Between the lines: new districts, new dynamics Page 8
4
As the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, The Smoky Mountain News reflects on the evolution of the organization and what the future holds in today’s business climate. (Page 6)
Photo by Cory Vaillancourt
D
jessica.m@smokymountainnews.com ADVERTISING
Shetley susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com
Amanda Bradley jc-ads@smokymountainnews.com
Sophia Burleigh sophia.b@smokymountainnews.com
C LASSIFIEDS: Scott Collier classads@smokymountainnews.com
N EWS E DITOR: Jessi Stone jessi@smokymountainnews.com
WRITING: Holly Kays holly@smokymountainnews.com
Hannah McLeod hannah@smokymountainnews.com
Cory Vaillancourt . . .
cory@smokymountainnews.com
Garret K. Woodward garret@smokymountainnews.com
ACCOUNTING & O FFICE MANAGER: Amanda Singletary smnbooks@smokymountainnews.com
D ISTRIBUTION: Scott Collier classads@smokymountainnews.com
C ONTRIBUTING: Jeff Minick (writing), Chris Cox (writing), George Ellison (writing), Don Hendershot (writing), Susanna Shetley (writing)
I NFO & B ILLING | P.O. Box 629, Waynesville, NC 28786
Copyright 2021 by The Smoky Mountain News.™ Advertising copyright 2021 by The Smoky Mountain News.™ All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The Smoky Mountain News is available for free in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and parts of Buncombe counties. Limit one copy per person. Additional copies may be purchased for $1, payable at the Smoky Mountain News office in advance. No person may, without prior written permission of The Smoky Mountain News, take more than one copy of each issue.
Updated plans absorb additional business locations
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER
July 15 was a busy Thursday night at Bogart’s Restaurant in Sylva. The dining room was full of people and conversation, the kitchen hopping.
Then came the fire. The grease on the grill ignited, the flames climbing into the hood system. It looked like a big chimney fire, said owner Tim Hall. A volunteer fireman who happened to be dining there saw it and jumped into action, evacuating the occupants. The fire department arrived within two minutes, and while they extinguished the fire, the extensive smoke and water damage left behind meant that Hall would have to rebuild from the studs if he wanted to use the building again.
Two weeks later, Hall got some more bad news. A longtime customer who is also an employee with the N.C. Department of Transportation, told him that the DOT’s plans for N.C. 107 had changed again. Now, the project would destroy Hall’s entire building.
“I’ve never been through anything like this as an owner,” said Hall, clutching the door of one of the sea containers now peppering the parking lot to shield himself from a stiff wind. “I’ve been in business since 1984. And this pandemic, the fire and then the state (road project) is sort of the trifecta. I just couldn’t bounce back from it.”
Bogart’s is one of about nine businesses that recently found out that the N.C. 107 remake would boot them from their buildings. While earlier versions of the plan would have eaten away much of the parking at Bogart’s and at the three buildings skirting the intersection with U.S. 23, also known as Asheville Highway, the buildings were going to stay. But the most recent version of the plans calls for taking the structures too.
For Hall, 62, that made the decision simple — though certainly no less painful. There
Bogart’s Restaurant owner Tim Hall decided to close the Sylva institution after learning — shortly after a grease fire damaged the building — that newly revised N.C. 107 plans would take down the structure. Holly Kays photo
was no reason to rehabilitate the smoke-damaged building if the DOT was just going to tear it down.
“Having to tell people that, it hurts,” he said. “The worst thing was telling my employees in a meeting. That was the hardest thing.”
NEW PLANS RELEASED
The latest changes to the road plan came in September, when the DOT completed its 75% plans for the long-debated road project.
While potential remedies for traffic congestion and frequent fender benders on the road have been debated for decades, in 2017 the DOT released an initial concept and concrete path forward for the road project. The remake will extend from West Main Street at the fire department all the way out past Ingles, plus a one-third mile section of the Old Asheville Highway from McDonald’s to the N.C. 107 intersection. The DOT plans to build a five-lane road with a grassy median to replace the existing “suicide lane,” along with
properties would be the best solution just a couple weeks before the fire at Bogart’s, said White. The agency made sure to let Hall know about those discussions before he pulled the trigger on renovations to the damaged building.
