Smoky Mountain News | September 15, 2021

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On the Cover:

Haywood County finally received its federal disaster declaration from President Joe Biden on Sept. 8, but residents are still curious why it took so long. The Smoky Mountain News investigates the FEMA process and examines the challenges of predicting flooding in the mountains. (Page 6) Swiftwater crews search the East Fork Pigeon River near the Cruso Fire Department Aug. 19, when 20 people were still missing. Holly Kays photo

News

Flood warning timeline reveals forecast challenges ................................................8

Haywood Schools has $10.5 million in flood damage ........................................11

Downtown Waynesville Association members resign ..........................................12

Cherokee upholds same-sex marriage ban ..............................................................15

Cherokee budget includes raises for Tribal Council ..............................................16 Franklin’s new town manager no stranger to WNC ..............................................19

Opinion

A&E

WCU art exhibits showcase ‘Contemporary Clay’ ................................................22 Literature as a defensive fortification............................................................................29

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The weight of the wait

Local governments

forward to FEMA reimbursements

BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT

P OLITICS E DITOR

The aftermath of deadly flooding that killed six people in the Cruso community of Haywood County on Aug. 16 saw federal, state and local governments spring into action.

Congressman Madison Cawthorn was one of the first federal elected officials to show up, followed by Sen. Thom Tillis.

Gov. Roy Cooper visited twice. So did North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore.

Lt. Gov Mark Robinson spoke at Haywood EMS.

State Representatives Mark Pless and Mike Clampitt, both of who represent portions of Haywood County, were a constant presence as were Haywood commissioners and Canton’s mayor and aldermen, as well as a delegation from the Town of Clyde.

As they all worked to facilitate state and local government aid, the people who’d suffered damage during the flood, financial and physical, waited for more help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

There was no tweet of support from President Joe Biden. No visit. And for weeks, no federal disaster declaration.

That all changed on Sept. 8, when Biden issued a major disaster declaration for Haywood County and parts of Western North Carolina devastated by catastrophic rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred.

In that moment 22 days after the swollen Pigeon River wrought havoc over Haywood County for the second time in less than two decades, uncertainty became relief. But not long after the declaration was issued many in the greater region returned to the question they’d been asking the whole time — why the wait?

Putting the FEMA declaration process into perspective, 22 days did seem like a long time for a piece of paper to prove

FEMA declarations associated with Fred and Ida

FLORIDA

• Tropical Storm Fred

• Incident period – Aug. 13, 2021 through Aug. 19, 2021

• Declaration date – Aug. 16

TENNESSEE

• Severe storm and flooding

• Incident period – Aug. 21

• Declaration date – Aug. 23

LOUISIANA

• Tropical Storm Ida

• Incident period – Aug. 26 and continuing

• Declaration date – Aug. 27

LOUISIANA

• Hurricane Ida

• Incident period – Aug. 26 and continuing

• Declaration date – Aug. 29

MISSISSIPPI

• Hurricane Ida

• Incident period – Aug. 28 and continuing

• Declaration date – Aug. 28

NEW JERSEY

• Hurricane Ida

what Haywood County residents had been seeing for more than three weeks — bridges washed out, homes flooded and debris throughout Bethel, Cruso, Canton and Clyde. Six funerals. Countless stories of sacrifice and of survival.

All along, state and county officials pleaded for patience as damage was documented so the rigorous disaster declaration process would have as much evidence as possible to proceed.

“I think you have to look at it from the point of view of when the request was submitted, when FEMA had the information it needed to consider the request and then when it was granted,” said Keith Acree, a public information officer with the North Carolina Department of Emergency Management. “I think from the state’s point of view, I think this was about an average declaration period. We didn’t see it as an exorbitantly long delay. When you put it in the context of some of the things that were happening around the country at the time, it seemed like it was slow, but it was actually probably pretty typical.”

Yes and no — it was pretty typical for

North Carolina, but as some slept in shelters or in ersatz cinder-block shacks in Cruso, a parade of federal declarations rained down on other states just like the rains from Tropical Storm Fred and later, Hurricane Ida.

On Aug. 13, Fred hit Florida. An emergency declaration was issued three days later.

On Aug. 16, Fred began to impact Western North Carolina, with much of the damage and all of the death coming on Aug. 17. Residents were still struggling to comprehend what’d happened on Aug. 18, but no declaration was immediately issued.

Three days later, on Aug. 21, Tennessee was hit with deadly flooding, but received a major disaster declaration just two days after that.

Then came Hurricane Ida, on Aug. 26. An emergency declaration was issued for Louisiana the next day. A major disaster declaration came two days after that.

Mississippi saw Ida on Aug. 28. An emergency declaration was issued the same day.

Ida then moved to the northeast on Sept. 1. New Jersey and New York got emergency declarations the next day, and a visit from the

• Incident period – Sept. 1 through Sept. 3

• Declaration date – Sept. 2

NEW YORK

• Hurricane Ida

• Incident period – Sept. 1 through Sept. 3

• Declaration date – Sept. 2

NEW JERSEY

• Hurricane Ida

• Incident period – Sept. 1 through Sept. 3

• Declaration date – Sept. 5

NEW YORK

• Hurricane Ida

• Incident period – Sept. 1 through Sept. 3

• Declaration date – Sept. 5

NORTH CAROLINA

• Tropical Storm Fred

• Incident period – Aug. 16 through Aug. 18

• Declaration date – Sept. 8

PENNSYLVANIA

• Hurricane Ida

• Incident period – Aug. 31 through Sept. 5

• Declaration date – Sept. 10

Source: FEMA

president. Two days after that, on Sept. 5, New Jersey and New York got major disaster declarations.

All the while, Western North Carolina watched and hoped and prayed. Local governments moved not inconsequential amounts of money around to begin cleanup. Local officials became frustrated with the pace of federal follow-through.

“I’m not satisfied, period,” Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers told The Smoky Mountain News on Sept. 1. “With all due respect and prayers, and I have personally prayed for the people of Tennessee and everyone affected on the Gulf Coast, I think this has been on [the federal government’s] radar for some time.”

Acree, NCEMA’s PIO, said Gov. Cooper made the request on Aug. 27, but preliminary damage assessments weren’t complete until Sept. 2, so FEMA couldn’t “fully act” until then. The declaration came a week later.

“I know when you look at what was happening in Louisiana and Tennessee and New York and New Jersey and the week surrounding that, we saw declarations for much larger disasters happen more quickly. I think that was a sense of frustration to some people, but for a smaller disaster like this, it was relatively close to the threshold,” Acree said. “You have to wait for all those damage assessments to come in and before you can completely evaluate it.”

Another yes and no — looking at the last 14 FEMA disaster declarations in North Carolina, not including two COVID-related declarations in 2020, the threshold for disaster declarations dating back to 2014 is unpredictable at best and depends on the type of declaration.

When Tropical Storm Eta hit North Carolina on Nov. 12, 2020, a major disaster declaration wasn’t issued until almost four months later.

Before that, Hurricane Isaias prompted an emergency declaration two days after landfall, but a subsequent declaration took almost three months.

Sporadic winter storm impacts across the state beginning on Feb. 6, 2020, took three months to produce a declaration. Cherokee, Graham and Swain counties were included in the declaration.

Some responses, like to Hurricane Florence in 2018, seemed to be faster (three and seven days for an emergency and major declaration, respectively). In fact, nine of the 14 declarations were issued less than a month from the incident date.

“Every disaster is different. Every disaster is local. The impacts are different. The ways that communities and individuals are affected is different so it’s very hard to compare disaster to disaster,” said Danon Lucas, FEMA Region 4 public affairs officer. “The preliminary damage assessments were completed that first week of September, and then the request was made back on the 27th. However, keep in mind that normally in the course of a disaster declaration process, PDAs — preliminary damage assessments — are completed prior to a governor’s request for a declaration. So when we look at the time between when the state request was submitted on the second, and then the president’s declaration on the 8th, that’s a fairly short timeframe there.”

Last 14 FEMA natural disaster declarations in North Carolina

Tropical Storm Eta

• Incident period – Nov. 12-15, 2020

• Declaration date – March 3, 2021

Hurricane Isaias

• Incident period – July 31 - Aug. 4, 2020

• Declaration date – Oct. 14, 2020

Hurricane Isaias

• Incident period – July 31 - Aug. 4, 2020

• Declaration date – Aug. 2, 2020

Storms, tornados and flooding

• Incident period – Feb. 6-20, 2020

• Declaration date – May 8, 2020

Hurricane Dorian

• Incident period – Sept. 1-9, 2019

• Declaration date – Oct. 4, 2019

Tropical Storm Michael

• Incident period – Sept. 10-Oct. 12, 2018

• Declaration date – Jan. 31, 2019

Hurricane Florence

• Incident period – Sept. 7-29, 2018

• Declaration date – Sept. 14, 2018

Hurricane Florence

• Incident period – Sept. 7-29, 2018

• Declaration date – Sept. 10, 2018

Tornado and severe storms

• Incident period – April 15, 2018

• Declaration date – May 8, 2018

Chestnut Knob fire

• Incident period – Nov. 19-Dec. 4, 2016

• Declaration date – Nov. 19

Party Rock fire

• Incident period – Nov. 11-29, 2016

• Declaration date – Nov. 11, 2016

Hurricane Matthew

• Incident period – Oct. 4-24, 2016

• Declaration date – Oct. 10, 2016

Hurricane Matthew

• Incident period – Oct. 4-24, 2016

• Declaration date – Oct. 7, 2016

Severe winter storm

• Incident period – March 6-7, 2014

• Declaration date – March 31, 2014

*Editor’s note: does not include two COVID19 declarations in 2020. Source: FEMA

Many of the disasters in other states that were concurrent with Pigeon River flooding in August were put on the fast track.

“That’s another factor when we’re talking about this disaster versus say the hurricane disasters,” Lucas said. “Those disasters had pre-landfall emergency declarations. And so some of those assessments and the way those things were to happen, happened at a faster rate just because of the type of declaration that was requested.”

Emergency declarations don’t cover all the forms of assistance that major disaster declarations do, but they also presume fore-

Ingles Nutrition Notes

written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath

LOSS OF SMELL (AND TASTE)

These days we are aware that one of the symptoms of Covid19 for many people is a loss of smell which affects our ability to taste foods. This is known as anosmia.

The medical community is also finding that many who recover from Covid19 are experiencing parosmia: a "distorted sense of smell" which affects many people post-Covid19 for weeks or months. This is considered one of the "long hauler" or "long Covid-19" issues. Some people report certain foods tasting "burnt" or " like cigarettes" or "like garbage". Some individuals are disappointed that favorite foods and beverages like coffee are now unpalatable. Others find that they have to use more salt to make foods palatable. For most, parosmia will gradually resolve on its own. Some are trying olfactory (smell) retraining therapy to help their sense of smell return.

Why is parosmia a concern? Altered smell, and therefore taste, can result in a loss of appetite, undesirable changes in food intake, unintentional weight loss and potentially, nutrient deficiencies. For more information on parosmia and smell therapy: https://pmj.bmj.com/content/early/2021/03/31/postgradmedj-2021-139855 https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2021/09/parosmia.php

‘And then it was too late’

Flood warning timeline reveals challenges of mountain forecasting

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

On the afternoon of Tuesday, Aug. 17, Rob Young was watching the rain fall. He watched it first through the windows of his office at Western Carolina University and then later at his home in Webster — and, continuously, on his computer screen, where ever-changing river depths were displayed through the state’s Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network, or FIMAN.

“At one point I was saying, ‘This is going to be more of a nonevent than I thought,’” he said in an interview Sept. 3, when bright sunshine had replaced the streaming skies of Tropical Storm Fred. “Then all of a sudden I started hearing houses are going down the river in Cruso.”

The FIMAN site features a map marking every river gauge in North Carolina, with a color-coded circle indicating its current level — green denotes a normal reading, with yellow, orange, red and purple marking progressive levels of danger. A ring around the

interior circle indicates the river’s forecasted peak condition. As Young watched the map Aug. 17, he waited for the outer rings to change color.

“It never happened until the gauge was reporting a flood,” he said. “And then it was too late.”

As director of Western Carolina University’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, Young has a professional interest in water, and the ways it can change even the most longstanding human settlements. He studies hurricanes and wetlands, and how science can inform management and policy in these vulnerable places.

The impact of Tropical Storm Fred shocked him, as did the suddenness with which it arrived. After the storm passed, he started asking what the National Weather Service knew, what local emergency managers knew and when they knew it. Had somebody messed up? Could this loss of life and property have somehow been averted?

But no, he concluded — the devastation in Haywood County was not the result of cumbersome bureaucracy or incompetent leadership. Rather, it was the result of the immense difficulty of accurately predicting mountain weather, of the inherent danger of living in a floodplain and of an unprecedented load of rain.

“Just in general, we absorbed a lot of rain over multiple days,” said NWS Meteorologist Clay Cheney. “And so the area became really primed and conducive to flash flooding.”

As the storm drew closer, the NWS began to update its messaging. First, it moved the start time for its Flash Flood Watch up earlier to begin at midnight Aug. 17. As Tuesday unfolded, it published updates on its social media accounts, and at 3:12 p.m. — half an hour before the East Fork gauge reached flood stage at 3:45 p.m. — a Flash Flood Warning was issued. Unlike the Flash Flood Watch alert, the Flash Flood Warning resulted in alerts sent to cell phones in the affected area.

Locally, Haywood County Emergency Services had also been working to communicate warnings to local residents, informing them of the danger via social media posts and Haywood Alerts messages sent directly as text messages and phone calls to those who had signed up for the service. The first Haywood Alerts message went out around 2:20 p.m. Aug. 16, alerting users of the Flash Flood Watch. Subsequent alerts went out at 3:12, 4:09 and 4:25 p.m. Aug. 17.

CHALLENGING TERRAIN

Predicting the weather isn’t easy, and predicting mountain weather — especially extremely localized but extremely intense outbursts — is doubly difficult.

On a broad level, said Senior Service Hydrologist Joshua Palmer, the NWS was expecting heavy, potentially dangerous rainfall from Tropical Storm Fred, and that’s exactly what happened.

“I’m not convinced we could have done much of a better job with a flash flood like this that happens so incredibly quickly,” he said.

EVOLVING PREDICTIONS

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service Forecast Center in GreenvilleSpartanburg had been watching Tropical Storm Fred for days prior to its Aug. 17 arrival in Haywood County, posting regular updates on the storm’s projected path and impacts to its carefully curated social media pages.

At 2:20 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 16, those projections led the NWS to issue a Flash Flood Watch beginning Tuesday morning for a 31-county area, which included the entire far western region of North Carolina. Rainfall amounts could vary widely, the alert stated, ranging from 2-3 inches in piedmont areas to 8-10 inches in upslope mountain areas. The notification went out via mass market media, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio and NWS official Twitter accounts.

That rain would come at a time when soils were already saturated. On Sunday, Aug. 15, a river gauge a mile past Jukebox Junction on the East Fork Pigeon River had peaked at 7.28 feet, not far below the flood stage threshold of 8.5 feet.

“The challenge is — and this is where the state of the science comes into play — can we provide the Cruso residents a forecast the day or two in advance that says, ‘You guys are going to get 8.5 inches of rain between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 17?” said Palmer. “And we’re just unfortunately not there yet.” There was no warning specific to the Cruso area until the river was rising in the Cruso area such that, for many people, it was already impossible to leave. But that’s merely a reflection of current forecasting capabilities, not a reflection of missed cues or overlooked data on the part of the forecasters, said Palmer.

Flash flood watches don’t happen too often — there have been three this year for Haywood County — so when they’re issued it’s important to take them seriously.

“When that flash flood watch goes out and you’re in a campground setting and you’re next to a river, that’s a decision that has to be made as to whether there’s a risk there that you could experience flooding,” Palmer said.

While “being wrong is part of the job,” Palmer said, when it comes to weather prediction error comes at a price. If a severe weather watch is issued and nothing happens, people who received the alert might pay less attention the next time.

For the same reason, forecasters have to avoid giving a prediction that’s too specific for the science to support it with reasonable certainty. Especially in the mountains, the outcome for a local area depends on exactly where the heaviest rain is located, and there-

The prediction timeline

SATURDAY, AUG. 14

• 11:13 a.m. The National Weather Service warns of an enhanced risk for flash flooding in Western North Carolina and northeastern Georgia over the next seven days due to Tropical Storm Fred, citing a “medium” confidence level in the prediction. Haywood County Emergency Services shares the warning at 12:19 p.m.

SUNDAY, AUG. 15

• 5:30 a.m. The NWS updates its advisory to state that heavy rainfall will be “the main concern” for WNC and northeast Georgia through midweek. The agency reiterates that concern in social media posts and updates throughout the day.

MONDAY, AUG. 16

• 3:02 a.m. A Flash Flood Warning is issued for Haywood, Transylvania and Jackson counties, expiring at 7:45 a.m. that morning. Flooding occurs in Transylvania County, but not in Haywood.

• 11:40 a.m. In social media posts, Haywood County Emergency Services warns followers that updated forecasts show a risk of flooding on the Pigeon River due to Tropical Storm Fred and asks them to sign up for Haywood Alerts to receive emergency messages.

