Grace, a conference for adults seeking purpose and renewal in the second half of life scheduled for Aug. 13-16 at Lake Junaluska. Speakers include Rev. Heidi B. Neumark and Dr. Clayton Smith. Entertainment includes “Acts of Renewal” – a husband and wife theatrical duo. 800.222.4930 or www.lakejunaluska.com/wisdom-andgrace.

P OLITICAL

• Haywood County NAACP is hosting a picnic from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at American Legion in Waynesville. Food, music and games.

• Jackson Republicans meet Monday, June 25. Preview new office at 91 Main St, Sylva across from Jackson Paper at 4 p.m., then dinner/meeting at Ryan's Restaurant Sylva 5:30/6:30pm. Opening new office

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

Monday, July 2. Details, call Ralph Slaughter 743-3977.

• The Macon County Democratic Women will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

• Joe Sam Queen, candidate for the N.C. House of Representatives, will hold a fundraiser from 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, at Frank Burrell’s home, 191 Grand Oaks Lane in Sylva. Music and refreshments.

AUTHORSAND B OOKS

• The North Carolina Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 27, the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus. This month's featured readers will be Linda Grayson Jones, Brenda Kay Ledford and Maura Payne. The Literary Hour is usually held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public.

• Author Holly Kays will share her novel “Shadows of Flowers” at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 30, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Debut novel about love, loss and the power of place. www.facebook.com/shadowsofflowers or www.paypal.me/hollykays.

K IDS & FAMILIES

• Annual Summer Learning Program is being offered through the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Features prizes, story times, movies, STEAM programming, arts and crafts and more. 586.2016.

• The Cradle of Forestry in America will host a Junior Forester program for ages 8-12 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays through Aug. 1 in Pisgah Forest. Topic for June 27 is “Dispose of waste properly.” Topic for July 4 is “Leave What You Find.” $5 per youth and $3 per adult per program. Registration required: 877.3130. www.cradleofforestry.com.

• The Cradle of Forestry in America will host “Woodsy Owl’s Curiosity Club” from 10:30 a.m.-noon on Wednesdays and Thursdays through June 14 -Aug. 2 in Pisgah Forest. June 21, it’s “Busy Bees.” Topic for June 27-28 is “Growing up Amphibians.” Topic for July 11-12 is “Creatures of the night.” $5 per youth and $3 per adult per program. Registration required: 877.3130. www.cradleofforestry.com.

• Registration is underway for a Woodworking program through the Macon County 4-H running from 9 a.m.noon on July 17, 24 and 31 (for ages 10-14) in Franklin. Cost: $25. Preregister in person or by mail. Info: 349.2046 or macon.cec.nscu.edu.

• The Highlands Biological Foundation will hold a “Salamander Meander” program at 9 p.m. on July 3 at the Highlands Biological Station. Cost: $2. 526.2221 or www.highlandsbiological.org.

• “Down on the Farm” – a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 1 p.m. on Sundays through Aug. 5 at the Mountain Farm Museum adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee.

• “Feeding the Pigs”– a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 6:30 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays through Aug. 9 at the Davis Queen House, Mountain Farm Museum.

• “Smokemont Night Hike” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 8:45 p.m. on Sundays through Aug. 5 at the Bradley Fork Trail in the Smokemont Campground, end of DLoop. Make reservations at least four days in advance: 497.1904.

• “The Four-Legged Weather Forecaster”– a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 10:30 a.m. on Mondays through Aug. 6 at the Davis Queen House, Mountain Farm Museum.

• “Hike: When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” – a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 3 p.m. on Mondays through Aug. 6 starting at the Mingus Mill Parking Area.

• “Feeding the Pigs” – a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 6:30 p.m. on Mondays through Aug. 6 at the Davis Queen House, Mountain Farm Museum.

• “Feeding the Pigs” – a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 6:30 p.m. on Mondays through Aug. 6 at the Davis Queen House, Mountain Farm Museum.

• A hike of Andrews Bald - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays through Aug. 7 starting at the Forney Ridge Trailhead at Clingmans Dome.

• “Go Out On A Limb, Branch Out”- a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays through Aug. 7 at the Oconlauftee River Trailhead adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

• “Smoky Mountain Elk”– a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 5:30 p.m. on Sundays from through Aug. 5 and Saturdays, June 23, July 7 & 21, Aug. 11-18 and Sept. 8 & 22 at the Palmer House in Cataloochee Valley.