A review of the plans also caught an error in which road designers failed to look at peak volume traffic when designing the right turn lane for Dunkin’ Donuts. That meant that, as written, the plans would not alleviate backups into the main lanes during those peak times. Now, the plans include free-flow lanes that encroach on the existing Dunkin’ Donuts building. The business plans to relocate on the same parcel to accommodate the project, White said.
A BLOW FOR NEW BUSINESSES
For other entrepreneurs on the strip, the news came at a much different time in the life of their business.
“It’s posed some concerns for us, because we’re afraid to move to any of the other locations that have a high traffic visibility area, because they are eventually going to get moved,” said Angela Zoran of Imperial Security and Wiring. “Even if they’re told, ‘We’re only taking your parking lot,’ apparently that is not in stone.”
bike lanes and improved sidewalks.
Those improvements will require widening the road, which will require purchasing property — and a lot of it. Though the DOT doesn’t have an official number, the road project is expected to require more than 50 businesses to close or relocate.
The DOT expanded that number to include Bogart’s and nearby buildings on the Asheville Highway when further analysis showed the existing road plan would take at least 90% of the properties’ value due to extreme encroachment on parking.
“If you can’t get to the business, can’t get to the structure, you’re going to damage it significantly. The business cannot remain viable,” said Senior Project Engineer Jeannette White. “Looking at that, it just makes sense to say, ‘Let’s go ahead and pay full cost of acquiring those structures.”
Doing so will allow the DOT to consider additional roadway features to improve traffic movement on the corridor. DOT staff came to the conclusion that acquiring those
Zoran and her husband Mark moved into the gray Asheville Highway strip mall owned by Kole Clapsaddle in April, spending more than $30,000 to renovate the space and set it up as a showroom for their home automation business. They’d operated the business out of their house for years, but finally decided to pull the trigger on a public storefront, hoping to gain more visibility in town.
Just a couple months later, they learned that their new location was slated for destruction, and that because they’d been in the space for less than two years, they’d receive fewer benefits than if they been there longer. Now, Zoran is not sure they’ll even stay in Sylva. There are only so many business locations in town, and the ones with the highest traffic visibility are the ones most vulnerable to the road project.
Alicia Buckley of The Sylva Love Nest is in a similar situation. She and her husband David opened the store in June. The couple also own The Pied Piper, which is located in another one of Clapsaddle’s properties. When the Asheville
Newly revised road plans will take out this strip mall on the Asheville Highway, as well as the green-roofed building below it that contains Liberty Tax Service, among other businesses.
Highway space came available, they jumped on it.
“It’s a great location,” she said. “All of a sudden, a month and a half, two months into it, I found out that this building is going to go too. It was definitely a surprise. It’s a bummer.”
Unlike Zoran, Buckley does have somewhere to go — a business behind Zaxby’s, whose space is also owned by Clapsaddle, plans to leave. The landlord has offered her a place there. Regardless, it’s a loss. Though she didn’t put near the money into her store that the Zorans did, she did incur some cost. She’ll miss the current location’s high visibility, and she’s worried about how the road project will affect the town as a whole.
“What is the overall commerce in Sylva going to look like?” she said. “Are they going to rip up everything? Is it going to be a ghost town? It’s unnerving.”
THE NEW TIMELINE
The design and timeline for the pivotal project have changed multiple times since the first concrete plans were released in 2018. At that time, the DOT estimated the work would be done by 2022 and cost $35.5 million.
Now it’s the end of 2021, and right-of-way acquisition has only just begun. Construction isn’t expected to start until the second half of 2024. Estimated costs continue to increase, with figures calculated on June 10 placing the total cost at $116.1 million, of which $56.2 million is for construction, $52.7 million for right-of-way, and $7.2 million for utilities. The estimate represents a 7.8% increase over previously released figures, White said.
Though there are still three years to go before construction, the DOT wants to see the right-of-way acquisition process wrap up in two years. It’s contracting with Charlottebased TELICS to manage the right-of-way phase, which began in July.
To Zoran, the recently announced changes at the N.C. 107 and U.S. 23 intersection show that no plan is final and that even properties declared safe from the road project
can be gobbled up at any time. But White said that acquisitions outlined in the 75% plans are “pretty much set in stone” — with one exception.
