The Tennessee Valley Authority displaced numerous Swain County residents when it constructed Fontana Dam in what is now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here’s a look at how that move has echoed throughout the years. (Page 12) Christine Cole Proctor, just age 5 or 6 when this photo was taken in the 1940s, with her big sister and their dog. TVA Kodak negatives collection, National Archives photo
News
Haywood man admits to murdering infant, avoids death penalty......................10 Amid shortage, Macon schools passes bus driver retention bonus..................11 Canton announces plans for new town hall, police department........................18 Sylva reins in short-term rentals....................................................................................20 Tribe prepares to rent new Whittier housing............................................................22 Education briefs..................................................................................................................25
Opinion
Feeling a lot like ‘Animal Farm’......................................................................................26 Who works for the general good?................................................................................27
A&E Days we left behind: Arnold Hill to play Canton Labor Day................................28 Ecopoetry ruminations from the Great Smokies......................................................35
Outdoors
A new purpose: Man finds peace in teaching the art of survival........................36 Kids explore with Creation Care Camp......................................................................41
D
D
& PRODUCTION: Jessica Murray. .
ADVERTISING SALES: Susanna Shetley. . .
Amanda Bradley. .
Sophia Burleigh.
C LASSIFIEDS: Scott Collier. .
N EWS E DITOR: Kyle Perrotti. . .
WRITING: Holly Kays. .
Hannah McLeod. . . . .
Cory Vaillancourt.
Garret K. Woodward. . .
ACCOUNTING & O FFICE MANAGER: Amanda Singletary. .
D ISTRIBUTION: Scott Collier.
travis@smokymountainnews.com
jessica.m@smokymountainnews.com
susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com
jc-ads@smokymountainnews.com
sophia.b@smokymountainnews.com
classads@smokymountainnews.com
kyle.p@smokymountainnews.com
holly@smokymountainnews.com
hannah@smokymountainnews.com
cory@smokymountainnews.com
garret@smokymountainnews.com
smnbooks@smokymountainnews.com
classads@smokymountainnews.com
C ONTRIBUTING: Jeff Minick (writing), Chris Cox (writing), George Ellison (writing), Don Hendershot (writing), Susanna Shetley (writing)
SYLVA | 629 West Main Street, Sylva, NC 28779 P: 828.631.4829 | F: 828.631.0789 I NFO & B ILLING | P.O. Box 629, Waynesville, NC 28786
Copyright 2022 by The Smoky Mountain News.™ Advertising copyright 2022 by The Smoky Mountain News.™ All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The Smoky Mountain News is available for free in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and parts of Buncombe counties. Limit one copy per person. Additional copies may be purchased for $1, payable at the Smoky Mountain News office in advance. No person may, without prior written permission of The Smoky Mountain News, take more than one copy of each issue.
WORK AT ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA!
Lake Junaluska Assembly, Inc, hosts over 200,000 visitors and guests who come from across the country for programs, spiritual retreats and to enjoy the beauty of the Smoky Mountains.
You'll enjoy a friendly, collaborative atmosphere in addition to benefits packages for full-time staff and a range of perks and discounts available to all employees, which include:
• FREE Golf Course greens fee
• FREE Summer Activity Pass & Boat Rentals
• FREE Fitness Center Pass
• Discounts on on-site dining and shopping
• Discounts on lodging
Lake Junaluska is currently accepting applications for the following job opportunities
- Kitchen Manager/Chef
- Food Services: Servers/Cooks/Dishwashers
- Housekeeping/Laundry
- Custodial Staff
- Retail Sales Associate/Baristas
- Night Auditor
- Human Resources Manager
Part-time and flexible schedules available in certain departments. Select positions are full-time. To apply directly online, or for more information, visit lakejunaluska.com/jobs call our jobs line at 828-454-6706 or email hr@lakejunaluska.com
“Lake Junaluska is a place of Christian hospitality where lives are transformed through renewal of soul, mind and body.”
“I grew up surrounded by the medical field,” shared Rachel Hyatt, BSN, RN. “My mom was the director of an ancillary Haywood Regional Medical Center (HRMC) facility throughout my childhood. I spent many hours at this facility before and after school, to the point where I considered the staff my family.” It was this early exposure that led her to pursue her own career in the field – here at Haywood Regional Medical Center.
For 95 years, Haywood Regional Medical Center (HRMC) has been the hospital the community turns to for quality healthcare close to home, providing a full range of inpatient, outpatient and emergency room services in a 154-bed facility. It’s also been a home for many like Rachel – who grew up and into their careers within its walls.
“When I was just old enough to work, I obtained my first job at this facility, pulling charts for physicians after school in 2012,” Rachel said. “Since that time, I have been with the system in several roles, including practices, Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center, and now the HRMC Women’s Care Center. There has never been a time when I have felt like a number. The CNO, CEO, and nurse managers know you by name and know your story.”
In addition to its community environment, HRMC is a hospital that is also proud of its quality and technological offerings. It has its accreditation as a Chest Pain Center and Cath Lab and the AACVPR (American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation) certification for its cardiopulmonary rehab program, showing quality cardiac care from start to finish. Haywood has also recently added robotic surgical tools for orthopedic surgery. As part of Duke LifePoint Healthcare, the hospital is supported by Duke University Health System’s world-renowned leadership in clinical excellence and quality care and LifePoint Health’s extensive resources and breadth of operational experience in community-based care
Rachel shared, “In addition to what our
hospital offers to the public, all team members and administrators want the best for you and will do anything in their power to help you achieve your goals. I am currently enrolled in a master's degree program for nursing leadership through Western Carolina University. This will allow me to successfully lead my own team of nurses one day. Administrators throughout the facility have been nothing shy of amazing in helping me achieve this goal.”
Haywood Regional Medical Center is currently hiring for multiple positions, including RNs, recent nurse graduates, CNAs, and a number of other roles – many with sign-on bonuses. About working at Haywood, Rachel said, “You won't regret it! Every staff member at HRMC is friendly and welcoming to new faces. I cannot think of one time that I have felt unwanted or unneeded in this facility. I consider this organization family.”
For more information about careers at Haywood Regional Medical Center, visit MyHaywoodRegional.com/Careers. New nursing graduates may attend open houses at HRMC on March 1 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm or March 2 from 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. To learn more or RSVP, call Shannon Sorrells at 828.452.8353.
Current Employment Opportunities:
• Animal Services
• Social Work
• Environmental
• Detention Officers
• Maintenance
• Nutritionist
• Custodian
• Property Appraisal
• Public Health Nurse
• Foreign Language Interpreter
Supplemental Retirement - Prudential/Empower 401k
Life Insurance – Employer Paid Life Insurance
Health/Dental Insurance – Employer paid Health and Dental Coverage
Wellness Center – No charge for employees and dependents on health coverage
Paid Vacation, Paid Sick Leave, and Paid Holidays
Please visit our website at www.haywoodcountync.gov to learn more about the available opportunities we have here in Haywood County. EXCELLENT BENEFIT PACKAGE: Retirement –NC Retirement System
Grow, Thrive and Love Where You Work!
Four Seasons, The Care You Trust, is committed to providing Trusted Care, Trusted Respect, and Trusted Purpose to their employees so that they can help them Grow, Thrive, and Love Where They Work! Four Seasons is grateful to serve thirteen counties in Western North Carolina and grateful to work with some of the happiest, most engaged employees around, with almost 96% stating that they feel valued, respected, and cared for in their workplace. In addition, over 96% feel that their job provides them a sense of meaning and purpose.
feels valued, “This is truly one of the best places to work. I love my team and leadership here and feel highly valued and appreciated for my contributions to our work. Having left Four Seasons for a brief period, I could not wait to come back when there was an open position again. This is the best place I have ever worked."
Four Seasons takes care of its team by offering competitive salaries, excellent benefits, flexibility, and balance. Shannon has served Four Seasons as an RN and leader for over 15 years. She explains, “I love where I work because I love the people I work with. Their dedication, compassion, and how they genuinely care about one another and work together to provide the best care for our patients and families really inspires me. That is why I do what I do, and why I work at Four Seasons.”
At our organization, the staff is listened to and respected, and leaders make decisions based on that feedback. Leaders aren’t just accessible; they actively seek out feedback from their team. RN Case Manager Sara explains how she
According to Nikki, working for this organization for the past 8 years has connected her with her cause and purpose as an RN. “To be a nurse is to love. Love is here. It’s part of our fabric at Four Seasons. Hospice care serves an essential human need. What greater gift is there than helping someone achieve and maintain a sense of comfort, peace, and dignity, not only as they approach the end of their life but also as they battle the ups and downs of facing a terminal illness? It is truly such an honor to be able to care for our patients and their families. Being able to provide this intimate care at a time when they are at their most vulnerable is as much a gift for me as it is for them. It goes both ways, and I am a better human being for having met these phenomenal people.”
For more information about joining the team at Four Seasons, visit FourSeasonsCFL.org to view current job opportunities or call 866.466.9734
Shannon, RN Leader
Nikki, RN
Haywood man admits to infant death
BY KYLE P ERROTTI
N EWS E DITOR
AHaywood County man confirmed on the record in Superior Court that he killed his girlfriend’s 9-month-old daughter.
Dylan Green, 25, pleaded guilty to firstdegree murder in the July 2019 death of Chloe Evans in a case that gripped the county and rallied support throughout the community to seek justice. By offering the plea, Green avoided the possibility of being subject to the death penalty. He was instead sentenced by Judge Bill Coward to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On July 18, 2019, Haywood County paramedics responded to a cardiac arrest call in the Jonathan Creek area. Despite being rushed to the hospital, Chloe ultimately succumbed to her injuries and passed away. The death was immediately determined to be a homicide as an autopsy determined that Chloe suffered blunt force trauma. She also had a ligature mark around her neck and had meth and alcohol in her system.
A press release issued by the district attorney’s office following the guilty plea noted that after the baby’s mother, Channing Evans, left to go to work, Green inflicted the fatal injuries on Chloe.
“He was the sole person in the home when her injuries occurred,” the release reads.
In August, as Green was already being
held on charges related to methamphetamine possession, he was indicted on one felony count of child abuse causing bodily injury. That indictment describes the heinous details of the crime.
“The injuries consisted of multiple blunt force injuries of varying ages and degrees to the child’s head, face, ears, chin, neck, torso,
burns of the skin, a human bite mark, a wound consistent with strangulation by a ligature upon the neck, and the presence of isopropanol and/or methamphetamine in the child’s body,” the indictment read.
Over a year after Chloe’s tragic death, as he was still held at the Haywood County Detention Center on $250,000 bond related to the child abuse charge, Green was indicted on a firstdegree murder charge. At that point, he was held without bond.
back, arms, and legs, as the case may be, and such injuries included rib, leg, and arm fractures of varying ages, bruises, abrasions, multiple recent skull fractures, internal bleeding of the child’s head, brain, and eyes, a burn or
In October of 2020, immediately following the indictment, the district attorney’s office made it clear that it would seek the death penal-
Although an investigation found that it was Green who’d murdered Chloe, Evans was still eventually convicted on charges related to the death when she pleaded guilty in October of last year to child abuse and involuntary manslaughter charges. According to the state Department of Corrections website, Evans is projected to
be released from prison in August of 2026.
Often in cases like this, a tough decision is made by the prosecution in conjunction with the victims to determine whether the case should go to trial or a plea arrangement should be offered. For Green, given the fact the district attorney’s office sought the death penalty, the decision was even trickier. According to the district attorney’s press release, school records on file indicated that Green’s IQ score is in the 60 to 70 range.
“Jurors, if the case had reached the deathpenalty phase, would have faced questions about his intellectual capacity,” the release reads.
North Carolina’s statute defines “significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning” as “intelligence quotient of 70 or below.” A 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibits the death penalty for intellectually disabled defendants.
District Attorney Ashley Welch said Chloe’s paternal grandmother, the primary family member involved in the case, requested Green receive life in prison.
“It was a difficult decision to accept a plea,” Welch said in the release. “This was an innocent child at the beginning of her life viciously and senselessly killed.”
Chief Assistant District Attorney Jeff Jones co-prosecuted the case alongside Kate Robinette.
“We think it’s a just resolution,” Jones said in the release.
Green stands between his court appointed attorneys, Josh Nielsen and Mark Melrose. Donated photo
Amid shortage, Macon schools passes bus driver retention bonus
HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
Bus drivers in Macon County will receive a retention bonus totaling $500 this year as part of the school system’s effort to recruit and retain those vital employees. Like many school systems in the region, Macon County Schools is facing a shortage of drivers.
“We are struggling to find employees, and bus drivers specifically,” said Human Resources Director Todd Gibbs at the Aug. 22 school board meeting. “Currently, we are short two full routes and two half routes. What I would like the board to consider is some sort of retention bonus for bus drivers that stay with us throughout the year.”
Gibbs suggested a retention bonus of $500, half of which would be paid out in December, the other half in May. That amount will be prorated for part-time drivers. Drivers must be employed with the school system as a bus driver at the time of payment in order to receive the bonus.
“Ideally it would be for all regular route bus drivers, just as a little thank you, and please stay with us, and we appreciate what you do,” said Gibbs. “If it entices a person or two to become a bus driver, all the better.”
Funding for the bonus will come from the school system’s current expense budget in the general fund. With around 46 regular route bus drivers, it will cost an estimated $30,700.
Board member Melissa Evans asked the board to consider whether this would need to be an annual expense in the years to come, or just a one-time bonus.
“I can say that as long as I’ve been in the school system, we’ve never had a surplus of bus drivers,” said Superintendent Dr. Chris Baldwin.
This school year, the minimum hourly wage for all public school employees increased to $15 per hour. The 2021 state budget required all hourly employees to make at least $13 per hour last school year and $15 per hour in the next. Bus drivers fall into that category, and beginning this year, all starting bus drivers will make $15 per hour.
“Hopefully with the $15 an hour increase, and with this incentive, we will see some more interest in driving a bus,” said Gibbs. “We’re very hopeful.”
This summer, the board discussed signon bonuses in an effort to attract new drivers. However, Baldwin was not in favor of that type of incentive because it wouldn’t have rewarded the drivers who have been with the school system for several years.
Before the state-mandated increase, an inexperienced bus driver would make around $12.84 per hour, while an experienced bus driver may already be making $15 per hour. With the mandated increase, inexperienced bus drivers will now automatically make $15 per hour, while an experienced bus driver already making that amount will only get a 67-cent hourly increase.
“I’m not in favor of a sign-on bonus for that reason,” Baldwin said during the school board’s July meeting. “It’s been a morale issue, not only with bus drivers but with custodians and clerical workers. They saw that beginning rate increase pretty dramatically but then there’s no reward for folks that have been around for a while.”
At that July meeting, Board Chairman Jim Breedlove asked that Baldwin bring a proposal for bus driver pay before the board at its next meeting. The retention bonus for all regular route bus drivers presented at the August meeting of the Macon County Schools Board of Education passed unanimously.
Red Cross urges blood donations
A strong blood supply is key to preparedness for disasters and medical emergencies, and donors can ensure blood is on the shelves the moment it’s needed. As a thank-you from the Red Cross, all who give blood Sept. 1-18 will get a limited-edition Red Cross T shirt, while supplies last. Plus, those who race to give Sept. 1-30 will automatically be entered for a chance to win a VIP NASCAR experience, including two tickets to a 2023 race.
Donors can schedule an appointment to donate using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1.800.RED CROSS (1.800.733.2767).
Haywood County
• Canton, 2-6 p.m., Sept. 12, Center Pigeon Fire Dept., 2412 Pisgah Drive, N.C. 110.
Cornerstone Mercantile
• Over 50 Vendors
Ingles Nutrition Notes
written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath
Q: Will giving up meat and becoming vegetarian protect me from getting Covid19?
A: For most individuals the best way to reduce risk of severe outcomes from Covid19, such as hospitalization and Long Covid, is to be vaccinated and boosted. Speak to your family doctor or health department if you have questions on this.
While eating more fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds (making those the focus on the plate) is a good idea; health is about more than the food we eat and the beverages we drink.
Our immune system works to protect us from diseases and illnesses like Covid19. In addition to the food we eat, our health and immune system is affected by sleep/rest, physical, mental, or emotional stress, activity, and exercise, being at a healthy weight, and exposure to environmental toxins and contaminants.
Other influences on health include genetics and family history of disease, recreational drugs, prescription medications, taking unnecessary vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements, smoking and alcohol.
What we eat is important – but it’s not the only important thing when it comes to good health!
BOOMING TIMES, BUSTED BUDGETS
Growing visitation is straining resources in and around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
BY HOLLY KAYS SMN OUTDOORS EDITOR, FOR THE ASSEMBLY
Christine Cole Proctor was home alone with her big sister at the family cabin on Forney Creek when she heard an unfamiliar rumble climbing the isolated mountain road. It was a car — the first they’d ever seen scale the rugged route.
Now 86, Proctor was just 5 or 6 that day the car stopped outside their Swain County home and unloaded a pair of Tennessee Valley Authority representatives. The TVA staff were tasked with preparing the way for construction of Fontana Dam, in what is today part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They snapped a photo of the two girls and their dog standing on the cabin’s front porch.
Proctor had no idea the visit meant their comfortable world of farming, church and the sawmill where her daddy earned a steady paycheck was about to disappear.
It was the early 1940s, and America was at war. Winning would require enough electricity to build the necessary bombs, ships and airplanes, and they were in a prime location to feed hydropower to places like Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the enormous aluminum plants over the border in Alcoa, Tennessee.
But creating the reservoir to power Fontana Dam required submerging and isolating roads in the region, including family cemeteries and oncebustling communities. Families like Proctor’s were forced to leave their land forever, often paid a pittance in return.
