Invisible to most people for decades, the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women is getting more notice and activists are picking up steam in their fight to bring offenders to justice while also preventing further violence against Native women. (Page 6) Cherokee women are speaking up about the MMIW crisis and advocating for change. Dylan Rose photo
News
As expected, Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade..............................................4 Native communities call for end to crisis of missing and murdered women......6 Canton braces for development with comprehensive plan..................................13 Mountain Projects takes steps forward in Jackson County..................................14 Catamount Cinemas to open in former site of Quin Theater..............................15 Education briefs..................................................................................................................17
Opinion
We can overcome WNC’s affordable housing crisis............................................18 Medicaid expansion will save lives, benefit all..........................................................19
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Haywood potter bridges nature, art and memories................................................20 Off to the beach with “Shrimp Highway”....................................................................27
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Almost 50 years after the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling was handed down by the United States Supreme Court, justices last week overturned it — throwing the issue back to the states to decide for themselves, just as they had for the previous 185 years before Roe.
“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” wrote associate justice Samuel Alito, who delivered the opinion of the court.
The ruling came as no surprise to most, after a May 3 leak of a Feb. 10 draft opinion was published by Politico. The act of leakage drew condemnation from the court itself — Chief Justice John Roberts called it “appalling” — but the contents of the draft drew both concern and outrage from reproductive rights advocates.
The June 24 ruling came as the result of a Mississippi case called Dobbs v. Jackson. Early in 2018, the State of Mississippi passed a law called the Gestational Age Act, which banned abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Exceptions could occur due to medical emergencies or the development of a fetus incapable of life outside the womb, but not due to incest or rape.
Generally, the right to abortion established by Roe applied only to pre-viability fetuses and is based on a right to privacy, or more accurately, liberty as defined in the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The viability line for a pregnancy per Roe is a gestational age of roughly 24 to 28 weeks.
The Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Mississippi’s only abortion provider, sued the state immediately, naming State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs and state medical licensing director Kenneth Cleveland as defendants.
A judge from the Southern District of Mississippi ruled in favor of JWHO in November 2018 and issued an injunction preventing the state from enforcing the Gestational Age Act.
The state then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District, which upheld the lower court ruling, 3-0.
In May 2019, the Southern District issued another injunction against a so-called “heartbeat law” that prevented abortions from being performed in Mississippi after a fetal heartbeat could be detected, usually no later than 6 to 8 weeks. Again, the state appealed, and again, the Fifth Circuit denied the appeal.
The injunctions were based on another landmark abortion rights case from 1992, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld the right of women to choose an abortion. Mississippi’s attorney general petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case in 2020, and in May of 2021 the court agreed to consider “Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.”
The case was heard last December, with Mississippi arguing that there is no direct guarantee of the right to abortion in the Constitution and asking the court to overturn both Roe and Casey.
Additional contentions by Mississippi were that since Roe in 1973 medical technology has shifted the viability line to much earlier in a pregnancy, and that more had been learned about when fetuses feel pain.
Attorneys for JWHO said that since Mississippi’s arguments in Dobbs were similar to those of Pennsylvania in Casey, the court should uphold both Roe and Casey.
Instead, the court found that the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion, in a ruling largely similar to the
that balance.”
Chief Justice John Roberts concurred with the majority, but in his own opinion wrote that there was a “clear path to deciding [Dobbs] correctly without overruling Roe all the way down to the studs: recognize that the viability line must be discarded, as the majority rightly does, and leave for another day whether to reject any right to an abortion at all.”
Alito was joined in the majority by associate justices Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.
Gorsuch was nominated by thenPresident Donald Trump in 2017 to replace conservative icon Antonin Scalia. Scalia died in February 2016, and President Barack
1970, when a litigant using the alias “Jane Roe” challenged a state law that prevented all abortions unless the mother’s life was in danger. Roe said she couldn’t afford to travel to have the procedure performed, and that the law violated several constitutional amendments.
When the case finally made it to the Supreme Court in 1972, justices ruled 7-2 in 1973 that a woman’s right to choose an abortion during her first trimester was protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
leaked draft.
“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Alito wrote. “That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition’ and ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.’ The right to abortion does not fall within this category.”
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan penned a dissenting opinion, together saying that for half a century, the court had struck a balance between “respecting a woman as an autonomous being” and the state’s legitimate interest in protecting life inside the womb.
“Today,” they wrote, “the Court discards
Obama nominated Merrick Garland that March. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to hold confirmation proceedings for Garland, saying that the “next president” — who’d be elected that November — should have the choice.
Kavanaugh was nominated by Trump in 2019 to replace retiring justice Anthony Kennedy, who was commonly a swing vote, despite emotional confirmation hearings that saw credible and substantial sexual harassment allegations presented against Kavanaugh.
Barrett was nominated by Trump in 2020 when liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Sept. 16. In contrast to Obama’s nomination of Garland eight months before the 2016 election, McConnell wasted no time in confirming Barrett just two months before the 2020 election Trump ultimately lost.
Roe was first brought to a Texas court in
That time had passed for Ms. Roe, who delivered the child and placed it up for adoption. Later in her life, Roe — now using her real name, Norma McCorvey — changed her views and became an anti-abortion activist. McCorvey died in 2017.
The Dobbs ruling marks the end of Roe v. Wade as the last word on abortion in the United States, but it won’t mark an end to the deep political divisions over reproductive rights.
Even before the June 24 ruling, the leak suggesting that Roe would soon be overturned sparked protests outside the homes of Supreme Court justices and “Bans off our Bodies” demonstrations from Washington, D.C., to Waynesville.
On May 14, about 50 demonstrators took to the lawn of the Historic Haywood Courthouse not only to express their support for Roe but to warn about what they saw as the start to a slow degradation of Constitutional rights.
“Where does it end?” asked Heather Hyatt-Packer, who helped organize the rally with a group called We Are WNC. “If we can repeal those rights, over-
A large, noisy rally and march by reproductive rights activists took place on June 26 in Sylva. Cory Vaillancourt photo
turn the decision of Roe v. Wade, then who’s to say that gay marriage is secure? That we can’t move forward with transgender rights? I mean, it’s a very slippery slope.”
The rally also drew a small group of counterdemonstrators, including Thomas Sutton and about 10 members of a group called the Haywood Militia.
“I feel that abortion is murder,” Sutton said. “You’re taking the life of an innocent child. God says he knew me before I was formed in the womb, which means that I am a life from conception.”
In the leaked draft of Dobbs, Alito opined that abortion “presents a profound moral issue on which Americans hold sharply conflicting views.”
For years following the 1973 ruling in Roe, abortion was a highly charged political issue, but in recent years it had faded somewhat, as many considered the issue settled law.
A longstanding Gallup poll shows that over the years, support for a total ban on abortion never reached more than 21%, with only 13% supporting such a scenario as of 2022. Conversely, the number of Americans supporting legal abortion in certain circumstances hasn’t dropped below 48% in 47-year history of the poll.
stated as the inevitable goal) are not effective deterrents. Prohibition usually exacerbates what it seeks to fix.”
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, the Democratic nominee, hinted at the significance of the Dobbs decision for elections across the country.
“In America, your rights should not depend on your zip code, and yet that is exactly what today’s ruling means. So many Western North Carolinians, and Americans, have relied on the courts to protect our constitutional rights, and now those rights are under threat,” Beach-Ferrara said. “We cannot go backwards. Every race on the ballot matters more than ever now.”
Alito also said in the opinion that prior to Roe, 30 states had imposed total abortion bans and that Roe had “imposed the same highly restrictive regime” on all states. Now that that regime has passed, the legality of abortion will revert to state law.
Right now, 13 states including Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming have so-called “trigger laws” that would immediately ban abortion in the first and second trimesters.
According to reproductive rights policy research organization the Guttmacher Institute, 16 states plus the District of Columbia have codified the right to an abortion.
“Ultimately, I think this is a conversation women need to have with their doctors and not their politicians, as it shouldn’t be the role of government to be involved in these matters.”
— David Coatney
President Joe Biden was said to be weighing his options to circumvent the Dobbs ruling, and with November mid-term elections drawing near, the issue of reproductive rights will likely become a campaign issue across the country as well as across North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.
Although members of Congress don’t have much of a say in state affairs, that’s exactly where the issue of abortion will now reside — with the states.
“I have always been pro-life, I am pro-life today, and I’ll be pro-life tomorrow,” said Sen. Chuck Edwards, the Republican nominee for the 11th District. “The Supreme Court has now decided that this is a state issue, and I’ll keep working with the North Carolina legislature to ensure that life is protected in our great state.”
David Coatney, the Libertarian nominee, expressed dismay at the court’s departure from stare decisis, a legal concept that places great value on precedence. Libertarian philosophy generally favors bodily autonomy.
“Ultimately, I think this is a conversation women need to have with their doctors and not their politicians, as it shouldn’t be the role of government to be involved in these matters,” Coatney said. “It’s also clear that state prohibitions (which many have
North Carolina hasn’t yet pursued either option, but its legislative leaders have done more than just hint that they’ll make abortion restrictions a priority in the January legislative session.
A joint letter from N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Temp Phil Berger asks Attorney General Josh Stein to “take all necessary legal action” to lift an injunction issued last summer that bars enforcement of two state anti-abortion laws.
Moore and Berger claim the injunction’s underpinnings were “erased” by the Dobbs opinion. The laws make it a felony to administer, prescribe, advise or procure any substance or instrument to destroy the life of an unborn child.
During a June 26 pro-choice rally in Sylva that drew about 150 people, Democrat Al Platt spoke of the need to maintain Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto-proof majority in the General Assembly to prevent abortion restrictions from becoming law in North Carolina. Platt, an architect from Brevard, is running against incumbent Swain County Republican Mike Clampitt to represent State House District 119.
“The Supreme Court’s action took your constitutional rights away, but the North Carolina rights still exist. That freedom will remain unless it’s taken away by the legislature,” Platt said, echoing Beach-Ferrara’s statement. “There’s never been a more important time to vote for candidates that will stand up for the rights of women to choose.”
SILENT NO MORE
Native communities call for end to crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women
Images from Moe Hernandez’ series illustrating the MMIW crisis will be featured in an upcoming exhibit at Western Carolina University’s Bardo Arts Center. Moe Hernandez photo
Maggie Calhoun Bowman’s family has spent the last 17 years making peace with the fact that they will never know how she ended up dead in a rain gully, covered over with leaves and a pink coat.
Bowman didn’t really have a home. Recently divorced, she wandered from berth to berth, bouncing between the houses of various friends and family members. But her family became concerned when she didn’t come around for Thanksgiving, and when she still hadn’t turned up a week later when the December per capita payments went out, they knew there was something wrong.
A week later, a cadaver dog finally sniffed out her body — there wasn’t much left. The family gathered the few remaining fragments for burial.
“That’s all we know,” said Bowman’s sister, Bernice Bauchenbaugh. “All of the people that were in suspicion at that time, they’re all gone, so we’re never going to know what happened.”
Bauchenbaugh sat beside her daughter, Karina Crowe, at a fold-up table laden with ruby red signs, each bearing the black-lettered name of a Cherokee women whose life, like Bowman’s, had been taken too soon. They were two of about 25 people at the Yellowhill Community Center that Sunday afternoon, April 24, painting the names of lost sisters, daughters, mothers and friends on rectangular pieces of wood. The following weekend, Cherokee men and women would hold those signs aloft as they walked down Tsali Boulevard for the third annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s March.
Loretta Bolden, who spent 19 years as a teacher at Cherokee Central School, organized the first march in 2020 after finding that the number of missing and murdered Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians members was much larger than she’d first realized.
“And I’m finding a lot of people don’t know,” she said.
“These people are not nameless. They’re not unknown people,” said Leah Wolfe, another of the effort’s organizers. “They have families, and these people, they need closure, at the end of the day. They were somebody’s mother, they were somebody’s daughter.”
Susanne Brady, seated at a table toward the back of the room with her grandchildren, Kalina and Billy Jack Hicks, Jr., misses her daughter each day. Danielle Brady Hicks, who was only 34 when she died, was the youngest of Brady’s five children, and her only girl. Brady remembers her daughter as a little girl who liked dolls, horses and fishing, and who grew into a smart, kind-hearted woman who could seemingly do anything — except leave her allegedly abusive husband Billy Jack Hicks, the father of her two children.
Danielle, then pregnant with a third child, died of a gunshot wound on an October day in 2020. Hicks sits in the Jackson County Detention Center, held without bond and accused of her murder.
Her daughter’s teenage children now live
with her. She sees their arrival as a second chance to do for them what she wasn’t able to do for Danielle. It’s a responsibility she guards carefully.
“I tell them I couldn’t protect your mom,” she said. “So I have to protect you.”
A couple tables away, Diane Wolfe is painting awareness for yet another stolen sister — her aunt, Marie Walkingstick Pheasant, a “quiet, sweet, loving girl” whose life ended too soon. It’s been nearly a decade since she died, but the case remains unsolved.
Pheasant was 26 and the mother of two young children when her body was found in a burned-out vehicle in Cherokee’s Big Cove
“These people are not nameless. They’re not unknown people. They have families and these people, they need closure.”
— Leah Wolfe
Community on Dec. 29, 2013. Despite investigative efforts from the Cherokee Indian Police Department, N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI, nobody was ever charged in her death, though police suspected foul play.
Josh Taylor, who until June 27 was Cherokee’s chief of police, believes the responsible person is still out there, as are people who continue to keep silent about what they know. In the aftermath of Pheasant’s death, the police department issued a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Over the past year the department has ratcheted that number upwards — it now sits at $20,000.
“Next year will be the 10th anniversary of her death,” said Alica Wildcatt, public information officer for the CIPD. “And I was thinking about this the other day: $50,000, is that worth us getting information to arrest somebody to give her justice? You can’t put a price on anybody’s life or getting them justice.”
Diane Wolfe, now 57, remembers Pheasant’s good sense of fun and abiding love for her two children, a baby girl and a boy who was just a toddler when she died.
Now she’s gone forever, and a conviction wouldn’t bring her back to life.
But it would break the family out of the stalemate it’s been stuck in for nine years. Pheasant’s death remains an active investigation, which means the police can’t share details about the circumstances surrounding it, and her family can’t publicly voice their suspicions. Her children are no longer babies,
Say their names
For the past year, the Cherokee Indian Police Department has worked to compile a list of Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians women and girls known to have been murdered or gone missing.
So far, the department’s public information officer, Alica Wildcatt, has identified 31 such cases, of which only 10 occurred on the Qualla Boundary. The victims range in age from eight months to 54 years, and 14 of them died from gunshot wounds.
• Dora Owl*
• Edna Long- Bradley
• Edith Emily Saunooke-Clark
• Jacqualine Davis*
• Malinda Catolster
• Hermie Elizabeth Sequoyah- Queen
• Ollie Cucumber-Hornbuckle
• Bethna Sue Bradley-McCoy
• Stacy Bigwitch
• Mary Catherine Haymond
• Patricia Louise Ander-Mount
• Martha Joyce Driver-Teesateskie
• Tina Michelle Brown-Young
• Banita Jumper-Gregory
• Carol Deanah McCoy
• Lucy Ann Wildcatt*
• Rita Ann Mathis
• Lucinda Ann Littlejohn*
• Gina Raquel Younce-Puckett
• Magdalene Calhoun-Bowman*
• Tamara Susan Seay
• Aubry Kina-Marie Littlejohn
• Marie Manurva Walkingstick Pheasant*
• Ora Lea Taylor-Hawkins
• Eva Michelle Blythe-Blevins
• Cheyenne Toineeta*
• Danielle Davina Brady-Hicks
• Jessicca Nicole Calhoun
• Ahyoka Calhoun
• Megan Leigh Hull
• Lively Crue Colindres
* denotes unsolved case
If you have any information connected to the six deaths that remain unsolved or know of any missing or murdered EBCI women whose names are not on the list, contact the Cherokee Indian Police Department at 828.359.6600.
and the family is wrestling with how much to tell them, and when.
“They’re getting older,” Diane Wolfe said. “They’re going to see the newspaper, the picture, and it’s going to be a shock to them.”
The deaths of Maggie Bowman, Danielle Hicks and Marie Pheasant are devastating tragedies, but they’re not isolated incidents. They’re symptoms of a nationwide epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women.
According to a 2016 National Institute of Justice Research Report, more than 4 in 5 Native American women have experienced violence in their lifetime, over half have experienced sexual violence and the majority have been victims of physical violence at the hands of intimate partners. Native women are 1.7
times more likely than White women to have experienced violence in the past year. In some counties, they face murder rates more than 10 times the national average.