• 2:20 p.m. The NWS issues a Flash Flood Watch for a 31county area including parts of North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina, extending from 8 a.m. Aug. 17 through 8 a.m. Aug. 18. Haywood County relays the warning to residents who have signed up for Haywood Alerts messages.

fore into which watershed it falls. Previous reporting from The Smoky Mountain News showed that Jackson County could easily have seen even more severe flooding than Cruso — but because the heaviest rain fell on the Eastern Continental Divide, the water was split across two watersheds.

Forecasters are also limited in predicting how rainfall will impact slope stability. The state of the science is “very, very young” when it comes to anticipating landslide risk, said Palmer.

“There’s time scales and there’s spatial scales,” he said. “And so you’ve got your broad forecast of rainfall, and then you’ve got your very specific watershed forecasts of rainfall, and unfortunately that’s just not something at this time that we’re able to do with any kind of accuracy or skill that would build confidence with the public.”

A forecast of heavy flooding on the East Fork and mild flooding on the West Fork could easily be met with a reverse outcome, he said, in which case the forecast would do more harm than good.

IMPROVING THE WARNING

• 8:30 p.m. The NWS moves the start time for the Flash Flood Watch forward eight hours so that it now begins at midnight.

TUESDAY, AUG. 17

• 4:34 a.m. The NWS updates its forecast to include high chance of excessive rainfall for an area that includes parts of 11 counties, including southern Haywood County. The remainder of Western North Carolina was given a moderate chance of excessive rainfall.

• 10 a.m. In social media posts, Haywood County Emergency Services advises residents that all of Haywood County is now expected to get 4 inches or more of rain in the next 24 hours and repeats its call to sign up for Haywood Alerts.

• 10:46 a.m. A Haywood Alerts message goes out to all subscribers reminding them of the flash flood watch in effect.

• 10:44 a.m. A tornado watch is issued for parts of 32 counties, including Haywood. It is later updated to include additional areas. While several small tornados occurred as a result of the storm, none were observed in the far western counties.

• 2:45 p.m. In radio traffic, Canton and Cruso fire chiefs discuss water levels, which were still in the normal range.

• 2:50 p.m. Haywood County 911 receives a call from a female hiker in the Big East Fork area who is concerned about high water on the trails. She ends up sheltering overnight in the backcountry.

• 2:56 p.m. Haywood 911 receives a call about flooding in the Burnette Cove area.

• 3:11 p.m. A caller informs Haywood 911 of a tree down just above the Cruso Fire Department.

• 3:12 p.m. The National Weather Service issues a Flash Flood Warning for southern Haywood County, set to expire at 6:15

Stay in the loop

Be ready for future emergencies by signing up for Haywood Alerts at www.member.everbridge.net/45300308561 6422 and following the National Weather Service’s Greenville-Spartanburg Forecast Office at @NWSGSP on Twitter. The office also has a robust Facebook page, but due to issues with Facebook algorithms doesn’t use it for official warnings.

p.m. The warning is displayed on cell phones in the alert area as part of the Integrated Public Warning Alert System.

• 3:13 p.m. The Flash Flood Warning is repeated through a Haywood Alerts message.

• 3:14 p.m. A large mudslide above the Cruso Fire Department is called into 911.

• 3:45 p.m. The East Fork reaches flood stage as the river gauge closest to Cruso, located about a mile upstream from Jukebox Junction, measures 8.54 feet.

• 4:09 p.m. Haywood County Emergency Services issues a Flash Flood Alert as the East Fork Pigeon River overflows its banks. A Haywood Alerts message urges downstream residents to seek higher ground.

• 4:24 p.m. The National Weather Service extends its Flash Flood Watch through 8:30 p.m. and includes northeastern Haywood County in the coverage area.

• 4:25 p.m. A Haywood Alerts message repeats the warning to downstream residents.

• 4:45 p.m. The East Fork gauge reaches 12.01 feet, crossing the line into major flood stage.

• 5:45 p.m. The East Fork gauge crests at 16.15 feet, a record for that location.

• 8:15 p.m. The waters crest in Canton with a reading of 19.76 feet.

• 8:30 p.m. The NWS declares a Flash Flood Emergency for parts of Haywood County including Canton, West Canton and Lake Junaluska, in effect through 2:15 a.m. Aug. 18, instructing people to seek higher ground immediately. The Flash Flood Warning is extended through 2:15 a.m. Aug. 18, with the coverage area shrinking to include only the easterncentral part of the county.

rain gauge on U.S. Forest Service property at Daniel Ridge, which was out of order at the time of the flood due to encroaching tree canopy coverage. The Forest Service has a rain gauge at Frying Pan Tower, but its usefulness is limited because it often takes an hour or more for data collected there to display on the website, Koonce said.

Pigeon River are found in public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Blue Ridge Parkway, and some of that land is federally designated wilderness with myriad restrictions on allowable uses and infrastructure. Getting all the necessary approvals and partnerships in place to install such equipment would be challenging. But Koonce thinks it’s possible.

“I think it is a project that’s worth putting time into, and I think it is an achievable goal,” he said.

REDUCING VULNERABILITY

There are three U.S. Geological Service river gauges on the West Fork Pigeon River, the furthest upstream of which is located just above Lake Logan. The only USGS river gauge on the East Fork is located just about a mile upstream from Jukebox Junction. There is also a state-maintained rain gauge at the Cruso Fire Department, where the heaviest rainfall occurred. While the fire department gauge was critical in getting warnings out to downstream residents, all five of the above data gathering points are low in the watershed compared to the Pigeon’s mountain headwaters.

There is also a state-maintained ridgetop

While reliable watershed-level predictions may be a ways off, Haywood County Emergency Manager Zack Koonce hopes that next time, citizens will at least have more warning.

Having the data from Daniel Ridge may have been helpful for forecasters, but nobody interviewed for this story said it would have saved the day. The Daniel Ridge site is a simple rain gauge, and it only tells the story of that single location. It takes time to collect the observations and receive the data needed to judge what those measurements mean for public safety — and that’s time emergency managers might not have.

No real-time data existed to show the flood wave headed for Cruso, until it was already there. Koonce wants to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

“The gauges we currently have in place, they update, but they don’t update frequently enough,” he said. “Visual monitoring is something we’d like to put in place.”

That means installing cameras and fiber cable to give an instant look at on-the-ground conditions. Creating that infrastructure would be a bureaucratic challenge as well as a financial investment. The headwaters of the

More good data is nearly always a good thing, but Young doesn’t think that better predications or earlier warnings will truly solve the problem. Even if Haywood County manages to install an early warning system for Cruso, what about the countless other small watersheds in North Carolina that are equally susceptible to flash flooding, given the right conditions?

“Creating a system that’s going to provide enough warning in a place like this, I’m just not sure that it’s possible,” he said. “If you asked me what needs to happen, I would have to say that at the end of the day, the best thing

is to not have trailers and singlewides and vulnerable structures built at grade anywhere near these rivers, even up in the headwaters.”

Young acknowledges that would be a tough policy to enact — especially in a county with so little flat land, where affordable housing options are already scarce.

But there was just an hour between the time when the West Fork rose to the action stage of 8 feet at the gauge site upstream from Lake Logan and the time it hit the action stage of 9.2 feet at Bethel, and more like 30-45 minutes of actual lead time when accounting for the lag in data display.

In a community with limited cell coverage and poor internet, he said, it’s hard to know whether that would be enough time to evacuate people who are in danger, had the East Fork had a similar distribution of gauges. And even if everybody made it out with their lives, there would still be the destroyed homes and livelihoods to contend with.

The key, Young said, is to plan around reducing both exposure and sensitivity to floodwaters, a calculation that considers whether a building will contact floodwaters as well as what impact that water will have once it arrives. For instance, beachfront homes may often be exposed to floodwaters, but because they’re built with the expectation of exposure, floods below a certain magnitude don’t impact them much.

FEMA, CONTINUED FROM 7

sight of the incident. When a hurricane is coming, leaders in the affected areas have time to prepare. When a flash flood happens, like in Cruso, they don’t.

“The emergency declaration is limited oftentimes, especially with hurricanes, to prelandfall emergency services to ensure that the state and the local governments have the capability and the support to do evacuations, to do other things, to pay for things that are outside the scope of normal mission activities,” said Lucas. “That’s an emergency declaration. What a major declaration involves is an individual assistance program that provides funding, grants for housing repair and rental assistance.”

As of press time on Sept. 14, FEMA reported approving 41 individual assistance applications good for $178,004 in housing assistance and $26,866 in “other needs.”

“That would be for individuals and households that have applied for federal assistance through FEMA and that is the amount currently, and that of course will, as more people and households apply for assistance through FEMA, go up,” Lucas said. “That can cover household items and that’s the big thing that we would say right now is that everyone who had a disaster damage loss for uninsured losses, they should apply for FEMA assistance because that’s really the first step on the road to recovery.”

The public assistance portion of the declaration will provide reimbursement to local governments and some nonprofits for expenses incurred in the process of responding to the disaster.

Richmond said. If considering the county or region as a whole, that percentage would increase.

In traditional — though misleading — terminology, that 0.15% chance would equate to something like a 670-year flood. The NWS is trying to get away from such terms due to the false sense of security they can bestow, Richmond said. In any given year, there is a chance that a similar event could occur, even if the chance is small.

“We have like 50 years of data, max, in most of these places, so how would we ever know what a 500-year event is?” said Young. “We sort of make it up.”

While it’s impossible to know exactly how long it will be before a similar flood strikes Cruso again, it’s unlikely to occur for quite a while. But overall, said Young, flooding events will be more common in a warming climate, for the simple reason that warm air can hold more water, so tropical storms will have the opportunity to absorb more moisture.

“If events like this happened every year, we wouldn’t develop in dangerous places,” he said of the Cruso corridor. “But they don’t. They happen just frequently enough that they can cause problems for us. It takes a lot of will and foresight, and political will, to say we’re not going to put stuff in these places that we know are likely to flood in the future, and if we do we’re going to make sure it’s way above the base flood elevation.”

“How quickly they get that reimbursement is going to somewhat depend on how quickly the local government gets paperwork together and its documentation and submits that application,” Acree said. “They do that all online through an online portal, submit all their public assistance documentation and there’s staff at the state and the FEMA level to assist them with that. Generally, it’s a pretty smooth process and they’ll have that money back usually within a few months.”

Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead is one of those responsible for submitting the documentation to ensure the county gets back as much money as possible.

“We are working through our county finance office, but we have a local CPA that helps on our emergency management side,” Morehead said. “So they are working together to capture all the costs that we submit to FEMA.”

Morehead said that he expects to file an initial batch of paperwork in the next 30 days and then periodically thereafter in a phased approach.

On Aug. 26, Haywood commissioners approved spending around $5 million from the county’s fund balance to execute several contracts for debris removal and rehousing services.

Southern Disaster Recovery’s Chip Patterson told commissioners they’d be removing upward of 4,000 cubic yards of debris a day per a contract worth up to $4 million, and another company, DebrisTech LLC, was given a $939,000 contract for monitoring services. The final contract, for $175,000, was awarded to nonprofit Baptists on Mission for rapid rehousing.

The National Weather Service has calculated that, based on rainfall totals over the 60hour period leading up to the flood, there is roughly a 0.15% chance each year of a similar event happening in Cruso, Haywood County Emergency Services spokesperson Allison

Disaster declarations during 2004 Pigeon River flooding

Tropical Storm Frances

• Incident period – Sept. 7-12, 2004

• Declaration date – Sept. 10, 2004

Hurricane Ivan

• Incident period – Sept. 16-23, 2004

• Declaration date – Sept. 18, 2004

Source: FEMA

“Other than that, we’ve had costs of sheltering the survivors in non-congregate housing. We’ve also paid [lodging for] some of the responders that came in across the state. So we have those costs. We’ve bought supplies, we’ve purchased lots of meals, we’ve rented some heavy equipment,” Morehead said. “So all in all, we’ve spent well over $5 million, probably $5.5 to $5.8 million, something like that. And then we have a lot of overtime. Our finance folks are working with HR to make sure that we can get reimbursed for those costs too.”

Fortunately, Haywood County’s financial picture has only continued to improve over the last decade, making all the emergency spending possible.

As of June 30, 2020, the last figures that were available, the county had $32.4 million in available fund balance, or about 38.6 percent of its yearly budget. The percentage value is important, as the state’s Local

“One of the biggest impacts from global warming may be the simple fact that we’re going to get more rain in events, and I think we’re seeing that everywhere,” he said. “Was this a 500-year event or a 0.2% event? I would not bet on that. My fear is that things like this that are going to be a lot more common in the mountains than they have been in the past, for sure, and a lot more common than we would like them to be.”

Government Commission requires at least 8 percent — about a months’ worth of spending. A government operating with that level of fund balance would earn a stern letter from the LGC, and would also likely experience cash flow problems, Morehead said.

Drilling down even further, some of that $32.4 million fund balance is already “spoken for,” by the community college, county schools and law enforcement, so the total unassigned fund balance, completely free and clear, is $19.4 million — before the emergency spending.

Morehead said the rapid and significant temporary decrease in available fund balance wouldn’t affect the county’s standing in the eyes of the LGC, and also probably wouldn’t affect the county’s excellent bond rating, especially if all reimbursement is complete by budget time next June.

“The board has been very conservative and added money to fund balance over the last few years and, and this is a good example of why you do that, so you can deal with emergencies and you can take care of what needs to be taken care of. If we didn’t have the $5 million free and clear, how could we have started picking up debris?” Morehead remarked. “So that’s a good reason to have cash on hand.”

Now, the county and its municipalities have shifted from waiting for news of the declaration to waiting for the reimbursement checks to start arriving, but that could be a long wait — Morehead said that the county was still awaiting reimbursement from FEMA for costs incurred by the county last year associated with the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Haywood County Schools has

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER

Beginning Sept. 20, students at Central Haywood High School will return to part-time in-person learning. These students have been learning remotely since flooding from Tropical Storm Fred caused severe damage to the school building in Clyde.

Because Central Haywood teachers are working out of the old Academy Building at Waynesville Middle School, there will only be enough room for half the students at one time. One group of students will attend school Monday and Tuesday, the other group will attend Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday will be a remote day for everyone. Administration is adamant about getting these students back in the classroom, especially after reviewing test scores from the 2020-21 school year. Haywood County ranked 10th among 115 school districts in North Carolina, and school administration attributes this high placement to returning to in-person learning early, five days per week while many other school districts remained remote.

According to Superintendent Dr. Bill Nolte, on average there was a 20-point difference in math scores between students who were in-person and students who were remote only.

“We just feel like we need them in-person as much as we can get them. A little now and maybe more later,” said Nolte.

According to Associate Superintendent Dr. Trevor Putnam, Haywood County Schools has insurance that will cover restoration at Central Haywood High School with a $25,000 deductible. Putnam has been told by a FEMA representative that it will pay that deductible “once proper paperwork occurs.”

For the athletic fields that were affected, insurance will cover $427,000 for the AstroTurf and $750,000 for fencing and equipment for all schools and fields combined.

“FEMA representatives have made it very clear to us that if we proceed in any way

without their approval at any site affected by the flood, that Haywood County Schools stands not to be reimbursed,” said Putnam.

The budgetary quotes for restoration and repair for Central Haywood High School are $5,065,000; for Pisgah High School softball field, $846,666; Pisgah High School baseball field, $1,319,982; Pisgah High School Football field, $2,256,945; Canton Middle School baseball field, $897,038; Canton Middle School softball field, $95,000; Tuscola High School softball field, $525. The grand total for all these repairs is $10,481,156, over $9 million of which will not be covered by insurance.

“Those are budgetary quotes,” said Putnam. “They can be lower, they can be higher. We always work to find the most cost-effective and quality work that we can find. So we hope it’s lower, but a little disclaimer, it could be higher.”

According to Putnam, FEMA will be able to pay some if not all of the difference between what insurance will pay and what the actual damage is. Because North Carolina has not passed a budget, it is unclear whether there will be state funding for flood recovery.

“We will know a lot more when the state budget is passed,” said Nolte.

In order to move forward on repairing the Pisgah football field and stadium, more tests are necessary to determine whether or not the stands are safe for occupancy. The AstroTurf cannot be repaired or replaced until the stands have been determined safe, or not, and repaired, if necessary. Additionally, tests are needed to determine whether or not the drain field under the AstroTurf is still up to standard or needs to be repaired or replaced.

Soil tests, surface and subterranean, are being done by Mountain Environmental to make sure there are no toxins. After those tests are complete, if they come back negative, repairs can begin. Surface tests have come back negative, a good sign for lack of contamination.

Larry E. Bryson, former Chief Deputy Haywood County Sheriff's Office, announces that

I look forward to serving the people of Haywood County again. Larry E. Bryson I

ELECTION.

My career began in 1976 and I have worked for Sheriffs Jack Arrington, Tom Alexander and Bob Suttles.

During my 35 years of law enforcement experience in Haywood County, I have held the following positions:

Resignations plague Downtown Waynesville Association board

Town leadership to discuss managing MSD

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR

Ahandful of the Downtown Waynesville Association’s executive board members have recently resigned, leaving the organization without the leadership needed to pursue a contract renewal to manage the town’s Municipal Service District.