Plans could still shift on both sides of the roadside corridor from Pizza Hut to the Lowe’s entrance depending on what the DOT decides to do about Mill Creek. When the road was widened in the 1980s, the DOT encased the creek in 6-foot pipes and buried it under the road. Current standards require two 6-foot pipes to route the stream, not just one, but making that change would significantly impact businesses located close to the roadside. The design team is considering rerouting the stream to flow along the backside of the properties instead. White hopes to have a more definitive plan by next summer.
Other than that, she said, the 100% plans shouldn’t include any changes to acquisition plans compared to the 75% version. Remaining issues to work out mostly involve decisions about pavement marking, traffic management, erosion control and traffic flow. Additionally, final plans will include a bridge realignment and potential refurbishments to another bridge.
While the project will be painful, said White, she believes it will ultimately benefit the town by creating a safer and more sustainable roadway.
“During the process and during construction it is painful, but it is in my opinion the right thing to do for the safety of the community,” she said.
In previous years, there may well have been a loud chorus of opposition to such a statement. Charlie Schmidt, general manager for Sylva institution Speedy’s Pizza, was one of the loudest voices in those discussions, but he said he’s now shifted to general acceptance that the project — and the destruction of the building that’s housed Speedy’s for more than three decades — is inevitable.
“The time to stop it or fight it is obviously long gone,” he said. “Something’s going to happen, so we just gotta figure out the best way to move forward.”
Ingles Nutrition Notes
written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath
Question: What are some “superfoods” that you Would recommend?
ansWer: The term “superfood” is a clever marketing term to draw attention to a specific food to enhance or increase visibility, awareness and consumption(sales). Over the years we've seen lots of different foods referred to as “superfoods” — pomegranate juice, acai berries, wild caught salmon, kale, spinach, Greek yogurt — to just name a few. Classifying an item as a “superfood” creates an opportunity for that food to be highlighted on cooking shows, blogs and in magazines, to cost a bit more at the supermarket and to have it included in other items, e.g. pomegranate tea, kale chips, acai berries in cereal.
In fact, we could find something “super” about most any food from beans to beef and from tea to turnips based on macro and micronutrients!
Focusing on what we eat in our meals and across the whole week is a better way of improving our nutrition and our health rather than just worrying about trendy “superfoods”.
Holly Kays photo
Haywood Chamber celebrates 50 years of development, engagement
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT P OLITICS E DITOR
It’s not the first thing people usually think of when they try to recount the relative prosperity of a community over generations.
Usually, it’s the politicians, the policies and the personalities behind the progress that get the headlines, but oftentimes underlying them all is an ancient institution that everyone knows about, but few truly know: the local chamber of commerce.
As a voluntary association of businesses advocating for interests that ultimately intersect with the public good, modern chambers of commerce can be said to engage in the business of development — of both the local economy and the people who support it.
For the past 50 years, the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce has been a central part of that effort and is responsible for millions in investment and thousands of jobs.
But with 50 years of lessons learned, the Haywood chamber remains intent on developing the leaders who will learn from those lessons and apply them to the next 50 unpredictable years.
While chambers of commerce are now ubiquitous — there are more than 13,000 across the world and at least 4,000 in the United States alone — it wasn’t always that way.
Chambers of commerce trace their roots to medieval trade guilds that acted to regulate trade and to interface with other guilds in promoting businesses in a specific town, county or region.
The first true Chamber of Commerce was founded in Marseilles, France, in 1599 when the municipal government found it could no longer manage both civic and commercial affairs at the same time.
According to The Magicians of Main Street, a comprehensive history of America’s chambers of commerce written by Chris Mead in 2014, the Chambre du Commerce de Marseille was involved in harbor maintenance, commissioning trade delegations and even roving pirate abatement.
Almost three centuries later, the Chambre du Commerce would play a critical role in building the Suez Canal. The canal, which would revolutionize maritime trade across Europe, wasn’t the first example of a chamber of commerce intervening in such big-picture business issues; a chamber founded in Paris shortly after the one in Marseille gave critical backing to Samuel de Champlain as he pushed for growth in the infant settlement of French Canada during the 17th century.
America’s first chambers of commerce were founded just before the American Revolution, in New York and Charleston, South Carolina, although similar groups had existed in Boston since the 1730s. After a brief interregnum
owing to the war, chambers of commerce began to spring up across this new nation, in places like New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, and Lexington, Kentucky.