• “A Week in the Water” will be offered to ages 10-15 from June 25-29 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. Register: https://tinyurl.com/yb28fpz8.

• “Gourmet Dining on Four Feet” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays through Aug. 8 at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center Porch near Cullowhee.

• “The Oconaluftee Compass Challenge” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 3 p.m. on Wednesdays through Aug. 8 (except July 25) at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center Porch near Cullowhee.

• “Adz, Froe and a Fine Tree” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 10:30 a.m. on Thursdays through Aug. 9 at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center Porch near Cullowhee.

• “Blacksmithing” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 10 a.m. on Fridays through Aug. 10 at the Mountain Farm Museum.

• “Smokemont Evening Campfire Program” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturday through Aug. 11 at the Smokemont Campground between C & D loops.

• Registration is underway for “Beginning Sewing: Sew a Pillowcase” through the Macon County 4-H from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 21-22 at the Cooperative Extension meeting room in Franklin. For ages 8-18. Cost: $8. Preregister in person or by mail. Info: 349.2046 or macon.cec.nscu.edu.

• “Batteries Not Included” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 10 a.m. on Fridays through Aug. 10 at the Davis Queen House, Mountain Farm Museum.

• “Stream Splashers” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 10 a.m. on Saturdays through Aug. 11 at the Deep Creek Picnic Area.

• “A Great Rangering Skill” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays through Aug. 11 at the Maple Tree at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee.

• “How Do I Get There from Here?” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Junior Ranger program – is at 1 p.m. on Saturdays through Aug. 11 at the Oconaluftee Multipurpose Room adjacent to the Visitor Center near Cherokee.

• “Flat Creek Ramble” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 2 p.m. on Saturdays through Aug. 11 at the Flat Creek Trailhead at the Balsam Mountain Picnic Area.

• The Highlands Biological Foundation will hold a “Nocturnal Nature” program at 9 p.m. on June 26 at the Highlands Nature Center. Cost: $2. 526.2221 or www.highlandsbiological.org.

• Registration is underway for a 4-H Chess Tournament that will be held from 1-4 p.m. on July 2 at the Macon County Cooperative Extension Office in Franklin. For ages 5-18. Cost: $3. Preregister in person or by mail. Info: 349.2046 or macon.cec.nscu.edu.

• “Return of the Elk” - a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Ranger program – is at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays from July 3-Aug. 28 (not including July 24 and Aug. 14) at the Rough Fork Trailhead at Cataloochee Valley.

• Camp Folkmoot – “Hands Around the World” is open to dancers of all abilities, ages 10-17, and is scheduled for July 20 at the Folkmoot Friendship Center at Sam Love Queen Auditorium. Learn basic movements

and concepts, gain appreciation for differences and similarities between cultures, create “Make-and-take” cultural crafts, participate in short performance with groups. $30 per camper: Info: elizabeth@foolkmoot.org. Register: Folkmoot.org or 452.2997.

S UMMER CAMPS

• Registration is underway for an “Art and Creativity” camp that will be held for grades 6-8 from June 25-29 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. https://tinyurl.com/yan722ym.

• Registration is underway for a “Basketball Shooting and Dribbling Camp” that will be offered from July 1619 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Led by Kevin Cantwell, former head coach at Appalachian State and associate head coach at Georgia Tech. $150 per person. 456.2030 or academy7@live.com.

• The Summer Youth Filmmaking Experience, a twoweek intensive summer course for teenagers, will be offered for two weeks starting July 16 and again on Aug. 6. Cost: $495. Students will direct, shoot and edit a 5-7 minute script of their choosing. www.ashevilleschooloffilm.com.

• Registration is underway for a summer youth event at Lake Junaluska, geared toward grades 6-12, featuring Charlie Conder (speaker) and The Advice (worship band) as well as an outdoor movie, from June 24-27. Register: 800.222.4930 or www.lakejunaluska.com/summeryouth.

• Youth Tennis Camps that will be offered this summer through the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. Juniors tennis camp is from 3-5 p.m. on July 16-20; Teen camps (ages 14-18) are from 3-5 p.m. on June 19-24. Teacher is Rumi Kakareka, a certified teaching pro with 20-plus years of experience. Register: 703.966.7138 or rkakareka@me.com.