Due to a variety of factors — jurisdictional issues, recordkeeping, data quality — exact figures on such cases are hard to come by. By combing police records and investigating community reports, Wildcatt has compiled a list of 31 Cherokee women known to have been murdered, gone missing or died under mysterious circumstances. The earliest case dates to 1947, when a stranger kidnapped Dora Owl, took her out toward Fontana Dam, shot her and left her for dead.
“The bullet didn’t kill her instantly,” said Dylan Rose, who is Owl’s great-grandson. “She actually crawled her way all the way to a nearby road, where she was pretty much left for dead. Finally, someone came and picked her up, and on the way to the hospital to get help for her, she died.”
Owl’s case is one of seven on the list that remains unsolved. Only 10 of the deaths occurred on the Qualla Boundary, with the remaining ones taking place outside tribal lands, sometimes as far away as Florida or Los Angeles. Only one remains a missing persons case, that of a 13-year-old girl named Jacqueline Davis who disappeared in 1969. Of the 31 deaths, 15 resulted from gunshot wounds, seven from severe beating and three from being stabbed or cut.
“The six who haven’t received justice are the ones that speak to me the loudest,” Wildcatt said. “I wanted to get all this information so that I could put anybody’s name out there that hasn’t received justice. Nobody should die in the manner that any of these women did. But to get the families closure and some peace about how they were taken from them, I think that’s what makes it the most important to me.”
Understanding the missing and murdered indigenous women crisis, often referred to in shorthand as MMIW, requires a journey back in time through a relationship as violent and tumultuous as any abusive romantic entanglement — the relationship between Native American tribes and the United States government.
“It’s really attributed to colonization and a lot of the federal laws and policies that have passed from the early 1800s, and how that’s continued to govern the lives and safety of Native women,” said Rose Quilt, director of policy and research for the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. “These loopholes give non-Native abusers and predators opportunity, and they do take this opportunity to target indigenous women with impunity.”
It doesn’t take much research to turn up examples of the myriad ways that European settlers and, later, the American government killed, abused and otherwise mistreated the Native people they eventually displaced. From the Trail of Tears in the 1830s to the 1890 massacre of hundreds of Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee to the forcible removal of Native children from their families for Westernization at Indian boarding schools,
Beloved Woman Carmaleta Monteith stands in the background before a pop-up art installation in Cherokee on the May 5 National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous
the stories are as numerous as they are tragic.
But some of the most insidious developments came about in more recent decades, when the massacres were over and the eviction from ancestral lands complete.
In 1953, Congress passed a resolution initiating a federal policy of terminating Indian tribes’ protected status. The policy included disbanding tribes, selling their land and moving them into cities and urban jobs, where they might assimilate into the general population.
In alignment with that policy, the Bureau of Indian Affairs launched a relocation program that pledged help with housing and employment for Native Americans who moved from their rural reservations to metropolitan areas. Many enrolled but later struggled with unemployment, low-end jobs, discrimination and disconnection with the culturally grounded communities from which they’d derived identity, values and a sense of belonging. Due to these challenges, half returned home within five years.
Even as relocation programs enticed many adult tribal members to leave their communities voluntarily, child welfare agencies were taking Indian children from their families en masse and placing them with nonIndian foster families. Until the Indian Child Welfare Act passed in 1978, parents didn’t have the right to say no if the government wished to place their children in off-reservation schools, and there were no policies encouraging placement of Indian children with Indian families. Research at the time found that 25-35% of Native children were being removed from home, with 85% of those placed outside their family or home community — even when fit and willing relatives were available to take them in.
“I think about the assimilation era policies and boarding school policies, where little children are being told, essentially, everything about you as a human being is bad.
What does that do to a child, and what does it do to that child as they grow into a young adult or an adult and they have children of their own?” said Principal Chief Richard Sneed. “We still deal with the fallout of those backwards policies from 100-plus years ago. Those aren’t things that are immediately corrected — which is why we have to get back to a traditional set of our values and our identity as Cherokee people.”
The same year that the Indian Child Welfare Act gave Native American communities a reason to rejoice, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Oliphant vs. Suquamish Indian Tribe dealt them a blow from which they have yet to recover. In that decision, which stemmed from a case in which two non-Indian men were charged in the Suquamish tribal court for crimes on the reservation, the Supreme Court ruled that tribal courts do not have the authority to charge, prosecute and punish non-Indians who commit crimes on tribal land.
That ruling meant that such crimes had to be prosecuted in state or federal court, stripping tribal nations of the ability to protect their own people from non-Indian criminals.
When tribes stopped prosecuting nonenrolled offenders, indigenous women and children paid the highest price.
“It just makes sense that people who are predators are going to look for communities that are opportunistic, easy prey,” Sneed said. “Until such a time as tribes have the ability to arrest, prosecute and incarcerate non-Indians on tribal land, I think that it will continue to be an issue.”
More often than not, murdered indigenous women and children die at the hands of the men who should have been their fiercest protectors — husbands, boyfriends, fathers.
Murder is very rarely the first sign of violence in such relationships. Professionals who deal with domestic violence often refer to the
signs memorialize the
“We still deal with the fallout of those backwards policies from 100-plus years ago. Those aren’t things that are immediately corrected — which is why we have to get back to a traditional set of our values and our identity as Cherokee people.”
— Principal Chief Richard Sneed
“spectrum of violence” and the importance of dealing with abusive behavior before it’s allowed to escalate.
Tribal leaders say that local jurisdiction offers the best chance of that outcome. Local officers have the on-the-ground knowledge they need to efficiently investigate and respond to reports of criminal behavior.
Many tribal nations exist on far-flung tracts of land hours from any major city, adding multiple layers of complication to reliance on state or federal law enforcement agencies.
“When there’s a lack of cultural competency added onto layers of racism and prejudice, it can be really hard to get law enforcement, especially non-tribal law enforcement, to believe family members or to act with urgency on these cases,” said Kerri Colfer, senior Native affairs advisor for the NIWRC. “It’s often judging a victim more than a perpetrator.”
When prosecution requires witness participation, proximity is key. It’s always difficult to get traumatized domestic violence victims to take the stand — the challenge accel-
erates when that stand is in a different city, presided over by a judge who may not understand the victim’s cultural context.
For many reasons, it’s challenging to efficiently prosecute lower-level domestic violence crimes in federal court — which, until recently, is where all such cases involving enrolled victims and non-enrolled defendants had to go.
A 2013 report from the Indian Law and Order Commission highlighted the threats that this “jurisdictional maze” poses to victims in need of justice, concluding that the “extraordinary waste” of governmental resources that results “can be shocking, as is the cost in human lives.”
“There have been times that three different jurisdictions were involved in the exact same incident,” said EBCI Tribal Prosecutor Cody White. “State court was involved, we were involved, the federal government was involved, all by mandate of law, not by choice. It was all in the exact same incident. Justice cannot move expeditiously and efficiently when it’s bifurcated like that.”
Recent federal legislation has returned some limited prosecutorial authority to tribal governments. The 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act included a provision that allows tribes to prosecute domestic violence crimes committed by non-Indians.
The reauthorization that passed this spring drastically expanded that authority. When it goes into effect Oct. 1, tribes that meet the qualifications outlined by the federal government will also be able to prosecute nonIndians for child violence, dating violence, assault of tribal justice personnel, obstruction of justice, sexual violence, sex trafficking, stalking and violation of a protective order. The EBCI expects to be ready to exercise this new authority by the Oct. 1 effective date.
“I was a cop before I was a prosecutor,” White said, “so I could imagine the relief of being able to get to a scene and my first analysis is scene preservation, witnessing, evidence
MMIW, CONTINUED FROM 7
Women and Girls. Holly Kays photo
Red-painted
names of Cherokee’s missing and murdered women. Holly Kays photo
Get help
If you’re facing violence at home or are a survivor of domestic or sexual abuse, help is available. Call one of these 24/7 hotlines for confidential, compassionate assistance.
• StrongHearts Native Helpline offers culturally informed, anonymous, confidential and free service for Native Americans affected by domestic, dating and sexual violence. Dial or text 844.762.8483 or click the chat icon at strongheartshelpline.org.
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides lifesaving tools and immediate support to enable victims to find safety and live lives free of abuse. Call 800.799.7233 for help in more than 200 languages.
• The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network’s National Sexual Assault Hotline partners with more than 1,000 local providers across the country. Call 800.656.4673 or chat online at online.rainn.org.
collection, evidence preservation, all the things that a cop needs to be worried about –not jurisdiction.”
The VAWA reauthorization is a huge win, tribal leaders say, but it’s not enough.
It will never be enough, Sneed said, “until we get to the place where tribes are treated as true sovereigns that have the ability to exercise jurisdiction over whomever who has violated tribal law on tribal land.”
That is, until Oliphant is overturned.
But even if the Supreme Court struck down Oliphant tomorrow, many tribes would struggle to adequately protect their people and hold perpetrators accountable.
“VAWA is what VAWA is. It’s limited,” Sneed said. “It does give some jurisdiction. But then we go back to the issue of tribes have to have the capacity to implement it. They have to have the capacity in their law enforcement to be able to enforce it and within the tribal courts.”
The EBCI is an anomaly among Indian tribes, one of the few in the continental U.S. to retain a fragment of their ancestral land rather than being forced to resettle on some distant, resource-poor prairie. With a pair of extremely lucrative casinos and a boundary that abuts two of the country’s most-visited National Park Service units, the EBCI has the resources to support a robust police force and court system. The Cherokee Indian Police Department employs about 70 sworn officers and covers a small land area compared to many Western tribes like the Navajo, so law enforcement can maintain a visible presence in Cherokee.
“We deal with the BIA, and they sometimes don’t understand how we operate, because I believe that we operate head and shoulders above any other Indian law enforcement agency in this country,” said Wildcatt. However, not every Indian tribe has a casino to fund essential operations like law enforcement, and very few of those that do own casinos have an enterprise anywhere
• The National Deaf Hotline supports survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault who are deaf, deaf/blind, deaf/disabled or hard of hearing. Call 855.812.1001 or visit thedeafhotline.org.
• The National Human Trafficking Hotline serves victims and survivors of human trafficking, with service in more than 200 languages. Call 888.373.7888 or text 233733. humantraffickinghotline.org.
• The National Runaway Safeline aims to keep America’s runaway, homeless and at-risk youth safe and off the streets. Call 800.786.2929 or visit 1800runaway.org to work through problems and find local help from social service agencies and organizations.
• The National Suicide Prevention
Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Call 800.273.8255 or chat online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
near as successful as Cherokee’s. Most tribes rely on the federal government for funding, and time and again they come up short. The Broken Promises Report, completed in 2018 by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, found that in 2009, BIA funding met only 42% of the need for law enforcement personnel in Indian Country — in 2010, law enforcement agencies nationwide had an average of 3.5 officers per 1,000 residents while law enforcement in Indian Country had only 1.91 officers per 1,000 people.
“The need for tribal courts to receive adequate funding to fulfill their judicial duties, including the prosecution of criminal activity, is exacerbated by the failure of the federal government to prosecute many of the serious crimes occurring in Indian Country,” the report continues. “Of the approximately 9,000 Indian Country criminal matters resolved by federal prosecutors between 2005 and 2009, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices declined to prosecute half of the matters.”
In 42% of cases, “weak or inadmissible evidence” was cited as the reason for declining, with another 18% declined due to “no federal offense evident.”
“Not only are there federal laws and policies in place that contribute to violence against Native women, there’s also a lack of support system, meaning resources for tribes to help actually combat this issue,” said Colfer.
Throughout its long history of stripping tribes of their rights and encouraging them to abandon traditional ways, the federal government justified its actions by promoting a paternalistic view of Native Americans as childlike peoples in need of government guardianship. This view formed the basis for the awkward relationship that continues today — the federal government holds land in trust for tribes, terming them sovereign nations but also choosing when to
Ingles Nutrition Notes
written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath
SUMMER SNACKING
With kids home from school many are looking for summer snack ideas that won’t break the bank and are better choices. Here are a few ideas:
• Produce: Mini carrots, watermelon slices or chunks, cherry or grape tomatoes, bulk apple or citrus fruits (pre-cut and kids may be more likely to eat them), grapes.
• Grocery items: Popcorn kernels for air-popped popcorn, DIY trail mix of raisins, cereal, peanuts (add some mini chocolate chips for extra sweetness), whole grain cereal and milk
• Frozen items: Popsicles, or make your own popsicles with yogurt, milk or 100% fruit juices
• Dairy: Yogurt, cheese slices or get blocks of cheese and cut into chunks.
dispense or withdraw funding, resources and authority.
As it relates to MMIW, the federal government has failed to either give tribes the freedom to deal with the issue themselves or to supply the resources needed to fulfill the trust responsibility it has claimed, said Quilt, the NIWRC’s policy and research director.
“The federal response to MMIW is a breach of the federal trust responsibility — and not only that, but it’s a human rights violation,” she said.
Beyond VAWA, the federal government has been making moves in recent years to rectify what’s wrong with violence prevention and prosecution on tribal lands. Oct. 10, 2020, was a landmark day for MMIW advocates, with President Donald Trump signing two long-awaited pieces of legislation into law: the Not Invisible Act and Savanna’s Act.
“It was during 2020 when not a lot aside from COVID relief was happening, so it was exciting,” Colfer said in an April interview. “And here we are in 2022, and nothing has been done with them, which is upsetting.”
Savanna’s Act, named for Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Spirit Lake Indian member Savanna LaFontaineGreywind, who was brutally murdered in 2017 in Fargo, North Dakota, aims to boost the reporting of violent crimes against indigenous people. It improves tribal access to certain federal crime information databases, requiring the federal government to consult with tribal leaders on how to further enhance database access and safety for Native women.
The Not Invisible Act, meanwhile, mandates creation of a commission composed of tribal leaders, law enforcement, federal partners, service providers and survivors to make recommendations to the Department of Interior and Department of Justice on combating violence against indigenous people. It also states that the DOI must designate a BIA official to coordinate prevention efforts, grants and programs related to missing persons, murder and human trafficking cases in Indian Country.
The legislation contained several deadlines to move the process along — the Commission was to be appointed by Jan. 10, 2021, and submit its recommendations no later than April 10, 2022. The Commission is to sunset on Oct. 10 of this year.
However, when Colfer and Quilt spoke to The Smoky Mountain News on April 21, no recommendations had been released because the Commission had not even been appointed.
“It is really disturbing and upsetting, because a lot of the families were hopeful after it passed,” Quilt said.
Commission members were finally appointed in mid-May following a virtual event hosted by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on May 5, which is National Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day.
“The missing and murdered indigenous peoples crisis is centuries in the making, and it will take a focused effort and time to unravel the many threads that contribute to the
In a portrait from Dylan Rose, Araceli Martinez, 14, stands strong despite experiencing violence as a young child. Rose’s work will be featured in an upcoming MMIW exhibition at the Bardo Arts Center. Dylan Rose photo
Awareness through art
An exhibition of photography and sculptures bringing voice to the MMIW crisis will open Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Western Carolina University’s Bardo Arts Center.
“We Will Not Be Silenced: Standing for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” examines the issue and movement bringing awareness to it through the lens of artists from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Comanche Nation, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and other Native American tribes.
The display will be open through Friday, Dec. 9, with a reception planned for 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3.
alarming rates,” Haaland said. “I’m grateful to those of you who rang the alarm and gave a voice to the missing.”
Haaland also highlighted the launch of the Missing and Murdered Unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The unit formed last year and since then has worked to build up personnel and infrastructure, with 17 BIA offices across the nation now holding at least one agent dedicated to solving missing persons and murder cases involving indigenous people.
The BIA did not respond to questions about why it took so long to appoint Commission members or if the original sunset date will remain in effect, given the late start commission members now have.
According to Quilt and Colfer’s organization,
banks of the Oconaluftee River. Even with years of distance, the memory is disorientingly vivid. When he pulled the gun on her, Tasha said, she held down the emergency button on her phone — 911 came on the line, asking if she needed help. He heard the voice, and he “flipped out.”
Araceli, still a child, took on the role of protector. Her 5-year-old brother sat with her in the backseat, rocking back and forth with his hands over his ears. A metal Star Wars action figure, a stormtrooper, sat between them. She picked it up and hit her dad with it, pulled at his sweatshirt, did whatever she could to fight him off, despite a fear so deep she vomited as she fought. She got the door open, and Tasha screamed at her to take her brother and run. She did. After a few moments passed that to Tasha felt like hours, the SWAT team arrived.
“A lot of our offenders have either suffered some kind of childhood trauma themselves or witnessed violence in their own families. And so it’s a cycle that continues to happen.”
— Cody White, tribal prosecutor
Nearly seven years have passed, and by all appearances Araceli has put that terrible day behind her. A shy 14-year-old who takes comfort in the traditional dress, language and crafts of her ancestors, she carries herself with an air of strength and bravery. In 2017, she was crowned Little Miss Cherokee. She wants to make a difference for the girls and women who come after her.