Chamber creation boomed during the 1800s as major commercial centers (usually with ports) like Savannah, Georgia, New Orleans, Chicago and Detroit established their own.
Wilmington became the first chamber of commerce in North Carolina in 1853, followed by New Bern in 1866, Charlotte in
its founding decades earlier than that. By the early 1970s, the larger, more professional chambers had begun talks on consolidation, to take advantage of economies of scale and promote the county as a whole, rather than as individual slivers of competing economies.
On Jan. 12, 1971, the Waynesville Area Chamber of Commerce changed its name to the Greater Haywood Chamber of Commerce, in anticipation of a consolidation with Clyde and Canton-Bethel.
At the same time, the respective boards of directors led by Canton-Bethel president L.A. Coman, Jr. and Greater Haywood president W.H. Anderson unanimously approved a study geared toward achieving unification.
In the fall of 1971, that unification became a reality, bringing together all but the Maggie Valley chamber under one banner.
“It is going to mean work, understanding and cooperation,” reads an editorial in the Oct. 4, 1971 issue of the Waynesville Mountaineer. “And what is hard about any of the three? Haywood has been, and still is, the envy of many counties. We think it is largely because we strive to work together and attain success in outstanding programs.”
1870, Greensboro in 1877, Winston-Salem in 1885, Goldsboro in 1887, Raleigh in 1888 and Asheville in 1898.
Mead’s book relates an interesting anecdote regarding Asheville’s chamber that illustrates the many areas in which chambers of the time worked to promote commercial interests within their jurisdictions.
In 1927, a man visiting the town complained about the lack of “old-time music” and was then encouraged to bring some musicians to the Asheville chamber’s Rhododendron Festival.
That man was legendary Appalachian fiddler Bascom Lamar Lunsford, and with him were the Soco Gap Square Dancers — a Maggie Valley group led by Haywood County’s own Sam Love Queen credited with introducing clogging to the world.
The first known mention of any local chamber of commerce west of Asheville comes in the Feb. 3, 1921, issue of The Carolina Mountaineer and Waynesville Courier. According to the story, an evening rally hosted by the Canton Chamber of Commerce kicked off late because guests coming in from Asheville got their car stuck in the mud.
At some point around this time, the Canton chamber merged with the Bethel Chamber of Commerce to become the Canton-Bethel Chamber of Commerce.
Over the ensuing decades, separate chambers were established in Clyde and Waynesville, which served areas from Balsam to the edge of Clyde.
The Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page says it was established in 1963, but newspaper reports place
Today, the Haywood Chamber of Commerce continues that work on a budget of less than $200,000 a year, not quite double that of the 1971 Waynesville chamber’s inflation-adjusted $123,000. Although chamber membership fluctuates, it’s usually in the range of 400 to 500 businesses.
Most of the Haywood chamber’s revenue comes from dues, sponsorships and events. The Apple Harvest Festival is the biggest and will next year celebrate its 35th anniversary. There’s also a yearly golf tournament and an annual dinner.
Other revenue comes from a plethora of programs designed not as revenue generators but instead as community networking events intended to encourage the next generation of Haywood County’s commercial and civic leadership.
There’s a group called Young Professionals of Haywood that meets on a regular basis, as well as a group headed by local entrepreneur/writer Wendy Forbes, called Women Enlightened. A monthly Issues and Eggs series brings in regular speakers to keep the community apprised of important topics in the region, and the yearly Leadership Haywood program provides 9 months of intensive instruction with a local focus on topics as varied as history, the environment, economic development, law enforcement and state and municipal government.
But the Haywood chamber’s development into a community-wide resource didn’t just happen overnight; instead, for nearly two decades, it’s been nurtured under the watchful leadership of a transformative figure in the history of Haywood County’s own development.
Longtime Haywood Chamber President Cece Hipps speaks at a recent 50th anniversary gathering. Cory Vaillancourt photo
The Greater Haywood Chamber’s logo, circa 1972. File photo
Rebuilding one pint at a time
Following devastating August flood, BearWaters Brewing reopens
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF W RITER
Sitting at a picnic table on the banks of the Pigeon River in downtown Canton, Kevin Sandefur turns around and points to the high-water line on the side of the BearWaters Brewing building.