DWA Chairwoman Carolyn Brunk, owner of Oak Park Inn, resigned a couple of weeks ago, leaving Vice Chairman Jonathan Key, publisher of The Mountaineer, at the helm. However, Key also turned in his resignation on Monday, Sept. 13, stating that he had personal and professional commitments that did not afford him the time necessary to effectively participate in the organization.

“We are all aware that the process of applying for the Waynesville MSD contract has become much more complicated than anyone could have foreseen,” Key wrote in his resignation letter.

The DWA was founded in 1985 and has since administered the town’s Municipal Service District (MSD), which is funded largely through an additional property tax levied on properties in the district. That money is used to pay for an executive director for the DWA, which has led marketing efforts for the downtown since its inception. When the DWA’s contract came up for renewal this year, the Waynesville Board of Aldermen pressed the organization for more transparency and a strategic plan moving forward.

The DWA submitted its proposal for the MSD contract back in June, but aldermen were not satisfied with the document and gave the DWA board 90 days to resubmit the proposal.

“They submitted a proposal that was fraught with errors and issues,” said Alderman Anthony Sutton, adding that the DWA still hadn’t been able to provide him with the last five years of board and committee meeting minutes as he had requested months ago. “We gave them guidelines of what to do moving forward and they have been in communication with the N.C. Main Street Program and still haven’t followed the basic guidelines. I think everyone is passionate about the organization, but I don’t think there’s a commitment to the organization right now.”

Joey Fuseler, manager of Mast General Store, resigned from the executive board on Sept. 10.

“As I am part-owner and general manager of a business in the Municipal Service District, I was excited to be a part of the

proposed restructuring and future success of the organization as well as downtown Waynesville,” he said. “After today’s meeting, it has become clear to me that there are some deeper issues that need to be discussed before a future can be forecasted and I believe that those are just out of my wheelhouse. That, coupled with the busiest retail quarter of the year being ahead of us has solidified this decision for me.”

Fuseler was referring to a Sept. 9 DWA board meeting, which was not properly noticed, according to North Carolina’s public meeting laws. State statute requires that a change to a public body’s meeting schedule has to be published online and noticed to the media,” but that didn’t happen before the DWA convened on Sept. 9.

Alderman Sutton showed up Sept. 9 to inform the board members that the meeting would be considered illegal since it wasn’t properly noticed to the public.

Morgan Beryl, the new director of the

and no official director on staff, Beryl said she reached out for assistance from town officials to ensure the board was following public notice requirements for meetings.

“Instead, no help was provided, and today we were told that it is not his job .... It is my belief this is a failure on the part of the Town as a public servant and was done in poor faith,” she wrote. “At our meeting this morning, which was not held due to the noticing issue, it felt as though the Town of Waynesville wanted this group of volunteers, giving their time to try to help improve an organization that has served the community for over 30 years, to fail. If DWA and the Town are not working together to serve the MSD, to support the historic preservation of the downtown, and create a collaborative community, then that is not something that deserves my or any of my fellow board members’ time and attention.”

At the Sept. 9 meeting, DWA members questioned who was normally responsible

“I didn’t feel that the town was supporting or being a partner in the process.”

Haywood County Arts Council, also resigned from the DWA board after expressing frustration during the Sept. 9 meeting. In an email to the rest of the board, Beryl said she felt like the Town of Waynesville didn’t want the DWA to succeed.

“I didn’t feel that the town was supporting or being a partner in the process,” said Beryl during a follow-up interview. “I am very committed to my other board members and helping to preserve the economic vitality and the character of downtown Waynesville. It’s one of the main reasons I moved here and I have passion around working with good teams and doing something that I really feel benefits our community.”

Over the course of the first month of the 90-day period, Beryl said board members on the DWA had come up with five points of focus moving forward. These points included a budget overhaul, a strong finish to the year’s upcoming events, updating bylaws and changing leadership, communicating with downtown merchants to understand their needs and coming up with a scope and timeline for an updated strategic plan. Four committees had been formed to tackle each point, with one committee dealing with both budget overhaul and updating bylaws.

With such a heavy workload and so much in transition with board members

for the public meeting notices.

Town Manager Rob Hites said it would be up to the chairman, vice chair or paid staff of the DWA to publish the meeting notices. He added that this wasn’t the first time the DWA struggled with noticing their meetings.

“It’s extremely simple. It doesn’t take long and there’s a meeting list to send it out to called a sunshine list,” Hites told DWA members. “I’ve been telling Buffy (Phillips) for years ‘you’re not doing this right.’ You have to remember that the DWA is not part of the city, but you are responsible for open meetings law because you’re managing the municipal service district and that’s been the case for 20 years.”

If the DWA board meetings haven’t been noticed properly for a while, Beryl asked why it was just now becoming an issue.

“Is it possible for us to move forward with the understanding that this has to be done every time?” she asked.

Sutton reaffirmed that the board could not legally hold a meeting that day and needed to reschedule it for the following week.

“I think it feels a little bit like a set up,” said long-time DWA board member Teresa Pennington, who was formerly a chairman of the DWA board.

“We’re under hyper-scrutiny right now and that’s OK,” said Haywood County Commissioner Kirk F

Kirkpatrick, who also serves on the DWA board. “We have to abide by those rules now.”

In a follow-up interview, Sutton said the DWA board did reach out for guidance on the open meeting laws, and that Hites sent the board an email Aug. 31 with the specific meeting notice requirements.

“It’s not the town’s responsibility nor Rob’s responsibility to make sure the notice went out,” he said. “They have been notified on multiple occasions by Rob that they need to adhere to the policies.”

As for the comments made about the Sept. 9 meeting feeling like a set-up, Sutton said the DWA has been given ample support from the town and was given ample time to resubmit their MSD contract proposal.

To demonstrate that the DWA wasn’t being singled out, Hites gave members an example of the town missing the meeting notice requirements and how it was handled. When notice of a Board of Alderman retreat meeting was sent out at 3:30 p.m. for an 8:30 a.m. meeting, the town barely missed the 48-hour requirement.

“So we had to cancel it because The Smoky Mountain News raised an objection under the open meetings law, and they were right,” he said.

At this point, Sutton said he thinks bringing the MSD management under the guidance of the town government is the best option moving forward. He said he planned to bring the issue up before the Board of Aldermen at its Tuesday night meeting (Sept. 14).

“The town can’t dissolve the Downtown Waynesville Association. It can continue to operate but it won’t receive the district funds if we don’t renew the contract,” he said. “I think bringing the management under the town is absolutely the best route right now.”

If the town decides to manage the MSD instead of offering the DWA the contract, Sutton said a Downtown Waynesville Committee would be formed similar to the Green Hill Cemetery Committee or the Historic Preservation Committee. The aldermen would make appointments to the committee and that committee would oversee the MSD tax revenue.

Key also stated in his resignation letter that he agreed with Sutton’s suggestion of creating a “quasi-public” Downtown Waynesville Committee.

“It is the most common format adopted by most of the downtown associations in North Carolina and it would solve the issue we have with hiring and providing competitive pay and benefits for an experienced Executive Director,” he wrote.

Beryl agreed that she could see a lot of benefit for the Main Street Program to be under the auspices of the town.

“If in the end they want to bring the Main Street Program into the town, then I think they should do that. And move ahead in that direction. I’m not getting a clear message from the town about what direction they want. I’m willing to work really hard and be a good team member and bring my skills to bear in a positive team-oriented environment,” Beryl said.

Hannah McLeod contributed to this report.

FREE ESTIMATES

Cherokee upholds same-sex marriage ban

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

After nearly two hours of discussion, debate and even tears during its Thursday, Sept. 9 meeting, the Cherokee Tribal Council shot down an effort to change a law banning the licensing and solemnization of same-sex marriages on the Qualla Boundary.

In a move made by Painttown Rep. Dike Sneed and seconded by Vice Chairman David Wolfe, the body voted 8-3 to kill legislation tribal member Tamara Thompson had submitted aiming to lift the ban. Big Cove Rep. Perry Shell abstained from the vote.

“I don’t want to kill it,” he said. “I don’t want to pass it. I was for the amendment.”

SNEED’S AMENDMENT

The amendment in question was submitted by Principal Chief Richard Sneed.

Thompson’s originally submitted legislation specifically stated that “marriage shall not be limited by the gender or sexual orientation of the parties being married” and that “the licensing and solemnization of same-sex marriages that are duly and legally recognized within the United States are accepted without discrimination within the jurisdiction of the Eastern Band.”

Sneed’s version left out any reference to gender or sexual orientation, stating simply that marriage is recognized on the Qualla Boundary, that any ordained minister or judicial official of the Cherokee Court can solemnize one, and that a couple seeking to get married must obtain a marriage license from and have it recorded with the register of deeds in their home county.

“This is really a simple civil rights issue, is really what it comes down to,” he said. “As a tribal government we should not be passing laws that contain discriminatory language, and our current marriage law, (Section) 50-1, does include discriminatory language.”

Thompson first submitted the ordinance for the June agenda. Under Tribal Council’s typical procedure outlined in tribal law, the ordinance would have been deemed read and tabled and placed on the July agenda for a vote. However, in both June and July the Council declined to give the ordinance the first reading it needed to be eligible for a vote the next month. When it came up again in August, the majority of Council once again voted against deeming the ordinance read and tabled but this time allowed it to be read into the record, paving the way for this month’s vote. Cherokee’s same-sex marriage ban was passed in 2000 and strengthened in 2014.

Practically, the current law has little effect on same-sex couples in Cherokee, because all counties in the U.S. now recognize those marriages. Cherokee grants full

faith and credit to marriages recorded outside its boundaries.

However, the law still has an impact — it tells tribal members in same-sex relationships that “you guys are less than,” Thompson said.

Thompson, as well as many of those present to voice their support for her ordinance, told Tribal Council she supported Sneed’s amendment. However, the majority of Council declined to accept the change.

Voting in favor of Sneed’s amendment were Wolfetown Rep. Chelsea Saunooke, Birdtown Rep. Albert Rose, Yellowhill Rep. Tom Wahnetah and Big Cove Rep. Perry Shell. The remaining eight councilmembers voted against it.

CONCERNS AND OBJECTIONS

Finally, the move to kill prevailed, with only three people voting against the move — Saunooke, Rose and Wahnetah — and Shell abstaining.

Wahnetah said that while he agrees with the church’s moral stance on same-sex marriage, that’s not what Council’s decision should be about.

“It’s not about religion or your way of life,” he said. “I think this speaks to the law more than it does religion, because I think they should be separated. I think as lawmakers that’s what we’re here to do.”

Three local ministers and a church member spoke against Thompson’s ordinance, one of whom stated his particular objection was to any potential that adopting the law could end up forcing ministers who object to such unions to be involved in solemnizing them.

“The original ordinance as submitted (in 2014) was done so to try to protect the churches from outside influence and unnecessary pressure to perform same-sex marriages,” said Dan Conseen, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church. “All we are asking is a modification to exempt the churches from that problem.”

Meanwhile, speakers advocating for lifting the same-sex marriage ban pointed out that the tribe receives millions of dollars each year in federal grant money and postulated that those dollars could be in jeopardy should the U.S. government decide that Cherokee’s marriage law violates non-discrimination polices.

“Could you imagine if this tribe had to do without federal grant funding?” said Thompson. “How much would that cost because we are discriminating against people?”

Randall Crowe, an enrolled member and attorney, read from a 2015 Cherokee Nation court ruling that struck down that tribe’s same-sex marriage ban and expounded on the practice’s historical roots in Cherokee culture. He also warned that keeping the Eastern Band’s ban in place could impact the

tribe’s future ability to hold non-members accountable for criminal acts on tribal land.

“This could hurt our chances of getting criminal jurisdiction over nonmembers,” he said. “One of their major reasons for not trusting us with this is not trusting Indians with the rights of non-Indians. How can they trust us if we can’t even respect the rights of our own members? That’s something we should think about, because a lot of our issues on this reservation comes from not having jurisdiction over non-Indians.”

Responding to these concerns, Attorney General Mike McConnell said that standing U.S. Supreme Court precedent shows that ministers would not be required to solemnize unions they object to as a result of Thompson’s ordinance but that there is a real potential for loss of federal grant dollars if the ban remains in place. The tribe gets about $60 million such dollars each year, he said.

“Potentially if someone were to go through the right channels and make an issue regarding this tribal law in reference to these federal grants, potentially yeah, the federal government could take an action,” he said. “Now it’s very likely that that would they do it in increments, saying, ‘We’re going to give you a chance to fix this,’ and maybe they would give us multiple chances. But potentially there could be an effect on a large amount of the tribal budget.”

AN ONGOING ISSUE

Thompson’s ordinance is now dead, but the issue is not. Thompson has created a GoFundMe page to raise funds for legal counsel to file a civil rights case against the law.

“It’ll get fixed no matter what, but it’s going to take us to probably charge them criminally and sue them in court before they’ll do it,” she said in an interview following the vote, “but we’re gonna get it.”

“We will not be just walking away,” she added.

Chelsea Saunooke said that she will attack the issue from a different angle and plans to file ethics complaints against Council members who supported the ban. She claims that it was a discriminatory act and financially irresponsible, due to the potential risk of losing federal grant dollars or attracting an expensive lawsuit as a result.

During last month’s discussion on the gay marriage ban, Saunooke came out on air as bisexual, and during the Sept. 9 meeting she announced that she had recently proposed to her girlfriend.

“I hope I can get married here,” she said. “If not, maybe I’ll wait for the day to come, but thank you for those who aren’t in support of violating your fellow Council member’s rights.”

Elected officials, employees to see raises in new Cherokee budget

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

The $633 million budget Tribal Council approved Sept. 7 represents a return to growth, after a cautious 2020-2021 budget relied on just 50% of the previous year’s casino proceeds and clocked in 19.5% slimmer than the 2019-2020 document.

But Council members were divided on their support of the budget due to the hefty salary increases it includes for elected officials. It also includes pay raises for tribal employees and recommends them for members of appointed boards, though individual boards would have to bring in specific legislation to enact those raises.

The raises are based on a compensation analysis from the CPA and consulting firm REDW, which conducts the annual REDW Tribal Government and Tribal Gaming Compensation Surveys and has worked as an advocate and advisor for Native American tribes for more than 30 years.

The study found that $888,998 in spending was needed to bring all employees up to

the minimum market rate and estimated another $200,000 would be needed to address salary compression. The exact total cost of implementing the analysis results is not yet known, Secretary of Finance Cory Blankenship said in a Sept. 13 email.

“There are several moving parts that will determine the final amount, including compression analysis that we expect to be completed by the end of this week,” he said.

With the budget’s adoption, all tribal employees will get a 5% raise, and those with salaries below the market rate as determined by the analysis will receive further adjustments. Tribal leaders will then look for issues with salary compression resulting from the changes and adjust as needed.

Council members spent more than an hour discussing the document, with nearly all of that conversation focused on the salary recommendations and in particular on the raises proposed for Tribal Council and chief positions.

Under the new pay structure, first term Council members will earn $90,492 per year

— about $10,000 more than their current salary — with a 6% increase for each subsequent term up to a maximum of $157,936 for 10th-term members. The chair will receive an additional $15,000 and the vice chair an extra $10,000. The salaries will also be tied to the Consumer Price Index, so the benchmarks will change from year to year to adjust for inflation.

The pay plan also includes a salary of $262,732 for the principal chief and $218,943 for the vice chief. Those positions are limited to two four-year terms, so the plan does not include upward adjustments for years served, as the Tribal Council plan does.

salary set at its current level of $80,600. He was told that wasn’t possible, but that he could have the excess donated.

Other Council members said that the higher salaries would help recruit qualified people who currently hold high-paying jobs to consider lending their talents to the governing body. All three members who were not re-elected in last week’s elections and will leave Council in October said they support the increases.

“It’s not the ‘80s anymore,” said Principal Chief Richard Sneed. “It’s almost 2022, and we have a massive budget with massive responsibilities. Council members are asked to make decisions that are in the hundreds of millions of dollars all the time.”

REDW recommended that enterprise and regulatory boards receive $1,500 per meeting, while regulatory and government boards receive $1,000 per meeting. Tribal Gaming Commission members should receive $80,600 per year, with $87,145 for the chair and $83,500 for the vice chair, while the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise Board should adhere to the same salary schedule as Tribal Council. The Cherokee School Board should continue to earn $25,000 annually.

Tribal officials manage a budget totaling $633 million as well as more than $2 billion in monetary assets. They govern 16,000 tribal members and employ more than 1,200 tribal workers. That high level of responsibility merits a higher level of pay, Sneed said.

However, Blankenship told Council, any boards, commissions or committees that want to change their compensation in light of the study will have to bring in separate legislation to receive Tribal Council approval for those changes. The Sept. 7 vote approved only the structure for compensation changes.

“It would keep everything as is for the boards, commissions and committees unless they bring a separate authorizing resolution to the Council,” Blankenship said.