“When the government come through, buying up the land, they didn’t get what the land was actually worth,” said Proctor. “They had to take less, and most people could not resettle on what they were given for the land.”
The photo the TVA staffers took now hangs on the wall of Proctor’s home in Bryson City, just 2 miles from the national park boundary. It’s a permanent reminder of how certainties can vanish overnight.
Her childhood home is now part of an 816-squaremile tourist attraction that people come from across the world to see: the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 2021, the park logged 14.1 million visits.
And Swain County — all of Western North Carolina, really — is experiencing a tourism boom bringing yet another era of change. Park visitation has grown steadily since Congress created it in 1934, but the last 10 years have seen an explosion in popularity — one nobody knows how to respond to. Tourism creates jobs, spurs sales and boosts tax revenues, but the onslaught is also straining public resources and pricing locals out of housing.
More than 50,000 vehicles a year now travel Lakeview Drive, the road from Bryson City that dead ends along the shore of Fontana Lake. Somewhere in the wilderness is the patch of land Proctor left behind, watching as the lake backed up before their eyes.
“It covered the best part of Swain County,” said Proctor. “It really did.”
Proctor’s eyes sparkle behind large-framed eyeglasses as she leans forward in the quilted padding that lines her wooden kitchen chair, recounting her home in Forney Creek.
Her comfortable, single-level brick home is just outside downtown Bryson City, nearly hidden from the road by a cloak of mature oak trees, their leaves a confetti of reds, greens and browns beneath a gray November sky. It’s just a mile down the road from the tiny logging town where Proctor and her family landed after they were ousted from the mountain.
Her father sought work in lumber mills. When she grew up, Proctor married a man who worked at
the Fairlane Hosiery Mill. She checked out customers at the A&P grocery store. It was a blue-collar kind of life, and Proctor loved it. Over the years those industrial jobs disappeared as companies found it cheaper to make their products elsewhere.
If not for tourism, Bryson City could have become one more dried-up ghost town. Park visitation grew through the 1990s, and the 1997 opening of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in neighboring Cherokee injected a new supply of lucrative jobs. Where winter unemployment had typically spiked north of 20%, it fell below 10%.
Besides its proximity to the park and the casino, Bryson City is home base for the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and the nearest town to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, both magnetic tourist attractions. It has two breweries and a Main Street bursting with well-kept shops and restaurants. It’s a tourist destination with an authentic “mountain town” feel.
“It’s kind of keeping up with the times, but yet it hasn’t lost that sense of family, small-town feeling, all that stuff you see on Hallmark channels. It’s still got that,” said Karen Marcus, a Swain County native, licensed psychologist, and publicity and programming chair for the Swain County Genealogical Society. Marcus, now in her mid-60s, grew up as tourism was just starting to take hold. Generations ago, her great-great-great-great grandfather Abraham Enloe owned the land that now houses the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Marcus’ childhood home was in Ela, 5 miles outside Bryson City along U.S. Highway 19.
Marcus, her sister and three brothers would fish, play baseball and “Cowboys and Indians,” and go tubing on Deep Creek. Her dad and a cousin liked to go fishing; back then, so few people traveled U.S. Highway 441, the main route to and through the park, that they could lay socks on the road to let their wives know where to pick them up.
As road trips started becoming more popular with the American public, little motor lodges popped up all along the route. Locals would sometimes supplement the housing inventory by offering up space in their own homes.
Annual visitation stayed below 7 million during Marcus’ childhood. By 2014, it was consistently topping 10 million. The Smokies posted record-high visitation numbers for five consecutive years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. National Park Service statistics going back to 1979 list it as the nation’s most-visited national park every year, with visitation typically more than double that of the runner-up.
Attendance surged to new heights during the pandemic, as people sought out national parks for outdoor, socially distant vacations. More than 60% of the country’s population lives within 800 miles of the
“I live 2 miles from Deep Creek, but Deep Creek is a place I avoid in the summertime. It’s a place I love to go and a lot of locals love to go, but in the summer it’s too much.”
— Ben King, Bryson City alderman
Smokies, making the park a prime destination.
Even though it closed completely for six weeks, visitation dropped only 3.6% from 2019, which had been a record-breaking year at 12.5 million visits. And 2021 numbers came in nearly 13% above 2019, at 14.1 million.
By comparison, overall National Park Service visitation increased by 6.5% between 2011 and 2021. And while 2022 numbers are lower so far than 2021, they’re still well above pre-pandemic levels.
The formerly sleepy Smokies entrances near Bryson City are seeing similar extreme increases. Visitation at Lakeview Drive, also known as the Road to Nowhere, was 44% above the 10-year average in 2021, while the Deep Creek entrance was 25% higher.
The numbers translate to a tangible shift in the Smokies experience. Trailhead parking lots are overflowing, shoulderless mountain roads are lined with parked cars, and some trails look more like grocery store lines than mountain getaways.
“I live 2 miles from Deep Creek, but Deep Creek is a place I avoid in the summertime,” said Ben King, 33, a Swain County native and Bryson City alderman who co-owns Bryson City Outdoors, a gear shop and tap room.
“It’s a place I love to go and a lot of locals love to go, but in the summer it’s too much,” King said. “There’s no place to park, and at least the first mile to 2 miles of trail is so crowded you feel like you’re at a shopping mall.”
Even before the TVA came knocking, forced resettlement was a recurring theme in
Western North Carolina.
It happened to the Cherokee first, as a series of increasingly unfavorable treaties between the U.S. government and Native American tribes culminated in the 1830s with the Trail of Tears.
While a small remnant of Cherokee managed to stay behind and form what is now the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band
BOOMING TIMES, BUSTED BUDGETS
of Cherokee Indians, tens of thousands of Native Americans endured a brutal march from their ancestral homelands to reservations in the Midwest. Thousands died along the way.
By the time Proctor was born, a century had passed and white settlers had sculpted their own relationship with the land, scraping out a living from small farms carved into the rugged terrain and often supplementing it with wages from the sawmills that peppered the region. When Congress authorized the park’s creation in 1926, it signaled the start of the region’s next mass eviction.
In 1931, Tennessee and North Carolina transferred 300,000 acres to the federal government for the park’s creation. The park eventually grew to 522,427 acres, preserving the natural wonders of one of the globe’s most biodiverse regions and providing respite and adventure for millions of people.
But whether by voluntary sale or eminent
domain, the settlers who had farmed the area’s 1,200 homesteads were forced to leave.
In the park’s first 15 years of existence, annual visitation exceeded 1 million only once, in 1941, the year after Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated it. Visitation grew from 4.5 million in 1960 to 6.8 million in 1970. While the park didn’t keep location-specific logs at that point, it’s fair to guess that most of those visitors arrived via the more accessible Tennessee entrances.
By the 1990s, Marcus had completed her first career as a hospital chaplain, earned her doctorate, and returned to Western North Carolina for a second career as a psychologist. Throughout that decade, Smokies visitation hovered between 8 and 10 million, but Marcus said you wouldn’t have known it based on her experiences backpacking in the park during those years.
“We went in on Saturday and came out Tuesday, and we did not see anybody on the land from the time we left Hazel Creek until we got within a mile of the tunnel,” she said.
“You can’t do that nowadays.”
It’s doubtful that the park’s early leaders ever expected it to draw so many millions of visitors each year, said Smokies management assistant Dana Soehn. Nor is the infrastructure built to support those numbers.
The largest national park east of the Mississippi, the Smokies now has 16 official entrances. Due to a complicated legal history involving state legislation about Tennessee’s deed transfer and a 1992 federal law, the park can’t charge admission at any of them. Other large national parks typically charge $35 per
Left: A photo taken by “Doc” Kelly Bennett from the mouth of the Nantahala River near Almond shows the construction of Fontana Dam. Hunter Library/WCU photo
Right: Kids enjoy a cool summer ride down Deep Creek. Swain TDA photo
vehicle for a seven-day pass and retain 80 percent of that revenue for in-park use.
The legal restriction in the Smokies prevents administrators from considering policies like daily admission caps, now adopted at some other national parks, and it means that the park’s budget isn’t increasing in step with its popularity.
On average, large national parks rely on congressional appropriations for less than half their budget and spend $15 per visitor. The Smokies draws 80% of its funding from the federal budget and spends $2 per visitor. Adjusted for inflation, the Smokies’ funding has fallen over time, causing its staffing levels to decline more than 10% in the past decade even as visitation surged.
What is The Assembly?
Founded in 2021, The Assembly is a digital magazine featuring deeply reported, nuanced stories about the people, institutions and ideas that shape North Carolina.
Recent stories include a profile of Senator Thom Tillis and his growing reputation as a bipartisan dealmaker, a look at how a politically diverse United Methodist Church in Statesville is navigating a denominational rupture over homosexuality, and the story of how the Greensboro News & Record changed from a thriving newspaper to a shell of its former self, done in by years of media-conglomerate cuts.
The Assembly offers readers one article per month free of charge, with full access for $4 per month or $40 per year. Read more at theassemblync.com.
The stark reality is that with its current resources, the park can’t fulfill its responsibility to the land it’s charged with managing. In April, Park Superintendent Cassius Cash proposed a controversial solution — requiring a paid permit to park anywhere in the Smokies.
On Aug. 15, he announced a decision. The permits — $5 per day, $15 per week or $40 per year — will be required starting March 1, 2023.
“What we need to do now is to have an influx of resources to be able to make the improvements we need to be able to allow for that sustainable visitation,” Soehn said. “But we’ll never be able to provide unlimited access for everybody for all places that they want to go to, because there’s just simply no space.”
Even if only 30% of people comply when the fee is first enacted, it will bring in an estimated $10 to $14 million annually at 2021 visitation levels, close to a 50% increase over the park’s current budget.
The parking fee represents a new era for a park that has always been free to use and enter. As one might expect, locals have strong feelings about the proposal on both sides of the spectrum. The proposal drew 3,766 comments—likely the most ever for a planning process in the Smokies, Soehn said. Overall, 51% of those comments were supportive with only 15% in opposition and 34% neutral, but the balance was different when looking at the
828 comments from the park’s six neighboring counties in North Carolina and Tennessee. Of those, 25% opposed the proposal, 25% supported it and 50% were neutral.
Opposition was strongest in Swain County, where only 11.6% of 138 commenters supported the proposal and 40.6% opposed it.
Henry Chambers, chairman of the North Shore Cemetery Association, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving graveyards and history in the area swallowed by the Fontana project, took a stand in favor, arguing in an extensive statement April 17 that the park needs the money and that locals, as owners of the park, should “step up to do what is needed.”
“I am making my stand in supporting the Park in getting what it needs to operate, in supporting my friends and the employees who work there,” he wrote. “If you want to hate me for my support, that is your business. No matter what happens, we are all like a yoke of oxen: we will move together, one way or another. If you want to see a beautiful wellmaintained Park, join with me. If you want less, that is your choice and your decision.”
Others see the proposal as a thinly veiled disguise for an entrance fee. For locals, the Smokies feels more like a family graveyard or neighborhood park than a national icon. Being charged to visit feels like a slap in the face. •••
The day after the park announced the fee proposal, the Swain County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution opposing it. Since then, each of the six counties bordering the park has either passed a resolution or sent a letter opposing the fee.
Through a voice vote in June, the N.C. House of Representatives approved a resolution calling on Congress to block the fee’s implementation. The resolution never made it to a vote in the Senate.
“I just feel like the park’s for all people, and no one should have to pay for the beauty of God’s creation,” said Rep. Mike Clampitt, adding that locals visiting the park to honor the graves of their ancestors should not be required to “chase down a permit” to do so.
With or without a fee, change is inevitable — park leadership has made that clear since the pandemic lit a fire under an already explosive situation.
In 2020, the park held a series of virtual public meetings to discuss how to address overuse at some of its most popular sites. Last year, it tested out techniques with a pilot program at Laurel Falls Trail, which attracts about 350,000 visitors annually. For three weeks last fall, people hoping to hike Laurel Falls had to either snag a parking reservation or ride a shuttle bus from Gatlinburg.
Overall feedback on the program was positive, Soehn said, and the park has spent much of 2022 working on long-term plans for the site. Permanent changes at Laurel Falls will be announced in time for the 2023 season. Simultaneously, Soehn’s team is working on a parkwide toolkit for managing popular areas. This could include shuttles and parking reservations at additional areas, among other potential approaches.
Marcus, of the Swain County
“There is a connection that you have with this area that you don’t have anywhere else, and I don’t think you’ll find it anywhere else. There’s a spirit there that you can sense.”
Genealogical Society, said she knows something has to change, though it’s hard to see it happen. She’d rather see increased park staffing to manage visitor behavior than new fees and reservation systems.
But she’s conflicted. She’s seen what the park is like in October, when fall color is on full display and seemingly half the nation is there to witness it. Maybe reservation systems do make sense, at least for the extremely popular trails, though those regulations would come at a cost.
“It feels like we lose some freedom — independence, being carefree. That’s the thing I remember from childhood,” she said. “We could go up to the park, ride on the Parkway, and not have to worry about traffic up here in leaf season. I’m not sure how to verbalize it.”
For King, the Bryson City alderman, it’s a conversation that recalls California’s Yosemite National Park, which also faces crowding concerns. Now, reservations are required to even enter the park during peak season, with separate permits for backcountry camping or hiking the iconic Half Dome.
“That’s a theme park at that point — you’re waiting in line to get on a ride,” he said. “I really, really don’t want to see it get to that point, but I understand that there’s a huge strain on the resources and the land.” •••
While the Smokies struggles to serve a ballooning number of visitors absent a simi-
larly ballooning budget, Swain County is confronting a different conundrum.
Swain, like other counties in the region, is seeing unprecedented revenues from the occupancy tax included on hotel and AirBnb bills. In the first half of the 2021-22 fiscal year, the Swain Tourism Development Authority collected $1.11 million — more than any full year prior to the pandemic.
BOOMING TIMES, BUSTED BUDGETS
Neighboring counties report similar patterns. The second half of the fiscal year was less robust, with the majority of months posting a decline compared to 2021. But collections still came in about 5 percent higher than the previous year, at just under $2 million. For a county with an annual budget of about $20 million, that’s a lot of money.
However, state law dictates that the authority must spend the money within a strict set of rules. Generally speaking, twothirds of occupancy tax proceeds has to be spent on travel and tourism promotion. The remainder can go toward tourism-related projects to attract new visitors.
“From our perspective, it’s a great tax,” said Jeremiah Wiggins, the Swain authority’s chairperson. Non-residents pay it, but residents benefit.
However, with an unprecedented flood of
tourists already pouring into Western North Carolina, some community leaders are questioning spending all that money on more ads and amenities to bring even more people to the mountains.
“Once this place has been discovered by all these people, are we constantly trying to find new customers on top of the return customers we’ve created?” King asked.
Tourism also imposes costs on the town that the money can’t be used to pay for, said King. Last year, Bryson City’s board imposed a moratorium on new water and sewer connections because the infrastructure is failing, and the town was left scrambling to figure out how to fund and implement millions in repairs—a heavy lift for a town of fewer than 2,000 people.
Sylva, the seat of Jackson County and Swain’s neighbor to the south, battles similar issues. Despite 2021-22 revenue coming in 18% above the previous fiscal year, the town still struggled to cover its baseline administrative costs and fund new police officer positions—positions that were necessary, said Police Chief Chris Hatton, because high visitation has effectively multiplied the demand.
On top of all that, there’s an ever-deepening housing crisis that the conversion of longterm rentals to more lucrative vacation properties is further exacerbating.
Asked whether he’d support legislation loosening the spending restrictions on occupancy tax money, King was quick to reply.
— Karen Marcus, Swain County native
Left: A high school band plays on the town square in Bryson City in a photo taken by “Doc” Kelly Bennett, a Swain County pharmacist and politician who lived 1890-1974. Hunter Library/WCU photo
Right: Visitors take in the view from the Clingmans Dome observation tower. Quintin Ellison photo
“I don’t know why it hasn’t already come up,” he said.
Wiggins agreed that the legislation “isn’t written perfectly for today’s world” and favors “aggressive interpretations” of the law governing how Tourism Development Authority money is spent. Recently, the Swain authority used occupancy tax funds to renovate the community pool. While not a typical tourism project, Wiggins believes that the right upgrades will attract tourists while also serving the local community.
Nick Breedlove, Tourism Development Authority director for Jackson County, is cautious about that type of approach but supports moving away from marketing-only spending. Both Jackson and Haywood County, which also forms part of the park, allocated $500,000 this year for a new “tourism capital projects” initiative.
“The goal was to take some of those dollars that the visitors spent and reinvest them into the community, not just for visitors,” Breedlove said.
It’s a weekday afternoon at the beginning of November, typically a shoulder season here, but driving through Bryson City’s pintsized downtown is a slow process.
Traffic halts as people cross back and forth on faux-brick crosswalks, bright yellow signs warning motorists that pedestrians are in charge.
Downtown ebbs and flows in time with the train, which instead of hauling fresh-cut logs or carefully hewn planks now carries tourists to Dillsboro and the Nantahala Gorge. They queue for coffee and commandeer restaurant tables while waiting for their ride to depart. The train whistle blares a warning, and as suddenly as they descended, the tourists are gone — well, most of them anyway. These days, Bryson City is rarely deserted.
It’s a different place than the town where Proctor, Marcus and King spent their childhoods. But any former child would likely say the same about their hometown, too.
“It’s quite different,” said Marcus. “It feels different. But it needs to grow.”
Growing up the son of minimum-wage textile mill workers in the 1980s, Wiggins also knew a different Bryson City than today’s thrumming downtown. And he needs no prompting to say which version is better.
“In my own personal experience, if I compare the time period now with the time period then, I would tell you, hands down, things are much better now from an economics perspective than they were then,” he said.