“He was supposed to have protected her,” Tasha said. “That’s her dad, her blood, her father, and he’s the one that hurt her and caused her so much pain. And I think that that’s why she wants to be such a voice for this, because she is able to and others aren’t.”
the NIWRC, the Commission will have 18 months to finish the job. Colfer has been appointed as a member of the Commission.
One day away from turning 8, Araceli Martinez climbed into the car with her mom and little brother to go buy some stocking stuffers for Christmas, only 15 days away.
It was shaping up to be a great week — until she saw her dad pull up in his Mustang. Araceli was still 7, but old enough to know that her father’s appearance meant violence was imminent.
“He come to the window, and he pulled out a gun and told me to get out of the car,” said Araceli’s mother Tasha Martinez, standing beside her daughter in a shady spot on the
Still, the trauma has left its mark. They’re all three on medication for anxiety and nervousness, Tasha said, a condition that’s not improved by the fact that the kids’ father, an illegal immigrant, now lives just one county over despite being previously deported to Guatamala.
“He has put a chip on her shoulder to where she’s constantly ready for whatever,” said Tasha. “I admire her bravery and courage that she has. She ain’t scared of nothing. She’s been through so much that she’s got this attitude of ‘I can take on this world, and I will stand my ground.’”
But Tasha worries that the past has stolen an essential innocence from her daughter’s life.
“I want her to just enjoy life without having to be ready all the time for something,” Tasha said, “and that’s how she feels she has to be.”
When Taylor started as police chief, he believed that drug abuse was handsdown the biggest law enforcement issue on the Qualla Boundary.
“I was 110% wrong,” he said. “The domestic violence and the child molestation are our number one problem. That’s what leads to drugs.”
Childhood trauma has repercussions. According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, research has shown that survivors are at increased risk of learning problems, longterm health issues like diabetes and heart disease, and involvement with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Trauma is a risk factor for nearly all behavioral health and substance use disorders.
Those risks are higher for children without a strong support system to aid their recovery. When traumatized children grow up without the help they need to move past the violence done to them, they often become adults who help perpetuate that cycle into the next generation.
“It’s not only, from what we’ve seen, a pass-down of violent behavior but also the passing down of the victimization, the passing down of the silence,” said White, the tribal prosecutor. “If a girl sees mom be silent but be stoic, that’s how she may feel that she needs to respond in that situation.”
Alcohol and drug abuse, toward which some trauma survivors turn to numb the pain, can also fuel physical abuse. White has dealt with families who most of the time are a cohesive unit of people who treat each other well. But when alcohol is introduced, violence ensues.
“A lot of our offenders have either suffered some kind of childhood trauma themselves or witnessed violence in their own families,” he said. “And so it’s a cycle that continues to happen.”
The tribe is doing its best to break that cycle by empowering domestic violence victims to seek justice early on, getting child survivors the counseling they need, and exercising its authority under VAWA to prosecute perpetrators — but also through services for the perpetrators themselves.
The tribe operates a Batterers Treatment Program through its Analanisgi Program, which focuses on behavioral health. Perpetrators can and do receive jail time, but prosecutors will often recommend that they also go through the treatment program for an opportunity to have jail time deferred or reduced.
Domestic violence offenders don’t typically get life sentences — sooner or later, they get out of jail. If they then go right back to terrorizing the people they should be protecting, what good will it have done? The goal of the Batterers Treatment Program is to recognize that such behavior is often rooted in trauma, and to address that trauma so that the perpetrator and his or her family can have peace.
“If we’re going to address these issues on a systemic level, we’ve also got to put energy and dollars into programs that are going to help minimize the likelihood that this individual is going to continue to wreak havoc,”
said Shelli Buckner of the EBCI Tribal Prosecutor’s Office.
Overall, the Batterers Treatment Program has been successful, White said, though there have been some repeat offenders.
“I think it depends on how you define success, too,” said Buckner. “We’ve had folks who’ve reoffended but have acted out against property as opposed to against people. I think that, while threatening, it may be considered progress.”
Punching a wall is bad, but it’s better than punching a person.
On a sunny, unseasonably warm day in May, Ashley Martin stands to the side as community members filter over the bridge and down the riverside path at the Oconaluftee Islands Park. It’s May 5, a day designated as a National Day of Awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women to honor the birthday of Northern Cheyenne citizen Hanna Harris, murdered in 2013.
Martin has been working nonstop for the past week to complete the artistically designed maze of photos and mirrors that now adorns the grassy lawn.
Freestanding, full-length mirrors bear red-painted messages — “More than half of indigenous women experience sexual violence,” “Murder is the third leading cause of death for indigenous women,” “Am I next?” — juxtaposed against full-size prints of portraits, by tribal member Dylan Rose, depicting Cherokee women dressed in traditional clothing, standing strong.
One of the mirrors is smashed yet remains an integral part of the display. “I am not broken,” it says.
“You see young, hard-working women who just had the life sucked out of them by these men that just have no respect for themselves,” said Rose, tearing up as he thinks about the impact of violence on the women in his life. “So they just take the anger and hate, and their own insecurities out on our women.”
Martin said she organized the display to bring awareness to a pressing issue that, for
most Americans, is bottom of mind.
“We’re just not thought of,” she said. “Not just Native women. Trans people, men, boys.”
More and more, Native people are speaking up, using their voices to advocate for an end to a crisis that’s largely invisible to suburban America. A new podcast hosted by three EBCI women, We Are Resilient: A MMIW True Crime Podcast, has turned out 32
“We’re just not thought of. Not just Native women. Trans people, men, boys.”
— Ashley Martin
episodes since it launched in October 2021, telling the stories of missing and murdered indigenous women across the nation. Cherokee’s third annual MMIW March, held April 30, drew about 200 people, and an upcoming art exhibition through Western Carolina University’s Cherokee Center will seek to bring voice to the crisis through sculptures and photographs. The Cherokee Police Department has placed a renewed focus on resolving cold cases like Pheasant’s.
Advocacy goes all the way to Washington, D.C., where Queen, Colfer and their colleagues at the NIWRC are working to implement their six-point action plan to address the MMIW crisis. The plan includes restoring tribes’ full legal authority to protect indigenous women; implementing Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act — and adopting additional legislation in consultation with tribal nations — to remove systemic barriers to families affected by the crisis; requiring every federal department to develop MMIW action plans in consultation with tribal nations; enacting legislation and policy to protect tribal lands from extraction industries and corporate interests; supporting the Native Hawaiian Resource Center on
Domestic Violence; and ensuring adequate resources for indigenous women’s advocacy and services.
“There are so many issues that are really specific to Indian Country, and it’s important that service providers are able to understand their victims, especially on a cultural level,” said Colfer.
While the federal government is responsible for many of the factors that birthed the MMIW crisis, Sneed is wary about relying on them to solve it. The current relationship between tribes and the federal government evolved from a paradigm of the government as guardian and tribes as dependents.
“This is a heavy lift,” Sneed said, “but we’ve got to be able to break away from that paternalistic form of government and move more toward empowerment that’s tied to a traditional set of values.”
Taylor believes that there are people in the community today who know how Marie Pheasant died, just like he believes that there were people who knew what happened to Maggie Bowman but decided not to speak up.
“Our culture takes advantage of our own people sometimes, because they won’t speak up and tell what’s happened,” he said. “We can’t blame it all on the federal government. We need to step up as a community.”
Ending the crisis will rely as much on change at home as it will change in the halls of Congress, Sneed said. That starts with resurrecting the traditional culture and values too long suppressed or disrupted by government policy. Cherokee’s is a matrilineal culture, marked by strong women who command the respect of their communities. But it’s also a culture of strong men, and the community needs their strength to solve its problems.
“Our men were strong, and we need to reidentify with that part of our history and our identity,” said Sneed. “We were protectors and we were fierce fighters, and I think that needs to be part of what we are teaching our young men too, is that we are strong as well, and we are protectors of our women and children.”
As long as there are people on earth, there will be murder and there will be violence. But Indian Country leaders believe that the disproportionate impact of violence on Indian lands, particularly against women, is solvable — and they’re hopeful that it’s on its way to being solved.
“This crisis will no doubt end with our generation,” Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, declared during Haaland’s May 5 virtual event.
It’s a complex issue, and addressing it will require an all-hands-on-deck approach spanning all corners of geography and jurisdiction, Sneed said. But, he said, he can “absolutely agree” that within a generation, it is possible for MMIW to cease to be the crisis that it is today. Nothing gives him more hope than the grassroots efforts of people like Bolden, Martin, the We Are Resilient podcast hosts and everyone else working to expose and alleviate the crisis.
“To me that’s where real change always comes from,” said Sneed. “It’s rarely that it’s top-down. It’s always grassroots, bottom-up, citizens raising their voice and raising awareness. I’m very proud of our people for doing that.”
Mary Crowe comforts Susanna Brady, whose daughter Danielle died after being shot in October 2020. Holly Kays photo
Canton braces for development with comprehensive plan
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT
P OLITICS E DITOR
In an effort to strike a balance between development pressures and a need for growth, the Town of Canton adopted its first major comprehensive plan June 23, and will soon vote to update its subdivision and land development ordinance.
“In general, the 30,000-foot view is that this was driven by public input, to look at what changes need to be made,” said Zeb Smathers, Canton’s mayor. “We fully understand that growth is coming our way. It’s happening and it will continue to happen.”
North Carolina municipalities without a recent comprehensive plan must implement one by July 1, due to an amendment to the state’s planning and development regulations. However, the town of Canton also needed one to help elected officials and town staff make decisions as developers increasingly target the small Haywood County community near the Buncombe County line.
Call for Master Gardener volunteers
Master Gardener volunteers assist the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service by providing research-based information to Haywood County residents. These volunteers are a vital part of NC State University, a land grant institution.
Master Gardeners are accepting applications for the 2022 class. Training sessions will be held on 13 consecutive Thursday mornings starting Aug. 4, 2022, plus one Saturday morning local field trip. All current COVID
troublesome, downtown parking can be scarce, maintaining an identity sperate from but complementary to both the mill and Asheville may become larger concerns in the future, and an outdated subdivision ordinance means developers don’t always know what’s on the table.
“The comprehensive plan is a blueprint that lays what we want to see when development comes in, especially with residential, and how do we can do that while retaining the character that exists currently,” said Smathers.
During the same June 23 meeting, Withers Ravenel also presented the board with a proposed updated subdivision ordinance for consideration.
“The major thing that we’re doing is addressing inconsistencies and errors in your existing subdivision ordinance,” said Keren Mallo, a planner and project manager with Withers Ravenel who attended the meeting remotely. She later clarified her statement, saying they weren’t exactly “errors” but rather updates that conform to General Assembly action taken since the last update.
The purpose of the proposed subdivision ordinance is to address development proactively, in a uniform manner consistent with the comprehensive plan and existing zoning
“On the subdivision side of things, this will allow people the opportunity to embrace housing development,” Smathers said. “Our old ordinances didn’t reflect that.”
town. The proposed ordinance includes what Smathers called “responsible” setbacks, updated appearance standards, a streamlined applications process and, importantly, the allowance of townhome development. Previously, townhomes were only allowed with a variance.
As of June 23, the town had approved water and sewer extensions for the three pending residential projects. Town Manager
“The comprehensive plan is a blueprint that lays what we want to see when development comes in, especially with residential, and how do we can do that while retaining the character that exists currently.”
— Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers
Nick Scheuer said developers expect to be annexed into the town, and that they understand the new zoning and subdivision ordinances will apply to their projects.
The process began earlier this year, when engineering consultancy Withers Ravenel began background research and conducted a public survey that ultimately received 242 responses. A public workshop was held in May, and the planning board recommended the plan to the board of aldermen/women on June 9.
Despite last year’s flooding, Canton has a lot going for it right now — easy access to Asheville as well as points further west, a flourishing papermill, a resurgent downtown and walkability not found in all Western North Carolina municipalities.
The town also has some opportunities on the horizon, including possible FEMA buyouts for flood-prone properties, growing interest from developers and an emergent tourism industry bolstered by the recent and rapid emergence of Chestnut Mountain Park.
There remain, however, some challenges in Canton. Traffic associated with and odor emanating from the mill have long been
protocols will be observed.
Presentation topics include soils and fertilizers; lawns and weeds; woody ornamentals; landscaping with native plants; vegetable gardening; pesticide selection and use; insect & disease problem diagnostics; integrated pest management; and plant propagation. The cost to cover all course materials and fees is $150. Participants must agree to volunteer at least 40 hours in various activities in the 12 months following the class. Candidates must be full-time residents of Haywood County. For more information call 828.456.3575 or email mgarticles@charter.net.
Smathers explained that buyers are now looking at smaller homes, and that he hopes to see more young families moving into
A final draft of the updated ordinance is expected to go to the planning board on July 12. If the planning board recommends it to the board of aldermen/women, a vote could be taken on July 28.
Canton’s future land use map was adopted on June 23. Withers Ravenel photo
Mountain Projects takes steps forward in Jackson County
BY KYLE PERROTTI
N EWS E DITOR
Mountain Projects had much to celebrate last week.
Last Tuesday, the nonprofit welcomed Reginald Speight, Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s North Carolina Office of Rural Development, who spoke to a round table at Mountain Projects’ new Sylva office. Speight outlined current initiatives available to rural communities in the mountains. The round table featured several local entities, from municipal governments to other nonprofits. Following the roundtable, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the future site of Harris Estates.
A press release sent out by Mountain Projects, which operates in both Haywood and Jackson counties, said Speight brought a distinctive energy that was shared by other attendees. He spoke of the money available and strong partnerships that will help the region.
“Right now, there’s more money out there than you can shake a stick at,” the release quoted Speight saying. “Money is not the issue now, but this is not going to last, it’s going to dry up, and you just have to figure out how to get what you need and use it wisely.”
ships, whether they be regional or statewide.
“Consider the USDA to be a tool in your toolbox,” Speight said, “but, if you go get funding from someplace else, you have shown your organization to be resourceful. Ultimately you have to do the best you can do for the people you serve.”
Speight brought news to Sylva of an initiative to transform the way federal agencies partner with rural places to create economic opportunity in rural America. Called the Rural Partners Network (RPN), the goal is to help rural communities access government resources and funding to create jobs, build infrastructure and support long-term economic stability through a single network. The network is being rolled out now, with a North Carolina launch window of late summer or early fall.
Along with the release, Mountain Projects sent quotes from several attendees.
Area Specialist for the USDA Jody Lovelace said that while no single entity can know all the needs of a community, collectively, many can be covered.
“I would say that there are opportunities right now to look at more comprehensive approaches. That’s what it takes,” he said.
“That’s why we wanted to bring these stakeholders to the table to have these discussions. Our lanes are different, but we’re all in the same bowling alley. We’re all committed to serving our people.”
Andrew Mayronne, impact officer who focuses on housing for Dogwood Health Trust, said things are different in rural areas, including the impacts of poverty.
“There are great partnerships here,” he added. “I don’t always see this in the eastern part of the state. I know community action, and I know what community action does, and trust me, the people in this room and their staff are some of the hardest working people in Western North Carolina.”
Rural Development through the USDA provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for citizens in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and highpoverty areas.
Speight’s conversation with a cross-section of leaders from municipal and community action organizations touched on ways to accelerate economic development and address housing needs in the western mountains, but to do so strategically.
He pointed out the challenges of effectively putting money to work in small communities with limited administrative resources to manage budgets and projects. Capacity building comes first. He suggested that foundation partners step up in that regard, and at the same time, that the USDA is currently in the position to make grants, rather than its more customary loans.
“How can a small county or a township that you work with, with a part-time administrator, engage with us?” Speight asked. “The places can’t service any more debt. The population is drying up or is on a fixed income, so they can’t service any more debt. So why not do some creative things while we have the opportunity, if we’re serious about it? Money is all over the place.”
The answer is capacity-stretching partner-
“You capture all those social determinants in your daily life. Your stress, the way you eat, the way you sleep or don’t sleep. All those things run together, and they can’t be compartmentalized,” he said. “Housing can do a lot, but it never stops at housing. One of the biggest benefits of Dogwood is to partner with all these groups. We want to be the thread between all these things and also to remain humble to the work.”
In an interview with The Smoky Mountain News, Mountain Projects Executive Director Patsy Davis said she was thrilled to have Speight on hand.
“It’s only the second time in my career 30plus years I remember a state director coming west of Asheville,” she said.
“There was a spirit there … it was just a harmony in that room that day,” she added.
“Everybody was engaged and looking at lots of different things for our community and dialoguing about working together.”
Davis noted that Harris Estates will provide first-time home buyers the opportunity to receive technical assistance to navigate the intimidating task achieving homeownership.
“Our job is to help them qualify,” Davis said. “That can be a daunting task. Once they’re qualified, our job is to identify a property to purchase and get it ready for them to build.”