• Registration is underway for Camp WILD – a day camp for students entering seventh or eighth grade –from Aug. 6-9 with an overnight camping trip on Aug. 8. Presented by the Jackson County Soil & Water Conservation District. Registration deadline is July 1. $35 (scholarships available) To register: 586.5465 or janefitzgerald@jacksonnc.org.

• Registration is underway for a summer youth event at Lake Junaluska, geared toward grades 6-12, featuring Celia Whitler (speaker) and Abbye West Pates (worship band), from July 20-23. Register: 800.222.4930 or www.lakejunaluska.com/summeryouth.

• Registration is underway for an “Outdoor Skills” camp that will be offered to grades 6-8 from July 2327 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. https://tinyurl.com/yan722ym.

• Registration is underway for a summer youth event at Lake Junaluska, geared toward grades 6-12, featuring Kevin Wright (speaker) and Abbye West Pates (worship band) – as well as a special performance from illusionist Matt Adams along with a talent show - from

July 23-27. Register: 800.222.4930 or www.lakejunaluska.com/summeryouth.

• Registration is underway for a summer youth event at Lake Junaluska, geared toward grades 6-12, featuring Juan Huertas (speaker) and Jimmy Atkins (worship band) – as well as a special performance from illusionist Matt Adams along with a talent show and Sunday morning worship in Stuart Auditorium - from July 27-31. Register: 800.222.4930 or www.lakejunaluska.com/summeryouth.

• Registration is underway for a “Wildlife Management” camp that will be offered to grades 6-8 from Aug. 13-17 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. https://tinyurl.com/yan722ym.

K IDSFILMS

• The “Movies on Everett” outdoor series will run through Aug. 17 at the corner of Mitchell and Everett streets in downtown Bryson City. Screenings begin at 9 p.m. Family-friendly. Free to attend. For a full schedule of the films to be screened, click on www.greatsmokies.com.

• “The Incredibles 2” will be showing at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. June 21-22, & June 25-28 and 1p.m., 4 p.m., & 7 p.m. June 23-24, at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. Check website for tickets, 38main.com.

• “The Incredibles 2” will be shown from noon-2 p.m. on June 22 at The Strand in Waynesville. Haywood County Public Library will share online resources.

• A recent children’s movie about a legendary superhero in a universe constructed by popular building blocks will be shown at 1 p.m. on Monday, June 25, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Info, including movie title: 524.3600.

• A new children’s movie about a young aspiring musician’s journey to the Land of the Dead will be shown at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Info, including movie title: 524.3600.

• “The Incredibles” will be shown at 7 p.m. on June 30 at the Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. 586.2016.

FESTIVALSAND S PECIAL EVENTS

• The “Art After Dark” in downtown Waynesville is hosted on the first Friday of the month (MayDecember), Main Street transforms into an evening of art, music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors. www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.

Puzzles can be found on page 54.

These are only the answers.

• Tickets are on sale now for Folkmoot: North Carolina’s International Folk Festival, which will be held from July 19-29. Schedule and tickets: www.folkmootusa.org or 452.2997.

• The annual “Stecoah Arts & Crafts Drive About Tour” will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 22-23 in Bryson City, Stecoah and Robbinsville. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ 43th annual POW WOW will be held June 29-July 1 at the Acquoni Expo Center. 497.7128 or www.visitcherokeenc.com.

F OURTHOF J ULY EVENTS

• The annual “Singing in the Smokies” 4th of July festival will be held June 30-July 4 at Inspiration Park in Bryson City. www.theinspirations.com.

• Balsam Range will perform on July 2 as part of the Independence Day celebrations at Lake Junaluska. www.lakejunaluska.com.

• The Martins will perform July 3 as part of the Independence Day celebrations at Lake Junaluska. www.lakejunaluska.com.

• The Lake Junaluska Singers will perform July 4 as part of the Independence Day celebrations at Lake Junaluska. www.lakejunaluska.com.