But there’s a balance to be struck, and Wiggins is acutely aware of the need to balance welcoming the world to the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains without sacrificing the very qualities for which they are so beloved.
“There is a connection that you have with this area that you don’t have anywhere else, and I don’t think you’ll find it anywhere else,” said Marcus. “There’s a spirit there that you can sense.”
Canton announces plans for new town hall, police department
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT
P OLITICS E DITOR
Almost immediately after deadly flooding swamped downtown Canton for the second time in less than 20 years, town officials began talking about building back smarter. Last week, the town took a big step — two, actually — toward that goal.
On Aug. 24, a joint press release from Canton and Champion Credit Union announced that the town would purchase two buildings from the financial institution to house operations that had previously been carried out in the now-gutted William G. Stamey Municipal Building on Park Street.
“We are very appreciative of the longstanding relationship between Champion Credit Union and the town,” said Zeb Smathers, Canton’s mayor. “We are watching one of our largest employers recommit to the town of Canton by consolidating their workforce. At the same time this will allow us two buildings that are well-suited for our town administration and police. For both of us, it recommits us to our people and the place we call home.”
The first building, located at 401 Main St., sits on a quarter-acre plot just 100 yards
southeast of the Stamey building that is 20 feet higher in elevation.
Built in 1920 as the Champion Bank and Trust Co., the classical-style building comprises 3,500 square feet and is adjacent to a
12-space parking lot.
Last sold in 2015, the building is currently assessed at $389,000 and serves as office space for Champion Credit Union’s back-office personnel, human resources, employee develop-
ment and mortgage and lending teams.
The second building, 138 Academy St., consists of two parcels totaling more than three quarters of an acre and is assessed at $953,400. Champion currently uses the 57year-old building to house other back-office employees along with support and administrative staff, but after the sale it will become Canton’s new town hall.
Currently, Canton’s police and town administration are operating out of modular structures on Spring Street.
The Academy Street building is 40 feet higher in elevation and almost twice the square footage of the current municipal building, giving the growing town more room for a staff and administration that will likely expand in the coming decades.
The new police station will also give officers more room to grow, but a key feature of the transaction is that both buildings are out of the Pigeon River floodplain.
In the aftermath of the Aug. 17, 2021 flood, which killed six people upriver, Canton officials faced a number of challenges in addressing the damage from the disaster. All emergency services, including police, fire and town administration were offline, power was out and communications among the myriad first responders were hampered by a lack of redundancy.
The locations of the new facilities will go a long way toward ensuring that when the next flood occurs, the town will be in a better position to respond.
“By relocating the Canton Police Department and Town Hall
Canton’s town administration will move into this Academy Street building once the sale with Champion Credit Union is complete. Cory Vaillancourt photo
outside of the floodplain, we are more resilient to future events and can better serve the community during good times and bad,” Town Manager Nick Scheuer said in the release.
Although Smathers said there’s already an agreement on the terms of the sale, the deal between Canton and Champion is neither final nor public.
At some point, the Canton Board of Aldermen/women will have to hold a vote to approve the purchase, but opting to rehabilitate the two buildings in Canton’s downtown core is expected to save taxpayers millions over the option of building something new.
Smathers expects the board vote sometime this fall and said the funds for the purchase and renovation of the buildings would come from an $8.3 million direct allocation made by the General Assembly in this year’s budget.
Once renovations begin, Smathers said he thinks it will take about 18 months for town operations to commence in their new locations.
The fire station behind the Stamey Building, which is still in operation, remains an open question even though Smathers is confident it will move from its current location.
As for the Stamey Building, Smathers said that if the town takes a FEMA buyout as expected, the building would be no more.
“There’s a lot of opportunity there, but both the current fire station and town hall will cease to exist as buildings,” he said. “By law, that will all be torn down, and then we’ll talk about what our options are.”
Ultimately, the parcel would end up back in town hands and Smathers already has a clear vision for what he’d like to see there.
“I think it will serve as another major component of our recreation master plan. I see soccer fields, football practice fields, walking amenities,” he said. “Then Park Street will be more of what is already is — a ‘park street.’ That will go a long way toward attracting young families and continuing the revitalization of downtown, like Sorrells Street Park has.”
Meanwhile, Champion will continue to operate its member services location at 3 Academy St., but will take advantage of the opportunity to bring its teams together in a new build within the town limits of Canton.
“The intent is that at the same time that we close on those two buildings, we close on the roughly 14-acre parcel just past Food Lion
“By relocating the Canton Police Department and Town Hall outside of the floodplain, we are more resilient to future events and can better serve the community during good times and bad.”
— Canton Town Manager Nick Scheuer
on New Clyde Highway,” said Jake Robinson, CEO of CCU. “We will be developing that land and that will bring all our operational teams together.”
Although Robinson didn’t identify the parcel, there are a number of likely candidates along New Clyde Highway or off Wellstown Road.
Like Smathers, Robinson expects those real estate closings to take place sometime this fall, while Canton waits for that $8.3 million to hit its bank account.
Robinson hopes to be in the new building “as fast as possible” depending on the availability of materials and labor.
“It’s been one of our strategic goals to continue building relationships across Western North Carolina,” Robinson said, “but Champion Credit Union wouldn’t be here today without the people of Canton, who have supported us since we opened in 1932. Canton’s in our blood. It’s who we are.”
Highlands shreds more than 2 tons
More than two tons of paper were collected for shredding and recycling recently at the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC’s Community Shred Event. According to Shred-it, the Chamber’s partner in the project, more than 15 garbage cans were filled with 4,620 pounds of paper material.
Additionally, $808 was collected to support the area’s first bilingual mental health counselor. The counselor will be part of the Plateau Behavioral Health Collaborative, a partnership of The Counseling Center, the Community Care Clinic of Highlands-Cashiers and the International Friendship Center.
“We’re pleased to offer this service to our community,” said Kaye McHan, executive director of the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC. “Not only does it help businesses and residents protect information, but it also helps our environment as all collected material is recycled.”
For more information about the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC, go to highlandschamber.org or call 828.526.5841.
This building on Main Street will become Canton’s police headquarters, probably sometime in 2024. Cory Vaillancourt photo
Sylva reins in short-term rentals
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF W RITER
New short-term rentals in Sylva will only be allowed as an accessory use to an existing dwelling, not the only residence on a lot, after the board unanimously voted to approve a revised ordinance on the issue last week. The move is part of an effort to address affordable housing, a problem plaguing many communities in the region.
“This is not the only approach that we want to take to address affordable housing,” said Commissioner David Nestler. “We have the ability to regulate uses in town, that’s part of living in a community. We get to balance the needs of our community members and determine what use regulations make sense. This is one of the tools that we have at our disposal to address affordable housing.”
Monthly data published by the Canopy Realtor Association shows the average listing price for a home in Jackson County in July at $968,809. The median sales price and average sales price were $402,000 and $448,746, respectively.
WHAT’S NEW?
The previous ordinance did not allow any short-term rentals in the low-density residential district or the general business district. It did allow them without much restriction in all other residential districts, as well as the professional business district. Commissioners did not feel that this was a good fit for Sylva and began working to rewrite the ordinance earlier this year.
The new ordinance allows short-term rentals in all residential districts as well as the general and professional business districts. However, it also enacts some new rules.
The new ordinance states, “The purpose of this ordinance is to preserve existing neighborhoods, balance housing needs with tourism, and maintain the quality of life for residents and visitors of the Town of Sylva.”
“The spirit of this thing is to encourage community, encourage people to live here, encourage the folks to come and work here,” said Commissioner Ben Guiney. “That’s what we’re trying to address here.”
The updated ordinance takes away the parking requirements for short-term rentals in the downtown business district. It requires that all rentals comply with all local ordinances and state laws, including but not limited to the town’s noise and sanitation ordinances. In addition, it is the responsibility of the property owner to post those ordinances where guests will see them.
The final new point of the revised ordinance garnered the most feedback from the public. It states that short-term rentals are “only allowed as an accessory use provided that the primary use of the main structure is owner-occupied or a long-term rental.” However, existing short-term rentals, those for which an occupancy tax was paid for the rental of such property prior to Aug. 25, are exempt from this requirement. If a rental is
exempt, it remains exempt until it changes ownership.
“I think the biggest takeaway is that it wouldn’t take away anyone’s existing [shortterm rental] because those are exempt from the change in the ordinance that is proposed, until it changes owners,” said Commissioner Natalie Newman.
The new provisions in the ordinance are intended to keep housing costs affordable for Sylva residents — whether that is longterm rentals or the cost of buying a home.
PUBLIC FEEDBACK
Several residents spoke at the Aug. 25 public hearing. Some were in favor of the ordinance, others were opposed — most of whom owned short-term rentals — but almost everyone agreed that affordable housing was a big issue facing the town.
“Over the course of my time living here, I’ve watched members of my community fight to maintain and find housing,” said Sarah Shelton. “People who have lived in these mountains for generations cannot afford to stay here or own land here. It is your responsibility to do what is right for every citizen in this town and vote in favor of these regulations.”
“I’m a homeowner here in Sylva; I own multiple homes; we have multiple rentals,” said Mary Garrett. “I want to have the freedom to continue to run my business.”
Several members of the public questioned why the town board was choosing this avenue to address affordable housing, to which board members reminded the audience that they have limited powers. Nestler noted that while this is not the only move the board wants to make to try and alleviate the need for housing, it is one option that is clearly within its purview.
Jennifer Harr asked the board whether it could use the tax money generated from short-term rentals toward projects that would increase the availability of affordable housing.
“Why don’t we spend that money and use it to help people that need affordable housing?”
USING TOURISM DOLLARS
Legislation permitting tourism bureaus to expend up to one third of their total rev-
The revised ordinance passed by Sylva’s town board lays out new rules for short-term rentals like those listed on Airbnb and VRBO.
County had applied for any of the money.
Neighboring Haywood County announced the recipients of its TDA onetime special grant projects in June. It awarded $500,000 to four towns, as well as one grant to Haywood County for its bike park.
Town Attorney Eric Ridenour noted that while the JCTDA has the money available to spend, it does not get to choose how to spend it; those stipulations are laid out in legislation crafted by the General Assembly.
“Part of that occupancy tax should go back to helping alleviate some of the issues that rentals create, but unfortunately in North Carolina, they make it pretty difficult,” said Nestler. “Nick [Breedlove] is doing a good job of trying to open that grant process, in fact the town of Sylva will be applying for one of those TCPF grants, but he is very limited in what he can do with that money.”
Ridenour brought up the case of Highlands, which has been in ongoing litigation for its short-term rental ordinance.
“Highlands has 270 short-term rentals within the municipal limits of the town of Highlands,” said Ridenour. “So they have
Another member of the public who does not live in the town limits but owns short-term rentals within Sylva’s town limits said, “I think it’s very unfair, because like other people, we worked hard. We’re retired, I worked in D.C., my husband was a police officer. We’ve invested a lot of money in our town, outfitting our place too. I want you guys to take note that there are people who aren’t in it for greed.”
Another resident raised the concern that if the town limits the availability of shortterm rentals, it could inadvertently negatively affect all the local businesses that depend on tourism for survival.
“When it comes to private property rights, once you start taking that away from someone, it’s a slippery slope,” said Dickie Woodard. “Who would enforce it?”
Commissioner Mary Gelbaugh noted that this revised ordinance may not be the final word on short-term rentals in Sylva. Last year, Sylva contracted with the firm Withers Ravenel to update its Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance.
“Withers Ravenel was very clear that this is a very gray issue right now and it is constantly changing, and the legislature will probably come back with something; when, we don’t know. This is a living document that could be altered,” said Gelbaugh.
enues on tourism related expenditures passed in 2011. According to the legislation, tourism-related expenditures are those designed to increase the use of lodging, meeting, or convention facilities in the county or to attract tourists or business travelers to the county. The term includes tourismrelated capital expenditures. The Jackson County Tourism Capital Project Fund gives community stakeholders the chance to apply for money made from room tax dollars in the county to fund projects that better the community for tourists and residents alike.
The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority began developing its application for capital projects in 2020 so that community stakeholders could apply for the available funds, and the first round of applications opened this summer. Up for grabs was a total of $750,000. Although the money is held by the JCTDA, Sylva could apply to receive some of the money for tourism-related capital expenditures. However, when the application deadline passed in August, no entity in Jackson
lost the real town; it’s purely tourism-driven. If you try to retain what everyone here knows as downtown Sylva, if you open that up so that it’s unbridled short-term rentals, downtown Sylva with real residents probably will no longer exist. So this is one way to preserve a real town with real businesses that is something other than purely tourists. That is another factor that goes into reining in short-term rentals.”
According to Nick Breedlove, executive director of the JCTDA, there are about 20 short-term rentals currently operating in Sylva. Ridenour noted that those existing rentals would be grandfathered in, and not have to comply with the stipulation that short-term rentals only be allowed as an accessory use as long as the rentals are owned by the same person.
“We’re trying to do this in the best interest of Sylva,” said Commissioner Greg Mcpherson.
Find the revised ordinance at sylvanc.govoffice3.com.
Buyers gaining more power as market shifts
Home sales in the Western North Carolina region continued to slow in July, mirroring broader housing trends and declining affordability across the country.
Sales, impacted by rising mortgage rates, inflationary pressures and prices, declined 22% compared to last July, as 994 homes sold across the 13-county Asheville region (which includes Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties). This time last year 1,275 homes sold in July, which is typically when home buying in the region is strong. Sales compared to the previous month (June) showed a decline of 14.7%. Housing statistics included in this report are completed transactions that include single-family and condo/townhomes only, according to data from Canopy MLS.
Pending sales in the region, typically a sign of buyer demand, are also down this month, with 1,142 homes under contract compared to 1,271 last year, a 10.1% decline. Month-over-month contract activity declined 3%. Though pending contract activity is down, showing activity indicates buyer interest is still steady across the 13-county service area, increasing 18.3% compared to July 2021.
New listings continued to cool in July,
down 10.8% year-over-year, as sellers listed 1,440 homes for sale compared to approximately 1,600 homes listed in July 2021. With the exception of a 5% year-overyear uptick in May 2022, July marks almost seven months of year-over-year declines in new listing activity.
The region’s inventory at report time declined 15.2% year-over-year, leaving 2,184 homes for sale or two months of supply. Months of supply and inventory have slowly been improving, in part due to the tremendous growth in new listings in 2021, which at year end showed new listings up nearly 9% over new listing activity in 2020. This factor, coupled with the slower pace of sales has allowed inventory and supply to slowly rise.
Prices continued to rise in July, with the average sales price ($479,700) increasing 19.9% and the median sales price ($400,000) rising 17.6% year-over-year. The region’s average list price jumped 20.5% to $533,596 versus last year. The % of original list price received by sellers remained relatively stable, at 98.2% versus 98.8% in July 2021, as sellers throughout the region continue to receive close to asking prices for their homes.
Time on market shows homes still sell-
Tribe prepares to rent new Whittier housing
New housing will soon be available for Cherokee tribal members in Whittier following a unanimous vote from Tribal Council Aug. 4.
Referred to as the “Whittier School property,” the tract was once home to the Whittier School building, which has since been demolished. Once the development is complete, it will hold 32 homes. As of Aug. 4, nine had been completed.
Tribal Council assigned the property to Kituwah LLC with a resolution passed on Oct. 29, 2020. The change aimed to complete the project more efficiently. However, that resolution required the LLC to come back before Tribal Council so the body could determine whether the LLC should continue to hold and manage the property or whether the property should return to the tribe.
“The ask is to transfer the property back to our housing division so that they can fill those vacancies with the tribal citizens that we have on our waiting list already,” said Principal Chief Richard Sneed.
Tribal Council voted unanimously to approve the resolution and place the property back under tribal management. It will
ing faster than last year, as the time from listing to close in July 2022 was 77 days, compared to 82 days in July 2021. Days on market until sale, the metric, which accrues for
now be managed by the Cherokee Indian Housing Division, which is sorting through applications to start housing tenants. As of the Aug. 4 meeting, the tribe had “well over 100” rental applications on file, Sneed said.
“Cherokee Indian Housing Division shall give first preference to qualified enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and second preference to qualified members of other federally recognized tribes when dwellings are developed and made available for occupancy,” the resolution says.
- By Holly Kays, staff writer
“Active” and “Under-contract-show” statuses, showed homes averaged 24 days on market until sale compared to 31 days for the same period a year ago.
Artists can apply for state grants
Artists in Haywood County have until Oct. 30 to apply for a state Arts Council grant as part of a consortium that includes Haywood, Buncombe, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties.
The Artist Support Grant was created in 2020 to support individual artists during the pandemic. In 2021 more than $44,000 was awarded to 25 artists.
Artist mediums spanned the gamut and each project was different. Some grants funded the purchase of materials and tools, and others funded project creation such as paying for the initial book writing process by Smoky Mountain News Reporter Garret Woodward for his project on bluegrass legend Raymond Fairchild. Fairchild was “known as the ‘fastest banjo player in the world’ and was born and raised in Haywood County,” says Woodward. “That is a project that gets to the true meaning of local artist support,” notes Morgan Beryl, executive director of the Haywood County Arts Council.
Artists may use the N.C. Arts Council’s GoSmart! system to apply. More information can be found at https://www.haywoodarts.org/grants-funding/ or https://ncarts.gosmart.org/.
Child molester gets 50-70 years
Following two weeks of evidence and testimony, jury members needed only 29 minutes of deliberations to convict a Jackson County man on seven charges connected with sex abuse of a minor.
The key to cracking the case and stopping the abuse, according to District Ashley Hornsby Welch, can be credited to Cherokee school teachers. After the child confided in them, they contacted law-enforcement officers, setting this week’s verdict in motion.