“Just below the big windows right there,” said Sandefur, co-owner of the brewery, in a humbled tone. “The water just didn’t stop rising — I thought we had lost everything we’d worked so hard to build.”
That waterline is several feet above the parking lot, the basement of the facility filled to the brim with slippery mud, silt and water. Unless you witnessed it first-hand, it’s hard to imagine how violent and widespread the ravaging floodwaters of Tropical Storm Fred were when it overtook the small mountain town and other parts of Haywood County on Aug. 17.
“It was almost like a dream, but more so a nightmare,” Sandefur said. “With any kind of disaster that you’re part of, it starts to unfold and it seems surreal because you feel so helpless. We thought we had the flooding under control and then, just a few moments later, the river is over the banks and it’s climbing quickly.
Now it’s fall and the doors of BearWaters are once again open, the cold ales pouring from the taps and hot food coming from the kitchen. It’s been a herculean effort to
From her desk inside a handsome 1920sera Waynesville mansion on Walnut Street, Haywood Chamber of Commerce President CeCe Hipps has guided the chamber through some of its most challenging periods.
Hipps arrived in 2004, shortly before devastating floods ravaged the county. Four years later, in 2008, a recession borne on the back of a bursting bubble in the housing market ensued. More than a decade after that, as the economic damage from the Great Recession was finally in the rear-view mirror, a once-acentury global pandemic shuttered businesses across the country. The next year, another devastating flood.
Still, Hipps’ Haywood chamber has scored some important victories over those 17 years, in conjunction with the late Mark Clasby’s economic development expertise.
“Definitely the Dayco project — turning that into a mega-retail center for us,” Clasby told The Smoky Mountain News in August 2017. “Phase one was the Walmart and the Best Buy, and phase two was the Belk’s, Michael’s and PetSmart. They’ve been very successful.”
In late 2017, the Haywood chamber and the Haywood Economic Development Commission entered into an innovative partnership with the
remove all the mud and debris from the property and rebuild, this seemingly neverending task of mankind versus the wrath of Mother Nature.
“The reopening should have probably taken three more months to do the repairs. But, the first five days after the flood was so incredibly crucial with all of the volunteers who showed up,” Sandefur marveled.
much larger (and older) Asheville chamber to approach economic development in concert, rather than in competition.
“The Haywood Chamber of Commerce really exists to be a resource, a catalyst for growth and economic development among the business community here in Haywood County,” said Dr. Michael Coleman, chair of the Haywood Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors since this past July. “Economic development and the chamber go in tandem with one another.”
The partnership leverages the cache of trendy, well-known Asheville for the benefit of its lesser-known neighbors in Haywood County; economic development sites in Haywood are marketed alongside those in Buncombe.
While producing a noticeable uptick in the amount of interest in Haywood among national and international companies, the partnership has also resulted in two notable victories from right here in Western North Carolina.
“Small business, for example, is so important to our economy both nationally and here locally,” Coleman said. “We need to make sure on a continual basis that our local elected officials understand that and continually strive to help this area and help our surround-
“There’s no way we’d be open here today if it wasn’t for the volunteers who showed up from all over to help us clean up and get back on our feet.”
The morning of Aug. 18, with the sun out and floodwaters slowly receding, Sandefur and his staff returned to the brewery to inspect the damage. What they found was a war zone of materials and mud. Kegs and cans strewn in every direction, most filled with product now deemed unusable.
Of what product could be salvaged, Wicked Weed Brewing stepped in and picked up the numerous kegs to be housed in its Asheville cold storage facility until BearWaters was able to start pouring again. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. also lent a hand by coming in to aid in equipment that was in need of immediate repair.
And when the cleanup began, hundreds of volunteers stepped onto the property, offering services from simply shoveling mud to expert skill sets in electrical, plumbing and structural engineering.
“We had people taking time off from work to come and pressure wash the walls. Everyone was working to get something
ing areas with growth and economic development opportunities.”
One is the expansion of Frog Level’s Giles Chemical, which Hipps said had been exploring an expansion outside the region.
“The other is [Franklin-based] Drake Software , which was about a three-year process,” Hipps said. “We’ve been working on Drake for a long time, which is a really good thing for us.”