While there is assistance when it comes to building, Mountain Projects requires the new homeowners to put in their own “sweat equity,” during which they work side-by-side with contractors to “learn their house from the ground up.”
“They learn how to stay in budget and
Several people were unhand for a groundbreaking at Mountain Projects' Harris Estates, a selfhelp project that will feature five new homes for first-time homeowners.
Catamount Cinemas to open in former site of Quin Theater
BY KYLE PERROTTI
N EWS E DITOR
The Quin Theater shut its doors in April, but thanks to two veterans of the industry, it will find new life as Catamount Cinemas.
The new owners are Greg Israel and David Parlier. Israel currently owns Smoky Mountain Cinemas in Waynesville while Parlier owns Franklin’s Ruby Cinemas. They have about 50 years of experience owning and running movie theaters between them.
In a May Smoky Mountain News story, Chris Maney — whose family had owned the Quin Theater for decades — said they’d been considering closing down shop for a little while, given the fact that they operated seven days a week and were open long hours during weekends. He told SMN that while the decision wasn’t easy, it was clearly the right move for the family.
“It’s very emotional, lots and lots and lots of memories,” Maney said in May. “I hear people say, if the walls could talk, and my wife runs our Facebook page and the response we got, the overwhelming memories that come back when you get to talking to friends and family and people, that have posted on our website, it made us feel really
good that we had been able to be a part of their movie-going experience for so long.”
Maney said his family hoped to see the building remain a theater. And that’s exactly what’s going to happen thanks to Israel and Parlier. Israel said that once the
“The theater is in great shape; it’s a little older, but they kept it up really well. [The Maneys] ran a good theater for years.”
— Greg Israel
announcement was made that The Quin was going to shut its doors for good, he contacted the Maneys and began negotiations before ultimately reaching out to Parlier to see if he’d want to be a partner. While Israel said it “took a while to finalize the deal” he said the process was pretty smooth.
“The Maneys have been great to work with … I think they wanted a theater here if they could find the right people to do it,” Israel said. “The theater is in great shape; it’s
Reginald Speight, Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s North Carolina Office of Rural Development, speaks with stakeholders at Mountain Projects’ new Sylva office. Angeline Schwab photo
how to choose and deal with subcontractors,” Davis said.
Davis made a point of praising community partners for helping make Harris Estates a reality.
“This was much bigger than Mountain Projects,” she said. “We have had so much support … including from people in Jackson County government, the town of Sylva and Dogwood. Everybody supported our effort.”
a little older, but they kept it up really well. They ran a good theater for years.”
Israel said he became acquainted with his new business partner after reaching out when he decided to open Smoky Mountain Cinemas back in 2019.
“We’ve become fairly good friends, and I think each of us were looking for an opportunity,” he said. “We didn’t think there’d be anything in this area though.”
Davis made a point to encourage anyone who thinks they may be able to use Mountain Projects’ services to reach out.
“They have nothing to lose by talking about the program and understanding how to qualify. They also need to understand we work with folks,” she said, adding that the program has only had one foreclosure out of 51 homes in Haywood. “You have nothing to lose.”
Mountain Projects has broken ground on 51 houses in Haywood County over the years, but Harris Estates marks the first five in Jackson County.
“I think the industry will come roaring back,” he said.
Israel also said he thinks that even though streaming services have taken off, movie studios have come to the conclusion that theaters will still be a major consideration when releasing films.
While Israel and Parlier don’t intend on making too many changes to the theater, Israel said that initially they will offer online ticketing, and that at some point, they may look at upgrading the theaters by adding things like reclining chairs and more concessions.
Israel said his decision to open another theater in Western North Carolina was based on a bold prediction. After cinemas were hit hard during the pandemic shutdowns, he thinks folks are ready to go back to the movies.
The men hope to open for business by the July 8 release of “Thor: Love and Thunder.”
Tuscola student attends UT engineering program
Eireann Marcus, a rising sophomore at Tuscola High School, was one out of only 32 students selected to attend
Engineering VOLunteers for Tenth Graders (eVOL10) pre-college summer program held at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville June 19-24.
Throughout the program, students learned about careers in engineering, explored the UT campus, toured engineering labs and facilities, attended ACT preparation and spent a week living on a college campus.
During the week, students applied what was learned and worked and completed an engineering design project. eVOL10’s mission is to provide students who show an interest in engineering studies an early exposure to, and preparation for, scientific study and research.
Graduates awarded HCC Pop and Marj Kelly Merit Scholarship
Five Haywood County 2022 high school graduates were awarded the Pop and Marj Kelly Merit Scholarship at Haywood Community College. Kinley Gilliam and Macon Haider of Pisgah High School and Jason Frazier, Gabriella Loredo-Marquez and Josie Rodriguez of Tuscola High School were each awarded $10,000 for two years.
This competitive scholarship requires applicants to submit an essay, as well as a list of their community and extracurricular school activities. In addition, recipients are required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.5.
Gilliam plans to take general education and Automotive Systems courses. She is following a family legacy where many relatives have attended HCC.
“This scholarship will really help to lift the financial burden of my single mom,” she said.
For Haider, HCC will be the first step on his path to becoming a fisheries biologist. After
obtaining a Fish & Wildlife Management degree at HCC, he plans to transfer to a four-year school to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
“I want to be in the rivers and streams researching and protecting fish. With hard work and dedication, I will achieve my goals,” he said.
At HCC, Frazier is considering a program in the natural resources field. As a junior and senior in high school, he has already completed more than 20 credit hours at HCC.
“My ultimate goal is to have a professional impact on this community in helping preserve the beautiful Smoky Mountains,” he said.
Loredo-Marquez will pursue an associate’s degree and eventually transfer to a four-year school to pursue a degree in psychology. She is the first in her family to finish high school.
“One of my goals is to normalize prioritizing mental health in the Hispanic community,” she said.
Rodriguez also plans to obtain an associate’s degree to become a teacher.
“My mission as a teacher is to be a voice for the students who struggle,” she said.
Registration for fall semester is underway now. For more information, visit haywood.edu or
email hcc-advising@haywood.edu. For more information about this scholarship or to give to the HCC Foundation, please call 828-627-4544 or email hebirenbaum@haywood.edu.
Fridays SCC will go virtual for employees
Due to the ever-rising costs of gasoline, Southwestern Community College’s administration has decided to move to virtual operations every Friday starting on June 10 at all SCC campuses and locations.
Even though staff members will be working virtually, the college will remain open and fully operational while continuing to provide support for current students and welcoming new and prospective students to enroll for the fall semester.
Southwestern has one on-campus class on Fridays, and it will continue as scheduled. All offcampus classes, clinicals and work-based learning will also continue on regular schedules.
However, all SCC buildings except the Public Safety Training Center will be closed on Fridays through at least Aug. 5. Prospective students can call 828.339.4000 or start the application process at southwesterncc.edu/enroll.
Submit nominations for WCU’s Mountain Heritage Awards
The nomination period is now open for the annual Mountain Heritage Awards, which recognize contributions to Southern Appalachian history, culture and folklore.
Presented by the Mountain Heritage Center, recipients are honored during ceremonies at Mountain Heritage Day on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Western Carolina University.
Honorees are selected by a committee comprised of regional and campus representatives. The awards recognize an individual and an organization for distinguished service, accomplishments, influence or expertise in maintaining the cultural viability of the region.
Nominations should be five pages or less, with a list of the nominee’s accomplishments, awards and recognition; information about the nominee’s influence in the relevant field of expertise, such as crafts, music or organizational cause; or information about the nominee’s role as a teacher, advocate, leader or curator of mountain culture. Include a website address if applicable; the mailing address of the nominee; the founding date for organizational nominees.
Recent recipients include author and educator William H. Turner of Harlan, Kentucky, and Tried Stone Missionary Baptist Church of Asheville.
Nominations should be delivered no later than Friday, July 15, to the Mountain Heritage Center, located in Room 240 of WCU’s Hunter Library;
mailed to Mountain Heritage Center, 1 University Drive, Cullowhee N.C. 28723; or email pameister@wcu.edu.
Mountain Heritage Day announces music headliners
Becky Buller Band and Mountain Heart will be the headline musical acts for this year’s Mountain Heritage Day, the popular outdoor festival at Western Carolina University to be held this year on Saturday, Sept. 24, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Bluegrass, traditional and gospel music are an important part of the event, which is equal parts a family reunion, a harvest festival, an arts and crafts showcase, a county fair and musical jamboree — all to celebrate the wonderful diversity of Southern Appalachian history and culture.
Alongside the musical stages are arts and crafts booths, children’s activities, heritage demonstrations, Cherokee stick ball games, a chainsaw competition, wagon rides and a classic car and truck show. Admission is free, as is parking and shuttle service.
Becky Buller and her band received standing ovations and outstanding reviews when they played Mountain Heritage Day in 2019. A 10-time International Bluegrass Music Association awardwinner, her songs have appeared on multiple Grammy Award-inning albums, and she has made history by being the first artist ever to win in both instrumental and vocal categories, as well as being the first woman fiddler of the year.
Mountain Heart has numerous appearances on the Grand Ole Opry to their credit, performing there and everywhere else with an energetic, virtuoso style of hybrid acoustic music. It will be their first appearance at Mountain Heritage Day.
The festival, which began in 1974, continues its legacy of highlighting traditional folk arts and skills, Cherokee crafts, clogging, storytelling and shape-note singing. More than 130 arts and crafts vendors will be on hand with creations ranging from furniture and jewelry to leather goods and metalwork. Vendors will offer a variety of festival food, with favorites ranging from fry bread, kettle corn and homemade ice cream to funnel cakes and barbecue. Organizers said additional musical acts, including local favorites, and clogging teams will be announced soon.
“Mountain Heritage Day is a gift from Western Carolina University to the community, and everyone from everywhere is welcome to attend,” said Chancellor Kelli Brown. “This family-oriented festival shows how much we value this incredible, beautiful region we call home and its diverse culture and history.”
Mountain Heritage Day goes on rain or shine, and everyone is invited to bring lawn chairs or blankets for comfortable seating. Dogs on leashes are allowed, with water and comfort stations provided. For more information and updates, www.mountainheritageday.com.
Eireann Marcus. Donated photo
We can overcome WNC’s affordable housing crisis
Iam old enough that my first 1,800-square-foot house cost just $31,000 and its purchase was easily financed on my middle class salary of $14,000. Now I live a comfortable retired life in Asheville, having made an inflation-profit each time I sold a house.
Lately, I have seen a steady drip, drip, drip of articles and heard the stories about how times have changed. The middle class is being priced out of the housing market in Western North Carolina and decent apartments are out of reach for those with low incomes. Even those who can make a down payment are losing out to cash buyers whose bank accounts have grown fat from housing inflation and stock market gains. It seems the American dream of owning a home is fading like a mountain sunset.
With each new story, I kept thinking, “That’s sad. Hope someone does something about it.” Then I saw Scott McLeod’s editorial (Smoky Mountain News, May 10, “Living in WNC is getting harder for workers”). For the first time, the size of the problem hit me. I decided I had something to say.
The column quoted a 2021 study sponsored by the Dogwood Health Trust that estimated our region will need 20,000 more units for low-income households by 2025. That’s 5,000 per year! The column also said a family would need a down payment of $75,000 to buy a middle-of-the-road house in our region. How many middle-class families can scrape that much together?
It is becoming clear that Western North Carolina will need a massive effort to provide decent apartments for people with low incomes, and a burgeoning supply of affordable homes so our kids and grandkids can live the American dream of home ownership.
Gun safety legislation
To the Editor:
As a mother, aunt, pediatrician and neighbor to beloved children, I have long been deeply troubled by the exorbitant levels of gun violence in our country, and my heart was sickened again last month by the massacre of children and teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
It is encouraging this week to see the new legislation this past week passed by Congress and signed by the president — the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — aimed at reducing firearm deaths, which would give authorities up to 10 business days to review the juvenile and mental health records of gun permit applicants younger than 21; direct millions of dollars toward helping states implement red flag laws (which allow authorities to temporarily confiscate guns from people deemed by a judge to be dangerous); ensure that serious dating partners are included in the federal law that bars domestic abusers from purchasing firearms; provide millions of dollars for expanding mental health resources in communities and schools as well as boost funds for school safety; and toughen penalties for those evading licensing requirements or making “straw” purchases, buying and then selling weapons to people barred from purchasing handguns. It is a first step, achieved through the heroic leadership of Christopher Murphy,
My message to our region is that you cannot win a fight like this by every town and county doing a little bit here and a little bit there. The fight for decent rental housing and home ownership won’t be won unless we have an “all hands on deck” effort, and that requires a coordinated regional approach. All means all. We need a way to enlist bankers, builders, developers, governments — local, state and federal — chambers of commerce, churches, service clubs, Republicans, Democrats and community colleges behind a housing-friendly regional vision.
Who can rally all of these groups to the cause of decent housing for all income levels and a path to home ownership? Luckily, WNC is blessed with hundreds of great leaders in our local governments, businesses, professions and nonprofits. The problem, in my view, is a lack of coordination and regional vision. We need to bring these leaders together and figure out what we can do — as a region — to win this fight. Let me suggest a practical way to do that. We have three councils of governments that cover our region — the Southwestern Commission includes the seven westernmost counties, the Land of Sky Regional Council covers four counties in the middle of WNC, and the Foothills Regional Commission includes four counties on the eastern end. These councils already work on transportation and community development. They also channel state and federal funds into infrastructure projects throughout their areas.
My proposal is that the three councils work together to
LETTERS
the Democratic senator from Connecticut.
It is very encouraging to see a proposed gun safety legislation actually being supported by more than just one or two Republican senators for the first time in decades. For too long, the NRA with its manipulative message of fear and its powerful financial hold on Republicans, has held us all hostage. Already the NRA has condemned this bill and every senator who supports it, even though it does not hamper the right of any law-abiding, nondangerous citizen from buying a gun.
I myself am a Democrat, because as a pediatrician it has been abundantly clear to me over the years that it is the Democrat Party who has promoted policies that uphold the well-being of women, children and families. But I am grateful that our Republican Sen. Thom Tillis was willing to stick his neck out to work with Murphy on the team that hammered out the compromises required for the details of this legislation. If you are a Republican who has voted for Tillis in the past, and someone who cares about the safety of our children and communities, please let him know of your support for this legislation and of your appreciation for his willingness to work on it. He needs to hear support loud and clear from people like you. You can email him through his website, at www.tillis.senate.gov/ or call him at the Senate at 202.224.6342 or at
create a regional housing vision and implementation plan. This work could include holding an annual housing summit, lots of staff work, public input, discussions between elected officials — and, probably, lots and lots of arguing. The point is these councils could bring the existing leadership of our area together and keep them focused on housing until we get on top of the problem.
The advantages of the councils hosting a process to reach a common housing vision are many. It could force us to face reality about the number and kinds of housing needed. Community leaders could exchange best practices of how to maintain a range of housing in their areas. We could identify the best places for new housing without the constraints of political boundaries. We could keep the growth of housing coordinated with needed transportation corridors. We could identify the obstacles to housing development and knock them down one by one. And finally, a common vision would strengthen our voice when dealing with the state and federal governments.
Getting our housing stock in balance with our needs and resources is probably the work of decades, not years. The best time to start on a regional housing vision and plan for Western North Carolina was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today. So, I say, let’s get going to create an adequate supply of rental housing for people at every income level and a path to home ownership for the middle class. Our children and grandchildren will thank us — even if it takes until 2030 or 2040.
(Tom Fehsenfeld is a retired business executive who writes about issues for future generations. He and his wife are enjoying life and staying close to their family in Asheville. tom.fehsenfeld@gmail.com.)
his Charlotte office number, 704.509.9087. In the final Senate vote, both Tillis and N.C. Sen. Richard Burr voted for it, two of only 14 GOP senators who supported the measure. It is tempting to think in despair that until we have campaign finance reform that prevents powerful lobbies like the NRA from influencing legislators through huge financial contributions, that our own voices don’t matter. In fact, if Tillis and other Republican sena-
tors learn that they can work on solutions to this problem and still be supported by Republican voters, they could escape the NRA’s stranglehold and finally begin to work with Democrats to prioritize the safety of our children. Please, speak up in support of our children’s safety.
Joyce Hooley Marshall
Guest Columnist
Tom Fehsenfeld
Medicaid expansion will save lives, benefit all
North Carolina has one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the country, but our elected officials can cut that number dramatically by expanding Medicaid now. Senate Republicans recently introduced and passed a healthcare bill that includes Medicaid expansion. Now it is on to the N.C. House for action, where we face a bigger hurdle. But make no mistake, now is the time to act.
lower rates of preterm births.
Thousands of veterans benefit. One in four veterans who would benefit from Medicaid coverage has served in Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, this expansion is endorsed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in North Carolina.