“This young girl trusted them with the information about three horrific years of abuse,” Welch said. “I cannot express strongly enough how important a role educators are playing in our children’s lives. Sometimes, it is lifesaving.”
Welch said jurors convicted Johnathon Micah Maney, 41, of:
• One count statutory rape of a child under the age of 13 by an adult.
• Two counts of statutory sex offense of a child under the age of 13.
• Four counts of indecent liberties with a child.
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Bill Coward sentenced Maney to serve a total minimum of 51.3 years to a total maximum of 72.41 years in the Division of Adult Corrections.
In North Carolina, sentences are rendered in accordance with the Structured Sentencing Law, a General Assembly approved range of minimum/maximum imprisonment ranges.
Broken down, the sentences were:
• 300-420 months for statutory rape.
• 300-420 months consolidated for the two counts of statutory sex offenses.
• 16-29 months consolidated for the four counts of indecent liberties.
The sexual abuse started in August 2014 when the child was nine years old.
At age 14, “She felt comfortable enough to go to her teachers and tell them that she was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks from the abuse,” Assistant District Attorney Chris Matheson said. “They were her safe outlet.”
Matheson and Assistant District Attorney
Jenica Hughes co-prosecuted the case.
“The verdict came in exactly three years to the day from when she told the first person,” Hughes said. “Now, with school back in session, we are again hearing of child-abuse reports, because teachers are such important people in these kids’ lives.”
Dr. Cynthia Brown, a child abuse pediatric specialist with Mission Children’s Hospital, told jurors about half of victims do not reveal abuse until adulthood.
Initially, FBI agents conducted the investigation. After discovering the crimes occurred both on and off the Cherokee Indian Reservation, jurisdiction shifted to Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Lt. John Beagle handled the case for Jackson County.
Cherokee County man found guilty of drug trafficking
A Cherokee County man who sold large quantities of illegal drugs out of a Canton hotel room will spend, at minimum, one month shy of 44 years in state prison.
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said Haywood County jurors found Richard “Ricky” James King, 53, of Marble, guilty last week for two counts of trafficking methamphetamine, maintaining a vehicle for controlled substances, and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine.
Superior Court Judge Steve Warren handed down consecutive sentences for each of the four charges, or 43 years and 11 months in prison to 56 years and three months.
On April 30, 2021, Haywood County Sgt. Detective Micah Phillips and Detective Jordan Reagan set up surveillance at the Canton hotel. When King left the hotel, driving away on a revoked license, the two detectives initiated a traffic stop.
The detectives searched the vehicle. They discovered a large sum of money and digital scales. Later, they found drugs stashed in a void between the car’s truck bed and bumper.
Kate Robinette and Jeff Jones served as coprosecutors in securing the conviction.
Jonathon Maney
Richard King
WCU opens ‘Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories’ exhibit
Beginning in the 1870s, the U.S. government attempted to educate and assimilate American Indians into “civilized” society by placing children — of all ages, from thousands of homes and hundreds of diverse tribes — in distant, residential boarding schools.
Many were forcibly taken from their families and communities and stripped of all signs of “Indianness,” even forbidden to speak their own language amongst themselves. Up until the 1930s, students were trained for domestic work and trade in a highly regimented environment. Many children went years without familial contact, and these events had a lasting, generational impact.
“Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories” explores offreservation boarding schools in a kaleidoscope of voices. The exhibit opens Thursday, Sept. 1, at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center. Native Americans responded to the often-tragic boarding school experience in complex and nuanced ways. Stories of student resistance, accommodation, creative resolve, devoted participation, escape and faith in one’s self and heritage speak individually across eras. Some families, facing increasingly scarce resources due to land dispossession and a diminishing way of life at home, sent their children to boarding schools as a refuge from these realities. In the variety of reactions, Ojibwe historian Brenda Childs finds that the “boarding school experience was carried out in public but had an intensely private dimension.”
Unintended outcomes, such as a sense of “Pan Indianism” and support networks, grew and flourished on campuses, and advocates demanded reform. Boarding schools were designed to remake American Indians but it was American Indians who changed the schools. After graduation, some students became involved in tribal political office or the formation of civil rights and Native sovereignty organizations. The handful of federal boarding schools remaining today embrace Indigenous heritage, languages, traditions and culture.
Please note: “Away from Home” contains stories of resilience and revitalization, agency and honor. Please be aware that it also contains descriptions of human indignities and hardships and terms that reflect historically racist perspectives and language from past eras. In speaking the truth about acts of seemingly unfathomable violence and suffering in the lives of Native peoples, this exhibition is advised for more mature audience members, grades eight to adult.
The Mountain Heritage Center is located in the Hunter Library Building at 176 Central Dr. in Cullowhee. This exhibit will be on display from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through Oct. 20. The exhibit will also be open select Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. including Sept. 24 and Oct. 15. Admission is free and special tours for groups are available with advance notice. For more information call 828.227.7129.
HCC selects SGA president
Forestry student Ezra Messer has been selected as SGA president at Haywood Community College.
Messer decided to run for the position to gain leadership experience while having fun and challenging himself. It is also a way for Messer to spread the community feeling to all students at the college to ensure they enjoy their time on campus.
Messer considers himself a “local guy” as a 2018 graduate of Pisgah High School. He has spent most of his life in the Canton area, with some time in east Tennessee. He originally came to HCC to start a transfer program but soon realized his passion was for the outdoors. After one dendrology course and a call from his Success Coach while on a fishing trip, Messer realized that following his passion for the outdoors and the
environment could lead him down a career path that interests him.
“I wanted to do SGA to build my leadership skills and get a taste of a professional work environment and to grow and learn,” says Messer.
Messer will graduate in May and plans to either continue his education or work for the North Carolina Forest Service.
For more information about HCC, visit haywood.edu or call 828.627.2821.
Jones, Davidson begin new terms on SCC’s Board of Trustees
Two longtime leaders have begun new fouryear terms on Southwestern Community College’s Board of Trustees.
Vance Davidson, who serves as vice chair, and Mark Jones were sworn in on Aug. 9 at the col-
the programs it offers, visit southwesterncc.edu, call 828.339.4000 or drop by your nearest SCC location.
HCC hosts boating safety courses
Haywood Community College’s Department of Arts, Sciences, and Natural Resources and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will offer a boating safety course from 6-9 p.m. on September 20-21 on the HCC campus in Walnut Building 3300, room 3322. Participants must attend two consecutive evenings to receive the certification.
These courses are offered as a community service and are free. There are no minimum age requirements; however, a written exam must be completed without assistance.
Pre-registration is required. Anyone interested in taking the course must register online in order to attend any session. Course registration may be completed atwww.ncwildlife.org.
Psychology program receives accreditation
Three years after welcoming in its inaugural class, Western Carolina University’s Doctor of Psychology program received accreditation from the American Psychological Association.
The APA granted the program accreditation in clinical and school psychology on contingency, meaning the program must provide outcome data for students in the program and program graduates within three years of receiving this status. APA is the only organization authorized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit doctoral-level professional psychology programs.
lege’s Jackson Campus in Sylva.
“We’re grateful for all the men and women who serve on our board of trustees,” said Dr. Don Tomas, SCC’s president. “Mr. Jones and Mr. Davidson have both been tremendous advocates for Southwestern over the years, and I look forward to working with them in their new terms.”
A member of the board since 2010, Davidson is a retired trust banker and attorney from Alabama. Since moving to Jackson County, he’s served on multiple non-profit boards and foundations. He has been a driving force for SCC’s annual fundraising gala since its inception in 2015.
Meanwhile, Jones originally joined SCC’s Board of Trustees in 2014. The Front House manager for Mica’s Restaurant & Pub in Sapphire, Jones is a member of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. He is also the Jackson County representative on the Fontana Regional Library Board.
The new terms for Davidson and Jones will run through June of 2026.
For more information about Southwestern and
“It’s a major milestone for the program,” said Jon Campbell, director of the Doctor of Psychology program. “Basically, what accreditation communicates to the public is that our program meets the professional and scientific standards that are set forth by the American Psychological Association. That’s a big deal.”
The process for accreditation began in October of 2020 when WCU submitted a self-study. Eventually, that was followed up by a site visit, followed by a vote by the commission on accreditation.
The groundwork for WCU’s Doctor of Psychology program began about a decade ago when faculty members David McCord, Candace Boan-Lenzo, Kia Asberg, Alvin Malesky, David Solomon and Lori Unruh submitted a proposal and put together the curriculum, Campbell said.
“Achieving APA accreditation is one of the final milestones for our PsyD program,” said Kim Winter, dean of WCU’s College of Education and Allied Professions. “This achievement substantiates the fact that we are preparing students to provide outstanding, evidence-based clinical service to ensure the well-being of the public.
For more information on the Doctor of Psychology program, contact Campbell at jmcampbell@wcu.edu.
Angel DeCora, Untitled painting, ca. 1900; oil on canvas.
Darling Family Collection
No coincidence: good local newspapers = good place to live
There’s a basic human longing for a sense of place, some part of the world that’s home, a place where you are a part of something that feeds your soul. Find it, feel it, and you’re one of the lucky ones.
The first that seemed right to a boy not yet a man were the tall piney woods and slow moving creeks where the piedmont meets the coastal flats and swamps. We’d run the woods near our neighborhoods when we could and spend summer days bending down to pull gummy tobacco leaves from the stalk, boys barely in our teens aching for spending money. Nights we’d wander the same woods, build fires to gather around and trade stories of big plans, furtive kisses and broken homes. School holidays we’d head to my father’s home along the Pee Dee River, to uncles and aunts and cousins who woke before dawn to feed the dogs, get the trucks loaded and head out for the hunt. We’d bring home quail, rabbits, doves, duck, whatever was the season, clean and cook’em that same day. I can still feel that pre-sunrise anticipation, the excitement of the hunt ahead of us, the satisfaction of the supper I had helped bring home. The entire visit my brothers and I would endure the endless needling about being city boys, and I
Who works for the general good?
To the Editor: Republicans like to talk about how Democrats are ruining the country without being specific on how that is taking place. Let’s look at recent events to see who is really concerned about the wellbeing of the American public, the country, and the planet. About 37 million Americans have diabetes, or about 1 in 10 citizens. According to the Rand Corporation, one of the most respected research organizations, Americans with diabetes pay 5 to 10 times as much as what people in other developed countries pay. A survey found that 83% of Americans with diabetes report financial hardships due to the cost of insulin making it difficult to pay for essentials, such as food, clothing and housing.
On Aug. 6, 43 Republican senators voted against capping copayment for insulin in private insurance policies. This measure would have capped the co-pay for insulin prescriptions at $35. Insulin has been a generic since its development in 1922. Therefore, the only cost in producing the medication is the actual cost of production. There is no reason not to put the brakes on the runaway pricing in the U.S.
All 50 Republican senators voted against clean energy and addressing climate change.
learned early to admire the country relatives who seemed to know so many things that their generation took to their graves.
Then came the mountains. I was 17 when I first visited, and I was hooked. During my years in and around Boone I studied hard enough, but I was often in the woods, camping, hiking, splashing in some cold creek, perched somewhere as a witness to a stunning sunset that looked as if God himself was painting the sky. After a few years away, Lori and I made it back, this time to Haywood County. We’ve called these mountains home for 30 years.
The importance of that sense of belonging that I feel for this place struck me while attending the North Carolina Press Association’s awards ceremony last week in Raleigh. I looked around the room at an event I’ve been attending on and off for a few decades, and the room has changed. Most of the
LETTERS
Virtually all reputable climate scientists are warning that we need to take immediate action to slow and eventually stop the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Science has shown that infectious diseases are more problematic due to climate change. Even the Pentagon considers climate change to be one of the greatest threats to national and global security. If you think wars over territory and oil are bad, wait until people are fighting over access to water. Climate change will make current refugee issues mild in comparison. Still, all Republican senators opposed any action on climate change.
Republicans at the state level are doing their best to make climate change worse. In several states, Republicans have pushed the interests of the petroleum industry over the wellbeing of citizens. Even in North Carolina, Republicans proposed requiring the installation of gas pumps wherever anyone wanted to install an electric charger for cars. Other equally ridiculous restrictions on electrification and opposition to other efforts to address climate change can be found. Are Republicans so indebted to the oil industry, or are they just being obstructionists to “own” Democrats and environmentalists? In any case, Republican leaders do not appear to have any concern about Americans or the planet.
publishers whose families had owned their newspapers for a generation or two are gone. The number of privately held media companies has shrunk to just a handful. Even many smaller community papers are now owned by the big chains. Those corporations don’t always have the best interests of their communities at the forefront of their decision making, despite the best efforts of journalists still working in hollowed out newsrooms. The passion to produce quality journalism that’s meaningful to the place you call home gets sucked out of an organization when its primary mission is to attract clicks that are almost always put behind a paywall (just ask Bob Gremillion, publisher of the Asheville Watchdog, a fantastic online news source over in Buncombe County).
Which media companies won the most awards and the most prestigious honors in Raleigh last week? Those whose owners and staff are invested in the communities where they live, who are passionate about what they do (as my friend and fellow publisher David Woronoff explained in a column he wrote earlier this week for Business NC magazine), and most of whom showed up at the awards ceremony.
I’m always proud of our staff. To a person, everyone who’s hard work, creativity and enthusiasm is crucial to this newspaper’s success has a special tie to these mountains. Awards aren’t important, but doing good journalism that contributes to making this place we call home a better place to live is fundamental to this newspaper’s mission. Getting recognized for doing that just feels good.
(To see a full list of the awards won by The Smoky Mountain News, visit our website. Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com)
Instead of addressing real issues, Republicans have ranted about made up issues, such as teaching critical race theory in grade school. They also appear to think that their kids are such snowflakes that reading a book with a gay character will harm their mental wellbeing. Censorship and book burning have never resulted in positive consequences.
The bottom line seems to be that if you want real problems and issues to be addressed, voting for Democrats is a possible solution. If you want Congress to become a circus of nonsense lead by the likes of Jim Jordan and Loui Gohmert, vote for Republicans.
Norman Hoffman Waynesville
Editor Scott McLeod
The circle of life in a new apartment
The ‘circle of life’ philosophy is not only about procreation and ensuring the long-term existence of a species. It’s also about love, family ties and paying it forward.
When my sister and I were little girls, my dad spent countless hours decorating our house and yard for all the holidays. We were both born in late October, so Halloween was one of our favorite times of the year. At all of our birthday parties, our friends wore their costumes, and my dad would have ghoulish creatures hanging from the eaves, fake spiders climbing the walls and glowing orange lights bordering the windows.
My dad was also the pilot on every trip and vacation. Whether it was one of our many station wagons or the black van with red interior, my dad expertly navigated many highways and byways to reach our destination. In our earliest years, we’d often fall asleep on long rides, and if we were still snoozing upon arrival, he’d carry us in one at a time and put us in bed.
Later in our lives, he moved my sister and me numerous times from dorms to apartments to houses. And if he couldn’t do everything himself, he would gather a gaggle of buddies and trailers and figure it out or he would pay some burly guys to do the job. Whatever it took, he got his daughters moved in and situated, wherever we may be living.
Around the time I sort of figured out how to be an adult and take care of myself, a little boy entered my world, and then another. We entered a new phase of life where my dad became the fun grandparent. While my mom made meals, changed diapers and sang songs for naps, my dad chased the boys around the house, let them ride on his back like a bucking bronco and tickled them until they laughed with hysteria. He would hold their chubby hands and walk them around my parents’ yard pointing out the various flowers, butterflies and his pet frog, Ribbit. Watching my parents with my boys was one of the greatest joys of my life and something I hold so close to my heart.
Fast forward to August 2022 when we finally got confirmation that my dad's application had been approved for one of the Brookmont Loft apartments at the old hospital building in Waynesville. In early spring 2020, at the start of the pandemic, he sold the house in Weaverville that he shared with my late mother. After four years of trying to keep it up himself, it became too much for him. But with COVID-
19 raging, he didn’t want to look for a new house at that time, so for the past two years, he’s been traveling between my sister’s house in Virginia, our house in Waynesville and our rental house in Maggie Valley.
We all knew this wasn’t a long-term solution for him, but we couldn’t find a house or apartment that suited his needs. Then, as if the universe was listening, I was assigned a story about the hospital renovation and conducted an interview with John Stiltner from Landmark Property Management Company. During the interview, Stilnter said the eventual apartments were intended for seniors, small families and single parents. I told him about my dad, a widower who was a retired teacher and charter bus operator who didn’t necessarily want to live in a house alone but wanted a place to call his own. Stiltner said my dad seemed like the perfect candidate for one of the Brookmont Loft apartments.
As soon as we could, we submitted an application and followed all of the many steps to get everything turned in, then we waited and waited, and finally, we connected with someone from Landmark who said they had a unit for my dad.
Over the past week, we’ve been moving him in, setting up cable, buying shower curtains, dishes and groceries. And even though two bouts of COVID set him back health-wise, I can tell this change in his life has put a pep in his step. As he said, “I just want a place to call my own and hang my clothes.” Who doesn’t want that?
With him being almost 78 years old and not feeling 100 percent, my boyfriend, four of our kids and I have been doing all of the moving, assembling furniture, hanging shower curtains, and the like. I’ve also helped set up his utilities and cable because with everything moving to scanning, emailing and online accounts, it’s hard for his generation to navigate the techy landscape of today’s billing world.
Several times he’s apologized for being a burden or taking up too much of our time, and I respond truthfully by saying it is my sincere pleasure to do this for him. I have to remind him that he and my mom took care of me and my sister and our children. My dad still loves to take care of all of us by taking care of our animals, buying us plants, taking our garbage and recycling out, attending ball games, sending cards, and giving the kids gold dollars and other fun and unique things that only Papa Bill can think of.