In the field of economic development, the mantra is simple — grow or die.
Growth requires consistent, coherent messaging to state and federal leaders. In fact, one of the newly-merged chamber’s efforts in 1971 involved lobbying the state for an additional vehicle tag facility in Waynesville to augment the county’s only office in Canton. Another, throughout the 1970s, focused on improving local roads as an expedient to commercial and recreational activity.
That cooperation endures, as local businesses and municipal governments continue to navigate the state and federal processes associated with flood recovery.
Simultaneously, Coleman said that because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Haywood chamber has been taking the time to reevaluate nearly every aspect of its operations to
done — getting the mud out or moving equipment,” Sandefur said. “It definitely verifies what we had hoped for when we opened here. That we’re not just a brewery or a restaurant, but it’s a community center for people that come here — it means that we’re truly part of Haywood County.”
In a sort of twisted irony, BearWaters was awarded the “Business of the Month” by the Haywood Chamber of Commerce during the period in which it was closed and under construction due to the flooding. The award itself was already decided before the storm rolled through Western North Carolina.
And yet, the award itself is a testament to the brewery, to the vision Sandefur set out to accomplish some 10 years ago with an $8,000 chamber seed grant and a deep love for craft beer and brewing that’s only grown and blossomed since then.
“It’s all been incredibly overwhelming and humbling. It’s all of these things that let you know that care about your brewery and what it means to the community,” Sandefur said.
Getting up from the picnic table and making his way back to the brewery, Sandefur readies himself for the afternoon rush of customers that usually wander in come 5 o’clock. What was once, perhaps, a whirlwind of people and drink/food orders is now a buzz of humanity — old friends and new — that Sandefur & Co. will never take for granted.
“Sure, you can sell beers and you can sell hamburgers all day long. But, there’s an intrinsic value that exists now that is beyond anything we could make or sell,” Sandefur said. “One of the most powerful statements said to me was, ‘We need you guys to survive.’ It was crazy to hear that — it’s very rewarding to know you’ve built something that people care about.”
ensure they are and will continue to be relevant in a world forever changed by COVID-19. Into that world heads the Haywood chamber, presumably for another 50 years, and more beyond that. Based on the calamities Hipps has had to weather during her time here — as well as those victories — the chamber of the future needs to be prepared for any economic eventuality.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but there’s always a vision going forward of what you want to achieve in a community,” she said.
Workforce development is a key component of that, says Hipps, and creating quality jobs is an essential goal for this tourism-based service economy that experiences a good amount of “brain drain” — young, educated people forced to leave the county or region due to a lack of opportunity befitting their credentials and experience.
“I think we need to continue to develop leaders within the community. That’s why I started the Young Professionals, the Women Enlightened, the Leadership Haywood program — to grow and develop these young leaders and provide them with the opportunity to get engaged with the community,” she said. “Because engagement in the community is where the leaders come from.”
BearWaters co-owner Kevin Sandefur. (photo: Margeaux Boles)
Between the lines: new districts, new dynamics
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT P OLITICS E DITOR
After more than a dozen public hearings and substantial study by the North Carolina General Assembly, the decennial redistricting process in North Carolina is more or less complete.
Action on a new set of maps could come as early as this week, but that may not be the end of it — a lawsuit has already been filed claiming the process is constitutionally flawed, and other lawsuits may follow after the General Assembly adopts the maps.
Now, as the Dec. 6 opening of the 2022 candidate filing period approaches, elected officials, potential candidates and voters will be watching closely to see what final tweaks appear and how they’ll affect new districts, with new dynamics.
For centuries, the United States has carried out a census every decade, beginning in 1790 when the country’s population was around 3.9 million people.
That number is most certainly inaccurate, because slaves at the time were counted as three-fifths of a person, and Native Americans weren’t counted at all. But since that time, more accurate and equitable results have been implemented so as to inform the census’ most basic function — determining the apportionment of federal and state representation.
North Carolina has long been held as an example of what happens when elected officials choose their voters — as opposed to voters choosing their representatives. For more than a century, it was Democrats. Over the past decade, it’s been Republicans, who drew maps so convoluted that a court had to throw them out as racial gerrymanders back in 2019.