Word of the proposed changes to Council and executive pay got out on the Qualla Boundary prior to the Sept. 7 Budget Council, and members said they had spent much of the weekend fielding calls from tribal members who were upset by the plan. After it passed, a petition effort took off to gather support for rescinding the raises.

Some of the Council members who would see pay hikes as a result of the budget said Sept. 7 that they agreed with those constituents. Chairman Adam Wachacha questioned the $15,000 stipend the Council chair would receive, asking why it shouldn’t be closer to $5,000. After the budget passed, Wolfetown Representative Bo Crowe asked whether he could request a vote to keep his

Crowe moved to table the budget until the Tribal Council meeting on Thursday, Sept. 9, with a second from Painttown Rep. Dike Sneed. However, the move failed 4-8. Snowbird Rep. Bucky Brown’s move to pass, seconded by Painttown Rep. Tommye Saunooke, passed by the reverse ratio.

Voting in favor of the budget were Wolfetown Rep. Chelsea Saunooke, Big Cove Rep. Richard French, Big Cove Rep. Perry Shell, Birdtown Rep. Boyd Owle, Yellowhill Rep. Tom Wahnetah, Vice Chief David Wolfe, Tommy Saunooke and Brown. Against it were Birdtown Rep. Albert Rose, Dike Sneed, Crowe and Wachacha.

The new budget goes into effect Friday, Oct. 1, but Council members won’t be paid according to their new, higher salaries until the 2021-2023 Council is sworn in, said Chief of Staff Ashleigh Stephens. That is expected to occur Monday, Oct. 4.

The $633 million budget is significantly larger than the $496 million budget passed last fall but a bit smaller than the $657 million revised budget Tribal Council passed in January as the pandemic’s financial implications became a bit clearer. Of revenues included in the 2021-2022 budget, 46.1% come from gaming and 15.1% come from grants. The operating portion of the budget totals $196 million.

When

Sat · Oct. 2 · 6-9 pm

Where

Sorrells Street Park, Canton Cost

Free, with suggested donation of $20

Food & Beer trucks onsite

Balsam Range ··· Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters

A Flood Relief Benefit for Haywood County!

Franklin’s new town manager no stranger to WNC

BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT P OLITICS E DITOR

Alittle over a year after she left for a town manager job in Altavista, Virginia, former Waynesville Assistant Town Manager Amie Owens has returned to the region, albeit just a little farther west.

“It was a good experience, but I just wanted to be closer to home,” Owens said. “When the opportunity in Franklin presented itself, I jumped on it.”

A Haywood County native and Pisgah High School graduate, Owens had spent more than eight years in local government in North Carolina, including almost five as Waynesville’s assistant manager after a period as the town’s administrative services director. A graduate of Montreat College, Owens earned her Master of Public Administration from Western Carolina University.

The hiring of Owens comes after the April resignation of longtime Franklin Town Manager Summer Woodard. Woodard, who had worked first as an intern and then in every town department before taking the assistant manager position in 2010, was hired as manager in 2014.

During her tenure, Woodard became highly regarded and achieved several notable successes, including bolstering the town’s fund balance. This past April, Woodard accepted a job in Reidsville, a North Carolina town of about 14,000 located halfway between Greensboro and Danville, Virginia.

That leaves Owens with big shoes to

How to

apply for FEMA assistance

fill, but she too was highly regarded in Waynesville, so Franklin residents shouldn’t expect a decrease in the quality of services they’ve been receiving for years.

“It’s always hard to follow someone who did a good job like Summer did,” Owens said, noting that her immediate priorities were to work with council to prioritize the spending of American Rescue Plan funding by balancing needs and wants. Housing and economic development concerns will also be at the top of Owens’ list.

Outgoing Franklin Mayor Bob Scott said that although the final three candidates for the job all scored highly on testing given by the town’s recruitment firm, Owens scored the highest.

“But there was just something that stood out about her, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on,” Scott said. “I just felt she was the kind of person Franklin needed.”

Scott, who decided against running for re-election this year, said that there’s a slate of great candidates in this fall’s town elections, and feels the town is in good hands with Owens.

“I’ll say this on the record right now,” noted the usually jovial Scott, “I better not see anyone from Haywood County snooping around town hall trying to steal her away.”

Residents of Buncombe, Haywood, and Transylvania counties who were affected by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred from Aug. 16 – 18 may apply for FEMA disaster assistance. Call 800.621.3362 to apply. The toll-free telephone lines are open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time, seven days a week. Those who use a relay service such as a videophone, InnoCaption, or CapTel should update FEMA with their specific number assigned to that service.

When you apply for assistance, have the following information readily available:

A current phone number where you can be contacted; your address at the time of the disaster and the address where you are now staying; your Social Security number; a general list of damage and losses and banking information if you choose direct deposit.

If insured, the policy number or the agent and/or the company name.

If you have homeowners, renter’s or flood insurance, you should file a claim as soon as possible. FEMA cannot duplicate benefits for losses covered by insurance. If your policy does not cover all your damage expenses, you may be eligible for federal assistance.

Swain man found guilty of murder

A federal jury in Asheville convicted Shane McKinley Swimmer, 21, of Cherokee, of second degree murder last week, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger presided over the three-day trial.

According to filed court documents, trial evidence, and witness testimony, on Nov. 10, 2018, Swimmer and his uncle, Charles Ray “Chino” West, were at his uncle’s residence on Rocky Knob Trail in Swain County, which is within the boundaries of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians reservation. Trial evidence established that shortly before 7 p.m., Swimmer attacked his uncle with a baseball bat, striking the victim in the head at least nine times. The victim died as a result of his injuries. Following the attack, Swimmer went to another family member’s house nearby and announced that the victim was dead before calling 911. Officers with the Cherokee Indian Police Department arrested Swimmer shortly thereafter.

Swimmer remains in federal custody. The second-degree murder charge carries a statutory maximum penalty of life in prison. A sentencing date for Swimmer has not been set.

Register to vote

On Sept. 28, Americans will celebrate National Voter Registration Day with a massive cross-country effort to register voters ahead of critical state and local elections in 2021 and midterm elections in 2022.

The Haywood County Public Library is proud to be a National Voter Registration Day partner and will engage the Haywood

Take photos to document damage and begin cleanup and repairs to prevent further damage. Remember to keep receipts from all purchases related to the cleanup and repair. Disaster assistance may include financial help with temporary lodging and home repairs, along with other programs to assist those recovering from the flooding.

For more information about Tropical Storm Fred recovery in North Carolina, visit www.fema.gov/disaster/4617. Follow the FEMA Region 4 Twitter account at https://twitter.com/femaregion4.

County community by registering voters at the Waynesville and Canton locations on Sept. 28-30.

The effort’s website, www.NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org, provides a listing of National Voter Registration Day events across the country, in communities and virtually. It also includes comprehensive and state-specific resources on all things voter registration and voting more generally.

Nearly 4.5 million Americans have registered to vote on the holiday since the inaugural National Voter Registration Day in 2012. For inquiries about National Voter Registration Day at the Haywood County Public Library, contact: Jennifer Stuart 828.356.2561.

SCC job fairs move outdoors

Due to public safety concerns related to COVID-19, Southwestern Community College officials have decided to move two upcoming job fairs outdoors at the Macon Campus.

The first event, which will be focused on the trades and skilled professions, is set for 57 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16.

Two weeks later, the general job fair will be held from 1-4 p.m. on Sept. 30.

Both events will now be held — rain or shine — on the sidewalk behind SCC’s Groves’ Center in Franklin.

A third job fair exclusively for healthcare professions is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 14, on SCC’s Jackson Campus in Sylva.

For more information about either of these events, contact Mike Despeaux at m_despeaux@southwesterncc.edu or 828.339.4212.

Permits required for bridge rebuilding

Many smaller, private bridges were damaged in Tropical Storm Fred, and homeowners are understandably anxious to get them replaced.

Before starting any storm-recovery construction project, including bridges, the first step for homeowners should be to register your loss with FEMA and apply for Individual Assistance. Losses not covered by homeowners/flood insurance may be eligible for FEMA assistance.

Register online at www.disasterassistance.gov; by phone at 800.621.3362 or TTY 800.462.7585 or download the FEMA app in your favorite app store.

Be sure to call Haywood County Development Services at 828.452.6638 before starting construction to determine which permits will be necessary.

Private bridges that provide access to a single residence may need flood permits. Private bridges that provide access to two or more residences may need flood permits and building permits. More details on the process will be provided by the Development Services staff.

To learn more about permits and the permitting process, call the Haywood County Development Services office during business hours.

Politicians pandering to American paranoia

Two heart-rending articles occupied the front page of the Florida newspaper that I was reading online two Sundays ago.

One told the stories of people who had survived the 9/11 attacks 20 years ago. The other followed a nurse through a 12hour shift in a hospital’s intensive care ward for COVID-19 patients. Three had died the day before. More will this day. Most of her patients, including a 36-year-old mother of two, are not expected to live. An older woman codes seven times before her suffering ends. The one patient who is recovering is the only one in the ward who was vaccinated.

The juxtaposition of these articles was stunning for the mass illogic and irresponsibility they reflect.

The terrorist attacks 20 years ago killed nearly 3,000 people that day and more — no one knows how many more — among the responders who contracted lethal illnesses from toxins and carcinogens in the rubble.

For comparison, more than 10 times as many Americans die each year from gun violence, but it’s something that most politicians, paralyzed with fear of the gun lobby’s single-issue voters, will do nothing about.

Some 648,000 Americans — almost surely an undercount

Vaccine mandates a good bellwether

To the Editor:

Cops threatening to quit over vaccine mandates is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reform police departments. Let them go.

Members of our military who threaten to quit because of vaccine mandates? I say go ahead. You were required to take a dozen or so vaccines when you signed up, but refuse this one? Makes no sense. If you want to throw away your career by going AWOL over a vaccine, have at it. If you want to quit, then I say good riddance. We need to flush out those who lack the mentality and the grit to be a member of the greatest military in the world.

Annette Bell Otto

Climate columnist cherry picked facts

To the Editor:

After reading guest columnist Patrick Gleason’s column in the September 7 issue of The Smoky Mountain News, I felt so relieved. CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT REAL! THE SKY IS NOT FALLING! Wow, now I don’t have to worry about that anymore!

Then my cynical self took over. I checked out Mr. Gleason, who was everything his info at the bottom of article said, none of which made him any kind of climate expert. Then I checked out the reviews on the book he based his article on and its author. Surprise, surprise! Dr. Koonin, it seems, had his own agenda, mainly cherry picking and misstating information to support his own position. Science is supposed to follow facts to form an

— have died of COVID-19, now outnumbering all those killed in World Wars I and II and every war since. It’s even on track to eclipse the death toll from the Civil War, which some historians have recently elevated to 750,000.

But, despite a resurgent mutated virus, politicians in hard-hit states like Florida and Texas are helping the pandemic spread by forbidding local governments to make face-masking mandatory and barring employers from requiring proof of vaccination from their workers or customers.

These politicians are truckling to that minority of citizens who think their right to refuse a mask or a needle jab trumps their neighbors’ right to continue living.

If you doubt that matters to North Carolina, take notice of the number of Florida license tags on our roads.

Such politicians also proclaim themselves, for the most part, to support the right to life. But only before a fetus becomes a child.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, elected as a protégé of

LETTERS

opinion or theory, The reviews were too lengthy to include here, but were very specific in their examples of misinformation and disinformation. I urge readers to spend five minutes on Google and form your own opinion of Mr. Gleason and Dr. Koonin.

John Acuti Maggie Valley

Does Gleason think the earth is flat?

To the Editor:

The SMN does not have any comics, but some of the letters to the editor are a good substitute. The recent guest columnist (http://smokymountainnews.com/opinion/it em/32092) is a great example. I suppose that Mr. Gleason also believes that the earth is flat. Clark Pearson Sylva

Democrats try to destroy America

To the Editor:

Our forefathers proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence that we have certain inalienable rights, those being the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Most of us are probably not aware that over the past 48 years over 63 million future citizens of America have been denied their inalienable right to life. Compare that to the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during the holocaust of World War II. America’s holocaust exceeds that by ten times. Let’s look at the events under which that

Donald Trump, is openly ambitious to be the 47th president. His education commissioner is trying to dock the pay of school board members who defy DeSantis’ ban on mandatory masking. The president of the state Senate wants to adopt an abortion ban like that enacted by the Texas version of the Taliban.

Here is the paradox: Because of what happened on 9/11, we have become accustomed to mass surveillance by government agencies, most of which will never come to light. We remove our shoes and jackets and dump our water bottles when the TSA tells us to. The Patriot Act is still on the books.

But even with our hospitals documenting tragic results from the coronavirus every day, some of us are so selfish as to insist that no one can or should convince them to be vaccinated or wear face masks in public settings. That’s understandable, in a way, because the nation has always been host to what the historian Richard Hofstadter called “The paranoid style in American politics.”

What’s not forgivable is how politicians like DeSantis in Florida, Greg Abbot in Texas and Rep. Madison Cawthorn pander to it.

(Martin A. Dyckman is a former journalist who now lives in Western North Carolina. dyckmanm@bellsouth.net.)

was allowed to occur. During the 60s and 70s the radical left of the Democrat Party had accomplices in the liberal majority of the Supreme Court. They realized that the Court could be persuaded to advance their liberal agenda when they were able, with the help of the ACLU, to have it ignore and nullify our Constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion by removing prayer from schools.

A decade later, emboldened by their previous success, they convinced the Court to pass a law approving abortion with the passage of Roe v. Wade based on a “right to privacy” which is found nowhere in the Constitution.

In these two rulings the Court in the first case struck down two of our most sacred rights and in the second case created a right that did not exist. As a result these two rulings America has lost its moral compass.

The “pro-choice” supporters of Roe v. Wade, in an effort to remove themselves from the stigma of unfettered abortions, now claim that it is a matter of women’s health. It is difficult for me to believe that over the past 48 years, 63 million women have suffered life threatening complications that have required them to terminate their pregnancies. Roe v. Wade is not a matter of women’s health, it’s a matter of birth control. Of course the prochoice contingent rarely considers the choices of adoption or contraception.

With the recent passage of the Texas “Heartbeat” bill the socialist Democrat liberals are outraged that they have finally lost their liberal majority in the Supreme Court and while they have a majority in the House and Senate they want to be able to pack the court with more liberals in order to continue to force their liberal socialist agenda on the American people.

Big tech, the main street media and the

liberal courts have been successful in squelching our freedoms of speech and religion and are now focused on our right to bear arms.

In order to accomplish their objective of turning America into their dream of a utopian socialist/communist nation under a tyrannical government, they must first repeal the Second Amendment which was adopted primarily to protect us against a tyrannical government. At that point we will lose our liberty and of course there will be no pursuit of happiness under communism. So much for our unalienable rights.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the vast majority of Americans understand that communism is no utopia, in fact it is just the opposite and we will not submit to it.

For a detailed account of the Democrats efforts to destroy the America our forefathers established, read Dark Agenda, The War to Destroy Christian America by David Horowitz. God Bless America.

Marshall “Buck” Miller Franklin

Gleason’s reality is a fantasy

To the Editor:

In his editorial, Patrick Gleason claimed that Dr. Curry’s editorial on climate change was not based on reality and that climate change was not that serious. In reality, it is Gleason who is divorced from reality.

Citing a book by a bureaucrat and providing no scientific evidence, Gleason makes the following claims:

• The warmest temperatures in the U.S. have not risen in 50 years.

• Economic impact of climate change is negligible.

• Wind farms take 700 times more land than natural gas wells.

• Climate-related deaths have plummeted over the past century.

• During the past 100 years, CO2 in the atmosphere as risen from 305 to 400 parts per million.

Let’s look at the facts:

1. The warmest temperature claim is a sophistry. The highest daily temperature recorded was in Death Valley in 1913; however, the average temperature has been increasing in recent years. The two hottest years in the history of the U.S. were 2012 and 2016, and the 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the past few decades. The “hottest temperature” is a lesson in how to lie with statistics.

2. Negligible economic impact of climate change. Experts have published reports stating that damage estimates for climate change going forward range from 2% to 10% or more of global GDP per year. This does not sound “negligible” to me.

3. Wind farms taking so much land. I have personally stood among the windmills on a windfarm in Illinois. The turbines are located on farmland where farmers can cultivate all the land except for the roughly 15foot diameter circle that the base of the turbines take up. Pumps in an oil field take up more space than that.

4. Climate-related deaths have plummeted. According to Bloomberg, climate accounts for about 10% of deaths worldwide due to extreme temperatures. Just this week editors of 200 medical journals have stated that climate change poses the greatest threat to global health.

5. CO2 has increased from 305 to 400 ppm. Scientists have determined that preindustrial levels of CO2 were around 260 to 270 ppm. As of 2021, CO2 levels are at 417 ppm. Besides CO2 there are other greenhouse gasses, such as methane, that are more decremental in terms of heating the planet. These are also increasing drastically.

It seems Mr. Gleason is the one out of touch with reality. If this “scholarship” is typical for those at Americans for Tax Reform and the Beacon Center of Tennessee, one has to question their other pronouncements.

Norman Hoffman Waynesville

Is this really our democracy?