I told him this is the true circle of life. When it comes to those we love, nothing is a burden. Every single moment is a gift. (Susanna Shetley is a writer, editor and digital media strategist with The Smoky Mountain News, Smoky Mountain Living, and Mountain South Media. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com)
NOTICE
OF PUBLIC HEARING RELATIVE TO APPLICATION BY TOWN OF WAYNESVILLE FOR FUNDING UNDER THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1974, AS AMENDED
Notice is hereby given that the Town of Waynesville will conduct a public hearing on September 13, 2022 at 6:00 PM, or as soon thereafter as the agenda will allow, in the Town Hall Board Room located at 9 South Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786 relative to the intention of the Town Board of Aldermen to apply for FY2022 CDBG funding under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act.
Town of Waynesville intends to submit an application for a grant of approximately Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000) in CDBG Infrastructure funds for the South Waynesville Sanitary Sewer System Improvements Project, which will replace deteriorated sewer lines and appurtenances for purposes of eliminating infiltration and inflow. The project area includes: South Main Street, Allens Creek Road, Browning Road, Hendrix Street, Franklin Street, Norman Street, Chelsea Road, Putman Street, Sawyer Street, Polk Street, Avery Street, Red Oak Lane, Muse Street, Burris Lane, Clay Street, Francis Street, Long Street and Caravan Road.
The following is a tentative list of proposed activities and an estimated budget. The final application will be reviewed at the public hearing.
Infrastructure Improvements and Grant Administration Estimated Budget $2,000,000.00
The proposed project will provide benefits to 780 persons, 64.74 % of whom are low and moderate income individuals based on US Census statistics. No individuals will be displaced nor will any require temporary relocation assistance as a result of the proposed project.
Citizens will be given the opportunity to provide oral and written comment on the Town’s past and
proposed use of CDBG funds at the public hearing. All interested citizens are encouraged to attend. If additional information is needed, please contact the Development Services Director, Elizabeth Teague at 9 S. Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786, 828-456-2004 or eteague@waynesvillenc.gov. Formal written complaints or comments concerning the application process that are submitted to the Development Services Director prior to or following the public hearing will be responded to within fifteen (15) working days by September 27, 2022. A copy of the completed project application will be available for public review after September 23, 2022, at the Town of Waynesville, Development Services Office, 9 S. Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786. Persons with disabilities or who otherwise need assistance should contact Elizabeth Teague, Development Services Director, at 9 S. Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786. or eteague@waynesvillenc.gov, TDD # 711 or 800-735-2962 or Relay North Carolina by September 10, 2022. Accommodations will be made for all who request assistance with participating in the public hearing. This information is available in Spanish or any oth- er language upon request. Please contact Elizabeth Teague, Development Services Director, at 828-456-2004, or at the 9 S. Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786 for accommodations for this request.
Esta información está disponible en español o en cualquier otro idioma bajo petición. Por favor, póngase en contacto con Elizabeth Teague, Development Services Director, al 828456-2004 o en 9 S. Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786, de alojamiento para esta solicitud.
Columnist
Susanna Shetley
DAYS WE LEFT BEHIND
Arnold Hill to play Canton Labor Day
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR
One of the finer experiences of being a bona fide music freak is to witness and appreciate the growth and development of a particular group. You’re not only seeing new layers added to an ensemble, but also the continued trajectory of their artistic and creative pursuits.
For Sylva-based rock act Arnold Hill, it’s about the addition of lead guitarist Adam Blythe in recent months. Going from a trio to a quartet now opens up a bevy of melodic possibilities, which only strengthens the sonic landscape of its harder, electric sound in our backyard of mostly string and acoustic performers.
With the band now complete and off to the races, Arnold Hill has its eyes now aimed on recording a follow-up album to its 2021 release “How to Run” in the not-to-distant future —
the wheels of songwriting and collaboration cranking at an ever-increasing speed of excitement and promise for the young act.
Smoky Mountain News: Where is the band right now, in terms of aspirations, new levels of growth and creativity?
Heath Brown (drums): We continue to refine our sound by writing new music. We’re working to write collaboratively as a band, whereas previously, we wrote in personal time and brought it to practice. We’re always listening to other new artists and each other to decide what we like and don’t like.
Arnold Hill is becoming more individual in our work by developing the sounds we like and dropping old habits from previous bands or projects. Our intent does remain the same in wanting to have fun as friends and musicians while providing quality and professional entertainment.
Canton Labor Day
Presented by Champion Credit Union and sponsored by Ingles Markets, the 114th annual Canton Labor Day celebration will be held Sept. 4-5 at Sorrells Street Park in downtown Canton.
Live music will begin at noon on both days. Hitting the stage will be CMA, ACM and Grammy-winning act Diamond Rio, as well as Americana/indie sensation Mipso, country rocker Joe Lasher, party-grass pickers Ol’ Dirty Bathtub, jam-rock act Arnold Hill, and much more.
Tickets are $10 per day, per person or $15 for a two-day pass. Passes are not available at the gate. For more information, a full schedule of events and activities or to purchases tickets, click on cantonlaborday.com.
SMN: You added a new lead guitarist, Adam Blythe. What does he bring into the musical fold that can take the group to new heights?
Mike Yow (guitar): Sam, Heath, and I have known Adam musically for over a decade, as we’ve played with him in several capacities. After our last project with Adam ended when his family moved to Eastern North Carolina, we’d decided that if the opportunity ever came about again, we’d rock with him. Adam and his family moved back to the area recently after about three years, and the decision was a nobrainer to add him to Arnold Hill.
Adam did come to visit during the recording of our last album to hang out and add guitar sound. As a band, we looked forward to adding a different dynamic to songs than what we were able to supply on our own as a trio.
SMN: Take me into the creative realm of Arnold Hill. You’ve mentioned that the band is hitting new and big strides lately, in terms of writing and constructing a fresh batch of songs.
Sam McCarson (bassist): It all starts by collaborating with each other to make a song we all think is interesting and would be enjoyed by others, while also meeting our musical curiosities and passions. Most of our songs are observational or based on some sort of personal experience. We like to write about what we see or feel.
The process starts with a member sharing their lyrics or an idea, and as a band we then work to add music and complete the song. Onstage, we’re then able to not just play the song as we wrote it, but also perform it. Through this, we are able to show our authentic friendship and appreciation for each other — on and off the stage.
SMN: The music industry is an odd place to navigate right now. What are the obstacles you’re coming up against, and how are you able to overcome those things?
Adam Blythe (guitar): The music industry
has changed, even from us growing up. Most people aren’t buying full albums or going to see smaller bands or buying merchandise anymore. We’re trying to navigate that, but it’s not our top priority.
For instance, our upcoming projects will have a shorter track list, because that’s how people consume music now. If places stopped booking us today, we’d still meet up weekly for a beer around a bonfire to play and write together. We frequently do live-streams on social media because it’s fun for us and we try link it to a fundraiser or some way to support our community.
For us, we’re all looking out for each other and working on passion projects that we selffund because we love playing music together. This makes it sustainable, and still feels successful for us — we’re as much in it for the process as we are the outcome.
“There
aren’t a lot of ‘rock’ or ‘alternative’ bands in the WNC scene right now, so it’s refreshing to hear when listeners appreciate what we’re doing in these areas. There are also more diverse audiences with tourists and locals to be able to build a crowd or fan base.”
— Heath Brown, drums
SMN: Being an independent band in Western North Carolina, what is it about our scene west of Asheville that makes it so unique, rich and vibrant?
HB: The further west you go, there are less dedicated music venue specific places, so you get to be creative with non-traditional spaces, like restaurants, festivals, bars, or outdoor areas. This has taught us how to be professional when it comes to our approach and sound for the folks in those spaces.
There aren’t a lot of “rock” or “alternative” bands in the WNC scene right now, so it’s refreshing to hear when listeners appreciate what we’re doing in these areas. There are also more diverse audiences with tourists and locals to be able to build a crowd or fan base. We also get the opportunity to work more directly with local business owners who share the same desire to build clientele as we do our listener base.
We like playing in our home community and taking care of the businesses that also support us and the local music scene. As Asheville continues to grow, the music scene past Asheville will also continue to present more opportunities.
(From left) Arnold Hill is Heath Brown, Adam Blythe, Sam McCarson and Mike Yow. (Garret K. Woodward photo)
This must be the place
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
Set of keys and a dusty suitcase, car wheels on a gravel road
What’s that feeling the day before a big trip? More so, a road trip? Where you’re mulling over what to pack and what to not forget to do before you leave town — your friends and all things familiar now in the rearview mirror.
I always get so sentimental when I’m preparing to bounce from my humble abode to destinations unknown (and some known). What will my apartment feel like when I return at an undetermined time? What memories will be made that have yet to reveal themselves? Do I really have to tell the post office to hold my mail for a month or more? I don’t get much mail, anyhow.
Will the lady behind the counter at the coffee shop around the corner from my apartment still remember “the usual” order of mine when I wander back across the threshold of the business several weeks since my last visit? Breakfast sandwich. Iced coffee (with a shot of espresso). To that, should I shut the big window in apartment or leave it cracked a little bit to prevent the place from getting all musty?
Let’s see — what to pack?
Enough underwear and socks for at least five days. Few comfortable T-shirts. Jeans. Boots (hiking and dress). Shorts and jorts (cutoff jean shorts). Running clothes and shoes. Nice button up for certain occasions that may arise. Heavy flannel for certain weather that may rear its ugly head. Zip up the old road guitar with newly placed strings. Toiletries. Camping gear. Cooler. Check it all off. Pack lightly and with simple intents.
Plattsburgh, New York, for the wedding of two old friends on Labor Day Weekend. It’ll be a celebration for the ages, with countless beloved faces in attendance. That, and it’ll be nice to be back in my native North Country just as the slight crisp air of fall rolls in, the maple trees high up in the mountains starting to bust with color in their ancient rhythms.
There’s also cold suds at the Monopole and Fourth Ward Club in downtown Plattsburgh with longtime cronies and new
transplants to my hometown, and maybe a handful end-of-the-season “michigan hot dogs” (our version of a sauce dog) at Clare & Carl’s before they close the doors until next year.
HOT PICKS
1
The 13th season of Concerts On The Creek will conclude with Alma Russ (Americana/indie-folk) from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, at Bridge Park in Sylva.
2
As part of “FolkmootLIVE!,” roots/soul act Qwanqwa will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, in the Queen Auditorium at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.
3
A stage production of the literary classic “Little Women” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 22-24 and at 2 p.m. Sept. 4, 11, 18 and 25 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
4
“Art After Dark” will continue from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, in downtown Waynesville.
5
The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host J.J. Hipps & The Hideaways (rock/blues) at 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3.
It’s those hundreds (thousands) of miles between doorsteps and parking spaces, that void of gasoline and pushing the pedal down where all the real work takes place within. The urge to keep going, keep the nose of the old truck aimed for the horizon. Don’t worry, there’s enough gas and will power to get there — wherever and whenever that may be.
Embrace what lies just ahead. Provoke the chaos, for it’s the only way we’ve ever known to properly navigate this universe, anyhow. Read through old poems written in haste in 2015 — these subconscious direction markers from some higher power signaling you from way down the road:
Looking at the map, the initial route has shifted several times over the last few weeks, numerous possible itineraries along the endless lost highways and interstates across the great land we call America. The only anchor points (as of now) are Plattsburgh, New York; Burlington, Vermont; Ottawa, Canada; Detroit, Michigan; Lexington, Kentucky; and Nashville, Tennessee.
Everything else? Well, just like any worthwhile adventure in this all too crazy, wondrous world, we’ll just have to wait and see how the cards may fall in the midst of the “here and now.” Establish a few anchor points and proceed with endless curiosity and purposeful vulnerability. Oh, and a deep sense of gratitude, one radiating kindness to
Who knows? If anything, there’s some hiking in order, with my sights aimed at peaks around the small mountain communities of Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. Maybe even a night camping out of the back of my truck at Buck Pond, definitely an extended trail run down the Bloomington Bog Trail before a picturesque drive back into the Champlain Valley on Route 3.
All of these thoughts and emotions ricocheting through the mind like fireflies on a sultry late summer evening. Embrace the excitement and soak in the anticipation, for each trip — by land, sea or air — is another opportunity to shed your emotional skin, and to wrap a new layer of intrinsic beauty around your soul filled with childlike wonder, a nod to the gods of all that is irresponsible enlightenment and eternal discovery. But, mostly, it’s about clearing the mind of any and all heaviness of the recent past.
“It is the western prairies/When I thought of what was/In the rearview mirror/In the cold, cold ground/In the miles not yet traveled/Fast burning rubber along silent nights/Hard pavement and rocks kicked down it/To the left is Ohio, onward to Maine and the Atlantic/To the right, Kansas, Utah and the mighty Pacific/Skipping stones into the unknown depths/They all sink, eventually/Some sparkle brighter from the bottom than others/The hand of fate reaches down and picks them up/Out of mere curiosity, perhaps even the idea of possession/And the notion that you can walk out the door any minute/So long as you never look at bills as reasons to get out of bed/Hard pavement and rocks kicked down it/When I thought of what was/And where you are today/And if you finally got what you wanted/And if it was worth it, all of it/Come hell or high water/It is the western prairies/Of scratchy AM radio/Of blood red sunsets/As if angels themselves slashed their wrists/Across the sky/Hard pavement and rocks kicked down it/In some quiet New Mexico town/Your mother was right/It truly is as beautiful a place as it is haunting .…”
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
Bloomingdale
Bog Trail. (Garret K. Woodward photo)
On the beat
Open call for JAM students
The Haywood County Arts Council’s popular Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program is now open to accepting new students and promising young musicians.
Classes will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays from Sept. 6 through Dec. 20 at the Folkmoot Friendship in Waynesville. A special open house will be held on Sept. 6. The “End of Semester Performance” will be held on the last class of the semester.
HCAC offers this after-school program for students in grades 4-12 to learn to play fiddle, banjo, and guitar in Appalachian styles from well-known musicians. The JAM is designed to acquaint area young people with their local cultural heritage through instruction in mountain music. Learn more at jamkids.org.
Each week, our talented instructors
share their knowledge of regional traditional music with children in after-school classes at the Folkmoot Friendship Center. The emphasis is on community, learning the old-time styles of playing and singing music, developing our ears and creativity, and continuing the folk process here in the mountains that has been going on for 200 years or more.
JAM is a friendly place for students to come after school where it’s safe to create and fulfilling to work together. The friendships formed at JAM are different than anywhere else, and being in a band and playing music with your friends can be the experience of a lifetime.
The JAM spring semester will also run Jan. 17 through May 16. To note, JAM is canceled when Haywood County schools get out early or are closed.
For more information about JAM and/or to register, click on haywoodarts.org/junior-appalachian-musicians-jam.
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. 828.631.1987 or balsamfallsbrewing.com.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a semi-regular acoustic jam with the Main Street NoTones from 7 to 9 p.m. every first and third Thursday of the month. 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, In Flight (jam/rock) Sept. 3, DJ Kountry Sept. 9 and TrancEnd (rock/soul) Sept. 10. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 or boojumbrewing.com.
• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host Colby Deitz (soul/roots) 7 p.m. Sept. 10. Free and open to the public. 828.634.0078 or curraheebrew.com.
• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host the “Orchard Sessions” with Sarah Darling (singer-songwriter) 6 p.m. Sept. 7. Tickets start at $25 per person. For tickets, click on
‘FolkmootLIVE!’ presents Qwanqwa
As part of “FolkmootLIVE!,” roots/soul act Qwanqwa will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, in the Queen Auditorium at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.
Qwanqwa is a supergroup of musicians from the baddest ensembles of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Brought together by a shared passion for the power of Ethiopian music, this group shines in experimentalism based in the virtuosity of rooted traditions.
With swirling mesenko (one-stringed fiddle), wah-wah-violin, bass krar boom, and the unstoppable rhythm of heavy kebero
(goat-skin drum) beats, powerful traditional lead African diva vocals, Qwanqwa keeps the people wrapped in celebratory attention.
Delving deep into regional beats and moods, the repertoire ranges from a trancelike song of the Eritrean tribe of Blen to a Somalian rock number to Mahmoud Ahmed sing-a-longs. They have appeared internationally and have played stages from Lincoln Center to Bonnaroo, Jazzfest (New Orleans), Moers Festival, Roskilde, WOMEX, WOMAD and more.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person. folkmoot.org.
oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.
• Fontana Village Resort Wildwood Grill will host Woolybooger (blues/folk) 5 p.m. Sept. 2 and David Cody (singer-songwriter) 6 p.m. Sept. 3. Free and open to the public. 800.849.2258 or fontanavillage.com.
• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will host Zorki (singer-songwriter) Sept. 2 and Supper Break (bluegrass/folk) Sept. 9 at Town Square on Main Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• Frog Quarters (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows are free and are held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Located at 573 East Main St. littletennessee.org or 828.369.8488.
• Groovin’ on the Green (Cashiers) will host Hi-Five Sept. 2. Shows begin at 6:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. villagegreencashiersnc.com/concerts.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host “Trivia Night with Kirk” from 7 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday, Open Mic Night every Wednesday and Tina Collins (singer-songwriter) Sept.
10. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.
• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Music Bingo” with Hibiscus Sunshine every Wednesday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Joe Lasher & Kaitlin Baker (rock/country) Sept. 3. 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 Dave Desmelik (singer-songwriter) Sept. 9. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Macon County Public Library (Franklin) will host a “Songwriters Workshop” with Joe Scott 1 p.m. Sept. 3. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. Sponsored by The Arts Council of Macon County. 828.524.3600.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host a Community Jam 6 p.m. Sept. 1. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 or fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Open Mic Night w/Ivor Sparks every Wednesday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.
• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.641.9797 or nantahalabrewing.com.
• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) Sept. 2, Natti Love Joys (reggae/soul) Sept. 3 and Konrad Kuechenmeister (indie/jam) Sept. 4. All shows behind at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. noc.com.
• Orchard Coffee (Waynesville) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. Tickets available for purchase at the shop. 828.246.9264 or orchardcoffeeroasters.com.
Qwanqwa.
Junior Appalachian Musicians.
On the beat
Concerts On The Creek
The 13th season of Concerts On The Creek will conclude with Alma Russ (Americana/indiefolk) from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, at Bridge Park in Sylva. 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.
• Pickin’ In The Park (Canton) will host Rick Morris & Southern Appalachian Sept. 2. Shows are 6 to 9 p.m. at the Canton Rec Park located at 77 Penland St. Free and open to the public. cantonnc.com.
• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Intermission (praise/worship) Sept. 3. 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.
ALSO:
• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. every Tuesday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.586.1717 or facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.
• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.369.6796.
• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will host Blaze The City (pop/dance) Sept. 3 and The Rockabillys (rock/country) Sept. 10 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, Ashley Heath (singer-songwriter) Sept. 2 and J.J. Hipps & The Hideaways (rock/blues) Sept. 3. 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 Big Eyes Parker (singer-songwriter) Sept. 1. All
Donations for the FRIENDS of the Haywood County Animal Shelter appreciated.
shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.743.8655 or slopesidetavern.com.
• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. smokymountainarts.com or 828.524.1598.
• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.479.3364 or stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host Brandi Colt & Kayla Ray (singer-songwriter) 6 p.m. Sept. 3 and Rene Russell (singer-songwriter) 2 p.m. Sept. 11. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.
• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host Twisted Trail 3 p.m. Sept. 4 and Sound Investment 3 p.m. Sept. 11. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.926.7440 or valleytavern.com.
• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.743.6000 or whitesidebrewing.com.
• Yonder Community Market (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. 828.200.2169 or eatrealfoodinc.com.
Alma Russ.
Ready to try theater?
The Haywood Arts Regional Theater in Waynesville is currently offering a wide variety of classes in the theater arts for all ages, young and old. Whether you are just starting out or want to hone your skills, HART has opportunities for you.
Sign up your youngest one or grandkid who has a ton of creative energy, but doesn’t know how to focus it yet. Or sign up that young theatre enthusiast who is looking to learn more and find a group of likeminded friends that will last a lifetime. Or maybe this is the sign you have been waiting
for to finally gain the courage to step on stage. Whatever the desire, HART has a class that is waiting for you.
Classes start the week of Sept. 12 and run through Nov. 4. HART prides itself on offering reasonably priced classes so that they can keep the arts alive in Haywood County. Browse the selection of fall classes at harttheatre.org and sign up today for a chance to change your life and discover your hidden talents and passions. For more information, contact Artistic Director Candice Dickinson at 646.647.4546 or email candice@harttheatre.org.
HART presents ‘Little Women’
A stage production of the literary classic “Little Women” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 22-24 and at 2 p.m. Sept. 4, 11, 18 and 25 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
“Little Women” follows four sisters — independent, aspiring writer Jo, romantic Meg, pretentious Amy, and kind-hearted Beth — who dream and play all under the watchful eye of their beloved mother, Marmee, while their father is away serving in the Civil War.
The musical is told from Jo’s point of view — Jo being a fictional alter ego of the source material’s author, Louisa May Alcott — sharing her flair for dramatic storytelling. As each sister tries to find their place in the world they are met with surprises, tragedy, romance, broken promises, and, ultimately,
a sense of belonging.
“Little Women: the Musical” at HART is fast-paced and inspiring under the direction of Kristen Hedberg with music direction from Anne Rhymer. HART’s production will showcase Artistic Director Candice Dickinson as Jo March, Clara Ray Burrus as Meg, Savanna Shaw as Amy, Chelcy Frost as Beth, and Kathleen Watson as Marmee.
The show also features the talents of Brenda Sheets as Aunt March, Dominic Michael Aquilino as Professor Bhaer, Matt Blanks as Laurie, Leif Brodersen as John Brooke, and Troy Sheets as Mr. Laurence.
Tickets range from $14 to $36 per person. To make reservations, call the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322 from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday or click on harttheatre.org.
‘Tommie Sawyer & Hucklemary Finn’
This new twist on the classic tale by Mark Twain, a production of “Tommie Sawyer & Hucklemary Finn” will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Sept. 9-10 and 2 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.
The adventure unfolds as Tommie Sawyer and Huckmary Finn witness a murder late one night in the graveyard. Afraid of being found out and made a witness, they flee and make a pact never to tell anyone about the incident.
However, when the good-natured Muff Potter, who has been blamed for the murder, is sentenced to death by hanging, Tommie and Hucklemary make a plan to redeem Muff and expose the real killer, which leads to an adventure along the banks of the mighty Mississippi River.
This one-act comedy is approximately one hour in length and is presented by The Overlook Theatre Company. Sponsored by Corbin Insurance Agency, Sophisticut Hair Salon & Sweet Opheilias. Tickets are $13 per person.
To purchase tickets or to find out more information, click on smokymountainarts.com or call 866.273.4615.
On the table
• “P.A.W.S. Wine Tasting & Silent Auction” will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at Lands Creek Log Cabins in Bryson City. Come out and support Swain County and Bryson City’s only animal shelter. This annual event features a great selection of local items for auction, wine and live entertainment from The Freestylers. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 day of event. You can purchase tickets at the P.A.W.S. Thrift Store. 828.736.0579.
• “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 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.
• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or click on gsmr.com.
On the street
• “Thunder in the Smokies Rally” will be held Sept. 9-11 at the Maggie Valley Fairgrounds. Live music, dozens of vendors, motorcycle shows/games, prizes, and much more. For more information on the motorcycle rally, click on thunderinthesmokies.com.
• “Cherokee & Early History of the Old Campground of Franklin” will be presented at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Historian Lamar Marshall’s talk will be focusing on the earliest history of the Old Campground and its evolution as a public meeting place for early church meetings and its eventual location as a prison camp. Free and open to the public. 828.524.3600.
On the wall
• “Fall Fling Art & Craft Walk” will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, in downtown Dillsboro. Locally handmade crafts in the numerous shops of Dillsboro. Local artists will demonstrate their crafting process in front of the shops. There will also be live entertainment. Free and open to the public. visitdillsboro.org.
• “Fall Market Day” will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, in downtown Franklin. Shopping, food and community activities. Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Streets of Franklin Heritage Association.
• “Harvest Craft Fair & Bake Sale” will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Memorial United Methodist Church in Franklin. Proceeds from the bake sale will go to the Macon Program for Progress. franklin-chamber.com.
• 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. franklinuptowngallery.com.
‘The Way I’m Wired’
The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum in Cullowhee is open for the Fall 2022 season with four exhibitions in its galleries.
ALSO:
• 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. fontanalib.org.
• Farmer’s Market (with artisans) will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and 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.
A major focus of these exhibitions is “Mental Health and Wellness,” which is WCU’s campus theme this year. The first reception of the season starts with “The Way I’m Wired: Artist Reflections on Neurodiversity,” which will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1, at Bardo Arts Center’s Star Atrium. The exhibition will be available for viewing until Dec. 9.
In this exhibition, artists share their experiences with neurodiversity and how these experiences have impacted their creative practice. Their perspectives shed light on a variety of ways that the brain can function and how this intertwines with their art.
Visitors interested in psychology, neuroscience, mental health, and reframing society’s assumptions about neurological differences will especially appreciate hearing these artists’ perspectives on the world.
The term “neurodiversity” was first coined by sociologist Judy Singer in the 1990s and is the idea that everyone’s brain is “wired” differently. We all perceive, think, learn, and relate to those around us in a wide variety of ways. Neurodiversity challenges the notion that some types of brain functioning are “normal” versus “abnormal” and encourages a greater acceptance and understanding of brain differences.
brings together the work of eleven artists who share their experiences with autism, anxiety, dyslexia, aphantasia, and other ways of being to explore how neurological frameworks can both help and hinder artistic practice.
Artists featured in the exhibition include Chuck Bowdish, Margaret Curtis, Martin DeWitt, Jeff Edwards, Laura Grosch, Anna Jensen, Adam Larsen/Hum-Bar LLC, Alex S. MacLean, Katie Miller, Richard Ritter, and Douglas White.
Join the WCU Fine Art Museum as it pushes the conversation forward for discussions about the need for greater acceptance
and understanding of neurological variation. Complimentary hors devours and drinks will be available at the reception, and parking is available at the Bardo Arts Center parking lot at 199 Centennial Drive.
“The Way I’m Wired” springs from a curiosity about neurodiversity in artists. It
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.
Waynesville art walk, live music
“Art After Dark” will continue from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, 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.
Participants include Metzger’s Burl Wood Gallery, TPennington Art Gallery, Twigs & Leaves Gallery, Haywood Handmade Gallery, Jo Ridge Kelley Fine Art, Sun Sohovich Art Gallery Studio, Green Hill Gallery, Curatory Gallery, and The Corner Station. It is free to attend Art After Dark. Other dates include Sept. 2, Oct. 7, Nov. 4 and Dec. 2. For more information, click on facebook.com/galleriesofhaywoodcounty.
‘Woman Swarmed by Flies (Small #3)’ by Margaret Curtis.
Ecopoetry ruminations from the Great Smokies
“We must unhumanize our view a little, and become confident
As the rock, and ocean that we were made from.”
— Robinson Jeffers
In the spirit of my ongoing interest in reviewing books by our regional authors, there’s a new face that has come to my attention of late from over in Macon County. Loss
of his lifetime. Not to mention the myriad places on the planet that have inspired and educated him.
Using the Great Smokies as ground zero, I think that the best and maybe the only way to do credit to this book is to take a bit of a journey through its chapters, poetically describing and elucidating the subjects of Knob, River, Light, Rock, Island, Cove, Ocean, Ridge and Stars as seen and felt by its author. So,
Pequeno Glazier is the author of several books of poetry and poetics and has recently moved to Western North Carolina after growing up as a toddler in west Texas and in Japan and then living and traveling in places such as San Francsico, Paris, England, India and Cuba and teaching literature at SUNY Buffalo.
A place-based writer, his newly released book is titled “Transparent Mountain” (Night Horn Books, San Francisco, 2022). This book is, at once, autobiographical, observational, (place lists, panoramas, etc.) musical and mystical covering a landscape from Watauga Mound in Macon County to Mt. Tamalpias and the Berkeley Hills in northern California; from Walden Pond to ancient Chinese peaks. It includes references to everyone from Thoreau to Han Shan. Glazier gives us a poetic appendix of almost anything one would want to know about the Smoky Mountains and beyond. In his stream-of-consciousness style that reads like a list of dreams, he takes us on his flight over the landscape of his life, birdlike, from above. “... river cane palisades, lush water meadows, saturated sanguine soil, serrated glass ridge ... forest that once filled this land ... ocean waves of mountains, cascading rivers.”
“I invent worlds, align rocks as alien alphabets and using words as pebbles on ponds of mind. Stones of Han Shan! Words, wounds, woods — realm of the raging, inspired, spiritually aroused place of seers and poets,” Glazier says by way of brief selfdescription. “We are all a single intertwined thought,” he goes on to muse, echoing ancient and modern-day mystics and physicists such as Albert Einstein. There are also other references to Shakespeare, Shelley, Chaucer and Emerson and the many others who have mentored Glazier over the course
New monthly book club
using Smokies as our train station, climb on board this trans-regional train of perception and join the journey with someone who has “been there and done that.”
Nested in the curls of the southern Appalachians, the confluence of the Uwharrie, Nantahala, Pisgah, Cherokee, and Smokies forests, mind fluxes poetic ... At Watauga, you revel in river’s astral sand. Stars, planets, galaxies graze Earth’s flesh ... Millions of nanoorganisms, fungi, bacteria, kaleidoscopic stelliforms of life, all teeming intellegences ... There is no ‘where’ to get to. In fact, if there were, you are already here ... The natural world suddenly scoops you up into its colossal waiting arms ... Everything is alive! ... We all inhabit the natural world — the body of which we are each one part, our real body ... You are embraced by ridges climbing to far heights of the imagination. This is reality one can see and feel ... Now aging, your condition likened to a 1952 Chevy in Cuba, pieces fall off, tires thin, oil light flickers like a percolator. No tune-up is possible. All you can do is change oil to lessen piston wear, go easy on the valves ... In the Smokies, tourism,
traffic, development, coal-fired power plants ... There is no masking it, expressive as vivid Cherokee script ... Workers come to install solar panels. You offer them a drink of mountain well-water. They thank you for a sip of the stars ... The oldest mountains on the planet. Or as I like to say, ‘Old mountains for old poets’ ... All sentient beings on the mountain murmur. Mountain gossip gone viral ... Humans take land, leaving less habitat for bears ... Great numbers of wide-spreading chestnuts. Gone ... Need to discover heart essence, Heart Sutra. Not heart suture ... Garcia Lorca duende full volume, words resounding crisp tree-to-tree echoes across ice forest ... Whiteside Mountain, among the highest cliffs in all Eastern North America ... Eastern Continental Divide ... peregrine falcon below ... to Mount Le Conte, its 6,600 foot flowering Precambrian peak ... Being here vibrates as scintillating celestial mountain vista-wilderness vibrancy. The material archive of what passed here — slabs of rock — stone libraries, the sole archives surviving human kind ... It’s illogical for one species to rapaciously scorch tierra madre ... It’s why those Buddhist Chinese poets retreated into caves to withdraw from the obstinate irritations of daily life. In that place of refuge the real work begins ... Rimbaud, not having seen the ocean, read his 100-line Vernian undersea poem in a central Paris cafe; a poem navigated by imagination and where he stood on limestone covering the Paris basin 45 million years before ... like Emerson’s Over-Soul where ‘The act of seeing and the thing seen, the subject and the object, are one’ ... an exilarating practice of Appalachian Zen ... On Wayah Bald, a meditation bell’s steady tone .. .We are in this together, remnants of astral collisions ... In kinship ... Poetry allows human minds to reach across time ... Once you see that all is heart, you are here ... in the Unaka Mountains ... on the millennial Watauga Mound ... on Cold Mountain ... Mountains outside, mountains inside ... Nature is not a place to visit, it is home. It is who we are. We can come home.”
(Thomas Crowe is a regular contributor to The Smoky Mountain News and author of the multi-award-winning non-fiction nature memoir “Zoro’s Field: My Life in the Appalachian Woods.”)
The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva is starting a new monthly program. Each month, a library staff member will be discussing some of the new book titles that the library has received. Particular attention will be paid to “under the radar” titles and authors, new releases, and other books that the staff is excited about. All are welcome and no registration is required. For more information on when the club will meet, please call the library at 828.586.2016. This club is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. The JCPL is a member of Fontana Regional Library (fontanalib.org).
Writer Thomas Crowe
As much as White loves being out in nature, he may love teaching survival skills even more.
case scenarios. While for many people that can include seemingly outlandish plans to survive natural disasters on a global scale or bugging out at the onset of some massive armed conflict, White said it’s important to note that techniques employed by preppers can be used in everyday life to be ready for challenges big or small.
Are you prepared for the next flood? Are you prepared to deal with a home intruder? Do you have things lined up such that losing a job or source of income wouldn’t be devastating?
“Those are all things that are more likely to happen,” White said. “It’s not always prepping for the worst-case scenario. And I also just enjoy being outside and learning.”
“I think a lot of it also comes to self-confidence, knowing that you can handle a hard situation,” he added. “You just feel more confident, and you carry yourself through life with a little less anxiety. Once you have the skillset or the materials to get through the challenging situation, you walk through life a little lighter with a little less stress.”
White said the toughest part about survival is maintaining a positive attitude and mental and emotional clarity. Solitude is his biggest struggle. White pointed out the irony of the fact that the more time he spends around people, the more time he wants to be in the woods, and the more time he spends in the woods, the more he misses people.
“Enough time away and you’re like, ‘it’s kind of nice to have company,’” he said.
A new purpose
Finding peace in teaching the art of survival
BY KYLE P ERROTTI
N EWS E DITOR
Will White can prepare you to survive just about any situation.
Out in his slice of woods deep in Haywood County, you may find yourself trying to start a fire, your very ability to eat hanging in the balance. You may find yourself trying to evade capture using makeshift camouflage to hide. You may find yourself trying to escape a tightly locked zip-tie. These situations may seem harsh, but for the last five years, White’s tough approach to survival has appealed to folks around the area as he’s hosted numerous camps and classes for kids and adults alike.
While White initially came to love his time out in nature learning to survive as a means to self-fulfillment, he’s found there’s nothing quite as satisfying as teaching others and seeing them grow more confident as people — a confidence that can carry into their everyday lives.
White, 40, was born in North Carolina but moved around the United States and even lived in the Dominican Republic for six months. Eventually, he joined the Army and became a Patriot Missile operator.
In 2011, he settled in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Initially, he found a job as a CrossFit coach, something he did for eight years and enjoyed. But it was in the woods where he began to find healing for past trauma, where he learned that his true calling couldn’t be answered with a regular day job.
Around the same time White began spending more time out in nature, he also started therapy to get to the root of his PTSD and anxiety.
“I found that the hippy dippy stuff does work,” White said, specifically noting that meditation and cognitive behavioral exercises have worked wonders.
It didn’t take long before he noticed how nature and therapy are complimentary.
“It’s medication for me just to be in the woods, in nature,” he said. “It’s just grounding.”
There’s also the strange sense of peace White described when talking about being within nature and knowing its sheer power, its sheer indifference.
“Mother Nature’s unforgiving and unbiased,” he said. “You don’t get a trophy for this. It doesn’t matter. Mother Nature does what it does.”