Seeking to avoid that scenario and lend some durability to the outcome, the General Assembly embarked on a months-long redistricting process marked with unprecedented transparency. That process is now nearing its end.
“They’ve got the potential maps out there, but there are a whole lot of them so this week they’ve said they’re going to formally vote on which one of these potential maps they’re going to select,” said Dr. Chris Cooper, the Madison Distinguished Professor and Director of the Public Policy Institute at Western Carolina University. “Obviously they have to select three maps, a congressional map, a House map and a Senate map.”
Cooper said that the House and Senate maps are pretty much locked in, thanks in part to something called the Stevenson Clustering Rule, which says that certain counties have to hang together because of population.
Due to Western North Carolina’s geography, the Senate and House districts can’t change too much, hemmed in as they are by state borders with Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia.
The far-western District 120, for example, is represented by Franklin Republican Karl
Gillespie. Comprised of Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Macon counties, 120 won’t change a bit.
It’s a completely different story for districts 119 and 118, represented by Rep. Mike Clampitt (R-Swain) and Rep. Mark Pless (RHaywood), respectively.
Currently, Clampitt’s district includes Swain, Jackson, and a sliver running through the center of Haywood County, west to east. Pless’ district includes the rest of Haywood County, along with all of Madison and Yancey counties.
As proposed, Haywood County will no longer be split between the two districts.
Instead, Pless’ redrawn district will give him all of Haywood County. He’ll also keep Madison County, but lose Yancey.
“I love them up in Yancey County. They’re all great people. Anybody I’ve met up there has been good. It didn’t really matter which party they were,” Pless said. “I mean, I spent a fair piece of time up there. Everybody I’ve met I really liked. I hate to lose them, but I know this is the process.”
Clampitt didn’t want to comment on the proposed maps until they’re adopted, but if they are, he would lose his sliver of Haywood, which runs up from Balsam in the southwest portion of the county adjacent to Jackson up through Waynesville and Lake Junaluska.
In return, he’d take on the whole of Transylvania County.
Electorally, not much would change for Republicans in either 118 or 119. Using Donald Trump’s 2020 vote totals as a guide, Pless’ new district would go from 65.6% Trump to 63.1%. Clampitt’s new district would actually lean more Republican, from 56.1% to 56.6%.
What would change, however, is the fact that Haywood County currently has two members in the House. It’s open to debate whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing for constituents.
“It would make it much easier,” Pless said. “In Haywood County, I already try to keep a rapport with the town of Waynesville and of course Lake Junaluska. Those are the big areas that I don’t have but [if someone calls with an issue from Clampitt’s Haywood constituency], I go ahead and find out the information and depending on what the situation is, I might just handle it or talk to Mike [Clampitt] about it.”
Cooper realizes the benefits of having a de facto two-member delegation to the House but expressed concern for voters.
“I think generally it’s viewed as not that good of a thing. On one hand, it makes for natural partnerships, so it makes for natural co-sponsors and that is good. But it’s confusing to voters. It makes it where they’re a lot less likely to know who their legislator is,” he said. “In general, we think that split counties and split municipalities are worse for democracy just because they’re more confusing. You take a really confusing system, and you make it even more confusing by splitting it up and then obviously every time we redraw lines, it confuses people once again.”
House District 118
CURRENT
• Counties: Haywood (partial), Madison, Yancey
• Population: 79,222
• Trump 2020 vote: 65.6%
PROPOSED
• Counties: Haywood, Madison
• Population: 83,282
• Trump 2020 vote: 63.1%
Source: northcarolina. redistricitingandyou.org
House District 119
CURRENT
• Counties: Jackson, Haywood (partial), Swain
• Population: 79,736
• Trump 2020 vote: 56.1%
PROPOSED
• Counties: Jackson, Swain, Transylvania
• Population: 90,212
• Trump 2020 vote: 56.6%
Source: northcarolina. redistricitingandyou.org
Mark Pless, R-Haywood
Mike Clampitt, R-Swain
House District 120
CURRENT AND PROPOSED (NO CHANGES)
• Counties: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon
• Population: about 84,900
• Trump 2020 vote: 74.2%
Source: northcarolina. redistricitingandyou.org
It’s also easier for county political parties to devote resources to just one candidate instead of two. If the change in Clampitt’s map goes through, Haywood Republicans (and Democrats) will be free to focus on Pless.