To the Editor:

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism” was a popular statement in George Bush’s presidency during protests against the Iraq war. Hillary and other Democrats were fond of it and the press gladly quoted them.

How is this form of patriotism doing

today? Not good! Questioning the 2020 election will get you labeled a conspiracy theorist if not an insurrectionist or terrorist and “a threat to our democracy.” How is “our democracy” doing?

Bush was considered an illegitimate president by many but under Obama, opposition to him was “racist.” Then the Tea Party emerged as a democratic movement to oppose Obama’s policies. The resulting shellacking produced a Republican majority. In a well- functioning democracy notice would be taken of this and an attempt made to find some compromise.

Instead, to prevent a repeat in 2012 the IRS was used to deny or delay tax-exempt status to conservative groups while allowing tax exempt status to progressive groups. This handicapped these organizations from having the same influence that they had previously while tilting the playing field in the progressive direction. Obama was reelected and the Democrats continued to ignore democratic rumblings.

Democrats thought they had a shoo-in with Hillary but when Trump won, all hell broke loose. They blamed the loss on everyone but themselves. Instead of soul searching, they went on a search and destroy mission to undermine the Trump presidency. With the surprising success of the Trump administration despite the roadblocks, it appeared that he was cruising to re-election until COVID. Voting procedures were loosened and massive mail in voting was instituted, often without proper legal authority. Even so, it looked like Trump was on his way to re-election.

Then, inexplicably, voting was halted in swing states with Trump having a comfortable lead only to have it mysteriously vanish when huge batches of Biden votes came in early in the morning. There were sufficient reports and video evidence that made it reasonable to question the results. Suddenly, there was a campaign to declare the election the most secure in history and to place out of bounds any discussion to the contrary. When a legitimate protest of the election got out of hand, the rioters were not treated like BLM or Antifa , but were labeled terrorists and held without bond. Does this sound like “our democracy”?

To date, there has been a forensic audit of the election in Arizona. The results are pending and many other states are considering it, but the opposition is hysterical. Many millions of patriotic dissenters want an accounting. Courts have not ruled on the merits. If the election was as secure as so stridently claimed, then show us to be stupid and wrong by welcoming forensic audits and settle the issue. We need easy to vote but hard to cheat election laws. Voter suppression tropes are lies. The Democrats want to maintain a system that can be gamed. If we can’t have faith in our elections, then it is not “our democracy.”

David Parker Sylva

Dog Show

September 19th • 5-7PM

Behind the Fangmeyer Theatre (HART) 250 Pigeon St., Waynesville

Categories: • Cutest Rescue Dog

Groomed • Best Catcher • Judge’s Choice • Best Owner/Dog Look Alike • Cutest Puppy (Under 1 Year)

This fun event is to raise money for the Plott Hound sculpture, as well as future art pieces. For questions, call Jesse Fowler at 828.452.2491

WCU art exhibits showcase Pinder, ‘Contemporary Clay’

The Western Carolina University (WCU) Fine Art Museum in Cullowhee is currently presenting two exhibitions at the Bardo Arts Center, which are as follows:

• “Jefferson Pinder: Selections from the Inertia Cycle” has been on display since Aug. 17. An interdisciplinary artist based in Chicago, Illinois, Pinder focuses on themes of labor and endurance in his video art practice with metaphoric references to African American identity, history, and experience.

Curated by Julie Levin Caro, professor of art history and faculty director of craft studies at Warren Wilson College, the exhibition brings together five video performances from Pinder’s “Inertia Cycle” series.

This series examines complex issues of race, ethnicity, and class through Pinder’s grueling physical performances. The videos are set to engaging sound scores drawn from African, folk, and hip-hop music.

Pinder’s portrayal of the black body at work, under distress, and moving through pain and exhaustion constitutes an act of resistance and social commentary.

As Pinder states, “I portray the black body both frenetically and through drudgery in order to convey relevant cultural experiences.”

Pinder approaches his subject matter with a sense of lyricism and sometimes with humor. In the five videos on view — “Marathon,” “Mule,” “Lazarus,” “Ben Hur,” and “Thoroughbred” — Pinder immerses the viewer in scenes of physical conditioning to prompt an emotional response.

Pinder has produced highly praised performance-based and multidisciplinary work for over a decade. His work has been featured in numerous group shows including exhibitions at The Studio Museum in Harlem, The High Museum, Tate Modern in London, the 2016 Shanghai Biennale, and the Smithsonian Museum of African American History.

He was awarded a United States Artist’s Joyce Fellowship Award in the field of performance in 2016 and was selected as the John S. Guggenheim Fellow in 2017. Pinder received a BA in Theatre and MFA in Mixed Media from the University of Maryland and studied at the Asolo Theatre Conservatory in Sarasota, Florida. Currently, he is a Professor in the Contemporary Practices department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois.

The reception for “Jefferson Pinder: Selections from the Inertia Cycle” will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20, at the Bardo Arts Center, located at 199 Centennial Drive in Cullowhee. This event

will include a public talk by Jefferson Pinder at 6 p.m.

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

• “Contemporary Clay 2021” will be on view through Dec. 10. Back for its next iteration, “Contemporary Clay 2021” gathers artists from a variety of backgrounds who push boundaries on topics including race, culture, sexuality, gender, and class.

Guest-curated by Heather Mae Erickson, associate professor of ceramics at WCU, “Contemporary Clay 2021” surveys the ever-expanding field of American-made ceramics. The exhibition encourages viewers to consider the concepts, processes, and context of clay in contemporary art.

The special event series, “Conversations in Contemporary Clay,” features various presenters that are leaders in the ceramics field. Launching the series at noon Thursday, Sept. 30, is the zoom talk, “Clay is Hot,” with Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, essayist for the “Contemporary Clay 2021” exhibition catalogue.

Vizcarrondo-Laboy is a New York and Los Angeles-based curator, writer, and arts administrator of contemporary art and craft, focusing on ceramics.

Her current research investigates the “aesthetic of optimism” and the subversive power of humor, cuteness, and leisure as tools of protest. Amplifying the voices of BIPOC artists is central to her practice. She serves as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York.

Next up for “Conversations in Contemporary Clay” are two zoom panel discussions from exhibiting artists and industry trailblazers occurring from noon to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6, followed by an in-person reception and gallery talk on from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, at the Bardo Arts Center.

More information about the series, exhibiting artists, and the exhibition can be found at arts.wcu.edu/contemporaryclay. A full schedule of events and related zoom links will soon be available at the website above.

The exhibitions and series of special events described above are free and open to the public.

Regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and until 7 p.m. Thursday. For information, call 828.227.ARTS. Masks are required inside all WCU buildings, including Bardo Arts Center.

This must be the place

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

‘Tall

building shake, voices escape singing sad, sad songs’

Sitting in a camping chair next to the small fire, I sipped a nightcap and reached for my phone to check what time it was. The screen said, “12:24 a.m. Saturday, September 11.”

Also huddled around the campfire were two of my best friends. Having just returned to our site from a whirlwind day of live music at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival, it was hearty conversation under clear skies in depths of East Tennessee. Pass around the bourbon. Throw another log onto the fiery pit.

“Y’all realize what day it is right now?” I said in a matter-of-fact tone to my cronies. “It’s September 11. Twenty years ago, everything changed. How crazy, eh? Feels like that day was, well, yesterday, you know?”

After a slight sigh and pause in acknowledgment of the anniversary, the three of us started to compare notes on where we were, what we were doing, and how we felt that day.

“I was a freshman in college at N.C. State. Just got back from my morning class and turned on the TV and saw the breaking news,” my buddy said. “I just sat there all day and watched the whole thing unfold and get replayed again and again.”

“I was in sixth grade,” his girlfriend added. “I don’t remember much of that day, except for that I didn’t have to go to my chorus practice. So, I was excited to not have to go and sing. I hated chorus. And all the adults around me were sad and crying — it was a pretty weird scene to be part of as a little kid.”

Where was I? Second period social studies. Ms. Trudeau’s classroom. As a junior in

our high school. Flustered and somewhat speechless, Ms. Trudeau explained to us what was going on in Manhattan. Shock and awe. This kind of feeling of not knowing what to do or where to go.

The TVs in every single classroom had the news on. Replaying the tragedy over and over (and over again). Our eyes glued to the screen. The bell would ring signaling the next period, but nobody would leave their desks. Being in Upstate New York, I remember how the sky was sunny and clear blue, just like six hours due south in New York City. Sunshine on an otherwise normal day in America.

Being a couple of miles from the Canadian Border, the school was put on lockdown, though we were allowed to be picked up by our parents or head home if we had a car. My cross-country meet was cancelled. So was seemingly everything else.

But, none of that mattered. Nothing seemed to matter anymore except to hold your loved ones tight and remember what it means to be a human being — this vessel of compassion, sacrifice and solidarity.

HOT PICKS

1

The “Rockin’ Block Party” will return from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, on Main Street in downtown Waynesville.

2

Country star Aaron Tippin will hit the outdoor stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at the American Legion Post 47 in downtown Waynesville.

3

Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host Shane Meade (rock/soul) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17.

4

The Haywood Community Band will pay tribute to the game show “Jeopardy” at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19, at the Maggie Valley Community Pavilion.

5

Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Medicated Sunfish at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18.

high school, I vividly remember Sept. 11, 2001. Just after 9 a.m. I left my homeroom study hall at Northeastern Clinton Central School, stopped at my locker to grab my history book, high-fived some friends in the hallway and strolled into class.

It was not long after Ms. Trudeau took attendance and began her lesson for the day that our principal, Mr. Mosso, knocked on the door, entered with a solemn look on his face and whispered something into her ear. Her face dropped, this expression of fear and confusion on an adult’s face in front of a room of teenagers. He left the room and proceeded to knock on every door and enter every classroom in

I left the school parking lot in my rusty 1989 Toyota Camry, but I didn’t head back to my childhood home. I drove to the next town over to see my girlfriend at the time, who went to another school. We sat on her couch and watched the news, holding hands and wondering if this was the end of the world as we knew it.

Truth be told? It was the end of the world, well, as we knew it. The line in the sand had been drawn between the naivety and brash nature of Americans before 9/11 and the absolute vulnerability we felt after the towers collapsed, a nation collectively coming to grips with realizing we weren’t as “safe and sound” as we’d once thought, or had been told to feel by the powers that be — on the newscasts, in the government, etc. It was the end of innocence for many of us, myself included.

I was 16 years old when 9/11 happened. I’m 36 now. Twenty years ago. The magnitude and scope of all that has happened since that fateful morning. Abrupt changes in our everyday lives that are now permanent in our respective realities. And the wars we ended up in all over the Middle East (with our involvement in Afghanistan coming to a tumultuous end just last month).

I think of my high school friends who felt compelled to join the military in the months and initial years after 9/11 to fight for the freedoms they (and all of us) truly believed in. Teenagers my age leaving for war — some returning in body bags, some returning with PTSD and a social presence of a ghost, some returning from the front lines only to commit suicide in later years.

And I think of you and me. How no matter the distance we’ve traveled, whether physically or emotionally, the impact and toll of that day will forever reside in the back of our minds, for good or ill. As an eternal optimist, I aim to continue down the journey of life with those memories of 9/11 in-hand as inspiration to bridge the differences and find common ground in creating a better tomorrow — I remain hopeful for a better tomorrow.

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

On the beat

Rising songwriter rolls into Orchard

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Chris Staples will hit the stage at 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, at Orchard Coffee in Waynesville.

According to NPR/All Songs Considered, Staples is, “a gifted storyteller who reveals life’s greatest mysteries in humanity’s smallest moments.”

Staples is an American musician from Seattle, Washington. He released several albums independently before catching the attention of Seattle-based Barsuk Records, who re-released “American Soft” in 2014. Staples' second album on Barsuk, “Golden Age,” was released in 2016, with “Holy Moly” in 2019.

Community band celebrates ‘Jeopardy’

The Haywood Community Band will pay tribute to the game show “Jeopardy” at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19, at the Maggie Valley Community Pavilion.

In the spirit of the long-running game show, the audience will be given clues from which to guess the titles of the pieces to be performed. The concert is free and

Admission is $25. Seated is limited. Tickets available at the door (cash/card), with advance tickets available at the shop. www.orchardcoffeeroaster.com.

open to the public. Donations accepted.

Proceeds received at the concerts support a loan program of band insttruments to local music students in public school, as well as scholarship assistance to students for summer band camp and college tuition. These gifts are provided to ensure that students continue to have a strong foundation in music education. The next community band concert will be at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17. The theme will be “Through the Eyes of Children.”

Balsam Range flood relief benefit concert

Presented by Balsam Range, United Way of Haywood County, Town of Canton and The Smoky Mountain News, “Grit & Grace: A Flood Relief Benefit for Haywood County” will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Sorrells Street Park in downtown Canton.

ber one radio hits, chart-topping albums and International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards, including “Entertainer of the Year” (2014, 2018) and “Album of the Year” (2013, 2017), amid several other honors.

Hitting the stage will be acclaimed bluegrass group Balsam Range, with Americana sensation Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters opening the show.

The event is to not only raise funds for those in need following the devastating flood waters in August in the communities of Canton, Cruso and Bethel, but also to provide a moment to gather together as neighbors and friends, and enjoy some live music.

Balsam Range is a fiery quintet hailing from Haywood County. The highly-popular act has become the stuff of legend in recent years, as seen by the band’s numerous num-

Post 47 welcomes Tippin

Country star Aaron Tippin will hit the outdoor stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at the American Legion Post 47 in downtown Waynesville.

Tippin has released a total of nine studio albums and two compilations, with six gold certifications and one platinum certification among them.

In addition, he has charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including three No. 1 hits: "There Ain't Nothin' Wrong with the Radio" (1992), "That's as Close as I'll Get to Loving You" (1995) and "Kiss This" (2000).

Other hits include, "You've Got to Stand for Something,” "I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way,” "My Blue Angel,” "Workin' Man's Ph.D.,” "For You I Will” and "Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly.”

The show is free and open to the public, with a $20 suggested donation at the entrance. All proceeds from the evening will go to the United Way of Haywood County, which will provide disaster relief for flood victims.

Food trucks and craft beer will also be sold onsite. Bring your lawn chairs and your good attitudes for an unforgettable night of Appalachian music under the stars. Monetary donations from local businesses, organizations and private citizens are currently being accepted. For more information, you can contact Garret K. Woodward, arts/music editor for The Smoky Mountain News at garret@smokymountainnews.com.

Following

there will be a special late-night set on the indoor

by

& The

(psychobilly/rock). Tickets available only at the American

at 171

Drive. Admission is $25 in advance, $35 day of show. For more information, call

• 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 www.balsamfallsbrewing.com.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Kevin Williams (piano/vocals) Sept. 18 ($10 cover) and Jacob Johnson (guitar/vocals) Sept. 25 for a special dinner performance. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Limited seating. Reservations required. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. 828.634.0078 or www.curraheebrew.com.

• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host an Open Mic Night 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.734.1084 or www.elevatedmountain.com.

• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will be held at the Town Square from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Southern Highlands Sept. 17 and Foxfire Boys Sept. 24. Free and open to the public. www.highlandschamber.org.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Sugar Lime Blue Sept. 17, Shane Meade Sept. 18, Bohemian Jean 2 p.m. Sept. 19, Kevin Fuller (singer-songwriter) Sept. 24 and Ol’ Dirty Bathtub (Americana/bluegrass) Sept. 25. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Stephen Horvath Sept. 19 and an Oktoberfest Celebration Sept. 26. All events are free and begin at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• John C. Campbell Folk School (Brasstown) will stream a special live performance by Felipe Perez & Sus Polkeros (singer-songwriter/world) 7:45 a.m. Sept. 17 and The Joe Troop Trio live in the Festival Barn Sept. 19. For the stream, click on www.facebook.com/campbellfolkschool. Tickets for the trio are $15 for adults, $10 for students. 828.389.4210 or brasstownconcertnews@gmail.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Medicated Sunfish Sept. 18. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Medicated Sunfish Sept. 17. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and

open to the public. 828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Maggie Valley Pavilion will host the Haywood Community Band at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 19. The concert theme will be a tribute to the “Jeopardy” show. Free and open to the public. Donations accepted.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Aces Down Sept. 17, Somebody’s Child Sept. 18, George Ausman Sept. 24, Granny’s Mason Jar Sept. 25 and Wyatt Espalin Sept. 26. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or www.mtnlayersbeer.com.

• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Natti Love Joys (reggae/soul) 3 p.m. Sept. 24 and Scott James Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Sept. 24. Free and open to the public. 888.905.7238 or www.noc.com.

• Orchard Coffee (Waynesville) will host Chris Staples (singer-songwriter) 8 p.m. Sept. 26 ($25 at the door) and Corey Kilganon & Lazuli Vane (Americana/indie) 8 p.m. Sept. 29 ($15 at the door). Advance tickets are available at the shop. 828.246.9264 or www.orchardcoffeeroasters.com.

• “Pickin’ on the Square” (Franklin) will host Curtis Blackwell & The Dixie Bluegrass Boys Sept. 18 and Caribbean Cowboys (oldies/surf) Sept. 25. All shows start at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. Located on Main Street. www.franklin-chamber.com.