With the nature skills comes what is sometimes referred to as “prepper” skills — things one can do to mitigate or even thrive in worst-
survival skills. Now White has a 49-acre tract north of Clyde he rents for classes as part of his Piked Antler Project, which offers a variety of camps. And his spot is perfect. It provides a variety of terrain with a variety of challenges and has enough room that people can find some space when they need it. Typical navigation apps don’t identify the spot, so White gives those seeking it GPS coordinates. Some find it, some need a little help.
White talked about what he sees when he hosts kids camps, noting that they are generally a microcosm of what might be seen in any classroom. Aside from kids inclined to be bullies, he said he more or less lets the kids be themselves since that’s how they will be most comfortable and most ready to learn.
“You’re a jock. Be a jock. You’re a nerd. Be a nerd. You’re a goer. Be a goer,” he said. “Just be respectful, do what we say and pay attention.”
White treats a course similar to a mini bootcamp where at the beginning it’s a lot of “tough love” and toward the end there’s more camaraderie and things loosen up a bit. While it could seem that some parents would find the tough love aspect — which can include some yelling and pressure situations — offputting, White said he’s never had an issue with someone being uncomfortable with the way he runs his camp. He said it all comes down to rapport, given that most of those parents who send their kids his way know and trust him from his time instructing CrossFit.
As much as White benefitted from learning such skills, he said he’s benefitted equally from teaching.
“Probably six years ago I decided my mission in life,” White said. “Just help people, teach people and protect people. That’s what fills me up with joy. I enjoy teaching because I know it boosts your confidence and makes you feel better, makes you more capable.”
In 2017, White took the leap and got into teaching basic survival skills, such as building a fire. The idea came from a couple of friends who set him up to lead a four-hour class for some friends’ children.
“It was exhausting,” he said with a laugh. “It took me three months to get back to normal.”
White initially didn’t intend on continuing to teach, but the spark struck from that experience was slowing building into a fire within him. By the next year, he was hosting more events that gained in popularity as word spread over social media.
White said the aim of working with kids is to help those who may be dealing with emotional and behavioral issues brought on by trauma.
“I want to intervene in a negative mindset of kids while teaching survival skills,” he said. “The woods are the classroom and they’re also the distraction. I want to induce positive thinking, and we just use survival skills to implement those.”
But the volume of requests from eager parents rekindled his interest in teaching kids
Part of the fun for the kids who experience White’s camp is getting to put survival skills to the test with some games. For example, White will play a sort of “red light, green light” game. When he calls “red light” the kids all have to freeze and try to conceal themselves. Those who remain visible are out. White will also often get some friends, many of whom are veterans, and play a large-scale game of hide and seek. White admitted that as the kids become more comfortable with their new skills, they can become pretty crafty, and it often gets to the point that instructors will walk right by a kid without even noticing them.
While White loves instructing kids, he admitted they can be a bit trickier than some of the adults he has in other classes.
“Kids need more management,” he said. “It just takes so much energy versus adults.”
And while White loves instructing kids, he said it’s nice in its own way to see the benefit he brings to the lives of adults, whose minds are often conditioned to dwell on the future.
“People will get out here and get their hands in the dirt and it’s like they’ll just stop talking,” White said. “It’s like a pacifier, and they don’t even realize it’s a pacifier. They’re grounded.”
As White has grown his camp, he’s also maintained a focus on his own growth. He said he encountered his greatest challenge just last year, when he partook in a five-week program in the Ozarks near Branson, Missouri, through Sigma Survival School. He said he used that opportunity to “fill
Donated photo
Travel from waterfall to summit
Hike Rufus Morgan Falls and visit Wayah Bald Friday, Sept. 9, on an excursion led by MountainTrue Western Regional Director Callie Moore.
The day will begin with an easy-to-moderate 1-mile loop hike to the waterfall. Then the group will drive to Wayah Bald, with a stop at the historic Wilson Lick Ranger Station. The bald visit will include a short, easy hike from the summit parking area to climb an old stone fire tower, built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Those who wish to do more significant hiking afterward can trek along the Appalachian and Bartram Trails, both of which cross Wayah, or hike to Siler Bald. The event is part of MountainTrue’s Fall Guided Adventures series giving people across the region opportunities to get outside, enjoy nature and learn from expert naturalists and ecologists. Cost is $5 for MountainTrue members and $15 for nonmembers. Sign up at mountaintrue.org.
a lot of holes” in his knowledge.
“Weeks one through four were teaching and training, and week five is being in the woods alone,” White said. “They come check on you once a day to make sure you’re alive, but that’s it. You start out with two knives. I was on a small pond, and my objective was to build a shelter, purify water and start getting food. Then I had to make cordage and start making baskets. You pretty much don’t quit because there’s always something to do, and you can never find enough food. By day six, I was straight-up
White follows closely behind a group of campers on a run.
Donated photo
White said he likes watching the show but admitted that he wants no part of that kind of competition.
“Staying alive is one thing,” White said. “Solitude will make you go crazy. Enough time away from people and all you can think is it’d be nice to have company.”
over it.”
Even after day one, as the body and mind gets used to a survival situation, things can still be difficult.
“It’s kind of like the military training kicking in,” White said. “I tell myself I chose to do this for sound reasons. Now the suck is kicking in, but that’s just temporary. My mind is like ‘I don’t wanna’ and I just have to tune it out.”
White’s advice to anyone interested in developing survival skills — or even just general outdoors skills — is simply to get out and do it. Take that leap.
“You gotta start somewhere,” White said. “Start learning about wild edibles or whatever interests you.”
Looking forward, when it comes to the camp, White said he hopes to transition into a nonprofit that would allow him to have a more structured program to work with troubled kids.
“I can coach and mentor talk and be a positive male role model,” he said. “The majority, I would say 60% at least of the kids here that I see, either don’t have fathers in their life or if they do, they shouldn’t have those fathers in their life.”
White also mentioned working with veterans to give them the opportunity to experience the growth he’s enjoyed out in the woods.
“I think a huge reason a lot of vets go through depression in their lives is there’s no sense of purpose,” he said. “Vets need that sense of purpose, something bigger than them.”
For anyone who’s seen the History Channel reality TV program “Alone,” some of this may sound familiar. That show puts 10 people in a remote location with very few items to survive. Each contestant documents their efforts to build shelter and find food to sustain themselves amid a harsh climate. While some tap out early due to fears of wildlife, a lack of food or just bad luck, those who make it near the end typically lose when the mental and emotional challenges become too much to bear.
In the meantime, White will continue to not only work on his own survival skills, but also to try to use the lessons learned outdoors to live the best life he can.
“If I’m out publicly and someone’s getting on my nerves, or something triggers a physiological response, I just have to practice to remind myself that I’m just standing here,” he said. “That’s all that’s really happening. I’m here. I’m fine. My mind and body are both safe. And that being able to do that comes from having so much time here in the woods knowing that feeling.”
SELC names new executive director
The Southern Environmental Law Center has named D.J. Gerken as its new president and executive director. This fall, he’ll take the role from Jeff Gleason, who is retiring after 30 years with the organization.
Gerken, who currently serves as SELC’s director of programs, has been working for the organization since 2004, working on litigation and policy across his home landscape of Western North Carolina. He became managing attorney for SELC’s Asheville office in 2011 and interim managing attorney for the Nashville office from 2017 to 2019, after which he was appointed program director.
“I am honored by the opportunity to lead this extraordinary organization as it tackles our country’s greatest environmental challenges,” he said. “This is the moment to build a better climate future and ensure a healthier environment for all, and SELC is the organization to lead the way for the South and the nation. I look forward to working with my exceptional colleagues and our partner organizations and supporters to keep the promise of SELC.”
Gerken led key lawsuits that contributed to cancelation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and was also the lead litigator in the decade-long coal ash campaign in North Carolina, which resulted in a commitment to clean up all coal ash in the state.
His appointment follows a six-month search by a committee of the SELC Board of Trustees assisted by the national recruitment firm BoardWalk Consulting. When Gerken steps into his new role, he’ll allow Gleason to retire for the second time. Gleason came out of retirement in 2019 to lead SELC through its transition from founder Rick Middleton, who guided the organization from its 1986 start as a small two-person shop to a national environmental leader.
Lecture looks through George Masa’s lens
Brent Martin will discuss the photography and life of early 20th-century Japanese immigrant Masahara Izuka — better known as George Masa — during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.
Martin’s book about Masa, titled “George Masa’s Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina,” was published this summer by Hub City Press. Masa’s stunning photographs were key to promoting creation of landmarks such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mt. Mitchell State Park, the Appalachian Trail and the town of Highlands.
First director for Haywood Waterways, passes away
Ron Moser, a founding member and former leader of Haywood Waterways Association, passed away Thursday, Aug. 18, at the age of 68.
“Ron dedicated over a decade of his life toward the protection of water quality in the Pigeon River Watershed, inspiring and educating our community to ensure this environmental work lasted well beyond his time with us,” reads a statement from HWA. “Ron was instrumental in the formation of Haywood Waterways Association and the Pigeon River Fund. We are forever grateful for the forward-thinking leadership he provided, and we honor his legacy through the ongoing stewardship and engagement we provide to the community
Residing in Cowee, Martin serves as executive director of the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy and was previously the southern Appalachian Regional Director for the Wilderness Society. He is the author of three chapbook poetry collections and two nonfiction books, and a coauthor of “Every Breath Sings Mountains.” He also operates Alarka Expeditions with his wife, Angela Fay Martin.
Martin’s lecture will be the last installment in this summer’s Zahner Conservation Lecture Series. The Sept. 8 program is sponsored by an anonymous Highlands Biological Foundation supporter.
of Haywood County.”
Moser was a federal government employee for many years, and upon retiring he helped found HWA, a nonprofit that works to protect and improve surface water quality in Haywood County. He served as the organization’s first executive director for 10 years before passing the baton in 2011 to Eric Romaniszyn. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Memorials can be made to HWA in Moser’s memory, and an
tions.com.
Ron Moser. Donated photo
D.J. Gerken. Donated photo
Save on Mountain State Fair admission
The N.C. Mountain State Fair comes to Fletcher Sept. 9-18, featuring a variety of contests, activities and entertainment. An adorable otter water show, an alligator show and a thrilling high-wire act will join the fairgrounds entertainment lineup, along with a dozen new food and merchandise vendors. General admission is $12 for adults, $7 for children 6-12 and $5 for seniors 65 and older, with $20 for a sheet of 21 ride tickets, but several promotional days will offer a chance to save.
■ Fridays, Sept. 9 and 16, are Student Day, with free admission for students in grades K12 until 6 p.m.
■ Unlimited rides are available Sept. 9, Sept. 12, , Sept. 15 and Sept. 16. On Sept. 9 and 16, fairgoers can pay $25 plus gate admission for unlimited rides 10 a.m. to midnight. On Sept. 12 and Sept. 15, unlimited rides are available 4-11 p.m. for $20 plus gate admission.
■ Family Night is Tuesday, Sept. 13. Children ages 12 and under will get unlimited rides from 4-11 p.m. for $20 plus gate admission.
■ Ingles Day is Wednesday, Sept. 14, benefitting MANNA Food Bank’s battle against hunger in North Carolina. Visitors who bring five cans of Laura Lynn brand food from Ingles will receive free admission, with donations going to the food bank.
■ Senior Citizens Day is Friday, Sept. 16, with seniors 65 and older getting free gate admission.
■ Saturday, Sept. 17 is the annual N.C. Education Lottery Day. Fairgoers 18 and older will receive a free “Scratch and Win” ticket with each fair admission ticket purchased.
More information about the fair is available at www.wncagcenter.org.
Kids explore with Creation Care Camp
Two environmentally focused camps this summer offered students the chance to get outside while learning about how to care for creation.
Creation Care Camp included a day camp in June and an overnight camp in July. During the June day camp, students visited a variety of locations, including Cold Mountain Nursery, Mingus Mill and Lake Junaluska, and participated in activities such as building small container gardens, cleaning up the riverside at Waynesville Recreation Park, and learning how to compost. During the July overnight camp, stu-
Wish the MST a happy birthday
The Mountains-to-Sea Trail turns 45 on Friday, Sept. 9, with celebrations planned throughout the month.
■ To mark the exact date the MST was proposed 45 years ago, a celebration will be held 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, via Zoom. Speakers will include Howard Lee, who first envisioned the trail, along with N.C. State Parks Director Dwayne Patterson, filmmakers and podcasters Julie “Jester” Gayheart and Austin DuFresne, and other notables from MST history.
■ Several short-distance group hikes will be held around the state Sept. 8-10, including a 3-mile hike Saturday, Sept. 10, near Asheville. The group will meet at 9 a.m. at the Greybeard Overlook on mile 363.4 of the Blue Ridge Parkway and take a 1.5-mile
Trout race returns to Canton
trout to cross the finish line will win prizes for their owners, including a restored bamboo fly rod valued at $1,500, three $100 Publix gift cards and a new adult bike.
dents visited the Pigeon River to snorkel and search for aquatic creatures, did a cleanup and campout at Fontana Lake and hiked the Cataloochee Divide Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Each camp welcomed about 25 campers and 15 high school helpers. Outdoor Mission Community planned and funded the camps with generous grant funding from the Tennessee Valley Authority, hosting and direction from First United Methodist Church of Waynesville and support from a long list of Haywood County organizations. Camps were offered free of charge.
hike to the gorgeous view at Lunch Rock.
■ The 45 Mile Challenge invites people to hike or walk 45 miles anywhere on the MST Sept. 1-30. All who reach the goal will be entered to win prizes from Ripstop by the Roll, REI and other MST supporters.
■ A mini-series video and podcast, as well as a live show Sept. 24 in Hillsborough, will celebrate the MST. Julie Gayheart and Austin DuFresne have written and produced the five-part series “I Am the MST,” delving into the vision, foundation, partners and legacy of the trail. Installments will be released throughout the month.
■ Donations are encouraged throughout September to support the trail. Anyone giving $45 or more will receive a special MST button, and those who raise $450 or more will receive a personalized pottery mug. For event details and registration information, visit mountainstoseatrail.org/challenges/birthdayhike.
A wooden trout race at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at Bearwaters Brewing in Canton, will raise money for two Haywood County nonprofits — Haywood Waterways Association and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Each of the 400 available trout, cut by the Haywood Community College Woodworking Program, can be adopted for a $10 donation. On Sept. 10, they will race down the Pigeon River to the finish line at the bridge in front of Bearwaters Brewery. The first several
Event sponsor 828 Market in Waynesville is offering buy one, get one free on shaved ice, ice cream, smoothies or bubble tea for anyone purchasing a ticket. Good through Oct. 15. Winners need not be present to win. Adopt trout at troutrace.com.
TU Sylva gears up for fall
Trout Unlimited Sylva will hold its fall open meeting 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, at East LaPorte Park in Jackson County.
The group is planning a covered dish meal, and attendees should bring some food to share. RSVPs are requested to tu.lenehan@gmail.com. Rain or shine.
Fly fish through September
Level up your fly fishing skills this September with opportunities offered through Haywood County Recreation.
■ Fly fishing expeditions 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, and 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, will explore local streams with the guidance of expert fisherman Ray Sugg. A fishing license is required, and participants should bring a rod, waders or boots. Cost is only $10, and events are limited to seven participants.
■ A combined beginner/intermediate fly fishing course will be offered Fridays, Sept. 9 and 16. Expert angler Tommy Thomas will teach these sessions 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, with the course aimed toward those with little to no experience, or to anyone who needs a refresher on the basics. No fishing license required. Loaner rods available.
Sign up at bit.ly/haywoodrec.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC
COMMENT PERIOD
The Southwestern Commission, in partnership with the U.S. Economic Development Administration, is seeking input from the public regarding a draft document to identify goals and objectives to move the region’s economy forward over the next five years.
The draft may be accessed at: www.regiona.org/ceds
Comments will be accepted to becca@regiona.org until September 25, 2022
Campers lean in to see which aquatic creatures they found in the Pigeon River. Donated photo
Channel the power of pink
The 15th annual Power of Pink 5K Run/Walk/Dog Walk will raise money for early breast cancer detection on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Frog Level in Waynesville.
The race and walk begin at 9 a.m., with the route following Sulphur Springs Road to Hazelwood Avenue before turning left on Elsynia Avenue and right on Sulphur Springs to return to Frog Level. It’s a flat and fast route with only 77 feet of elevation gain.
Puzzles can be found on page 46
These are only the answers.
Music, refreshments and celebration with family and friends wait afterward, with theme baskets available for raffle. Wear your best pink, and don’t forget to dress your four-legged friends for the occasion. Organized by the Haywood Healthcare Foundation, the race raises money for prevention and early detection of breast cancer. To celebrate the 15th anniversary, race organizers are collecting past race shirts for a quilt to be auctioned off at the event. Anyone with a hot pink shirt from 2008 or longsleeve black shirt from 2014 who is willing to part with them for good can email greg@gloryhoundevents.com. Registration fee is $35 and $10 for dogs. Groups of five or more can register for $25 each. Hosted by Glory Hound Events. Sign up at gloryhoundevents.com/event/powerof-pink.
Spend an evening in the garden
ArborEvenings continues 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 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, Sept. 16.
Disease outbreak kills N.C. deer
An outbreak of hemorrhagic disease has spurred reports of sick and dead deer in 39 North Carolina counties, with the highest frequency of reports coming from the mountain and piedmont regions.
Hemorrhagic disease is common among southeastern deer populations, causing sporadic outbreaks every few years and resulting in dead deer found near water during the late summer, said N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission deer biologist Moriah Boggess. The term “hemorrhagic disease” collectively refers to the bluetongue and epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses, both of which cause similar symptoms.