• Lake Junaluska will celebrate Independence Day with a parade led by Balsam Range (11 a.m.), barbecue picnic (noon-2 p.m.) and fireworks (approximately 9 p.m.) on July 4. www.lakejunaluska.com

F OOD & D RINK

• Songwriters in the Round is scheduled for June 28 at Balsam Mountain Inn. Featuring Dark Waters. Prixe Fixe menu is $32; show tickets are $20. Info: balsam.inn.events@gmail.com or purchase tickets at BalsamMountainInn.net.

• The “Paint & Sip Workshop” will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Friday, June 29, at Gallery Zella in Bryson City. Cost is $50, which includes all materials. 488.3638 or click on www.galleryzella.com.

ON STAGE & I N CONCERT

• “The Underpants” will be on stage on Thursdays through Sundays from through July 1 at HART in Waynesville. By Steve Martin. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets: $40 for adults; $38 for seniors and $25 for students. 456.6322 or www.harttheatre.org.

• “An Evening with Danny Kaye” runs Thursday through Sunday, June 21-24, at the Highlands Playhouse. Performances at 8 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets: at the box office, HighlandsPlayhouse.org or 526.2462.

• Overlook Theatre Company will present the hit Broadway musical retrospective “Leader of the Pack: The Musical Life of Ellie Greenwich” at 7:30 p.m. June 22-23 and 29-30 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $12 for students and $17 for adults. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 866.273.4615.

• The last National Theatre of London “Live via Satellite” production of the season “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Highlands Performing Arts Center. www.highlandspac.org or 526.9047.

• “Brian Childers in Concert: Life, Unfurled” is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, at the Highlands Performing Arts Center. Benefit for the Highland Performing Arts Center. www.highlandspac.org or 526.9047.

• Singer-songwriter Heidi Holton will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 28, at the Marianna Black Library

in Bryson City. 488.3030 or www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

• Angela Easterling and The Beguilers will perform from 3-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, at Waynesville Library’s Autidorium. Americana.

• Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley will perform “Bluegrass Meets Traditional Country” at 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 1 at Cataloochee Ranch. 926.1401. Tickets: $45. Reservations required: 926.1401.

S UMMER M USIC

• The Concerts on the Creek will have Tuxedo Junction (classic hits) at 7 p.m. June 22 at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva. Free and open to the public. There will also be food trucks onsite. 586.2155 or www.mountainlovers.com.

• The “Groovin’ on the Green” concert series at The Village Green in Cashiers will be hosting Porch 40 at 6:30 p.m. on June 22. www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

• The Pickin’ on the Square summer concert series will feature Michael Reno Harrell (folk/storyteller) at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Gazebo in downtown Franklin. Food vendors will also be available. www.townoffranklinnc.com.

• “An Appalachian Evening” will kickoff with legendary bluegrass act Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Stecoah Valley Center. Tickets for the Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper performance are $25, grades K-12 $10. Tickets are a pre-show dinner are also available for purchase. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• The Concerts on the Creek will have Carolina Soul Band (R&B/beach) at 7 p.m. June 29 at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva. Free and open to the public. There will also be food trucks onsite. 586.2155 or www.mountainlovers.com.

• The “Groovin’ on the Green” concert series at The Village Green in Cashiers will be hosting Jay Drummonds & Friends at 6:30 p.m. on June 29. www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

• The Pickin’ on the Square summer concert series will feature Tugalo Holler (bluegrass) at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Gazebo in downtown Franklin. Food vendors will also be available. www.townoffranklinnc.com.

• “An Appalachian Evening” will host Fireside Collective at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Stecoah Valley Center. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

CLASSESAND PROGRAMS

• Bingo will be held at 6:30 p.m. on June 21, July 5, July 19, Aug. 9 and Aug. 23 at the Pavilion next to Maggie Valley Town. Sponsored by the Maggie Valley Civic Association. Cash prizes; snacks available.

• “Global Health: Progress and Challenges” – part of the “Discuss the World! Great Decisions series – will be held from 5:15-6:45 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, in the Waynesville Library Auditorium. Registration required: 356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net. Questions: dem32415@aol.com.

• The Maggie Valley Swap Meet/Tri-Five Reunion/Camaro & Firebird Show is scheduled for June 21-23 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. $5 daily admission for ages 13-up. Open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday. Info: 423.608.4519, rodneybuckner@att.net or www.maggievalleyswapmeet.com.

• Registration is underway for a pine needle pin/pendant class that will be offered by Dogwood Crafters Co-op from 1-4 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, at the Dillsboro Masonic Lodge. Led by Joyce Lantz. $10. Register by June 14. 586.2248.