• 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. www.rathskellerfranklin.com.

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com

• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will be held at the Kelsey-Hutchinson Park from 6 to 8:30 p.m. with Will Thompson Trio Sept. 18 and The Knotty G’s Sept. 25. Free and open to the public. www.highlandschamber.org.

• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host singer-songwriter Craig Morgan at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17. Tickets start at $30, with priority seating available. For more information and to purchase tickets, click on www.smokymountainarts.com.

• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Tricia Ann Band Sept. 24. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.

• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host karaoke on Thursday nights and semiregular live music on the weekends. 828.456.4750 or www.facebook.com/waternhole.bar.

On the street

Live music, clogging in Glenville

Singin’, strummin’, pickin, and cloggin’ will fill the rooms of the Glenville Community Center (formerly the Jimmy Dillard VFW) from 11 a.m to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18.

Presented by the Glenville Area Historical Society, the annual Fall Historical Discovery Event “Appalachian Mountain Music” will feature Pretty Little Goat, a grassroots band that are lovers/performers of old-time music. The band formed in 2013 through their common grounding in the deep well of local tradition found in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Over the last six years, the group has collaborated with Jamie Laval, Blake Ellege, members of the Steep Canyon Rangers, Jeff Sipe, Jonathan Grey of

‘Rockin’ Block Party’

The highly popular “Rockin’ Block Party” will return from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, on Main Street in downtown Waynesville.

An evening of live music and other activities, performers will include Ol’ Dirty Bathtub, The Rewind House Band and Sugah & The Cubes. Downtown restaurants, art galleries and businesses will be open later for the event. The “Kids on Main” sidewalk activities will be held from 6 to 7 p.m.

Free and open to the public. No animals allowed at downtown events. www.downtownwaynesville.com.

Jump Little Children and many others.

As well, equally talented and well-known artists also performing at the event are musicians who play and educate on instruments that make up the true Appalachian music sound. These instrumentalists include harmonica, banjo, mandolin, washboard, guitar, dulcimer, fiddle and vocalists.

“Grillin’ in Glenville,” a monthly free burger and dog roast sponsored by the Glenville Community Club, will serve plates from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Community Center.

The Glenville History Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday from May to September.

For information about the “Appalachian Mountain Music,” the Glenville History Museum and Society membership, call 828.507.0322, email historicalsocietyglenvillearea@yahoo.com or find the organization on Facebook.

• Beloved comedian Jeff Allen will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets start at $20 with priority seating available. www.smokymountainarts.com.

ALSO:

• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood Street in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. www.mountainmakersmarket.com.

• 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 Street 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 a strolling musician. Leashed pets are welcome. Outdoor event. Current COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed and enforced. 828.488.7857.

Mountain Heritage Day returns

When Mountain Heritage Day makes a triumphant return to the Western Carolina University campus in Cullowhee on Saturday, Sept. 25, it will come with a full day of live music.

The annual festival of Southern Appalachian traditions and culture is renowned as a showcase of bluegrass, oldtime and traditional music, as well as family activities, food vendors, artisan demonstrations, and the region’s finest arts and crafts booths.

The schedule for the Blue Ridge Stage:

• Summer Brooke & Brayden kick off the music at 10 a.m. Known for leading the IBMA award-winning Mountain Faith Band, the popular brother/sister bluegrass virtuosos graciously provided the concert for 2020’s Mountain Heritage Day virtual performance.

• When Whitewater Bluegrass Company performs at 11 a.m., it will mark a major milestone, as it will be their 25th time playing at Mountain Heritage Day. More or less founded at WCU in 1982, the band blends its own brand of bluegrass, country ballads and mountain swing with down-home humor.

• At noon, the Apple Blossom Cloggers, a dance troupe of 7 to 9 year old girls, join Whitewater Bluegrass Company for lively clogging demonstration, followed by presentation of the Mountain Heritage Awards at 12:15 p.m. to an individual and organization

in recognition of work within Southern Appalachian history, culture and folklore.

• The Queen Family starts picking at 12:45 p.m. Known as master musicians and experts in regional lore, the Queen Family were honored with the 1999 “Mountain Heritage Award” and the 2001 “BrownHudson Award” by the North Carolina Folklore Society.

• Phil and Gaye Johnson at 1:30 p.m. play guitar and sing an acoustic blend of bluegrass, folk and favorites. The prolific songwriters and storytellers from Polk County travel across the country to perform and are among the longest running repeat performers at Mountain Heritage Day.

• The Grascals, three-time Grammy nominees and two-time IBMA “Entertainer of the Year,” perform at 2:15 p.m. The Bailey Mountain Cloggers will join the Grascals at 3:30 p.m. for foot-stamping and high stepping mastery that is a perennial of Mountain Heritage Day.

• At 3:45 p.m. the Merle Monroe Band will bring their mix of Bill Monroe-style bluegrass with Merle Haggard’s style of songs of the common man (hence the name) to the stage for their own brand of bluegrass, gospel and traditional country.

For more information, updates and a full schedule of events, go to www.mountainheritageday.com.

On the stage

Broadway classic at HART

From legendary theatrical team Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, a production of the legendary musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” will hit the stage through Sept. 19 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

This show features songs that have gone on to become pop and musical theatre standards, including “Any Dream Will Do,” “Close Every Door,” “One More Angel In Heaven” and “Go Go Go Joseph.”

The biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors jumps off the page into vibrant life in this musical comedy. Told almost entirely through song, it’s a story of family, betrayal, perseverance, forgiveness and redemption.

This beloved tale has mesmerized audiences for decades through its wide variety of musical styles, from country to calypso to rock-n-roll.

Performance dates are at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16-18, and at 2 p.m. Sept. 19.

For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visit www.harttheatre.org or call the HART box office at 828.456.6322. This show is suitable for all ages.

Lectures on existentialism

Led by Clemson Professor Todd May, a discussion on existentialism will continue from 6 to 7 p.m. Sept. 21 and 28 at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

May is Class of 1941 Memorial Professor of the Humanities at Clemson University in South Carolina. He is the author of 16 books of philosophy and was an advisor to the philosophical sitcom “The Good Place.”

He is currently advising “The Good Place” showrunner, Mike Schur, on a book of ethics that is due out next spring with Simon and Schuster.

May has the following to say regarding the series' themes: “Existentialism is one of the most enduring philosophies to emerge out of the past two centuries. It asks deep questions about what it means to be alive and how to cope in a universe that seems indifferent to our existence. We will discuss thinkers like Dostoyevsky, Sartre, Beauvoir, and recent post-existentialist developments. Rather than simply a lecture, we are hoping for lively discussion of important life issues.”

The series will be in the Community Room, It is free to attend and requires no registration. Although, per Jackson County regulations, attendees will be required to wear a mask.

For more information, call the library at 828.586.2016. This seminar is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org).

We have amazing openings in our casino and new convention center. And many come with hiring bonuses up to $3,000. Join us September 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., in our Hotel Ballroom. Then let the celebrations begin. Details at HarrahsCherokeeJobs.com.

On the wall

Open call for artist grants

The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) and regional partners, including the Asheville Area Arts Council, Transylvania Community Arts Council, the Tryon Fine Arts Center, the Arts Council of Henderson County, and the Rutherford County Arts Council, call upon artists served by their organizations to apply to the Artist Support Grant, which closes on Sept. 30.

Counties served by this regional consortium are Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania, also called Region 17.

The Artist Support Grant was created in 2020 to support individual artists during the pandemic and is quickly becoming a staple for local artists.

Region 17 took in 126 applications in 2020

and awarded over $30,000 in grant funds to 32 individuals.

“Artist mediums spanned the gamut including painters, potters, jewelers, musicians, and authors,” noted Morgan Beryl, HCAC executive director.

This year, the grant process and funding range is updated. Instead of creating a separate application, Region 17 opted into North Carolina Arts Council’s GoSmart! system which is an online application portal.

Additionally, Region 17 decided to increase the funding amount available to $2,000 rather than the 2020 cap of $1,000. There is no artist match required per this year’s grant guidelines, so Region 17 partners hope that with this increased range they can really help artists bring a project to fruition without burdening them with needing to match a higher amount.

For more information on the grant and how to apply, visit www.haywoodarts.org.

Want to paint, sip craft beer?

The “WNC Paint Night” will return to local breweries in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties.

Events will be held at the following locations: Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Nov. 11 and Dec. 9; and Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 29, Oct. 27, Nov. 17 and Dec. 22; BearWaters Brewing (Canton) from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 30, Nov. 12 and Dec. 23.

Space is limited. Reserve your seat by texting Robin Arramae at 828.400.9560. To learn more, visit the Facebook page @paintwnc or Instagram @wnc_paint_events.

• The Haywood County Arts Council’s annual Haywood County Studio Tour will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 25-26. The tour is a two-day, self-guided, free event in which Haywood County artists open their studios to the public. www.haywoodarts.org.

ALSO:

• An art contest (ages 5 years and up) will be held through Oct. 14 at the Marianna Black library in Bryson City. A fun night complete with face painting for children and other activities will also take place during the “Gallery Night” event from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19. The theme of the contest is “It’s a Beautiful World.” To register for the contest, pick up an application on Monday, Sept. 13, at the library.

• An educational workshop will be offered by Dogwood Crafters Co-Op, which will be held at the Dillsboro Masonic Lodge. “Painting on Glass, Wood, or Metal” will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16. Patricia Cowen, a charter member of Dogwood Crafters, will help participants turn glass, wood, or metal items into beautiful decorative objects for one's home or gifts. Participants

need to bring materials to paint. Cost is $1. Register by Sept. 9. To register, call 828.586.2248.

• The “Thursday Painters” group will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their own project and a bag lunch. For more information, call The Uptown Gallery at 828.349.4607 or contact Pat Mennenger at pm14034@yahoo.com. See more about Macon County Art Association at www.franklinuptowngallery.com and follow the Uptown Gallery on Facebook.

• The Haywood County Arts Council’s “Art Works @ The Library,” a collaborative program between the Haywood County Public Library system and the HCAC, is currently showcasing works by artist Cayce Moyer at the Canton Library. Working in traditional and mixed media, Moyer blends the worlds of high-brow and low-brow work. Classically trained at Savannah College of Art and Design, her portfolio includes drawing, painting, sculpture, illustration, graphic design, murals, and set prop painting for theatre and TV.

Literature as a defensive fortification

It’s late summer, but the song lyrics still work: living is supposed to be easy. So

I’m looking for some light reading. No politics, no massive histories or biographies, no novels with tangled plots and emotions, no suspense stories where the protagonist leaves behind a trail of dead bodies thicker than Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs.

Portrait Gallery. For the first time in his life, he sits in a school classroom and can make friends with kids from school, including Camille.

The Rembrandt Conspiracy. Deron Hicks and illustrator Mark Geyer collaborated to produce a similar pair of books in The Shakespeare Mysteries

And so I hit the public library, browsed a bit, drifted into the Juvenile section, and came upon The Rembrandt Conspiracy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020, 263 pages), which was just what the doctor ordered.

Here Georgia author Deron Hicks introduces us to 11year-old Camille Sullivan and 12-yearold Art Hamilton Jr., who in an earlier novel, The Van Gogh Deception, brought to light one of the greatest swindles in art history. Now they find themselves battling a gang of thieves intent on stealing a billion dollars worth of paintings from a Millennium Exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery.

It’s Art (given the topic, I smile every time I write his name) who first discovers the plot to snatch these paintings during the night of an opening, the Gala, when other paintings from Europe will also be on display and Queen Elizabeth herself will be in attendance. Art’s father, Arthur Hamilton Sr. — Art’s mother died when he was four — is one of the world’s leading art experts and restorers, and for several years Art traveled the world with his dad, living in exotic places, growing up in hotel rooms and museums, and becoming highly educated himself in art and history.

Art is delighted when his father accepts a permanent post at Washington D.C.’s Lunder Conservation Center in the National

Art’s frequent visits to his father’s office allow him to spot a woman behaving mysteriously, counting her steps day after day in the same place in the museum and timing the minutes needed to reach certain exits. Unsure as to whether he should share his suspicions with his father — he wants more proof — Art convinces Camille the plot is real, and they set off to try and follow the eccentric woman and discover her associates. This hunt brings them several adventures: a wild ride on a scooter through the streets of D.C., breaking into what they believe is the thieves’ sanctuary, a twist in the plot that lands both of them in trouble with the authorities and their parents, and a final face-off with the criminals.

Besides a plot that should engage readers 8-12 years old, The Rembrandt Conspiracy offers several other pluses. Here young people can learn some art history, various facts about D.C.’s museums, computer technology, and the techniques conservators use to preserve paintings. They can read as well of the famous “theft of thirteen works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March 18, 1990,” a real incident in which the paintings were never recovered and no one has to this day been charged with the crime. Hicks, who graduated with a degree in painting from the University of Georgia and a law degree from Mercer Law School, brings his knowledge and talent from these two endeavors into this story.

Then there are Camille and Art themselves. The rapport between the two of them and their witty back-and-forth verbal jabs is a delight, as is their reliance on observation, intelligence, and instinct to thwart the bad guys. There are no gunshots or flying fists in The Rembrandt Conspiracy. Instead, these two youthful sleuths use their wits and various electronic devices to outmatch their opponents.

If you’re looking for some good, clean, and educational fun for the kids, hand them

NC poets on 9/11, aftermath

In recent months, I’ve come to appreciate books as a means of personal defense, employing them as barriers against intrusion.

Good books, for example, or even bad books for that matter, are at least the product of some forethought and have gone through an editorial process. In one way or another, they must make some kind of sense. But when Uncle Harry weighs in on the faults of Donald Trump, with that vein in his forehead beating like a drum, or Aunt Harriet starts blasting the Biden administration, so angry she’s spitting as she speaks, all too often that interior editor disappears, and we’re in La-La Land. The uncle who passed us 50 bucks at Christmas becomes a raving lunatic, and the aunt who greets us with a loving kiss on the cheek turns the air blue with her language.

Time to drift into the living room and pick up Randy Paterson’s How To Be Miserable

All travelers by air and by train who seek privacy on their journey also understand the defensive potential of the book. By engrossing themselves in Mark Helprin’s Freddy and Fredericka or Andy Miller’s A Year of Reading Dangerously, they build a wall between themselves and their seatmates. In this situation, of course, obscure titles are the most effective, as bestsellers may invite comments that will breech the castle ramparts.

And finally, unhappy children, angry teens, and stressed-out adults all appreciate the barricades books can throw up after a particularly tough day. They sink into stories, history, and other literary genres to preserve themselves.

In ancient times, Roman soldiers on the march through hostile territories stopped in the afternoon to erect earthworks and palisades to protect their camp.

Readers use the written word to do the same.

(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, Amanda Bell and Dust On Their Wings, and two works of nonfiction, Learning As I Go and Movies Make the Man minick0301@gmail.com.)

A group reading of Crossing the Rift: North Carolina Poets on 9/11 & Its Aftermath will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, in the Community Room of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Edited by Joseph Bathanti and David Potorti, the poems come at 9/11 through a variety of lenses and its vast associated collateral fallout: Islamophobia, the vilification of immigrants and the undocumented, ramped-up xenophobia, nationalism and isolationism, war and supercharged military budgets that continue to impoverish our nation, with accompanying losses of community, health and hope, and concurrent rises in homophobia, transphobia, virulent racism and domestic terrorism. Event attendees will be required to wear a mask as per the Jackson County mandate. To reserve copies of Crossing the Rift, call City Lights Bookstore at 828.586.9499. For more information about the event, call the bookstore or library at 828.586.2016.

&

Country miles

Federal designation sought for Benton MacKaye Trail

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

This year marked both the 16th birthday of the Benton MacKaye Trail and the 100th anniversary of its namesake’s flagship idea. Proponents of the trail want Congress to honor these milestones by designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as the nation’s 12th National Scenic Trail.

Part of the National Parks System, National Scenic Trails are continuous nonmotorized routes of 100 miles or more that “showcase our country’s spectacular natural resources and beauty,” while offering “outstanding recreation opportunity,” according to the National Park Service website. On Sept. 9, the Benton MacKaye Trail Association announced its push to add the Benton MacKaye Trail to a list that includes the Appalachian Trail, the Florida Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Natchez Trace Trail, among others.

“I think Benton MacKaye would have been pleased with the trail today,” said BMTA President Ken Cissna. “The striking vistas, rushing waterfalls, the iconic Swinging Bridge and the pleasantly secluded forest pathways that wind through six wilderness areas as well as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (which is managed as wilderness) make the Benton MacKaye Trail a perfect candidate for designation as a National Scenic Trail.”

In 1921, MacKaye famously put forth the treatise that launched efforts to build the Appalachian Trail, a 2,193-mile route stretch-

Get involved

To learn more about the Benton MacKaye Trail — or to get involved with volunteering — visit www.bmta.org or contact Benton MacKaye Trail Association Vice President Joy Forehand at jwfbrga@gmail.com.

ing from Georgia to Maine. The concept for the Benton MacKaye Trail was born much later, in 1975 — incidentally, the same year MacKaye died — when conservationist Dave Sherman wondered about the possibility of creating a more wilderness-oriented alternative to the A.T. as crowding on the trail increased.