Approximately 73,000 women of reproductive age in N.C. would gain coverage through Medicaid expansion, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
As the executive director of nonprofit Pisgah Legal Services, serving thousands of working poor folks each year, I know the devastating effects not having health care has on people with low incomes, both in their quality of life and financially. Medicaid expansion to include everyone below 138% of the federal poverty level would provide health coverage to 600,000 North Carolinians who desperately need it. It would increase access to mental health care, lower opioid-related overdose deaths, help people who need an operation go back to work and give a fighting chance at life to those diagnosed with cancer thanks to screenings and early detection.
There are many other reasons to support Medicaid expansion:
It would strengthen our rural hospitals, keep their doors open and keep jobs in our rural communities. Expansion would reduce medical debt, decrease uncompensated care costs and provide greater access to care. Believe it or not, people will not seek medical care if they do not have a way to pay for it.
It would bring in $2 billion dollars in federal funds to our economy, create highpaying healthcare jobs, and increase coverage for many small business owners’ employees, helping to keep staff healthy and at work.
Still not convinced? Consider these facts:
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, of the uninsured adults who would be eligible for Medicaid if it’s expanded in North Carolina, seven in 10 are in a family with at least one worker. Three out of four are adults living in poverty. Half are white, half are people of color. Other adults are partially disabled and not disabled enough to qualify for Medicaid currently.
Expansion reduces racial health disparities. Black women in the United States are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications. With this expansion, we could decrease racial maternal mortality, improve birth weights and
Older adults benefit. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that adults aged 55-64 would benefit from an increase in prescriptions filled for heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions, and other chronic conditions.
And men and women of all ages would benefit from increased access to healthcare, increasing the number of those getting asthma treatment, BMI screenings, mammograms and hypertension control. Early detection of life-threatening diseases would literally save lives — and it’s within reach and overdue. We must act now.
Thirty-eight states have already expanded Medicaid including Republican-led states like Arkansas, Oklahoma and Indiana. By doing so these states have been smart to stabilize their private health insurance costs and lower healthcare costs overall. North Carolina is one of only 12 states in the country that lags behind, unnecessarily forcing its citizens to live without desperately needed healthcare and the many economic benefits Medicaid expansion would bring.
Everyone benefits from expansion. Health insurance costs decline because hospitals don’t have to shift costs of indigent care to the rest of the population. Strong support exists from Democrats and Republicans. Last year, Strategic Partners Solutions conducted a live interview survey of 600 registered Republican voters, and 62 percent supported expansion in N.C. Another recent Meredith Poll shows that more than 70 percent of North Carolinians, across the political spectrum, support Medicaid expansion.
With so much at stake and so much to gain from closing our state’s health insurance coverage gap, let’s urge our House representatives to follow the lead of the N.C. Senate to support and pass Medicaid expansion to close North Carolina’s coverage gap once and for all. If you agree, please make your voice heard with me!
Jim Barrett has served as the Executive Director of Pisgah Legal Services for 29 years. Nonprofit Pisgah Legal Services provides a broad array of free, civil legal aid, anti-poverty advocacy and access to health care in the 18-county WNC region. Local PLS offices are located in Waynesville and Highlands/Cashiers.
Guest Columnist
Jim Barrett
Making a mark
Haywood potter bridges nature, art and memories
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR
While studying English at the University of Mary Washington, Christina Bendo decided to, by chance, take an elective one semester — pottery.
“And I really fell in love with clay — the feel of it, the community around it,” Bendo said. “It was just the act of making things, something that’s always been part of my life. Even before clay, I loved baking as a kid, and was always making things. But, I never thought that was something I’d be able to do for my profession.”
Raised near the Potomac River in Virginia, Bendo spent her youth running around the woods and creeks of the area. As far back as she can remember, Bendo has been inspired by nature, either in her work or in her daily life. After college, Bendo pursued pottery, ultimately parlaying her growing passion into a threeand-a-half-year apprenticeship and several artist residences.
By 2017, Bendo found herself in Western North Carolina, “blown here by the winds of circumstance,” she reflected. And though she was making ends meet working other gigs, pot-
tery remained at the core of her long-term vision of a life well-lived, personally and professionally.
“I’ve always appreciated the utilitarian aspect of the craft. These things you use every day, and being able to interact with the objects and having these really intimate connections with those handmade pieces — drinking a cup of coffee or using a plate to present a meal,” Bendo said. “And the history of it, too. Humans have been making pottery for thousands of years, where the process is pretty much the same. You can make pots the same way our ancestors did — the same materials and same firing process.”
Now 31, Bendo owns and operates a pottery studio just off Main Street in downtown Waynesville. Although she’d been slowly chipping away at her aspirations of having a place to create and sell her homemade wares, it was during the early days of the pandemic that finally led to Bendo turning her dream into a reality.
“During the shutdown, I got laid-off from my job and found myself trying to figure what I was going to do,” Bendo said. “And while I was doing that, I would go out every week and hike the same section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in the Balsams — March [2020] through the summer, the same thing over and over again.”
But, even though Bendo would traverse the same trail, she began to notice how each trek was as different and unique as the next,
Want to know more?
The learn about the pottery and artwork of Christina Bendo, click on christinabendo.com. The site also serves as an online store for her handmade pieces. As well, if you’d like to make an appointment to visit the Waynesville studio, you can contact Bendo through the site.
whether it be temperature, vegetation growth, or simply her mindset while disappearing into the depths of Mother Nature.
“It was those experiences out on the trail that started to come out in my work, where I’ve been doing seasonal collections based on those observations that I had,” Bendo said. “And
being on the East Coast, you can observe the changing of the seasons, where you go back to the same spot and see the gradual changes over the course of time.”
For Bendo, her work with ceramics not only embraces her deep love of nature and art, it also touches upon a passion for the past, one which also reflects upon the moments created with her pieces now part of someone else’s life.
“All I could hope happens with my pieces is that they end up being something that creates memories, maybe even get passed down as family heirlooms,” Bendo said. “People come into the studio who are nature or pottery lovers or maybe just passing through and visiting, where they take a pot or mug home with them — what starts out as my idea has now become part of their story.”
Walking into her studio each day, the journey to the here and now of what has come to fruition isn’t lost on Bendo. If anything, the gratitude to do what she loves for a living is something at the heart of her pottery — fingerprints of talent and purpose all over each piece that gets picked up off the shelves and brought out into the world.
“It feels really good to be in this space, you know? It’s this sense of accomplishment for making something, building something from the ground up. It’s taken many years to get to this point where I can walk in and everything is just so dialed in with my creative process,” Bendo said. “And I like being able to interact with people from the community, to welcome people into my space, where you just never know who will walk through the door — it’s great to see all of it come full circle.”
Potter Christina Bendo in her Waynesville studio. (photos: Bob Peck)
A tansy trefoil by Christina Bendo.
This must be the place
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
I’ve been running so long on the same old ground, gonna rattle these chains till the morning light
Sitting down at the old wooden kitchen table in the kitchen of my parents’ farmhouse in rural Upstate New York, all is quiet save for the sounds of the burping coffee pot on the counter and a few birds in the trees outside the nearby screen door.
The sky is cloudy and the air cool as it swirls around the 1840 brick structure, which sits on seven acres just outside the small city of Plattsburgh. Dozens of perennial flowers and berries grow on the property through the spring and summer, with a small pond out back, right next to my father’s firewood pile, a stone’s throw from the big barn with the tin roof (somewhat rusted).
Each time I grab a cup of coffee from the burping pot on the counter and sit down at the old wooden kitchen table to write yet another weekly column for this publication, I often wonder what the next column emerging from this humble abode will be about. What will the topic and deeply-held emotions be, and ultimately radiate with some sort of conclusion, at least by the second cup of coffee?
In previous sessions at this table, there have been words and sentiments about births, weddings and funerals, the usual reasons one might find themselves trekking some 1,100 miles from Waynesville back up to the starting line of my adolescence in the North Country. That, and holidays gatherings, too: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, perhaps even the Fourth of July as seen and felt in recent years.
This time around, in June 2022, it seems
HOT PICKS
1
Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host The Get Right Band (rock/soul) at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, July 1.
2
Concerts On The Creek (Sylva) will host Darren Nicholson Band (Americana/country) at 7 p.m. Friday, July 1.
3
A stage production of Robert Harling’s tender story, “Steel Magnolias,” will be held at 7:30 p.m. June 30 and July 1-2, and at 2 p.m. July 3, at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
4
Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Supper Break (bluegrass/folk) at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 2.
5
Dale’s Wheels Through Time museum will be celebrating its 20th anniversary June 30-July 4 in Maggie Valley.
that I’m on another “what does it all mean?” kind of kick. Well, let’s be honest, that question itself has always lingered somewhere in the back of my mind, usually rotating back up to the front of my attention like your clothes coming around the vast electric storage system they have at the dry cleaners. Remember those?
As stated in the last couple of columns in this here newspaper, I started this trip up north on a dark, morbid note, finding myself in the presence of a dear friend in the last hours of her life, as she was eventually taken off life support after a tragic car accident. At least I got to tell her goodbye just as I passing through Virginia en route to the Northern Tier.
And although I’ve been around a lot of sadness and death in my own existence, and even if I’ve made amends with the idea of mortality many years ago, I still feel shook from that recent experience. It’s like some force in this universe tossed a very heavy rock into the still waters of my mind, the consequences of that action rippling out endlessly into the depths of my thoughts and actions.
It’s not so much that I’ve been feeling like a ghost wandering and floating around my hometown these last two weeks, lost in some sort of existential thought, all while making small talk with folks I graduated with from high school some 20 years earlier during a parade in my hometown. It’s more so just being keenly aware and intrinsically sensitive to those people, places and things that are either surrounding me, interacting with me, or simply passing me by.
But, then there are sunsets and the eventual entering of night in places like the Hayford Road (pictured). A lonely, desolate dirt road less than a mile from my childhood home in Rouses Point, New York, I find myself putting the blinker on and heading down it whenever my travels bring me to the Canadian Border.
It’s a mostly forgotten road. The only real “traffic” are farm trucks going from cornfield to cornfield or the sporadic car full of teenagers looking for a safe, quiet place to smoke a joint. At one point several years back, a man who was a friend of my family drove down Hayford, parked, and shot himself. Nobody really brings that up in small
town banter anymore, but we all know what happened and, perhaps, why he went through with it.
Aside from the finality of that last sentence, the sunsets on the Hayford Road are quite charming and hauntingly beautiful. You pull onto the road just as the pavement transitions to dirt and rocks. You drive slow, as if to soak in every second of a fleeting day disappearing behind the horizon to the west. There’s usually a song by The Tragically Hip purposely echoing from the stereo, the windows rolled down to the soundtrack of the North Country. You slow the truck down to a crawl and take inventory of the moment at hand. The trees, dirt and air of your hometown on the border, where everything else familiar to you, and built by you, is below you, at least geographically speaking.
It’s now nighttime. Exit the southern end of the Hayford Road and merge back onto Route 9B. Back to Interstate 87 South and back to the 1840 brick structure, which sits on seven acres just outside the small city of Plattsburgh. It’ll be morning before you know it.
But, your fingertips have already figured out what they’ll be wildly typing away about soon enough, not long after the coffee pot is filled with Folgers and water from the sink. Grab that same mug from the cabinet above the stove, fill the cup with the steaming black liquid and sit back down at the old kitchen table in the farmhouse, the sounds of a few birds just outside the nearby screen door.
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
Hayford Road in Upstate New York.
Concerts
On The Creek
Concerts on the Creek will continue with The Darren Nicholson Band (bluegrass/country) from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 1, at Bridge Park in Sylva.
Darren Nicholson is a Jackson County native and founding member of the nationally-known, award-winning Western North Carolina bluegrass group Balsam Range. He is a Grammy Award nominee (2006) and a recipient of numerous International Bluegrass Music Association awards with Balsam Range, including “Album of the Year” (2013, 2017), “Vocal Group of the Year” (2014, 2015), “Song of the Year” (2011, 2015, 2021) and “Entertainer of the Year” (2014, 2018), among other honors.
Though Nicholson (mandolin/guitar/vocals) is still a full-time member of Balsam Range, he joins Kevin Sluder (bass/vocals), and Richard Foulk (drums) to form the Darren Nicholson Band during his free time off the road with Balsam Range.
Everyone is encouraged to bring a chair or blanket. These events are free, but donations are encouraged. Dogs must be on a leash. No alcohol, smoking or coolers are allowed in the park. Food trucks will also be available. These concerts are organized and produced by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Sylva and the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department.
For more information, call the chamber at 828.586.2155, visit mountainlovers.com or Concerts On The Creek’s Facebook page.
Interested in learning the dulcimer?
The Pic’ & Play Mountain Dulcimer Players will be resuming in-person jam sessions at the St. John’s Episcopal Church basement fellowship hall in Sylva.
The group welcomes all beginners and experienced dulcimer players, including mountain (lap) dulcimer and hammered dulcimer players. Songs played include traditional mountain tunes, hymns, and more modern music. The group meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of every month in the basement of St. John’s.
For more information, call Kathy Jaqua at 828.349.3930 or Don Selzer at 828.293.0074.
Natti Love Joys return to Lazy Hiker
The Natti Love Joys will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 2, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Franklin.
A roots-rock-reggae band that has been playing live since 2003, the group consists
‘An
Appalachian Evening’
of husband-and-wife duo Anthony “Jatti” Allen and Sonia “Marla” Allen (formerly Sonia Abel).
Jatti was previously the bassist for the reggae group The Congos, while Marla originates from the cult all female reggae group Love Joys, where she recorded two albums under the legendary Wackies label run by Lloyd Barnes (Bullwackie).
Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
The “An Appalachian Evening” series will continue at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.
The annual summer concert series offers an ever-changing schedule of bluegrass, folk and old-time mountain music by award-winning artists — quality entertainment for the entire family. Rich in cultural heritage, the series continues to be a favorite with locals and visitors alike. All concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the air-conditioned Lynn L. Shields Auditorium.
Performers include Buncombe Turnpike July 2, Chatham Rabbits July 9, Appalachian Roadshow July 16, The Jeff Little Trio July 23, Aubrey Eisenman & The Clydes July 30, The Wildmans Aug. 6, Nu-Blu Aug. 13, Pretty Little Goat Aug. 20 and The Kruger Brothers Aug. 27
For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or click on stecoahvalleycenter.com.
Rock, soul at Boojum
Popular Asheville-based rock/roots group
The Get Right Band will perform at 9:30 p.m.
Friday, July 1, at The Gem downstairs taproom at Boojum Brewing in Waynesville.
Led by singer/guitarist Silas Durocher, the ensemble also includes Jesse Gentry (bass) and drummer J.C. Mears (drums). What stands out about this band is the mere fact that nobody around this region sounds like them. Period.
And it’s that “all” factor which puts The Get Right Band into a league of their own. It’s surprising when you stand there watching them perform, where you’re trying to figure out just how they’re able to get that much sound from a power trio.
Free and open to the public. For more information, click on thegetrightband.com.
Darren Nicholson.
The Get Right Band.
Buncombe Turnpike.
Natti Love Joys.
On the beat
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a semi-regular acoustic jam with the Main Street NoTones from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Free and open to the public. For more information, click on blueridgebeerhub.com.
• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host karaoke at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, trivia at 7 p.m. on Thursdays, The Get Right Band (rock/soul) 9:30 p.m. July 1 and Sohchatoa July 9. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 or boojumbrewing.com.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host Chatham Rabbits (Americana/folk) 5 p.m. July 16. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7.50 for children. 828.369.4080 or coweeschool.org/music.
• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host Lost Bridge 7 p.m. July 2. Free and open to the public. 828.634.0078 or curraheebrew.com.
• First United Methodist Church (Franklin) will host Mountain Voices (chorus) at 7 p.m. June 30. Free and open to the public. Donations accepted to support Mountain Voices.
ALSO:
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Supper Break (bluegrass/folk) July 2 and Somebody’s Child (Americana/indie) 4 p.m. July 3. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 or froglevelbrewing.com.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host Open Mic Night June 30 and The Wilder Flower July 7. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.
• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Music Bingo” with Hibiscus Sunshine at 7 p.m. every Wednesday, Buffalo Kings 2 p.m. July 3, Shane Meade (soul/indie) 7 p.m. July 8 and Calico Bear 2 p.m. July 10. All events are free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Natti Love Joys (reggae/soul) July 2, Urban Soil July 8 and Positive Mental Attitude (reggae/soul) July 9. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Trivia Night at 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday, Old Time Jam 6:30 p.m. every Thursday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host a Community Jam 6 p.m. July 7. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 or fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Bayou Diesel (Cajun/soul) July 1, Christian Chandler (singer-songwriter) July 2, Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs July 8 and The Log Noggins (rock/indie) July 9. All shows behind at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. noc.com.
• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Appalachian Smoke (country/bluegrass) July 9 and Friends (blues/country) July 23. All shows begin at 6 p.m. at the Gazebo in downtown. Free and open to the public. franklinnc.com/pickin-on-the-square.html.
• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Shane Meade (indie/soul) 7 p.m. June 29. Free and open to the public. 828.586.1717 or facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.
• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will host The Swingin’ Richards July 2 and Back Porch Orchestra (blues/rock) July 9 at KelseyHutchinson Park on Pine Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host The Carter Giegerich Trio (Celtic/bluegrass) from 2 to 5 p.m. every Sunday and Eireann’s Call (Celtic/rock) June 30. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 or scotsmanpublic.com.
• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville) “An Appalachian Evening” live music series will include Buncombe Turnpike July 2, Chatham Rabbits July 9, Appalachian Roadshow July 16, The Jeff Little Trio July 23, Aubrey Eisenman & The Clydes July 30, The Wildmans Aug. 6, Nu-Blu Aug. 13, Pretty Little Goat Aug. 20 and The Kruger Brothers Aug. 27. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or click on stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Cliff Williamson June 29, Mountain Gypsy June 30, Arnold Hill (rock/jam) July 1, Macon County Line July 2 and Caribbean Cowboys (oldies/variety) July 4. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host Darren Nicholson (Americana/bluegrass) 6 p.m. June 30. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.
• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host The Loudes June 30, Andrew Thelston (rock/jam) July 1, Sound Investment 3 p.m. July 3 and Early Worm Band 3 p.m. July 10. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.926.7440 or valley-tavern.com.
On the street
Fourth of July in the Smokies
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR
Nothing says summer more than the Fourth of July, and in Western North Carolina, we celebrate Independence Day with gusto. Between majestic fireworks, sizzling hot dogs and hamburgers, cotton candy, games, live music and craft demonstrations, there’s a little bit of everything for any and all. So, grab your lawn chair, sunglasses and adventurous spirit, and enjoy this special weekend.
BRYSON CITY
• “Freedom Fest” will take place from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday, July 4, in downtown. Everett Street will be closed for arts/crafts vendors, food trucks, restaurants, and more. Live music at 6 p.m. with Jack Marion & The Pearl Snap Prophets (country/rock) and 8 p.m. with Kevin Daniels (southern rock/blues). Fireworks will be launched at 10 p.m. Free and open to the public. greatsmokies.com/freedom-fest.
CANTON
• The “July 4th +1” Independence Day celebration will be held on Tuesday July 5, in Sorrells Street Park in downtown. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Food vendors onsite. Fireworks at dusk, provided by Champion Credit Union. Free and open to the public. cantonnc.com/july-4th-plus-one.
CASHIERS
• “Fireworks Extravaganza on the Green” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 4, at The Village Green at the crossroads. The evening features a festival, food vendors, live music by Continental Divide (blues/soul), dancing, and more. The highlight will be a fireworks display at dusk. Donations will be collected
for a community fireworks fund to preserve the legacy of this cherished community celebration. Free and open to the public. villagegreencashiersnc.com/fireworks-extravaganza-on-the-green.
CHEROKEE
• The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ 47th annual “Powwow” will be held July 1-3 at the Acquoni Expo Center. The event features fireworks of another kind, which means a three-day explosion of authentic Indian music, dancing, food, and festivities. Admission is $15 daily. Please note that this event is cash only. Children 6 and under are free. visitcherokeenc.com.
FRANKLIN
• “Fireworks Over Franklin” will be held at 9:30 p.m. Monday, July 4. The show will be launched from 15 First St., just off Highlands Road across from the Shops at Riverwalk (formerly the East Franklin Shopping Center). This is a park and watch event. townoffranklinnc.com/july-4-fireworks-franklin-nc.html.
HIGHLANDS
• A special Independence Day concert with Silly Ridge Trio will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, July 4, at Kelsey-Hutchinson Park in downtown. Fireworks at dusk. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
LAKE GLENVILLE
• “Fireworks Over Lake Glenville” will be held at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, July 3, as seen from any vantage point on the water. As well, there will be a “4th of July Gala Boat Parade” starting at 4 p.m. friendsoflakeglenville.com/flg-events.
LAKE JUNALUSKA
• The “Independence Day Celebration” will be held July 1-4 at the Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center. The annual celebration features a weekend of family-friendly fun — from concerts to fireworks to floating wish lanterns. The holiday weekend will be full of activities, as well as time to soak up summer enjoying the lakeside swimming pool, a round of golf or mini golf, a cruise on the Cherokee IV pontoon boat or a canoe, kayak or paddleboard rental. The annual celebration is made possible with support from Visit NC Smokies and the Friends of the Lake sponsors. lakejunaluska.com/july4th.
MAGGIE VALLEY
• The “Backyard Fourth” will be held on Monday, July 4, at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. Gates open at 6 p.m. Fireworks at dusk. maggievalleyfestivalgrounds.com.
SYLVA
• The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce will host the “July 4 Fireworks Festivities” from 6 to 10 p.m. Monday, July 4, in down-
town. Live music and other family-friendly activities. A performance by Crocodile Smile will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Bridge Park Pavilion. Fireworks show will begin at 9:45 p.m. The fireworks will be visible from all over downtown Sylva. Free and open to the public. discoverjacksonnc.com.
WAYNESVILLE
• The “Stars & Stripes Celebration” will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, July 4, in downtown. Restaurants, breweries, shopping, galleries and cafes. Children’s patriotic parade. Free and open to the public. downtownwaynesville.com.
OTHER CELEBRATIONS:
• Fourth of July Celebration, Andrews. visitcherokeecountync.com.
• Independence Day Fireworks, Murphy. visitcherokeecountync.com.
• Independence Day Parade/Celebration, Hayesville. ncmtnchamber.com.
• Sapphire Valley Yankee Doodle Dandy Day. sapphirevalley.com.
• Fourth of July Celebration, Fontana Village. fontanavillage.com.
the
of
its 20th
anniversary June 30-July 4 in Maggie Valley.
The museum is an experience unlike any other, with its magnificent presentation of vintage all-American motorcycles and automobiles. Inside, you’ll find over 350 of America’s rarest and most significant machines, each with its own story, and with 99% of the machines on display still in running condition.
The museum’s collection focuses entirely on American-made motorcycles, from wellknown names such as Harley-Davidson and Indian to more obscure companies such as Excelsior, Thor, Wagner, the one-off Traub, often dubbed the “World’s Rarest Motorcycle,” and more. In addition to the motorcycles, there are unusual homemade mechanized creations and one of the nation’s largest collections of memorabilia, accessories, and parts.
All week long during the celebration, the staff will be showing off and firing up the latest
additions to the museum’s collection. You can also watch as the riders of American Motor Drome Company defy gravity on the Wall of Death. To top it all off, on Saturday, July 2, Curator Matt Walksler will be firing 20 of the rarest bikes in the collection all in one run.
Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Monday. For more information, click on wheelsthroughtime.com.
ALSO:
• The Cherokee Summer Carnival will kick off from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at the Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds. Family-friendly fun with a variety of vendors, food, games, karaoke, and literally dozens of carnival rides. The gates open at 5 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For a full schedule of carnival dates, events and
activities, click on visitcherokeenc.com.
• The Sweet Corn Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 2-3 at Darnell Farms in Bryson City. Food trucks, live music, vendors, bounce houses, kids activities, corn eating contests, and more. For more information, email hotheadevents@gmail.com.
• A free wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
• “Take A Flight” with four new wines every Friday and Saturdays at the Bryson City Wine Market. Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines. Educational classes and other events are also available. For more information, call 828.538.0420.
The Wheels Through Time museum. Wheels Through Time celebrates 20 years
Home to
world’s premier collection
rare American motorcycles and historically significant automobiles, Dale’s Wheels Through Time museum will be celebrating
On the stage
HART presents
‘Steel Magnolias’
A stage production of Robert Harling’s tender story, “Steel Magnolias,” will be held at 7:30 p.m. June 30 and July 1-2, and at 2 p.m. July 3, at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
Have you ever tried to pick a magnolia blossom only to find it turns brown and bruises easily? “Steel Magnolias” is the true essence of southern ladies: beautiful and fragile as a magnolia on the outside, but tough as steel on the inside.
HART is bringing to life six such beautiful magnolias, transforming the Fangmeyer Theatre into Truvy’s beauty salon in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
It is often hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time and depicts women we all know and love in our own circles of family and friends. “Steel Magnolias” has something for men and women alike.
For men, it is a peek into the mystique of the beauty parlor where they are not allowed but can gain a greater understanding of the women in their lives. For women it is that space where they have always been allowed to express their true feelings and in this neighborhood salon, they all share a powerful bond of friendship.
To make reservations, call the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322 or go to harttheatre.org to make reservations online. HART Box Office hours are from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
• “Footloose: The Musical” will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. July 1-2 and 8-9 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 866.273.4615 or click on smokymountainarts.com.
ALSO:
• A stage production of the beloved tale “Alice in Wonderland” will be held on select dates throughout this spring at the Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee. The production is an original work by Havoc Movement Company that will be joining the Cherokee Historical Association for the spring season. cherokeehistorical.org/alice-in-wonderland.
ALSO:
• WNC Paint Events brings you “Paint & Sip.” This is a two-hour event, and you leave with your painting. Anyone 21 and up are welcome. Events will be held at the following locations once a month: 828 Market on Main (Waynesville), Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva), BearWaters Brewing (Canton), Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) and the Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin). For more information, click on wncpaint.events.
• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood St. in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. Mountainmakersmarket.com.
• “Thursday Painters” group will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their own project and a bag lunch. For more information, call The Uptown Gallery at 828.349.4607 or contact Pat Mennenger at pm14034@yahoo.com. See more about Macon County Art Association at franklinuptowngallery.com and like, follow and share the Uptown Gallery on Facebook.
• A “Foreign Film Series” will be held at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Each month, on the second and fourth Friday, two movies from around the globe will be shown. This program is in the Community Room and is free of charge. Masks are required in all Jackson County buildings. To find out what movie will be shown and/or for more information, please call the library at 828.586.2016. This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library. To learn more, click on fontanalib.org.
• Farmer’s Market (with artisans) will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and
Waynesville art walk, live music
“Art After Dark” will continue from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 1, in downtown Waynesville.
Each first Friday of the month (May-December), 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.
As well, there will be a torn watercolor paper collage demonstration with artist Margaret Roberts at Twigs & Leaves Gallery during “Art After Dark,” with a repeat demonstration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 2.
It is free to attend Art After Dark. Other dates include Aug. 5, Sept. 2, Oct. 7, Nov. 4 and Dec. 2. facebook.com/galleriesofhaywoodcounty.
Saturdays through October at 117 Island St. in Bryson City. Stop by the old barn by the river for local, homegrown produce, as well as baked goods, jellies and preserves, authentic crafts, and more. Food truck, picnic tables and live music. Leashed pets are welcome. Outdoor event. 828.488.7857.
‘Cultivating Collections’ exhibit at WCU
Western Carolina University will showcase its newest exhibition, “Cultivating Collections,” through July 29 in the Fine Art Museum at the Bardo Arts Center in Cullowhee.
In this multi-year series, student researchers work closely with the museum’s curator to gather information about the artwork in the permanent collection and determine future collecting directions.
This year’s exhibition highlights three areas of the collection — vitreographs, glass, and works by Black artists. The pieces on view convey the stories of bold innovators and speak to the importance of Western North Carolina in the history of glass and printmaking.
The “Cultivating Collections” series began in 2019 with WCU students enrolled in Exhibition Practicum, an annual course designed to familiarize students with the intricacies of museum spaces. Students developed an exhibition from start to finish by interviewing artists, selecting works for display, and writing labels about the museum’s objects.
Since 2019, students have continued this curatorial work, focusing each year on a new area of the collection, which includes over
‘Creating Community Workshop’
The monthly “Creating Community Workshop” will continue at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 2, in the Atrium of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.
Hosted by instructor Wynette Wiles, this month’s workshop is a two-part Macrame class, which will be continued on July 9 at the same time. Participants will learn the basic macrame knots (square knot, half knot, half hitch, larks head, gathering knot) needed to create a project. Things to consider when creating a macrame project will also be discussed. The second class is more advanced.
Participants will create a 30-by-32 inch,
1,800 works in a wide range of media by artists of the Americas.
‘Witches Ball’ by Fritz Dreisbach.
“Cultivating Collections” through July 29, with “Cultivating Collections: Glass” on extended view through Dec. 9. Regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and until 7 p.m. on Thursday. For information, call 828.227.ARTS or visit bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.
four-strand plant hanger using cotton cord and beads. The class will briefly cover the basic knots and things to consider starting a design.
All supplies will be provided, the only prerequisite is to have some basic knowledge of macrame or completion of the basics class taught a week before. The class is limited to 10 participants. To register, please call the library at 828.586.2016.
This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (fontanalib.org).
‘Into the Smokies’ by Teresa Pennington.
Wynette Wiles
Off to the beach with “Shrimp Highway”
Too much time has passed since I last visited the coast.
Those days of sitting on the beach, on a screened-in porch, or on a deck, all the while watching the grandkids dart in and out of the waves, seem hazy and faraway. The pleasures of cooking seafood in the kitchen of the house we used to rent, or going to that rough-hewn restaurant on the Sound near Emerald Isle for fried shrimp, slaw, fries and hushpuppies — it’s been so long I can’t even remember the taste of those foods, mingled as they were with the tangy, brackish scents coming off the water.
great disappointment, that for various reasons — the relative scarcity of local shrimp versus demand, the costs of preparing freshcaught shrimp as opposed to purchasing commercially harvested and cleaned shrimp obtained from other places, mostly overseas — means he’s out of luck. In his descriptions
But sometimes some small flame will cause the memory to flare up, and in this case the spark that ignited vivid recollections of those days at the shore was Jeff Johnson’s “Shrimp Highway: Savoring U.S. 17 and Its Iconic Dish” (MacFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 2017, 233 pages).
Johnson, a playwright and teacher in Florida, spent his first 18 years growing up in New Bern, N.C., a town along the coastal road U.S. 17. Since then, Johnson has driven this highway many times, surfing as a young man, taking in the sights as he grew older, and always seeking out shrimp shacks and other seafoods eateries as he travels this road.
“Shrimp Highway” is a special book in several ways. First, it pays homage to a highway, the terrain through which it passes, and the towns it touches. Though Highway 17 extends farther south and north, Johnson focuses his attention on the shrimping parts of the road that run from Fernandina Beach, Florida, to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He describes the building of the road, its condition today, and cities and towns like Savannah, Beaufort, Calabash and Sneads Ferry. He includes many landmarks in these descriptions, some of them historical, some simply local attractions, making the book, in a sense, a travel guide.
Along with the way, of course, Johnson visits numerous restaurants, often with names like Mudcat Charlie’s and Skipper’s Fish Camp. He always asks if the shrimp is netted locally and often discovers, to his
tions, always near water, never far from the beach, or from the possibility of surf, no matter how ‘East Coast’ and sloppy the waves.
“And along this stretch of littoral southern states cut with that seacoast sliver of highway, I fell in love with fried shrimp.”
of these restaurants, where he mingles with both the employees and the patrons, he gives readers a flavor of the region, what natives think of Route 17, and the vast knowledge some few people possess about shrimp.
And for those interested, “Shrimp Highway” serves as an introductory class on the many different types of shrimp, their history, and the ways they can be cooked. Johnson prefers his breaded and deep fried, like a lot of us, but he includes lots of the other ways people eat shrimp.
Hand in hand with his subtitle about savoring an iconic dish is Johnson’s savory poetic prose, which brings this part of the coast to life. Here, for example, is this take from his youth:
“So U.S. 17, which began for me in New Bern, was more than an exotic highway. It was a fabled path connecting me to magical destina-
‘How Nine Little Chicks Cracked My Shell’
In addition, Johnson also offers brief sketches and portraits of the people he meets, mostly waitresses and shrimpers. Here’s an old man he encounters on the docks at Varnamtown, North Carolina:
“A crusty local offers a few comments. His skin is like crinkled leather. He never found the teeth he lost. He’s as reticent as he is rugged. Says between seasons he works on heavy equipment, mainly dredging operations. He’s never far from the water, and never far from U.S. 17.”
Finally, Johnson looks at the changes time has brought to our coastal waters since his boyhood. Highway 17 is busier than ever, much to the chagrin of some of the locals. The fishing villages and open beaches Johnson remembers from his boyhood are now shopping areas and sport luxury vacation houses. The young people, like their counterparts across the company, often leave the homes and towns where they grew up in search of greener financial pastures, though as Johnson notes of them, “that U.S. 17 experience is in their blood; it’s an ineluctable part of their Wonder Bread years.”