• A program devoted to preserving, promoting and

performing materials dealing with Appalachian heritage and culture, “The Liars Bench” will return at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 21, in Room 101 of the H. F. Robinson Administration Building at Western Carolina University.

• The Ikenobo Ikebana Society Blue Ridge Chapter will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 21, at the First Congregational Church of Hendersonville. Demonstration and workshop on the style known as Shoka Shofutai Nishuike.

• Amateur Radio Operators will have a Field Day from 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 23 until 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 24, at 6514 Carolina Blvd. in Clyde. Info: W4WNC1@gmail.com or www.arrl.org/what-is-hamradio.

• The Highlands Village Square Art & Craft Show is scheduled for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on June 23-24 and again on Aug. 25-26 at Kelsey-Hutchinson “Founders” Park on Pine Street in downtown Highlands. Fine art, folk art and regionally made crafts. 787.2021.

• Registration is underway for a “Beginning Bladesmithing Class” that will be led by Brock Martin of WarFire Forge from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 23-24 at Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Cost: $300; materials included. Preregistration required: 631.0271. Info: www.JCGEP.org.

• Registration is underway for a “Lichens of the Southern Appalachians” program scheduled for Aug. 4, through the Alarka Institute. Led by Jennifer Love. Register: www.paypal.me/cedartree. Info: alarkaexpeditions@gmail.com, 371.0347 or alarkaexpeditions.com.

• “Adventures in Acrylic Art Classes” will be offered by the Haywood County Arts Council from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on June 26 at the HCAC Gallery in Waynesville. 452.0593.

• Local crafter and talented instructor Junetta Pell will be teaching a basket-making workshop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 26 and 28 at the Jackson County Extension Office in Sylva. This new basket is 12x12" and 7" deep and has a beautiful wooden "D" handle. Cost to attend the class is around $22. Class size is limited. To register and to get the supply list, call 586.4009.

• The Balsam Community Center will hold its Fourth of July Arts Crafts Show from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday through Wednesday, June 30-July 4, in Balsam. Pottery, jewelry, essential oils and more. Ice cream social and live music by Angie Toomey at 2 p.m. on July 4.

• The 29th annual Mountain Artisans “Summertime“ Arts & Crafts Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 30 and July 1 in the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina University. Dozens of local artisans. Admission is $4.50 for adults with children under 12 free. Concessions available and free convenient parking. www.mountainartisans.net.

• Essential Oils 101, make & take blends event at Mad Batter Food & Film in beautiful downtown Sylva on July 18, 6:30 p.m. Each blend made is $5. Learned the Nitty Gritty of Empowered Wellness and go home with solutions to everyday health concerns. Contact Wende Goode at 246.2256 or goodeoils@gmail.com to reserve your spot, limited space.

• Registration is underway for an “Armor Construction: Gothic Serman Helm (Sallet): class that will be led by Brock Martin of WarFire Forge from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Aug. 4-5, at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Cost: $390 (materials included). Preregistration required: 631.0271 or www.JCGEP.org.

throughout June at the Macon County Public Library. Themes of the exhibit include nautical and flowers. www.KaysFineArt.com.

• The “Meet the Artist” reception with Brian Hannum (pianist), Wendy Cordwell (cocllagist) and Jon Houglum (painter) will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 29, at Gallery Zella in Bryson City. Enjoy North Carolina wine, food and music. Free to attend. 488.3638 or www.galleryzella.com.

• 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. 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.

• The Haywood County Arts Council and local nonprofit REACH are co-sponsoring the latest exhibit “Freedom: An Artist’s Point of View.” The exhibit will run through June 30 at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts showcase in downtown Waynesville. 452.0593, email info@haywoodarts.org or visit www.haywoodarts.org.

• A new exhibit exploring the artistry, history and science behind the fragrance industry is open through Sept. 3 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville Lecture by Dr. Richard Stamelman on the mysterious allure behind fragrances and the plants dm will exhibit their best work at their graduate show through June 24 at the Southern Highland Craft Guild Folk Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville. It’s open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Info: 627.4673 or creativearts.haywood.edu.