The Benton MacKaye Trail follows a route

that MacKaye had originally sketched out as a spur route to the A.T., sharing the A.T.’s genesis at Springer Mountain, Georgia, and intersecting it multiple times before ending at Big Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The 288-mile trail includes 82 miles in Georgia and 206 miles zigzagging the Tennessee-North Carolina border, of which 93 miles are in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A third of the trail’s mileage is located in federally designated wilderness.

“He (Sherman) really was influenced quite a bit by Benton MacKaye,” said BMTA Vice President Joy Forehand. “He admired him. From that standpoint, we’re kind of a sister trail to the A.T. We’re a very unique trail in that we go through quite a bit of wilderness, and the trail hopefully will stay wilderness.”

Popular hiking destinations along the trail include The Hangover, Fontana Dam, Lakeshore Trail, Lookout Rock, the tunnel on the Road to Nowhere and the Mount Sterling Fire Tower. The route includes a variety of waterfalls, historic sites such as the remains of Doc Rogers’ house in Tennessee and “absolutely exquisite” spring wildflowers, said Forehand.

Sherman founded the BMTA in 1980. By 1987, 93 trail miles had been completed, with the grand opening for the entire trail held in 2005. Today, about 95% of the route is on public land managed by the U.S. Forest Service or National Park Service, with 15 miles remaining on private land or as short road walks.

Compared to other long trails, that’s a small number of uncompleted miles, said Forehand, but addressing those gaps is extremely important.

“Developers are snapping up most any property that comes on the market,” reads an excerpt from the BMTA’s July 2021 newsletter. “What once was a secluded, forested plot of land becomes a subdivision

Changes proposed for Gatlinburg Spur

Proposed safety improvements to the Gatlinburg Spur are open for public comment through Sunday, Sept. 26.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is considering intersection improvements in three sub-areas — Gum Stand Road/King Branch Road, Husky Grove Road/Flat Branch Road, and Wiley Oakley Drive — based on findings of a traffic study completed in June 2019. The park is also considering smaller-scale improvements at select locations along the Spur to address current or future safety needs.

The Spur is part of the Foothills Parkway in the park and comprises about 4.2 miles of four-

The Benton MacKaye Trail’s route was inspired by MacKaye’s original sketch for a proposed Appalachian Trail

lane divided urban parkway between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

The park is initiating an environmental assessment and public scoping period in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act.

The park is now soliciting input on the proposed action, preliminary range of alternatives and issues to be considered in the environmental assessment.

Project documents and a comment portal are available at parkplanning.nps.gov/SpurImprovements. Comments can also be submitted by mail to Superintendent Cassius Cash, Attn: Spur Safety Improvements, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 107 Park Headquarters Rd., Gatlinburg, TN 37738.

or a strip mall. Trail organizations must ‘be prepared’ to act as soon as land needed for the trail corridor hits the market. Even before a property is for sale, trail organizations need to take the initiative to open negotiations with and/or make offers to near by property owners whose land would be a valuable addition for the trail corridor.”

Forehand hopes that a National Scenic Trails designation would bring with it federal resources to help close those gaps sooner rather than later — though volunteers will continue to be key to the organization’s strength. In fiscal year 2020, the BMTA logged nearly 7,000 volunteer hours for trail maintenance. The organization has 729 members.

In its quest for federal designation, the BMTA is busy seeking support from hiking groups and congressional representatives in

Channel the power of pink

The 14th annual Power of Pink 5K Run/Walk/Dog Walk will raise money for early breast cancer detection on Saturday, Sept. 25, 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.

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, with proceeds supporting prevention and early detection of breast cancer. Since 2007, The Power of Pink event has funded 1,800 mammograms and follow-up procedures for 960 women and men in Haywood County.

Registration fee is $30 and $10 for dogs. Groups of five or more from a single organization can register for $20 each. Sign up at www.gloryhoundevents.com/event/power-of-pink.

Walk to end Alzheimer’s

The Western Carolina chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association will host a Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Saturday, Oct. 9, at Pack Square Park in Asheville, with options also planned for virtual participation.

Check-in starts at 9 a.m. with an opening ceremony at 10 a.m. and the walk beginning at 10:30 a.m. Participants honor those affected by Alzheimer’s with the poignant Promise Garden ceremony, whose colors represent people’s connection to Alzheimer’s and their personal reasons to end the disease.

Similar walks will be held worldwide, mak-

ing the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s the world’s largest event to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, including 180,000 in North Carolina. Nationwide, more than 11 million family members provide care to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, including 358,000 in North Carolina.

The Asheville walk is one of 17 planned across North Carolina. Sign up at act.alz.org/Asheville or call 800.272.3900. While plans are moving forward for an in-person walk, decisions about the event will be made with health and safety in mind, and options will be offered to participate online and in local neighborhoods.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

the trail’s path, as well as from the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service.

A spokesperson for Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-Hendersonville, said that Cawthorn’s office is currently reviewing the request.

“Our office is evaluating this initiative and will work with all necessary stakeholders to facilitate a timely review of this designation effort,” said a statement from Cawthorn’s office.

An act of Congress is required to add the Benton MacKaye Trail or any other piece of land to the National Park Service. It’s difficult to put a timeline on such a feat, though Forehand said the BMTA hopes to achieve the designation by the end of 2022.

“So far the reaction has been fabulous,” said Forehand. “Everybody’s been saying, ‘Good luck. We’re behind you. So we’re up and running to say the least.”

Experience a Casual, Relaxing Atmosphere

perfect for all walks of life, from families to golf groups to ladies who lunch. We pride ourselves on using fresh ingredients from our gardens and supporting local farmers. The details are priority.

Trout race moved to October

The Haywood Community College community has been hard at work crafting hundreds of wooden fish for the Haywood Waterways Association and Big Brothers Big Sisters Trout Race at BearWaters Brewing in Canton, due to flood impacts postponed from its original Sept. 11 date to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2.

Professional Crafts Wood Instructor Brian Wurst and his student lab technicians have been creating the trout in an endeavor that Wurst said is a perfect fit in terms of community service.

“This is a way we can help local nonprofits,” he said. “It is part of the college’s mission to help. It is good outreach, a way to network with the community and an important example for students to see. And it’s the right thing to do.”

The trout are available for $5 apiece or five for $20, and when they race down the Pigeon River Oct. 2 the lucky ones will win prizes for

their owners. Proceeds from the event will benefit BBBS’ mission to help Haywood County youth reach their potential and Haywood Waterways’ work to provide education and protection for the county’s water resources.

The Trout Race will be held in conjunction with the grand reopening and Oktoberfest at BearWaters Brewing. T-shirts will be sold to support the business flood relief fund.

Purchase trout at www.haywoodwaterways.org.

Fish the West Fork

A series of guided expeditions to the best trout waters in Haywood County is underway, with the next trip leaving at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, for the West Fork Pigeon River. These three-hour trips are guided by experienced local anglers, and a fishing license is required. Additional Saturday trips are planned for Oct. 9, Oct. 23 and Nov. 6. Space is limited. Cost is $10 paid at registration. Contact Ian Smith at 828.452.6789 or ian.smith@haywoodcountync.gov to sign up.

Get certified in boat safety

Learn to be safe on the water with a free certification course in boat safety, 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 22-23, at Haywood Community College.

Participants must attend both sessions to receive certification. Certifications are required to get permitted for a variety of water-based activities in North Carolina. The course is offered through a partnership between HCC and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. No age limit, but students must be able to take a written exam. Class size is limited to allow social distancing and face coverings are required. Pre-registration required at www.ncwildlife.org.

Celebrate Public Lands Day

National Public Lands Day, the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event for public lands, is coming up on Saturday, Sept. 25, and there are several local opportunities to get involved.

Since 1994, National Public Lands Day has been held annually on the fourth Saturday of September, bringing out thousands of volunteers to help restore and improve public lands around the country. It’s also a “Fee-Free Day,” with entrance fees waived at national parks and other locations too.

n Max Patch touchup. All volunteers age 12 and older are invited to help restore this regional icon of the Pisgah National Forest on the Haywood/Madison County line. Carolina Mountain Club, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service are teaming up to make the event happen. No experience is necessary to work with skilled CMC trail crews, who will be on-site to supervise and train novice trail workers. The group will meet in Asheville at 8:30 a.m. to carpool to Max Patch and stop work by 2 p.m. to return. Registration limited to the first 100 volunteers. Sign up at www.carolinamtnclub.org/eventform.cfm.

n Pamper Panthertown. A socially distanced hike and volunteer work project will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Panthertown Valley in the Nantahala National Forest near Cashiers. Volunteers will learn more about what it takes to keep the trails maintained and have plenty of

Volunteers work to improve trail tread in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. NPS

n Sweep the Smokies. Volunteers will help with trail maintenance on the North Carolina side of the park. Repairing erosion control features, cutting back overgrown vegetation and performing general trail tread maintenance are all on the docket. Open to volunteers 16 and older, with participants under 18 accompanied by an adult. Register with Adam Monroe at 828.497.1949 or adam_monroe@nps.gov.

time remaining in the afternoon to continue exploring Panthertown once the work is done. No previous trail work experience necessary. The group will hike about 5 miles roundtrip on easy-to-moderate trails while clearing the trail corridor and performing tread and drain work. Space limited. Sign up at www.panthertown.org/volunteer.

National Public Lands Day events are planned across the nation, with a full list available at www.neefusa.org/npld-eventsearch.

Get inspired by Appalachian women

Hear the untold stories of Appalachian women during this week’s Fridays at the Folk Art Center session, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, at the Folk Art Center in Asheville.

A Blue Ridge Parkway ranger will tell the tales of Cherokee War Women, enslaved women, midwives and the women of today who shaped Appalachia and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 on the Parkway. No restrooms will be available during this outdoor program. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. 828.298.5330, ext. 302.

Flock to the Rock

Experience the premier birding event of the season 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Chimney Rock State Park in Rutherford County.

The 13th annual Flock to the Rock event will feature live raptor demonstrations, kidfriendly booths and crafts, an early morning birding walk and the annual Hawk Watch from the Chimney. Guests will be able to explore the park’s six hiking trails while keeping a close eye on the sky as they learn

more about the region’s feathered residents. Chimney Rock is an official stop on the N.C. Birding Trail, and throughout the day a count will track the dozens of migrating species expected to be spotted in the park. The event is included with regular park admission, which is $17 for adults, $8 for youth ages 5-15 and free for kids 4 and under. An additional fee and advance registration are required for the guided birding walk. A complete schedule is available at www.chimneyrockpark.com/event/13thannual-flock-to-the-rock.

Songbird outbreak is subsiding

A mysterious outbreak that has been affecting songbirds since May 2020 appears to be subsiding, and thanks to diligent reporting from North Carolina residents it seems to not be much affecting birds in the state, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission announced last week.

The disease was reported in mostly midAtlantic and Midwestern states, as far south as Virginia with a few cases in Florida. It affected mostly larger-bodied songbird fledglings, such as blue jays, American robins, European starlings and common grackles.

Diseased birds showed an unusual set of symptoms beginning with crusty, swollen eyes that progressed into tremors, an inability to maintain balance and other neurological problems that ultimately ended in death.

Multiple state wildlife agencies, conservation organizations and wildlife diagnostic labs have collaboratively tracked the outbreak to try and identify a cause, but its source remains a mystery. Hypothetical causes ranging from the Brood X cicada emergence to a variety of viruses, bacteria and parasites have all been ruled out.

In North Carolina, lab results of deceased birds that were reported by the public indicate malnutrition and physical trauma as the cause of death — common hazards for young, inexperienced birds. Additional lab reports are still pending, but biologists don’t anticipate any novel findings. Other reports of sick songbirds in North Carolina mostly involved finches showing signs of common birdfeeder diseases.

Most songbird-related calls to the Wildlife Commission these days are people wanting to know if it’s safe to put their bird feeders back up. It is, if those who do so commit to sterilizing them often. As an alternative to bird feeders, consider establishing native trees, shrubs and flowers to attract birds and wildlife.

Songbird feeders should be sanitized at least every two weeks, and more often in wet or humid conditions. Wildlife officials advise removing all remaining seed, scrubbing off debris, soaking the feeder in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water for 10 minutes and drying it completely before refilling. Hummingbird feeders should be sanitized at least once a week, and filled only with sugar water free of dyes or of other types of sweetener.

The Wildlife Commission will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates. In the meantime, remove feeders immediately if sick or dead birds are found in the area. Wear gloves or use an inverted plastic bag to handle any deceased birds and keep pets and children away. The N.C. Wildlife Helpline is available 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at 866.318.2401 or hwi@ncwildlife.org.

Puzzles can be found on page 38

These are only the answers.

Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain offers hundreds of acres perfectly suited to trying out all manner of outdoor gear.

Get in gear for adventure

Try out the latest outdoor gear innovations while enjoying live music, food, beer and Camp Rockmont’s myriad outdoor offerings during the Get in Gear Fest from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, in Black Mountain.

Representatives from more than 60 outdoor companies will be on site, for the first time allowing attendees to demo products for free as part of the Outdoor Gear Builders of WNC’s flagship event. The event will take place at Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain, which offers miles of trails, a centrally located lake for paddling and open meadows.

The public will also be able to take

The festival is free, with pre-registration for adventure passes at bit.ly/GIGF_adventure_pass and cabin reservations at www.rockmont.com/gigf. Learn more at www.getingearfest.com.

COVID-19 protocols will be observed.

Experience the Mountain State Fair

Head out to Fletcher to catch the N.C. Mountain State Fair before it closes Sunday, Sept. 19. Apple and sweet potato cooking contests, livestock shows, heritage craft demonstrations, gospel singing and the ever-popular Midway carnival rides are just a few of the poplar items remaining on the schedule.

Gates are open 3-11 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 9 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $6 for senior citizens and children 6-12; and free for children 5 and under. Sheets of 21 ride tickets are available for $20. The fair is located at 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd., in Fletcher.

More information, including a full schedule, is available at www.mountainfair.org.

Tour WNC farms

From noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 18-19, 22 local farms will open their gates to the public as part of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s annual farm tour.

Of the 22 farms, nine are new to this year’s tour, which features five geographically organized clusters:

n West cluster: Sustainabilities/Two Trees Farm (Canton), The Ten Acre Garden (Canton), Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa* (Ironduff), Smoking J’s Fiery Foods (Candler).

n Leicester cluster: Mount Gilead Farm* (Leicester), Long Branch Environmental Education Center (Leicester), Addison Farms Vineyard (Leicester), Farm Retreat/ Farmhouse Beef (Marshall), Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Community Farm: Blazing Star Flowers and Lunar Whale Herbs* (Alexander).

n Fairview/Fletcher cluster: Flying Cloud

Farm (Fairview), Hickory Nut Gap Farm (Fairview), Cane Creek Valley Farm* (Fletcher), Raspberry Fields* (Fletcher).

n Henderson/Transylvania cluster: North River Farms (Mills River), Holly Spring Farm (Mills River), Pope Farms/Packa’s Place* (Horse Shoe), Sideways Farm & Brewery (Etowah), Clem’s Organic Gardens (Pisgah Forest)*.

n Barnardsville cluster: Burley Stick Farm* (Barnardsville), Barn Blossom* (Barnardsville), Good Fibrations Angora Goats (Barnardsville).

Farms will offer guided tours, demonstrations, and hands-on activities, giving the public a chance to experience firsthand how food is grown and raised in the mountains. Passes are $35 and good for one carload of visitors to all farms on both days. If still available, passes purchased the weekend of the tour will go for $45. Purchase passes at www.asapconnections.com or by calling 828.236.1282.

WNC Calendar

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

• There will be a free wine tasting 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.

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for:

• The Jackson County Branch #54AB of NC NAACP will hold its September Membership Meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept.18, online. Email jcnaacp54ab@gmail.com to receive instructions to join online. The public is welcome to join this meeting. 828.507.5347.

H EALTH AND WELLNESS

n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com

Polkeros (singer-songwriter/world) 7:45 a.m. Sept. 17 and The Joe Troop Trio live in the Festival Barn Sept. 19. For the stream, click on www.facebook.com/campbellfolkschool. Tickets for the trio are $15 for adults, $10 for students. 828.389.4210 or brasstownconcertnews@gmail.com.

• The “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 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 www.gsmr.com.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS

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

• Waynesville Yoga Center will host an Herb Cleansing and Breathwork session from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 19. Katie Schomberg will lead the night of education, community and healing.

www.waynesvilleyogacenter.com/event/herb-cleansingbreathwork/

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Medicated Sunfish Sept. 18. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Waynesville Art School offers “Make Art & Play” for 45 year olds from 3:45 to 4:45 Tuesdays. To learn more and register call 828.246.9869 or visit www.waynesvilleartschool.com/register-for-classes

• Waynesville Yoga Center will host a Meditation Weekend Workshop Sept. 24-26. The workshop will be hosted by Lynda Saffell and will present the historical, philosophical, and fundamental components of meditation. For more information, or to register, visit www.waynesvilleyogacenter.com/event/300-hour-module-meditation/.