While hemorrhagic disease kills deer, it does not permanently affect population viability, as chronic wasting disease does. Southern deer are adapted to hemorrhagic disease, and in even the worst outbreaks some deer survive and pass on their immunity to their offspring, with deer popula-
tions typically rebounding within a few years. Meanwhile, CWD is incurable and always fatal to deer that contract it.
“While it may seem like hemorrhagic disease kills more deer in the short term, the future implications of CWD are much grimmer, because CWD permanently affects population viability and infection rates steadily climb each year,” said Boggess.
Tissues submitted to labs for testing have confirmed both kinds of hemorrhagic disease viruses, with numerous samples pending results. Samples have also been submitted for CWD testing and are awaiting results.
Once a hemorrhagic disease outbreak begins, it usually continues until weather conditions kill the biting midges responsible for spreading it — usually the first frost of fall. Some deer harvested this year might have rings in their hooves or scars on their dental palate, signs the deer was infected but recovered. Hemorrhagic disease is not transmissible to people either through the biting midge or through consumption of venison.
WNC Calendar
COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
• Cowee School Farmer’s Market will be held from Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m., at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin. The market has produce, plant starts, eggs, baked goods, flowers, food trucks and music. For more information or for an application, visit www.coweeschool.org or call 828.369.4080.
• The 4M Festival: Mountain Makers Mushrooms & music will take place from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, in Sylva. There will be 70-plus crafters and artisans, live music, demos, food, education and entertainment. For information visit jacksonartsmarket.com/4m.
• Fall Market Day will take place from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 3, in downtown Franklin. Shop, eat and play. Streets of Franklin Heritage Association.
• Thunder in The Smokies will take place Sept. 9-11, at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. There will be a Blue Ridge Parkway tour ride, bike show, bike games and vendors. For more information, and for vendor applications visit thunderinthesmokies.com.
• “Harvest Craft Fair & Bake Sale” will be held from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Memorial United Methodist Church in Franklin. Proceeds from the bake sale will go to the Macon Program for Progress. franklin-chamber.com.
• WNC Pharoahs’ 1st annual Fall Cruise-In will take place from noon-4 p.m. Sept. 24, on Main Street in downtown Franklin. There is a $10 registration fee, trophies and cash prizes awarded. For more information contact 828.371.8253.
B USINESS & E DUCATION
• Jackson County Chamber of Commerce will host STIR, socialize, talk, interact, remember, from 5-6:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, at the Clarion Pointe hotel, 2807 US Hwy 74 East, Sylva, N.C. RSVP by Sept. 1 by calling the chamber at 828.586.2155.
• Pisgah Legal Services will offer free tax preparation services for low-income residents from 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Graham County Health Department, 191 P and J Rd., Robbinsville and 6-8 p.m. at Five Points Center, 5 N. Main St., Robbinsville. Make an appointment by calling 828.210.3404. Visit pisgahlegal.org/taxes for more information.
• “The Legal Scoop - Employment law topics that impact 2022 and beyond” will take place from 8 a.m.1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at Haywood Community College in the Hemlock Building. Cost is $25, includes light breakfast and lunch. RSVP via email to deanna.queen@haywoodemc.com. For more information contact Ellen Steele at 828.254.8800 or esteele@mwblawyers.com.
• Pisgah Legal Services will offer free tax preparation services for low-income residents from 1-3 p.m. and 68 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Macon Program for Progress Training Annex, 82 E. Orchard Lane, Franklin. Make an appointment by calling 828.210.3404. Visit pisgahlegal.org/taxes for more information.
• Pisgah Legal Services will offer free tax preparation services for low-income residents from 1-3 p.m. and 68 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Region A Partnership for Children, 367 Dellwood Road Suite C-2, Waynesville. Make an appointment by calling 828.210.3404. Visit pisgahlegal.org/taxes for more information.
FUNDRAISERS AND B ENEFITS
• Maggie Valley United Methodist Church will hold a large yard sale from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at the church barn, 4192 Soco Road in Maggie Valley.
n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.
n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com
Proceeds benefit church ministries. For more information contact Barbara Planchock at 828.400.3144.
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.
• Apply4Medical2Day will besotting three free information sessions on all the ins and outs of Medicare, at 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, and 1:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19. Preregistration is strongly suggested. To reserve your spot call 828.356.5540.
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.
A&E
• Karaoke takes place at 7 p.m. every Friday at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley. Call 828.926.1717 or visit meadowlarkmotel.com.
• The Mountain Makers Mushrooms and Music Festival will be held from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, in Sylva. There will be more than 70 crafters, live music, lectures, demos, workshops, wild food, footways and more. Information and vendor space available at jacksonartsmarket.com.
• Appalachian Button Jamboree Show will take place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 17, at The National Guard Armory in Hendersonville. For more information call Julie McMahon at 616.634.8823 or email jmcmahon8@hotmail.com.
• 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-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.
• Voices in the Laurel is accepting new members for the Children’s Choir and the Legacy Adult Choir through Sept. 11. For more information, audition times, or to schedule an audition at a time other than when offered, call 828.400.6663 or visit www.voicesinthelaurel.org.
• Macon County Public Library (Franklin) will host a “Songwriters Workshop” with Joe Scott 1 p.m. Sept. 3. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. Sponsored by The Arts Council of Macon County.
828.524.3600.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host a Community Jam 6 p.m. Sept. 1. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 or fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
• Pickin’ In The Park (Canton) will host Rick Morris & Southern Appalachian Sept. 2. Shows are 6-9 p.m. at the Canton Rec Park located at 77 Penland St. Free and open to the public. cantonnc.com.
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host Brandi Colt & Kayla Ray (singer-songwriter) 6 p.m. Sept. 3 and Rene Russell (singer-songwriter) 2 p.m. Sept. 11. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.
F OOD AND D RINK
• “P.A.W.S. Wine Tasting & Silent Auction” will be held from 6:30-9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at Lands Creek Log Cabins in Bryson City. This annual event features a great selection of local items for auction, wine and live entertainment from The Freestylers. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 day of event. Purchase tickets at the P.A.W.S. Thrift Store. 828.736.0579.
• 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 11 a.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
• 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, got to cherokeehistorical.org/alice-in-wonderland.
CLASSES AND PROGRAMS
• “Cherokee & Early History of the Old Campground of Franklin” will be presented at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Historian Lamar Marshall’s talk will be focusing on the earliest history of the Old Campground and its evolution as a public meeting place for early church meetings and its eventual location as a prison camp. Free and open to the public. 828.524.3600.
• Community dance classes for all levels and ages will take place this fall, September through November at the Wortham Center for Performing Arts. For more information and tickets visit stewartowendance.com/classes or worthamarts.org/classes.
• Wired Wednesday, one-on-one technology help is available at 3-5 p.m. every Wednesday at the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Library. For more information or to register, call 828.648.2924.
• Uptown Gallery, 30 East Main St. Franklin, will be offering Children’s Art Classes Wednesdays afternoons. Adult workshops in watercolor, acrylic paint pouring, encaustic and glass fusing are also offered. Free painting is available 10 a.m.-3 p.m. every Monday in the classroom. A membership meeting takes place on the second Sunday of the month at 3 p.m. All are welcome. Call 828.349.4607 for more information.
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
ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES
• “Fall Fling Art and Craft Walk,” will take place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, in Dillsboro. Musical entertainment Twelfth Fret will perform at 1 p.m. and We Three Swing will perform at 2 p.m. on Cannon’s Deck.
• “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.
• The exhibit “Like No Other Place” is open July 16-Dec. 31, in the Joel Gallery at the The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts. For more information visit thebascom.org.
Outdoors
• 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.
• Find out how land protection impacts climate resilience during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.
• Haywood County Recreation will host a navigation course from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sept. 2. This course provides instruction in the fundamentals of traditional map and compass land navigation and applies fundamentals to modern cell phone navigation. To sign up, visit secure.rec1.com/NC/haywood-county-nc/catalog
• The Anthony Toineeta 7 Clans Rodeo will return to Cherokee 6-10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, and Sunday, Sept. 4. Adult tickets are $13 in advance or $15 at the gate; children 4-12 can attend for $8 in advance or $10 at the gate. Purchase advance tickets at the Cherokee Welcome Center at 498 Tsali Blvd. in Cherokee. Cash only.
• Brent Martin will discuss the photography and life of early 20th-century Japanese immigrant Masahara Izuka — better known as George Masa — during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.
• Hike Rufus Morgan Falls and visit Wayah Bald Friday, Sept. 9, on an excursion led by MountainTrue Western Regional Director Callie Moore. Cost is $5 for MountainTrue members and $15 for nonmembers. Sign up at mountaintrue.org.
• Haywood County Recreation will host a birding trip to Buck Springs Gap, led by Howard Browers Sept. 21. Total distance for the trip is 2.5 miles. To sign up, visit secure.rec1.com/NC/haywood-county-nc/catalog.
• The 15th annual Power of Pink 5K Run/Walk/Dog Walk will raise money for early breast cancer detection on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Frog Level in Waynesville. Registration fee is $35 and $10 for dogs. Groups of five or more can register for $25 each. Sign up at www.gloryhoundevents.com/event/power-of-pink.
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
• $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
STEAKHOUSE IN DILLSBORO Boots Steakhouse in Dillsboro is now hiring Bartenders, Servers, Bussers, Cooks and Dishwashers. Our employees earn top wages and we are ranked the #1 Steakhouse by Trip Advisor in the Carolina Mountains. Please apply to: bootssteakhouse@gmail.com to schedule an in person interview. You can also call 828-631-9713 and view our website: www. bootssteakhouse.com
THE JACKSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT
Of Social Services is recruiting an energetic and engaging Foster Parent recruitment and licensing Social Worker. This position is rated as a Social Worker II. This position recruits, trains and licenses foster parents, provides support for foster/adoptive par-
ents, provides adoption services and works with community groups. To a lesser degree, this position will also provide services to a small caseload of families where needs
The starting salary is $39,508.84 depending on education and experience. Minimum quali-
year degree in a Human
will be given to applicants with a Master’s or Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and/or experience providing Social Work services. Applicants should complete a NC State application form (PD-107) and submit it to the Jackson County Department of Social
Street, Sylva, NC 28779 or the NC Career Works Center. Applications will be taken until September 12, 2022.
MEDICAL BILLING Train Online! Become
fessional online at CTI!
ready to work in months! Call 866-243-5931. (M-F 8am-6pm ET)
HOME CARE PARTNERS
work schedule with nights or weekends. Full and Part time positions. Help someone remain independent in their home rather than be institutionalized. A lot of people need a little help and you could be that someone who cares. Up to $12.50 per hour. Call Home Care Partners 828-5861570 or 828-507-6065. Applications available at 525 Mineral Springs Drive, Sylva.
COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM! Train ONLINE to get the skills
Help Desk Professional now! Grants and Scholarships available for certainplicants. Call CTI for details! 1-855-554-4616 The Mission, Program Information and Tuition is located at CareerTechnical.edu/ consumer-information.
CHILDREN & YOUTH DIRECTOR First Presbyterian Church of Sylva seeks experienced employee to lead fun Sunday ministry program for children ages 0-12 and their families, and to help expand the youth program. Position starts at 15 hrs/wk and $20/hr. Applications are available at www.sylvapres.org/jobs. Please submit application to 2152, Sylva, NC 28779) or email to kakieg9@gmail. com. (828) 586-4256
P&C LICENSED INSURANCE SALES AGENT Are you already licensed and ready to work with a locally owned agency that self-motivated, positive, and want to be a part of a committed and concompetitive wages, Full or Part-time hours. Letter olgageorgi2@ allstate.com
B. H. GRANING IS HIRING B.H. Graning Landscapes is hiring entry level crew members for Mainte-
and we
nance and Construction. FT and PT positions available. 13.00-20.00/hr. Apply in person or online at BHGLandscapes.com/ landscaping-jobs. Second chance employer. (828) 586-8303
Legal Notices
NOTICE TO CREDITORS STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
JACKSON COUNTY File No. 21-E 337 IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION
BEFORE THE CLERK IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT TYRONE CHASTAIN, DECEASED NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having
of the Estate of Robert Tyrone Chastain (Estate File Number 21-E 337), deceased, late of Jackson County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons,
having claims against the decedent and/or the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned in care of Gilreath Shealy Law, PLLC, 224 6th Avenue East, Hendersonville, NC 28792 on or before November 17, 2022, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. corporations indebted to said decedent and/ or decedent’s estate will please make immediate payment. Dated the 17th day of August 2022. Brandy Chastain, Administrator of the Estate of Robert Tyrone Chastain, Deceased Adam L. Shealy, Esq. Gilreath Shealy Law, PLLC 224 6th Avenue East Hendersonville, NC 28792
Pets
MASTIFF MIX DOG, WHISKEY 5 year old boy, brown brindle & white. Friendly; likes leisurely walks. A wanna-be lap dog! Asheville Humane Society (828) 761-2001 adoptions@ashevillehumane.org
Real Estate Announcements
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.
Rentals
TIMESHARE CANCELLATION EXPERTS. Wesley Financial Group, LLC Over $50,000,000 in timeshare debt and fees cancelled in 2019. Get free informational package and learn how to get rid of your timeshare! Free consultations. Call 844-213-6711
Automotive
AUTO INSURANCE
STARTING AT $49/ MONTH! Call for your fee rate comparison to see how much you can save! Call: 833-472-0580
Entertainment
HUGHESNET SATELLITE INTERNET – Finally, no hard data limits! Call Today for speeds up to 25mbps as low as $59.99/ mo! $75 gift card, terms apply. 1-844-416-7147
4G LTE HOME INTERNET Now Available! Get GotW3 with lightning fast speeds plus take your service with you when you travel! As low as $109.99/ mo! 1-888-519-0171
Homes and Gardens
Estate- Heritage
• Carolyn Lauter - carolyn@bhgheritage.com
Beverly Hanks & Associates- beverly-hanks.com
• Billie Green - bgreen@beverly-hanks.com
• Brian K. Noland - brianknoland.com
• Anne Page - apage@beverly-hanks.com
• Jerry Powell - jpowell@beverly-hanks.com
• Catherine Proben - cproben@beverly-hanks.com
• Ellen Sither - esither@beverly-hanks.com
• Mike Stamey - mikestamey@beverly-hanks.com
• Karen Hollingsed- khollingsed@beverly-hanks.com
• Billy Case- billycase@beverly-hanks.com
• Laura Thomas - lthomas@beverly-hanks.com
• John Keith - jkeith@beverly-hanks.com
• Randall Rogers - rrogers@beverly-hanks.com
• Susan Hooper - shooper@beverly-hanks.com
• Hunter Wyman - hwyman@beverly-hanks.com
• Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff@beverly-hanks.com
• Darrin Graves - dgraves@beverly-hanks.com
Emerson Group - emersongroupus.com
• George Escaravage - george@emersongroupus.com
• Chuck Brown - chuck@emersongroupus.com
ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com
• Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com
• Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com
• Randy Flanigan - 706-207-9436
• Steve Mauldin - 828-734-4864
Keller Williams Realty - kellerwilliamswaynesville.com
ATTENTION OXYGEN THERAPY USERS! Inogen One G4 is capable of full 24/7 oxygen delivery. Only 2.8 pounds. FREE information kit. Call 866579-0885
ATTENTION: Oxygen Users. Gain freedom with a portable oxygen concentrator. No more heavy -
teed lowest prices. Oxygen Concentrator Store 844-866-4793
Home Improvement
BEAUTIFUL BATH UPDATES In as little as ONE DAY! Superior quality bath and shower systems at AFFORDABLE PRIC-
professional installs. 833987-0207
ELIMINATE GUTTER CLEANING FOREVER! LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking gutter protection. Schedule a FREE LeafFilter estimate today. 15% off En-
tire Purchase. 10% Senior 1-877-649-1190
REPLACE YOUR ROOF With the best looking and longest lasting material
Roofs! Three styles and multiple colors available. Guaranteed to last a lifetime! Limited Time Offer - $500 Discount + Additional 10% off install (for 1st responders.) Call Erie Metal Roofs: 1-855-5851815
WATER DAMAGE TO YOUR HOME? Call for a quote for professional
Legal, Financial and Tax
Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
value of your home! Set an appt. today! Call 833664-1530 (AAN CAN)
DO YOU OWE OVER $10,000 To the IRS or tax bill or zero it out completely FAST. Let us help! Call 877-414-2089. (AAN CAN) (Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm PST)
CA$H PAID FOR Old Guitars! 1920-1980 Gibson, Martin, Fender, Gretsch, Epiphone, Guild, Mosrite, Rickenbacker, Prairie State, D’Angelico, Stromberg. And Gibson Mandolins / Banjos. 877589-0747
LIK LO KEY OCA , YOOU Y L
yvite einW
wouyeturnInr
KE
vidi oand pr spaper wne ourYo Y
Despite the man
ou to partne
Giv ertising advoury on s ork together ws ont find a wou yeturn , In r
on ’tfinda
e And lik eabouesmorwhocar oneyan with us so trusted local jo r o e in this f y disruptions, co ormation to our fvital inng eporting the local storie is r on emain on the fr e rwou, y
e abou es mor who car one
successthanus ouryut urnalism can pr the long term. r mmunity f COVID-19 s o t lines.
e got the enga olutions.
ewillimpre W e us a chance. ff stan ad sta messages. Our
ss. eady to help. d r e ged audience to shar success than us
The Center for Native Health provides scholarships to MedCaT students across Western North Carolina. The Medical Careers and Technology pathway, also known as MedCaT, has given $26,000 in scholarships to 13 stu-
dents across Western North Carolina. The MedCaT program works to support and encourage American Indian and 1st Generation Appalachian students' pathways into health and biomedical science fields.
During their summer academy experience, students stay on the university's campus and experience hands-on group activities while learning about di erent health and biomedical science professions.