• The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at the Bardo Arts Center is pleased to announce the opening of its newest exhibition “Glass Catalyst: Littleton’s Legacy in Contemporary Sculpture,” which will run through Dec. 7. Regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Thursdays until 7 p.m. 227.ARTS or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

• The Haywood County Arts Council is accepting applications for its “HCAC Artist Member Show” exhibit scheduled for July. Applications: director@haywoodarts.org or www.haywoodarts.org.

FILM & S CREEN

• “The Shape of Water” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on June 21 at the Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Special shrimp menu offered that night through the weekend. Free Movie. 586.2016.

• “Forrest Gump” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. on June 22 and 7p.m. June 23 at the Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free movie and special shrimp menu items available for purchase. 586.2016.

• A documentary and conversation will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 27, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Documentary is about the controversy of high-priced artwork. PG-13; 1:14. 524.3600.

• “Sideways” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on June 28 at the Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free movie & special wine dinner available for purchase. 586.2016.

• A 1979 comedy starring Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane will be shown at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 29, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. 1:50.

is scheduled from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, in the Little Tennessee River Valley. Led by Jack Johnston. $35 per person. www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcoming-events.

• Registration is underway for a “Mountain Camellia (Stewartia ovata) Field Trip,” scheduled for 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 21, through the Alarka Institute. Cost: $35. Led by Jack Johnston. Register: www.paypal.me/cedartree. Info: alarkaexpeditions@gmail.com, 371.0347 or alarkaexpeditions.com.

• Blue Ridge Parkway rangers will lead a moderate, 1.4-mile hike on Friday, June 22, on the Craggy Pinnacle Trail. Meet at Milepost 364.1. Info: 298.5330, ext. 304.

• Bug Day and National Pollinator Week will be observed from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah Forest. Activities, crafts and displays. $6 for adults; $3 for ages 4-12. 877.3130 or www.cradleofforestry.com.

• An introductory birdwatching workshop will teach the basics of birding from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at the Balsam Community Center. Learn how to use binoculars, identify common birds, use a field guide and attract birds to your yard. $35. Open to ages 10up. Register: 452.5414 or lvthompson@earthlink.net.

• “Foraging for Food and Farmacy” will be offered on Saturdays, June 23 and Aug. 18, on part of the original route from Gatlinburg, Tenn., to Cherokee. Led by wildcrafter Ila Hatter. Cost: $69. Register: smfs.utk.edu

• A guided hike and trail cleanup day will be held from 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Friday, June 29, in Panthertown Valley near Cashiers. Sign up: friends@panthertown.org.

• Tickets are on sale now for “Rockin’ The Highlands Plateau” event that will be held on June 29-30 at the Highlands Biological Station. Expand knowledge of geology and deepen appreciation for the area’s mountain landscape. $100 for nonmembers; $75 for nonmembers. www.highlandsbiological.org/rock or 526.2221.

• The Highlands Biological Foundation will hold a “Rockin’ the Highlands Plateau” program at 5:30 p.m. on June 29 at the Highlands Biological Station. Cost: $75 for members; $100 for nonmembers. 526.2221 or www.highlandsbiological.org.

• The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will continue its “Smokies Service Days” volunteer program on Saturdays, June 30 gardening at Oconlauftee, July 7 clean-up at Deep Creek and July 21 clean-up at Crosby. Sign-up: 865.436.1278 or logan_boldon@partner.nps.gov.

• Registration is underway for a “Mountain Camellia (Stewartia ovata) Field Trip,” scheduled for 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 30, through the Alarka Institute. Cost: $35. Led by Jack Johnston. Register: www.paypal.me/cedartree. Info: alarkaexpeditions@gmail.com, 371.0347 or alarkaexpeditions.com.

FARMAND GARDEN

• Mountain camelia will be in bloom and on display from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, at Fires Creek in Clay County. Led by Jack Johnston. $35. www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcoming-events.

ARTSHOWINGSAND GALLERIES

• An opening reception for artwork of Beth (glass) and Ken Bowser (painting) will be held at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 22, at Gallery 1 Sylva. The art will be on display through Aug. 6.

• Artist Kay Smith is featured in a solo exhibit

asapconnections.org and admits one carload of visitors to all farms both days. On the weekend of the tour, passes cost $40 each. Info: 236.1282.

• Daylilies will be on display from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. WNC Daylily Club’s annual flower show. $14 parking fee.