• The Macon County Public Library and Beyond Bending Yoga are teaming up to offer free yoga during the pandemic. All classes at the library are free to the public and will be held outdoors as weather permits. Register to help ensure safe social distancing. This class is accessible to new and seasoned yogis.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Medicated Sunfish Sept. 17. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Maggie Valley Pavilion will host the Haywood Community Band at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 19. The concert theme will be a tribute to the “Jeopardy” show. Free and open to the public. Donations accepted.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Aces Down Sept. 17, Somebody’s Child Sept. 18, George Ausman Sept. 24, Granny’s Mason Jar Sept. 25 and Wyatt Espalin Sept. 26. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or www.mtnlayersbeer.com.

• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends and Shane Meade (rock/soul) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17. 828.641.9797 or www.nantahalabrewing.com.

A&E

• Beloved comedian Jeff Allen will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets start at $20 with priority seating available. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on www.smokymountainarts.com.

• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood Street in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. www.mountainmakersmarket.com.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Kevin Williams (piano/vocals) Sept. 18 ($10 cover) and Jacob Johnson (guitar/vocals) Sept. 25 for a special dinner performance. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Limited seating. Reservations required. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will be held at the Town Square from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Southern Highlands Sept. 17 and Foxfire Boys Sept. 24. Free and open to the public. www.highlandschamber.org.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Sugar Lime Blue Sept. 17, Shane Meade Sept. 18, Bohemian Jean 2 p.m. Sept. 19, Kevin Fuller (singer-songwriter) Sept. 24 and Ol’ Dirty Bathtub (Americana/bluegrass) Sept. 25. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Stephen Horvath Sept. 19 and an Oktoberfest Celebration Sept. 26. All events are free and begin at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• John C. Campbell Folk School (Brasstown) will stream a special live performance by Felipe Perez & Sus

• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Natti Love Joys (reggae/soul) 3 p.m. Sept. 24 and Scott James Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Sept. 24. Free and open to the public. 888.905.7238 or www.noc.com.

• Orchard Coffee (Waynesville) will host Chris Staples (singer-songwriter) 8 p.m. Sept. 26 ($25 at the door) and Corey Kilganon & Lazuli Vane (Americana/indie) 8 p.m. Sept. 29 ($15 at the door). Advance tickets are available at the shop. 828.246.9264 or www.orchardcoffeeroasters.com.

• “Pickin’ on the Square” (Franklin) will host Curtis Blackwell & The Dixie Bluegrass Boys Sept. 18 and Caribbean Cowboys (oldies/surf) Sept. 25. All shows start at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. Located on Main Street. www.franklin-chamber.com.

• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will be held at the Kelsey-Hutchinson Park from 6 to 8:30 p.m. with Will Thompson Trio Sept. 18 and The Knotty G’s Sept. 25. Free and open to the public. www.highlandschamber.org.

• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host singer-songwriter Craig Morgan at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17. Tickets start at $30, with priority seating available. For more information and to purchase tickets, click on www.smokymountainarts.com.

• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Tricia Ann Band Sept. 24. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.

F OOD AND D RINK

• “Dillsboro After Five” will take place from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays in downtown Dillsboro. Start with a visit to the Jackson County Farmers Market located in the Innovation Station parking lot. Stay for dinner and take advantage of late-hour shopping. www.mountainlovers.com.

• Waynesville Art School offers “Kinder Artists” for 6-7 year olds from 3:45 to 4:45 Mondays. To learn more and register call 828.246.9869 or visit www.waynesvilleartschool.com/register-for-classes

• Waynesville Art School offers “Shining Minds” for 1012 year olds from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays. Call 828.246.9869 or visit

www.waynesvilleartschool.com/register-for-classes

• Waynesville Art School offers “Art Sparklers” for 8-9 year olds from 3:34 to 5 p.m. Thursdays. Call 828.246.9869 or visit

www.waynesvilleartschool.com/register-for-classes

• Waynesville Art School offers “Art Shuffle” for children 12 and older from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays. Call 828.246.9869 or visit

www.waynesvilleartschool.com/register-for-classes

• Waynesville Art School offers “The Hatter’s Tea Party” for 8-`16 year olds from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. Call 828.246.9869 or visit www.waynesvilleartschool.com/register-for-classes

• Waynesville Art School offers “Puppet Theater” for 816 year olds from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Fridays. Call 828.246.9869 or visit

www.waynesvilleartschool.com/register-for-classes

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES

• The Haywood County Arts Council’s annual Haywood County Studio Tour will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 25-26. For more information about HCAC programs and events, click on www.haywoodarts.org.

• An art contest (ages five years and up) will be held through Oct. 14 at the Marianna Black library in Bryson City. A fun night complete with face painting for children and other activities will also take place during the “Gallery Night” event from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19. The theme of the contest is “It’s a Beautiful World.” To register for the contest, pick up an application on Monday, Sept. 13, at the library.

Outdoors

• In lieu of its ever-popular Guest Appreciation Festival, the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Swain County will instead move to a Guest Appreciation Month (September) of Celebration for 2021. Stay tuned for details at www.noc.com/events.

• Wildlife through the lenses of local photographers will be on display at the Macon County Public Library through the month of September. Library hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

• Hear the untold stories of Appalachian women during this week’s Fridays at the Folk Art Center session, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, at the Folk Art Center in Asheville. The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 on the Parkway. No restrooms will be available during this outdoor program. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. 828.298.5330, ext. 302.

• Hike the historic Kelsey Trail in Highlands Saturday, Sept. 18. Shuttles will leave from the Kelsey-Hutchinson Park at 8:30, 9 and 9:30 a.m. for the 5-mile walk from Whiteside Mountain to the Highlands Founders Park. Registration is $75 and includes a picnic lunch and Highlands Plateau Greenway membership. Sign up at www.highlandsgreenway.com/biennial-kelsey-trail-hike or leave a message at 828.482.2346.

• Experience the premier birding event of the season 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Chimney Rock State Park in Rutherford County. The event is included with regular park admission, which is $17 for adults, $8 for youth ages 5-15 and free for kids 4 and under. An additional fee and advance registration are required for the guided birding walk. A complete schedule is available at www.chimneyrockpark.com/event/13thannual-flock-to-the-rock.

• From noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 18-19, 22 local farms will open their gates to the public as part of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s annual farm tour. Purchase passes at www.asapconnections.com or by calling 828.236.1282.

• Learn to be safe on the water with a free certification course in boat safety, 6-9 p.m. Sept. 22-23, at Haywood Community College. No age limit, but students must be able to take a written exam. Class size is limited to allow social distancing and face coverings are required. Pre-registration required at www.ncwildlife.org.

• Join a Blue Ridge Parkway ranger to learn about odd illnesses and even odder remedies developed in the Southern Appalachians during this week’s Fridays at the Folk Art Center session, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, at the Folk Art Center in Asheville. The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 on the Parkway. No restrooms will be available during this outdoor program. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. 828.298.5330, ext. 302.

• A series of guided expeditions to the best trout waters in Haywood County is underway, with the next trip leaving at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, for the West Fork Pigeon River. Space limited. Cost is $10 paid at registration. Contact Ian Smith at 828.452.6789 or ian.smith@haywoodcountync.gov to sign up.

• The 14th annual Power of Pink 5K Run/Walk/Dog Walk will raise money for early breast cancer detection on Saturday, Sept. 25, at Frog Level in Waynesville. Registration fee is $30 and $10 for dogs. Groups of five or more from a single organization can register for $20 each. Sign up at www.gloryhoundevents.com/event/power-of-pink.

• Hike Buck Spring and Mt. Pisgah Trail Loop with Haywood County Parks and Recreation at 9 a.m. Sept. 18. Rated as easy with a distance of 2.71 miles, guided by Phyllis Woolen and Jamie Shackleford. betty.green@haywoodcountync.gov, 828.452.6789.

Market PLACE WNC

MarketPlace information:

The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 copies across 500 locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, including the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. Visit www.wncmarketplace.com to place your ad!

Rates:

• $15 — Classified ads that are 25 words, 25¢ per word after.

• Free — Lost or found pet ads.

• $6 — Residential yard sale ads.*

• $1 — Yard Sale Rain Insurance Yard sale rained out? Call us by 10a.m. Monday for your ad to run again FREE

• Legal Notices — 25¢ per word

• $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less)

• Boost Online — Have your ad featured at top of category online $4

• Boost in Print

• Add Photo $6

• Bold ad $2

• Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4

• Border $4

Note: Highlighted ads automatically generate a border so if you’re placing an ad online and select a highlight color, the “add border” feature will not be available on the screen.

Note: Yard sale ads require an address. This location will be displayed on a map on www.wncmarketplace.com

p: 828.452.4251 · f:828.452.3585 classads@smokymountainnews.com www.wncmarketplace.com

Auction

ONLINE ONLY AUCTION, SWVA Arms, LLC Guns and Ammo, 201 S. Central Ave, Locust, NC. See Website for inspection days & times, classicauction.com, 800-9972248

Employment

HOUSING REHABILITATION SPECIALIST

Haywood CountyMountain Projects Inc., is currently accepting applications for a full time Housing Rehabilitation Specialist. Experience with weatherization, rehab, general carpentry, plumbing and electrical

in construction industry is needed. Please apply at MPI, 2177 Asheville Rd. Waynesville, NC 28786 or www.mountainprojects.org EOE/AA.

CWS- OWNER OPERATORS/SMALL FLEETS CDL-A, 1yr. Driving Experience. Dedicated round trips paid per mile, regular home time. 800-8327036 ext.1626

ATTENTION ACTIVE DUTY/MILITARY Veterans Begin a new career and earn your degree at CTI. Online computer & medical training available for veterans & families! To learn more call 833-9703466

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR- TWO REGIONAL MAGAZINES Smoky

Mountain Living and Blue Ridge Motorcycle Magazine are looking for a FullTime Advertising Director. Person will sell for both magazines over a 5 state area. Sales experience necessary. Must be self-motivated, independent & persistent. Knowledge in both print and digital/ social components. Position is based ined in Waynesville. Salary + Commission, 401k. Send inquiries/ resume to: info@ smokymountainnews. com

MEDICAL BILLING & CODING TRAINING. New Students Only. Call & Press 1. 100% online courses. Financial Aid Available. 833-990-0354

MANUFACTURING DAY October 1st is Manufacturing Day. Stop by the NCWorks Career Center in Waynesville between 2:00pm - 4:00pm on Friday, October 1st to learn more about our local manufacturers, what they do, their company, and their recruiting process. Participating employers include: ConMet, Giles Chemical, Haywood Vocational Opportunities, Aramark, Evergreen Packaging and Sonoco. Note: this event will be held outside and socially distanced. Will be held indoors with masks in case of rain.

ATTENTION ACTIVE DUTY/MILITARY Veterans Begin a new career and earn your degree at CTI. Online computer & medical training available. Call 833-970-3466

NUTRITION SITE MAN-

AGER ASSISTANT- Job consists of a combination

environment. Summary of job duties include assisting with the daily management of nutrition site, covering the site in the absence of Site Manager, serving meals according to guidelines-including but not limited to receiving meals from caterer, proper recording of serve times and temperatures, light meal prep, kitchen cleanup, and accurate record keeping. Prefer candidates have high school diploma/GED, effective oral and written communication and listening skills, computer skills/ computer literate. Applicants must have organizational skills, and the ability to work effectively with seniors and diverse populations. This position requires the ability to stand for extended periods and lift up to 35 lbs. The position is parttime for up to 20 hours per week from morning through lunch service. Applications will be taken at www.mountainprojects. org. Mountain Projects, Inc. 2177 Asheville Road, Waynesville or 25 Schulman Street, Sylva until

and random drug testing required. EOE/AA

LANDSCAPE CONSTRUCTION FOREMAN

B. H. Graning Landscapes, Inc. is looking to hire a two Landscape Construction Foremen, one in Sylva, NC and the other in Canton,

offered after 90 days. Pay is based on knowledge and experience. Starting pay is negotiable. ($15 - $18 hour) Interested men and women should apply online or in person. www.bhglandscapes.com 828.586.8303

ATTENTION ACTIVE

DUTY/MILITARY Veterans Begin a new career and earn your degree at CTI. Online computer & medical training available for veterans & families! To learn more call 833-9703466

MEDICAL BILLING & CODING TRAINING. New Students Only. Call & Press 1. 100% online courses. Financial Aid Available for those who qualify. Call 833-9900354

Better Homes and Gardens Real 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

• Rob Roland - robroland@beverly-hanks.com

ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com

• Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com

• Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com

• Steve Mauldin - smauldin@sunburstrealty.com

• Randy Flanigan - 706-207-9436

EXP Realty

• Jeanne Forrest - ashevillerealeat8@gmail.com

Keller Williams Realty - kellerwilliamswaynesville.com

• The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com

• Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff@kw.com

• Darrin Graves - dgraves@kw.com

Lakeshore Realty

• Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

Mountain Dreams Realty- maggievalleyhomesales.com

• Lyndia Massey- buyfromlyndia@yahoo.com

Mountain Creek Real Estate

• Ron Rosendahl - 828-593-8700

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management

• Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com

RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com remax-maggievalleync.com

• The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com

• Ron Breese - ronbreese.com

• Landen Stevenson- landen@landenkstevenson.com

• Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com

• Mary & Roger Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net

• David Willet - davidwillet1@live.com

• Sara Sherman - sarashermanncrealtor@gmail.com

• David Rogers- davidr@remax-waynesville.com

• Judy Meyers - jameyers@charter.net

Smoky Mountain Retreat Realty

• Tom Johnson - tomsj7@gmail.com

• Sherell Johnson - Sherellwj@aol.com

SUPER CROSSWORD

Furniture

DINING ROOM TA-

BLE $825.00 American Heritage solid wood table with 6 chairs. Made in America. Pick up only in Whittier. If interested text (828) 273-2208

Home Goods

GENERAC STANDBY GENERATORS Don’t Wait! The weather is increasingly unpredictable. Be. prepared for power outages. FREE 7-yr ext. warranty ($695 value!) Schedule your Free InHome assessment today. 1-833-953-0224, special customers.

Medical

DENIED SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY? Ap-

SSD and denied, our attorneys can help! Win or Pay Nothing! Strong, recent work history needed. 877-553-0252 [Steppach-

Ave Scranton PA 18503]

GUARANTEED LIFE IN-

SURANCE! (Ages 50 to 80). No medical exam. Affordable premiums never

decrease. Policy will only be cancelled for non-payment. 833-380-1218

ATTENTION SENIORS AGES 40-85 Great Deal! Low Cost Life Insurance to help pay for funeral cost and more! Everyone 407-960-4782

Pets

SHEPHERD/RETRIEVER MIX DOG (TAN), MAX 6 year old, 60-lb, active boy who loves hiking and is always happy. Asheville Humane Society (828) 761-2001 adoptions@ ashevillehumane.org

BROWN/GRAY TABBY CAT, NATASIA 9 year old girl, loves to play with toys, “talk”, and people-watch. Beautiful green eyes! Asheville Humane Society (828) 761-2001 adoptions@ashevillehumane.org

SUDOKU

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!

HAPPY JACK® FLEA

BEACON®: patented dehome without toxic chemicals or costly exterminators. Results overnight! Junaluska Feed Center.

Real Estate Announcements

WHITE-GLOVE SERVICE From America’s Top Movers. Fully insured and bonded. Let us take the stress out of your out of state move. FREE

2782

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

LARGE 1 BEDROOM APARTMENT IN Balsam. $750/mo includes electric, gas and water. Pets allowed. Quiet living. Ideal for retiree. Non-smokers only. Must be vaccinated against Covid-19. 727.560.2496

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

A-1 DONATE YOUR CAR, RUNNING OR NOT!! FAST FREE PICKUP.

Maximum tax deduction. Support United Breast Cancer Fdn programs. Your car donation could save a life. 888-641-9690

Entertainment

AT&T TV - The Best of Live & On-Demand On All Your Favorite Screens. CHOICE Package, $84.99/mo for 12months. Stream on 20 devices at once in your home. HBO Max FREE for 1 yr (w/CHOICE Package or higher.) Call for more details today! (some restrictions apply) Call IVS 1-855-548-9839

CABLE PRICE INCREASE AGAIN? Switch to DIRECTV & Save + get $100 visa gift card! Get More Channels For Less Money. 1-888-520-2338

Home Improvement

UPDATE YOUR HOME With Beautiful New Blinds

& Shades. FREE in-home estimates make it convenient to shop from home. Professional installation. Top quality - Made in the USA. Call for free

7899. BATH & SHOWER UPDATES In as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military

833-987-0207

Yard Sales

HOME SALE: 30 inch tables with 2 chairs. $40. Queen size sofa bed like new. 3 large rugs. 10 piece dining room set, new. Several occasional chairs. TV entertainment cabinet. Curio cabinet, Ethan Allen. Butcher block island. Sheets, linens, kitchen items, clothes galore & much more. 09/17 & 09/18 9am to 5pm at Cherokee Outpost, HWY 441 N., Cherokee. 828.226.0994 or 828.497.9427