But while much has changed, much remains the same: the surf and sound, the windswept beaches, the boats, and of course, the shrimp. After reading Shrimp Highway, I not only wanted to chow down on some of that fried shrimp and get my toes in the sand, but I also wanted to drive down part of U.S. 17, at least that part of it that follows the North Carolina coast, and stop in some of the towns Johnson visited, and just walk around the streets breathing in the briny air and taking it easy.
Someday soon ….
(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” minick0301@gmail.com)
Sharon Wallen will present her book, “Hatched: How Nine Little Chicks Cracked My Shell,” at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 9, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. Imagine yourself in the midst of your busy, modern life. There you are — overwhelmed, perhaps even teetering on the edge of exhaustion — when your child asks to hatch a bunch of chicken eggs. Your blood pressure instantly skyrockets when you think of adding even one more thing to your list, and a quick “no” falls from your lips.
In this memoir, the author shares 12 powerful lessons that flowed from a transcendent moment of “yes.” Join her as the first cracks appear in the confining shell of her normal routines, preprogrammed expectations and limiting beliefs. Share in a refreshing shift of perspective as the story unfolds, one that allows her to create a new life of greater presence and purpose.
To reserve copies of “Hatched,” please call City Lights Bookstore at 828.586.9499.
Writer Jeff Minick
Counting cars
Smokies updates decades-old visitation estimator
NPS Social Science Program to update those multipliers for the first time in four decades.
In 2023, it expects to implement new person-per-vehicle estimates for its three busiest entrances — Gatlinburg, Townsend and Oconaluftee. Together, these entrances make up more than 60% of park visitation.
“You can imagine that even a small change in a number like that can have a big impact on visitation,” Staub said. “So it’ll be very interesting to see the data we get back.”
The final multipliers will be the result of two studies that Smokies staff and volunteers have carried out over the past year.
an inductive loop traffic counter that keeps track of how many vehicles drive over it.
Ayears has seen it — overflowing parking lots, mobbed trails and narrow mountain roads lined with cars. They’re visual symptoms of a national park bursting at the seams with unprecedented levels of visitation, hitting a highwater mark in 2021 at 14.1 million visits.
But where does that number come from?
The Smokies doesn’t charge an entrance fee, so visitors don’t funnel through official entrance stations for a headcount. Instead, the park relies on automated vehicle counters and person-per-vehicle estimates.
“We’re different than Yellowstone and different than many parks with entrance stations, but in reality, all Park Service units are responsible for quantifying their visitation as accurately as possible,” said Kendra Staub, management and program analyst for the park.
“Because most visitors arrive by a private passenger vehicle, it makes sense for us to develop our visitor counts from traffic counts.”
FROM VEHICLES TO VISITORS
Of the 22 park entrances, all save the remote Twentymile entrance are outfitted with
Each month, Smokies staff retrieve data from the counters and use it to calculate visitation. Sometimes counters break or glitch — when this happens, the park substitutes the vehicle count for the same month in the previous year.
The first step to calculating visitation is subtracting a set number of vehicles from the total to account for “non-reportable” vehicles like NPS staff and volunteers and then reduce the count by 12% to avoid double-counting visitors who re-enter multiple times in a given day. Visitation at Twentymile comes from a set monthly vehicle estimate — the park has been using the same numbers since 2012.
The park determines its final recreation visitor count by multiplying the remaining vehicle tally by a persons-per-vehicle estimate — 2.5 for the months of October through May and 2.8 for June through September. Those figures are vitally important to producing the statistics that the park uses to make myriad management and budgetary decisions.
They’re also extremely old.
“We had been using the same persons-pervehicle multipliers since the 1980s,” said Staub.
The park has received funding from the
Smokies visitation backs off 2021 highs
With five months of data in for 2022, visitation is coming in significantly lower than the record-smashing figures that brought 2021’s visitation count to 14.1 million.
As of the end of May, the park had logged 4.07 million visits for 2022, down from 4.49 million at the same point last year — a 9.5% decrease. Except for February, no month in 2022 thus far has equaled or eclipsed visitation numbers posted in 2021, which for January through May were all-time records.
However, Smokies Management Assistant Dana Soehn said that doesn’t mean numbers are falling back to levels that the park considers manageable.
“If you look at it more broadly, those are still record-breaking months,” she said. February 2022 was the highest on record, and totals for March, April and May were the second highest, beat out only by 2021. January was the fourth highest.
So far in 2022, Big Creek is seeing the largest reduction in visitation of any entrance, with totals 40.2% lower than this time last year. This could be partially attributable to visitors avoiding traffic delays associated with the bridge replacement project on Interstate 40, from which Big Creek is accessed.
Abrams Creek is the only one of the 22 entrances to see a visitation increase for 2022, with the 9,949 visits recorded representing a 12.7% increase over 2022 figures.
“When you think about the park’s visitation over time, you’ll find that while there is an overall increasing trend, there are periods of visitation declines from year to year and even month to month,” said Soehn. “The year-toyear visitation fluctuations are generally reflective of regional tourism trends that can be influenced by external factors, like gas prices or economic downturns.”
The first component focuses directly on the persons-per-vehicle question. The park trained volunteers to stand near the counters at the Oconaluftee, Gatlinburg and Townsend entrances, observing the cars passing by and noting how many occupants each held. The NPS Social Science Program provided a study schedule to ensure that data were collected during a representative sampling of time periods, including various seasons, times and days of the week, over a 12-month period. It’s an involved task, and Staub is grateful to the volunteers who made it possible for the park to complete.
“This work isn’t something that’s glamorous or glitzy, but it really helps the park,” she said.
The study wrapped up last fall, and the Smokies sent its data back to the Social Science Program, which will use it to produce a multiplier or set of multipliers that estimate actual visitation.
Before the program can complete that process, it needs data from the second component of the effort — a visitor survey. The last such survey was completed in 2008, and Staub is excited to learn more about the demographics, length of stay and activities of park visitors. The results will have implications far beyond the persons-per-vehicle multiplier, but they will also help refine that multiplier by providing information about how many times park visitors typically come and go from the park in a day. The Park Service will use that information to help filter out repeat visits from its formula.
While a person who hikes a trail, spends the night in Gatlinburg or Cherokee, and returns to the park the next day will continue to be counted as two visits, the park doesn’t want to double-count someone who, for example, walks the Oconaluftee River Trail in the morning, leaves for lunch in Cherokee, and returns for a different park activity that same afternoon.
Once the numbers for Oconaluftee, Gatlinburg and Townsend are done, the park will proceed updating multipliers for its remaining 19 entrances.
“Perhaps by the time we have PPVs (persons per vehicle) for all of them, we’re coming right back and we’re doing it again,” said Staub.
The park does not intend to wait another 40 years to re-examine its multipliers.
NPS photo
Honor your conservation hero
Nominate your conservation hero for consideration in the N.C. Wildlife Federation’s 58th annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards by the July 5 deadline.
The prestigious awards have honored individuals, associations, businesses and governmental bodies that have exhibited an unwavering commitment to conserving North Carolina’s natural resources. Categories include Conservationist, Wildlife Conservationist,
MULTIPLIER DOWNSHIFT LIKELY
With millions of cars entering the park each year, even a slight tweak to the multiplier could have significant effects.
However, Smokies Management Assistant Dana Soehn said that, based on conversations with people in the national office that compiles the statistics, it’s unlikely the new multiplier will severely alter visitation numbers.
“I don’t anticipate that our visitation
Sportsman or Sportswoman, Land Conservationist, Water Conservationist, Forest Conservationist, Marine Resources, Environmental Educator, Young Conservationist, Legislator, Conservation Organization, Business Conservationist, and Natural Resources Agency or Scientist of the Year.
Submit nominations at ncwf.org/governorsconservation-achievement-awards. Award recipients will be honored at a banquet on Sept. 10.
However, “while our estimators may be old based on the counting processes, they’re probably not that far off.”
HIGH-PRESSURE STATISTICS
Updating the multiplier is arguably more important now than it’s ever been before, with people flocking to public lands in unprecedented numbers following the arrival of COVID-19. Recreation managers across the country are working to understand who these new visitors are, what they’re expecting from their public lands, and what they need to ensure a safe and enjoyable visit.
numbers are going to be dramatically affected by the tweaks that we make in those estimators, and that’s kind of what they find nationally whenever they update the numbers,” she said. “It generally gets tweaked a little bit, but there’s no dramatic, drastic changes.”
That said, the United States has seen significant demographic shifts since the 1980s. For example, in 1980, the average U.S. household contained 2.76 people, shifting down to 2.69 by 1985. The 2020 census put that figure significantly lower, at 2.53 people.
Additionally, some of the Smokies’ most dramatic visitation increases come from months previously thought of as off-season or shoulder season — January, February, March, November and December.
“I’m assuming that’s not your typical family vacation months,” said Soehn. “So that’s maybe retirees or more local youth, but it’s probably not your big family group. It’ll be interesting to see, because we’ve had so much growth in those months, if that affects those estimators.”
It’s likely the new multipliers will come in below the current figures, she said.
In the Smokies, pandemic visitation has strained park resources like never before. About 60% of the country’s population lives within 800 miles of the park, making it an attractive destination for those seeking a socially distanced vacation that doesn’t require air travel. October 2020, for example, saw a 23.6% increase in visitation over October 2019. The figure for 2021 was lower than that but still 16% higher than the 2019 number.
That reality prompted the park to issue a controversial proposal that, if approved, would require a paid permit to park anywhere in the Smokies. The park’s skyrocketing visitation numbers were a significant part of the park’s justification for the proposal. If enacted, park officials said, the fee will provide an ongoing source of funding that will rise or fall in tandem with visitation. A decision is forthcoming by Oct. 1 at the latest.
However, said Soehn, visitation numbers are only part of the challenge facing the park.
“Even if we went back to 2010 visitation,” she said, “The fact is our appropriated budget is today still about the same as it was a decade ago, and the buying power of those dollars is simply far less.”
Backpackers hike amid spring blooms. NPS photo
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Indigenous cave art lecture kicks of 2022 Zahner series
The annual Zahner Conservation Lectures will return to the Highlands Nature Center in July, with a series of nine free lectures planned for 6 p.m. Thursdays from July 7 to Sept. 1.
The series will kick off July 7 with a lecture titled “Precontact Native American Cave Art in the Southeast” from Dr. Jan Simek, a Distinguished Professor of Science in the University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology.
The indigenous peoples of the Appalachian region saw their homelands as sacred places, connected to the spiritual
world at every turn. In nearly 100 caves in the region, they made cave art to materialize some of those connections. This art has great antiquity, beginning some 7,000 years ago and continuing into the historic period. This lecture will provide an overview of the ancient cave art of Appalachia and how it relates to both early and living Native American cultures in the region.
The lecture is sponsored by Kathy and Bestor Ward. As with all Zahner lectures, a small reception will follow the talk, and no registration is required. To view the full lecture lineup, visit highlandsbiological.org.
Nature photography wanted
The N.C. Wildlife Federation’s fourth annual Wildlife Photography Contest is open for submissions through July 31.
Images must be taken in North Carolina and highlight the beauty of the state’s nature and wildlife. Categories are Carolina Critters, People in Nature, Scenes of North Carolina and one new category, Pollinators and Insects.
A donation of $15 is requested to enter 12 photos, with a maximum of three images per category. All proceeds support wildlife habitat conservation and restoration in North Carolina. Contest rules and entry requirements are online at ncwf.org/photo-contest.
New EV charging ports coming to WNC
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has awarded funds for 59 new Level 2 electric vehicle charging points across 23 sites in North Carolina, with several headed to Western North Carolina. Grant recipients include:
■ Sapphire Note LLC in Sapphire, which will receive two 19.2kW ports to be installed at Hampton Inn & Suites Sapphire Valley.
■ The City of Brevard, which will receive four 28kW ports to be installed at Depot Railroad Park.
■ Transylvania Habitat for Humanity Inc, which will receive two 11.5kW ports to be installed at Transylvania Habitat for Humanity.
“Motor vehicles are the No. 1 source of air pollution in North Carolina, so electrifying our transportation network is an essential step in curbing these emissions,” said Mike Abraczinskas, Director of the Division of Air Quality.
Funding for the awards comes from the national Volkswagen Settlement, and they are just the first of many grants and rebates DEQ will award this year, Abraczinskas said.
■ The Town of Waynesville, which will receive four 14kW ports to be installed at the Waynesville Recreation Center.
Nearly 100 caves in the region are known to hold Native American cave art. Jan Simek photo
Godfrey hired as Outdoor Gear Builders director
Outdoor Gear Builders, an outdoor industry association in Western North Carolina with more than 75 members, has hired Matt Godfrey as its next executive director.
University. He is responsible for developing the Waypoint Accelerator, an outdoor entrepreneurship and innovation accelerator program for early-stage, outdoor-focused companies, and will continue to manage that program in his new role. He will also spearhead OGB’s involvement with the WNC: Made by Mountains brand initiative to build up outdoor communities across the region.
Backpack through the Great Smokies
Backpack the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with REI during one of three guided outings planned this summer. The trips, open to ages 14 and up, will be offered July 15-16, Aug. 10-11 and Aug. 27-28.
Godfrey has spent most of his life in WNC, having studied business and outdoor recreation management at Appalachian State University and earning an MBA at Western Carolina
“It’s an exciting time to be part of the OGB and I feel like I’ve come full circle from past volunteer roles to now serving as the Executive Director,” said Godfrey. “Our outdoor economy is vibrant, and our member companies are strong and growing. I’m fortunate to work with such a dedicated, talented and energetic board of directors.”
Matt Godfrey
Godfrey follows Brad Taylor, who was hired as OGB’s first-ever full-time executive director in January. Godfrey assumed the rule on June 1, six months later. outdoorgearbuilders.com.
Bridge replacement starts at Laurel Fork
Work has begun on a $29 million project to replace the Laurel Fork Bridge at mile 248.8 of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Ashe County, and a full closure to all uses in the bridge’s immediate vicinity is in effect, with a target completion date of November 2024.
The closure applies to all users, including motorists, pedestrians and cyclists on milepost 248.1-249.3, with a signed detour directing Parkway visitors around the project site.
Laurel Fork Bridge was built in 1939 and is 546 feet long and 28 feet wide. Funding for the replacement comes from the GAOA’s National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund created to address extensive maintenance backlogs. Supported by revenue from energy development, the fund provides up to $1.3 billion annually for five years.
The first day, participants will get set up with backpacking gear and then hike their way to a secluded campsite, where they will make camp for the night, eat a hearty meal and relax under the stars. After coffee and breakfast the next morning, the journey will continue.
The trip is for people with prior hiking experience who are comfortable walking up to 12 miles over two days on uneven terrain while carrying a 35-pound pack. It’s a perfect excursion for hikers who are new to backpacking, with discussions to include campsite setup, pack loading, water filtration, camp cooking techniques and the essentials of backpacking.
Cost starts at $295 with all backpacking gear, dinner, breakfast, trail snacks and beverages included. Sign up at rei.com/events.
Fish for free on Independence Day
Free Fishing Day will return to North Carolina’s public waters on Monday, July 4, with anybody regardless of age or residency allowed to fish without a license on that day.
Free fishing begins at midnight and ends at 11:59 p.m. While licenses will not be required during that time, all other fishing regulations such as length and possession limits as well as bait and tackle restrictions still apply. On all other days of the year, a fishing license is required for people age 16 and older.
Authorized by the N.C. General Assembly in 1994 and sponsored by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, North Carolina’s annual free fishing day, which always falls on July 4, was created to promote the sport of fishing.
Explore Haywood with these outdoors activities
Whether you’re a hiker, an angler or a survivalist, there’s a way to get outside with Haywood County Recreation and Parks next week.
■ Hike the moderately challenging 6-mile Twin Falls Loop Wednesday, July 6. Led by Phyllis Woollen, the group will meet at 9 a.m.
■ Explore the natural and cultural beauty of Jackson County Thursday, July 7, with an easy 3.7-mile hike to High Falls followed by a visit to Judaculla Rock. The group will meet at 8:30 a.m., with Phyllis Woollen and
Steve Szczepanski leading.
■ Join Ray Sugg 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 7, for a fly-fishing expedition on Richland Creek in Waynesville. A fishing license is required, and boots and waders are recommended.
■ Partake in a land navigation course 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, July 8, led by Steve Kuni. Participants will learn to use a compass, understand maps and use navigation apps.
Cost for each activity is $10. Register at haywoodcountync.gov/222/programs.
Backpackers trek a portion of the park’s 850 miles of trail. Donated photo
Spend an evening in the garden
ArborEvenings is back at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville, offering opportunity to spend Thursday and Friday evenings strolling the gardens through Sept. 30.