• A gardening workday is scheduled for 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, June 30, at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee. 865.436.1278 or logan_boldon@partner.nps.gov.

• A gardening workday is scheduled for 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, July 7, at Deep Creek near Bryson City. 865.436.1278 or logan_boldon@partner.nps.gov.

FARMERS MARKETS

• “Locally Grown on the Green,” the Cashiers farm stand market for local growers, will be held from 3-6 p.m. every Wednesday at the Village Green Commons in Cashiers. info@villagegreencashiersnc.com or 743.3434.

• The Swain County Farmer’s Market is held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. every Friday through October on Island Street in downtown Bryson City. 488.3681 or chamber@greatsmokies.com.

• Jackson County Farmers Market runs from 9 to noon on Saturdays at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.

• Waynesville Historic Farmers Market runs from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon at the HART Theater parking lot. waynesvillefarmersmarket.com

• Franklin Farmers Tailgate Market runs from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturdays through the end of October, on East Palmer Street across from Drake Software. 349.2049 or www.facebook.com/franklinncfarmersmarket.

• The ‘Whee Farmers Market, Cullowhee runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays through the end of October, at the University Inn on 563 North Country Club Drive in Cullowhee. 476.0334 or www.facebook.com/CullowheeFarmersMarket.

• The Original Waynesville Tailgate Market runs from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays through the end of October at 171 Legion Drive in Waynesville. 456.1830 or vrogers12@att.net.

H IKING CLUBS

• Carolina Mountain Club will have an 8.2-mile hike with a 1,700-foot ascent on June 23 from Pink Beds to Pisgah Inn. Info and reservations: 684.7083, 606.7956 or dlblanning@bellsouth.net.

• Mainspring Conservation Trust will host its annual Stewartia Hike with Jack Johnson from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, June 23, at the Queen Branch Property. Info: 524.2711 or sburdette@mainspringconserves.org.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 9.5-mile hike with a 1,600-foot ascent on Sunday, June 24, to Hemphill Bald from Polls Gap. Info and reservations: 404.731.3119 or Djones715@aol.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a five-mile hike with a 400-foot ascent on June 24 from Rough Butt Overlook to NC 215. Info and reservations: 505.0471, 860.798.9905 or mwbromberg@yahoo.com.

Outdoors

• Coffee with a ranger is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sundays through Aug. 5 at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center porch at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee.

• A chance to see a rare Appalachian shrub in bloom

• The third annual seminar for gardeners will be offered at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 22, at the Highlands Community Building next to the ballpark on 64 East. Registration at 9 a.m. Title: “Reclaiming Your Landscape: Invasive Plant Control and Native Plant Gardens.” $10 per person. Preregister: www.hicashlt.org or 787.1230. Walk-ins welcome.

• Passes are on sale now for ASAP’s 10th annual Farm Tour, which is June 23-24. Discover over 20 Appalachian Grown family farms through guided tours, demonstrations, tastings and hands-on activities. Each pass costs $30 in advance at

• Nantahala Hiking Club will take an easy three-mile hike on Sunday, June 24, to Cliffside Recreation Area in Macon County. Register and get more info: 954.632.7270.

• A hike along the Boogerman Trail Loop is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Monday, June 25, in the Cataloochee area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Led by Chris Hoge of Wildland Tracking. $20 for Great Smoky Mountains Association members; $35 for new members. Proceeds benefit research, education and preservation efforts in the park. Register: www.smokiesinformation.org/info/branch-out-programs or 865.436.7318, ext. 349.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS

& ANTIQUE FESTIVAL Sat. June 23rd-9:00am Featuring

Artist Made Items

Antiques

Glassware

Clocks

Jewelry

Radios

Fishing Antique Antics 1497 S. Main St. Waynesville. 828.452.6225

HOOPER FAMILY REUNION

For All Relations of Absalom & Clements Hooper. JULY 14th New Senior Activity Center on N. Main St., Just Below Entrance to Fair Grounds; Hiawassee, GA. Covered Dish at Noon, Bring Photos to Share. Any Questions Text Barbara 706.581.2081

FIREARMS-AMMO AUCTION:

LAURINBURG AUCTION -

Commercial Building, 2 Houses, 5 Lots, Farm Equipment, Tractors, Vehicles. Saturday, June 23, 11 AM. Salesite: 10761 X Way Road, Laurinburg, NC. Damon Shortt Auction Group, 877.669.4005. damonshorttproperties.com NCAL7358.