From 5:30 to 8 p.m. each night, visitors will be able to purchase food and beverages, and sip and stroll through the gardens while listening to live music from a variety
of local and regional artists. Free with standard $16 parking fee, and free for Arboretum Society members. Proceeds support the N.C. Arboretum Society. Event will be canceled in case of rain — announcements will be posted on Facebook and at www.ncarboretum.org by 3 p.m. ArborEvenings will not take place Friday, July 8, or Friday, Sept. 16.
Creepy crawlies come to Jackson Library
Learn about the creepy crawlies of Western North Carolina at 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, at the Jackson County Public Library.
The Balsam Mountain Trust will provide this installation of the Summer Learning Program’s Wild Wednesdays series. Register for the program at the Youth Services Desk on the library’s first floor, download the Read Squared app or visit fontanalib.org/summer. Free and co-sponsored by the Jackson County Public Library and Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. 828.586.2016.
George Masa book goes on the road
Brent Martin will present his new book about George Masa, the self-taught photographer whose work immortalized the Smokies of the early 1900s, during three upcoming readings in Western North Carolina.
■ 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, with virtual attendance available.
■ 6 p.m. Thursday, July 7, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.
■ Sunday, July 17, at Yonder Market in Franklin, time TBD.
In “George Masa’s Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina,” Martin, a poet and environmental organizer, explores the locations Masa visited, using first-person narratives to contrast, lament and exalt the condition of the landscape the photographer so loved and worked to interpret and protect. The book includes seventy-five of Masa’s photographs, accompanied by Martin’s reflections on Masa’s life and work. To purchase the book or view updated information about events, visit alarkaexpeditions.com.
289 Access Road, Waynesville 452 4343
32 Asheville Hwy, Sylva 586 8950
188 Georgia Road, Franklin 349 4534
49 McDowell Street, Asheville 254 7716
35 NC Hwy 141, Murphy 835 8389
Dr. Dennis Dawson Dr. Ma Davis Dr. Robert Przynosch
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Notes from a Plant Nerd
BY ADAM B IGELOW
How a love for plants took root
Hi, my name is Adam Bigelow, and I am a Plant Nerd.
It’s true. I love plants, and especially the native plants and wildflowers of Southern Appalachia. We live in a special place here in Western North Carolina, one of the most beautiful areas on Earth.
Outside of the tropical zones, our forests have among the highest diversity of plants in all the world. Southern Appalachia
read this little blurb in The Smoky Mountain News about this small, no-bigdeal thing called the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference. I figured I might as well sign up since I was about to go study plants.
I had no idea that what I had walked into was the largest and oldest native plant conference east of the Rockies. There were people from all over the Southeast and they were all speaking Latin and talking about plants and flowers. I had no idea what was going on and actively thought, “I’m not supposed to be here.”
stands with the Pacific Northwest of North America, a province in China and an island in Japan as global biodiversity hotspots. There are so many plants and flowers around us here in Western North Carolina that it is hard not to be aware of them.
I didn’t grow up with a connection to plants, or even gardening. I was a city kid. I grew up with streetlights and sidewalks. I hated yardwork and didn’t eat vegetables. My mom laughs to this day, since I now do yardwork to grow vegetables.
My love for plants happened like many good things in life, completely by accident. I was 29, about to be married, and had spent my life working in the restaurant industry, mostly making pizzas, and I thought that I could use a job that was more adult-like, with health insurance and potential for advancement. So, I went and got a job at the Franklin Wal-Mart, and they put me into the garden center. That’s how I got my start in plants.
I worked in landscaping and related jobs for a few years after that, and then took an opportunity to register for horticulture classes at Haywood Community College, which is when my whole life changed. I was a few weeks out from starting school when I
But the people I met were great, they brought me into their fold, and I started school with a full-on native plant focus. This summer will be my 17th year of attending the conference, and I have been studying and working with native plants ever since. For the last seven years, I have been leading groups of people on slow and gentle walks in the woods, where I teach about the plants and flowers we see along the way, sharing their many names, both common and botanical Latin. I also share the many stories about the plants that I have picked up along the way. Stories connect us with the world. All the plants around us have a story to tell, which can include details about the plant or flower’s structure, their connection to each other, to the insects and animals, and to us, including their edible, medicinal and other human uses. The stories can be about European explorers, or the many intricate connections and relationships people indigenous to our area held with plants — including the Cherokee, whose land we are on and who are still here in their ancestral homeland.
I am the proud son of a children’s librarian. I grew up surrounded by books and stories, and I love sharing the stories of plants with people of all kinds. That is what I’ll be doing in this column — introducing you to plants and sharing their stories in hopes that you will fall in love with them too. Because if you don’t know something is there, how can you love it? And if you don’t love it, why would you care if it’s there? I want us to care about plants, and flowers, and nature and the world. Because our lives depend on it.
(Adam Bigelow lives in Cullowhee and leads wildflower walks and ecotours through Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions. bigelownc@gmail.com.)
Purple flowering raspberry. Great Smoky Mountains National Park photo
WNC Calendar
COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
• “Art After Dark” will be held from 6-9 p.m. each first Friday of the month (May-December) in downtown Waynesville. For more information, go to facebook.com/galleriesofhaywoodcounty.
• Dale’s Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley, home to the world’s premier collection of rare American motorcycles and historically significant automobiles, is celebrating its Twentieth Anniversary June 30 through July 4.
FUNDRAISERS AND B ENEFITS
• Sylva First United Methodist Church Open Door will hold a free meal and music at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.
• Friends of the Haywood County Animal Shelter will hold a Poker Run at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 2. All proceeds go to Friends of the Haywood County Animal Shelter. erin.jennings10@gmail.com.
H EALTH AND WELLNESS
• Swain County Caring Corner Free Clinic is open Thursday’s 4-9 p.m. at Restoration House (Bryson City United Methodist Church). Office hours are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9 a.m.-noon. Call 828.341.1998 to see if you qualify to receive free medical care from volunteer providers.
K IDS & FAMILIES
• Storytime takes place at 10 a.m. every Tuesday at the Macon County Library. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• Toddler’s Rock takes place at 10 a.m. every Monday at the Macon County Library. Get ready to rock with songs, books, rhymes and playing with instruments. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• Waynesville Art School will host Pirates, Sea Monsters and Mermaids (ages 8+) from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. June 27 through July 1. Registration is required, $115. waynesvilleartschool.com.
A&E
• Paint and Sip at Waynesville Art School will be held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7-9:30 p.m. To learn more and register call 828.246.9869 or visit PaintAndSipWaynesville.com/upcoming-events. Registration is required, $45.
• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood St. in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. mountainmakersmarket.com.
• The Cherokee Summer Carnival will take place from 5-11 p.m. on weekdays and 3 -11 p.m. on weekends, June 30-July 9. For vendor information, call 843.385.3180.
• Mountain Street Dances will be held July 8, July 22, Aug. 8 and Sept. 30 in downtown Way.
• The Cherokee Summer Carnival will be held from 5-10 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at the Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds. Gates open at 5 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For a full schedule of carnival dates, events and activities, go to visitcherokeenc.com.
n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.
n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com
• The Sweet Corn Festival will be held from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. July 2-3 at Darnell Farms in Bryson City. For more information, email hotheadevents@gmail.com.
• Ali & Bird Jewelry Trunk Show will take place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. July 1 through July 11, at Acorns in Highlands. For more information call 828.787.1877.
• Theresa Forman Art Trunk Show will take place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, July 9, at Acorns in Highlands. For more information call 828.787.1877.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host Chatham Rabbits (Americana/folk) 5 p.m. July 16. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7.50 for children. 828.369.4080 or coweeschool.org/music.
• First United Methodist Church (Franklin) will host Mountain Voices (chorus) at 7 p.m. June 30. Free and open to the public. Donations accepted to support Mountain Voices.
• Fontana Village Resort Wildwood Grill will host Sister Ivy 6 p.m. July 9. Free and open to the public. 800.849.2258 or fontanavillage.com.
• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will host Silly Ridge Trio (bluegrass) July 1 and The Foxfire Boys (Americana) July 8 at Town Square on Main Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host a Community Jam 6 p.m. July 7. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 or fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Bayou Diesel (Cajun/soul) July 1, Christian Chandler (singer-songwriter) July 2, Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs July 8 and The Log Noggins (rock/indie) July 9. All shows behind at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. noc.com.
• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Appalachian Smoke (country/bluegrass) July 9 and Friends (blues/country) July 23. All shows begin at 6 p.m. at the Gazebo in downtown. Free and open to the public. franklinnc.com/pickin-on-the-square.html.
• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Shane Meade (indie/soul) 7 p.m. June 29. Free and open to the public. 828.586.1717 or facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.
• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will host The Swingin’ Richards July 2 and Back Porch Orchestra (blues/rock) July 9 at Kelsey-Hutchinson Park on Pine Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host The Carter Giegerich Trio (Celtic/bluegrass) from 2 to 5 p.m. every Sunday and Eireann’s Call (Celtic/rock) June 30. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 or scotsmanpublic.com.
• SlopeSide Tavern (Sapphire) will host West Fork Fiasco June 30. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.743.8655 or slopesidetavern.com.
• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville) “An Appalachian Evening” live music series will include Buncombe Turnpike July 2, Chatham Rabbits July 9, Appalachian Roadshow July 16, The Jeff Little Trio July 23, Aubrey Eisenman & The Clydes July 30, The Wildmans Aug. 6, Nu-Blu Aug. 13, Pretty Little Goat Aug. 20 and The Kruger Brothers Aug. 27. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m.
For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or click on stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host Darren Nicholson (Americana/bluegrass) 6 p.m. June 30. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.
F OOD AND D RINK
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, click on waynesvillewine.com.
• A free wine tasting will be held from 6-8 p.m. every Thursday and 2-5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
• Take a trip around the world with four different wines every Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday 11a.m.-6 p.m. at the Bryson City Wine Market. Pick from artisan Charcuterie Foods to enjoy with wines. (828) 538-0420
• Cooking classes take place at the McKinley Edwards Inn from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights. To reserve your spot call 828.488.9626.
ON STAGE & I N CONCERT
• “Footloose: The Musical” will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. July 1-2 and 8-9 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 866.273.4615 or click on smokymountainarts.com.
• A stage production of the beloved tale “Alice in Wonderland” will be held on select dates throughout this spring at the Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on cherokeehistorical.org/alice-in-wonderland.
CLASSES AND PROGRAMS
• Dogwood Crafter Co-op will host “Make a Poplar Bark Basket” from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. June 29, at the Dillsboro Masonic Lodge. Craftsman Joe Williams will show participants how to turn one piece of poplar bark into a basket. Cost is $30, register by June 20. To register call Dogwood Crafters at 828.586.2248.
ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES
• “Thursday Painters” group will be held from 10 a.m.3 p.m. on Thursdays at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their own project and a bag lunch. 828.349.4607 or pm14034@yahoo.com.
FILM & S CREEN
• A “Foreign Film Series” will be held at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Each month, on the second and fourth Friday, two movies from around the globe will be shown. This program is in the Community Room and is free of charge. To find out what movie will be shown and/or for more information, please call the library at 828.586.2016.
Outdoors
• Nature and Nurture: The Voorhees Family Artistic Legacy will be on display at the Baker Visitors Center through Sept. 5. For more information call
Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for:
n Complete listings of local music scene
n Regional festivals
n Art gallery events and openings
n Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers
n Civic and social club gatherings
828.665.2492 or visit ncarboretum.org.
• ArborEvenings take place from 5:30-8 p.m. at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville, Thursday and Friday evenings through Sept. 30. www.ncarboretum.org.
• Balsam Mountain Trust will host the Summer Learning Program’s wild Wednesdays series at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, at the Jackson County Public Library in the Community Room. Register for the free program at the Youth Services Desk on the library’s first floor, download the Read Squared app or visit fontanalib.org/summer. 828.586.2016.
• Tim Carstens will teach about backyard birding at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at the Jackson County Public Library in the Community Room. Register for the free program at the Youth Services Desk on the library’s first floor, download the Read Squared app or visit fontanalib.org/summer. 828.586.2016.
• A stand up paddleboarding adventure for women will meet 10 a.m. Friday, July 1, at the Cashiers/Glenville Recreation Center before heading out to Lake Glenville. Cost is $30. Register at jcprd.recdesk.com/community/program.
• The Nantahala Outdoor Center’s annual Not Your Average Ladies Night will take place 6:30 -8:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, at the NOC Outfitters Store in Bryson City. Free. noc.com.
• Bird the Blue Ridge Parkway starting 8 a.m. Wednesday, July 6, with expert birder Howard Browers. The group will meet at the Balsam Gap overlook and take a trip to see high-elevation birds. Cost is $10, with registration required at bit.ly/haywoodrec. Loaner binoculars available.
• Hike the Twin Falls Loop with Haywood County Recreation at 9 a.m. July 6. Registration required, cost is $10. haywoodcountync.gov/222/Programs or 828.452.6789
• Learn about the creepy crawlies of Western North Carolina at 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, at the Jackson County Public Library. The event is free, for more information call 828.586.2016.
• Hike to High Falls in Jackson County and visit the Judaculla Rock with Haywood County Registration at 8:30 a.m. July 7. Registration required, cost is $10. haywoodcountync.gov/222/Programs or 828.452.6789.
• Brent Martin will present his new book about George Masa during a reading at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 7, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. To purchase the book or view updated information about events, visit alarkaexpeditions.com.
• The annual Zahner Conservation Lectures will take place at 6 p.m. Thursdays from July 7-Sept. 1. To view the full lecture lineup, visit highlandsbiological.org.
• Hike Hemphill Bald to Polls Gap with Haywood County Recreation at 9 a.m. July 13. Registration required, cost is $10. haywoodcountync.gov/222/Programs or 828.452.6789.
• Hike Sheepback to Purchase Knob with Haywood County Recreation at 9 a.m. July 16. Registration required, cost is $10. haywoodcountync.gov/222/Programs or 828.452.6789.
Market PLACE WNC
MarketPlace information:
The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 copies across 500 locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, including the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. Visit www.wncmarketplace.com to place your ad!
Rates:
• $15 — Classified ads that are 25 words, 25¢ per word after.
• Free — Lost or found pet ads.
• $6 — Residential yard sale ads.*
• $1 — Yard Sale Rain Insurance Yard sale rained out? Call us by 10a.m. Monday for your ad to run again FREE
• Legal Notices — 25¢ per word
• $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less)
• Boost Online — Have your ad featured at top of category online $4
• Boost in Print
• Add Photo $6
• Bold ad $2
• Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4
• Border $4
Note: Highlighted ads automatically generate a border so if you’re placing an ad online and select a highlight color, the “add border” feature will not be available on the screen.
Note: Yard sale ads require an address. This location will be displayed on a map on www.wncmarketplace.com
FORECLOSURE AUCTION, 53.79+/-Acres of Catawba Riverfront Land, Marion, NC in McDowell County, LIVE 7/13/2022 at 1pm, Held at McDowell County Courthouse, ironhorseauction.com, 800.997.2248, NCAL 3936
Business Opportunities
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HELP WANTED AMICI’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT, WAYNESVILLE Looking for experienced dishwashers, hosts and servers for busy restaurant. Needed Tues.-Sat. Great hours. Contact Mary Anne, amicisncbookkeeping@gmail.com or come in to apply. 454 Hazelwood Avenue, Waynesville amicisncbookkeeping@gmail.com
THE JACKSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT
Of Social Services is recruiting for an Income Maintenance Caseworker. This position is responsible for intake, application processing and review functions in determining eligibility for Family and Children’s Medicaid. Above average communication, computer and work organizational skills are required. Work involves direct contact with the public. Applicants should have one year of Income Maintenance Casework experience. Applicants will also be considered who have an Associate’s Degree in human services, business or clerical -
tion from high school and an equivalent combination of training and experience. The starting salary is $30,956.21 –$34,129.22 depending on education and experience. The application for employment is available online at: www.
jcdss.org and should be submitted to the Jackson County Department of
Street, Sylva, NC 28779 or the Sylva branch of the NC Works Career Center. Applications will be taken until July 1, 2022.
ERSEA COORDINA-
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decisions regarding placement of children and location of centers and home-based services, staff resources, and program performance strategies. Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Human required. Experience: 2 years’ experience with database management or electronic record keeping; prefer experience in Head Start or grant-funded agency providing services to low-income families. Paid Holidays earned Annual and Sick Leave, Retirement ben12-month position. To be considered please apply at www.mountainprojects.org. EOE/AA
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Pets
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Real Estate Announcements
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PUBLISHER’S NOTICE
All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise ‘any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination’. Familial status includes children under 18 living with parents or legal guardians and pregnant women. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate in violation of this law. All dwellings advertised on equal opportunity basis.
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Health/Beauty
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Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate- Heritage
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