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING

ACORN STAIRLIFTS. The affordable solution to your stairs! **Limited time -$250 Off Your Stairlift Purchase!** Buy Direct & SAVE. Please call 1.855.808.9573 for FREE DVD and brochure.

BATHROOM RENOVATIONS. Easy, One Day Updates! We specialize in safe bathing. Grab bars, no slip flooring & seated showers. Call for a free in-home consultation: 877.661.6587 SAPA

Owned.

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING

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LARGE GUN COLLECTION

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Berkshire Hathaway - www.4Smokys.com

Better Homes and Gardens

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SuperCROSSWORD

72 “Kwon do” or “Bo” lead-in

73 Fleeing, to a shoe collector?

78 Quarterback Kyle

Pivots on an axis

80 The “A” of ETA: Abbr.

Title girl in a J.D. Salinger story 85 Jenny Craig patron

Midpoint: Abbr.

Slacks off

Ending for mountain

93 Amazed feeling

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109 Chef Ducasse

Brooches

Plains native

Slant

114 Ad-lib

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58 Blend on high, maybe

60 They may be irregular

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66

70 Put on — (fake it) 71 506, in old

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121 Book after Nehemiah

122 One-named New Ager

123 Threatening like a lion

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125 Lip off to

Be in a choir

Picnic intruders

“The

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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 48

The naturalist’s corner

BY DON H ENDERSHOT

Musings from count year 2018

This past spring was one of the more trying ones with regard to my annual U.S. Forest Service bird point survey. The survey runs each year from May 1 to June 15. You might have noticed it rained a bit in May. Of course, one can’t count in the rain, but according to protocol if it’s not raining counts may be conducted and this spring there were days I birded just after and just before rains. One thing I thought I noticed — on mornings with heavy cloud cover, especially those mornings where it had rained before dawn, birds were much quieter than normal. I realize the folly of trying to infer anything about nature from a brief and small set of data but it has piqued my curiosity to do a little research. I have been visiting most of these points for about 15 years — one gets an idea of what to expect. This spring I would go to a point that, as a rule, is generally quite birdy — and instead of getting 12 or 15 species I would get 7 or 8. And there were birds, I knew from habitat and past experience should be there — but not a peep. On a few occasions, just to satis-

fy my curiosity, after my 10 minute count period was over and I hadn’t hear a particular species that I thought should be there — say hooded warbler — I would play the song from my phone app and get an almost immediate response. I wouldn’t count these

birds — playbacks are not part of the protocol for these surveys — and for the data to be valid protocol must be consistent. But it seemed to me these cloudy mornings were much quieter than normal.

And the heavy May rains presented other problems. The French Broad flooded River Road in Hot Springs and I had to keep an eye on the river level and wait till the flooding receded so I could get to a couple of points. Plus there were some FS roads that were washed out and not drivable requiring a hike in to the points or finding an alternative route.

There are always vagaries associated with one-day counts — especially counts with duration of only 10 minutes. Think about it, for a bird to be counted it has to be within eyesight or earshot and detectable during the 10 minutes you are there — perhaps on Wednesday May 16 between 8:30 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. the hooded warbler was busy foraging in the dense underbrush and not singing or perhaps it was on the far side of its territory out of earshot — there is a myriad of reasons not to hear a particular bird at a particular time on a particular day.

And then there are those days when the tables are turned. This year while surveying along the Art Loeb and Ivestor Gap trails — there were numerous house wrens. House wrens are loud and usually incessant singers but I can’t remember them showing up on the count at these locations before — they were clearly there this year.

Other takeaways for 2018 — I was happy to find yellow-rumped warblers at two locations this season — Roan Mountain and Mount Mitchell. Grandfather District is still tops for Swainson’s warblers — at least as far as my points are concerned. And on the Grandfather they are not only associated with dense rhododendron but other dense early successional habitat where there are lots of pole-sized stems.

And there is one consistent takeaway — dawn on the Blue Ridge Parkway and/or in the forest is always a special time and place.

(Don Hendershot is a naturalist and a writer who lives in Haywood County. He can be reached at ddihen1@bellsouth.net)