Regardless, Haywood probably won’t have two House members anymore, but if a surprising — and substantial — change to the Senate districts becomes permanent, it will soon have two senators.
Right now, the 50th Senate District is made up of the seven western counties, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain. The proposed map would add Transylvania County to that list, but it would also break off a chunk of eastern Haywood County and put it into another district.
“Haywood County’s been part of the 50th as long as anyone can remember,” said Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin), who serves the district.
The proposed map would take from Corbin both Fines Creek precincts, White Oak, Iron Duff, Crabtree, North and South Clyde, and all six of the Bethel precincts. That’s about 12,000 voters who went more than 71 percent for Trump in 2020.
The dividing line runs along a northsouth axis just to the east of Lake Junaluska, effectively right through the center of Haywood Regional Medical Center campus, which means that visitors to the fitness center could park in one senate district and work out in another.
Importantly, the redraw puts all of Clyde and Canton in District 47, currently represented by Sen. Ralph Hise, a six-term Republican from Spruce Pine, in Mitchell County.
The proposal for Hise’s own district is a radical remake. At present, it’s a north-south district running from Tennessee to South Carolina, but the proposed District 47 starts in Haywood at the western end and runs northeast along North Carolina’s northern border, terminating in Allegheny County just outside Galax, Virginia.
Losing Clyde and Canton doesn’t sit well with Corbin.
“On the record, I’m not happy with that at all,” Corbin said. “I’m trying to get it changed.”
Indeed, neither Hise nor Corbin have anything to do with the proposal. Corbin stressed he wasn’t upset with Hise, who he called a “standup guy” and a friend, nor would he have any problem handling Transylvania County.
“To me, that part of Haywood County that’s now being put in with Ralph Hise’s district doesn’t make sense from a representative standpoint,” said Corbin.
This past summer, Corbin played a substantial role in Haywood County’s flood recovery efforts, both in the General Assembly and on the ground, in precincts he’ll no longer represent.
“I cannot speak highly enough about Sen. Corbin’s friendship and leadership during some of our darkest hours,” said Zeb Smathers, Canton’s mayor. “He was there on day one for Canton, Clyde and Cruso. Even though we’re from different parties, I have no problem saying that.”
Smathers said that he knows Hise personally and would have no problem working with him if it comes to that.
“To be blunt the idea that Canton and Clyde and other parts of our community have been ripped out of a senate district and put in with other counties with whom we don’t share similar economics or challenges is ridiculous. People can look at these maps, whatever their party, and scratch their heads,” Smathers said. “To be blunt, it seems once again Raleigh has chosen politics over people. Haywood County needs to remain in the same senate district.”
If the split does become permanent, Corbin — much like the Clampitt/Pless duality in Haywood County — will still consider the county as a whole, regardless of that schism running down the fitness center parking lot.
“When the Haywood County commissioners come to me or the mayor of Canton comes to me with issues regarding Haywood County, I’m not going to draw a line and say,
• Counties: several draft maps propose significant variations
• Population: 745,670
• Trump 2020 vote: 53.8-55.4%
R EDISTRICTING, CONTINUED FROM 9
‘Hang on, I don’t represent that area.’ That just doesn’t make sense to me. Whatever happens, we’ll make it work,” he said.
The introduction of Hise into the mix of Haywood County politics would also affect Pless, but not that much. Hise has been the senator representing Madison and Yancy counties, so Pless has worked with him before. Whether or not Hise ends up representing a big chunk of Haywood County, Pless will continue to work with him in Madison County.
“He’s been there a long time. He carries a fair amount of weight. We have a good working relationship,” said Pless. “He’s very receptive. I can call him, email him, go to his office. He’s very receptive to anything that people need.”
Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s current NC-11 includes 16 full counties, as well as roughly half of Rutherford County. In 2020, the 11th District showed up big for Cawthorn (54.5%) and for Trump (56.1%).
Due to North Carolina’s population growth, it will gain another seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. A number of maps have been proposed for the new NC-11, which may also end up being renamed NC-14.
Two of the proposed maps remove
Source: northcarolina.redistricitingandyou.org
Mitchell, Polk and Rutherford counties completely and add Watauga County, except for a small notch in the southwest portion of Watauga, home to nine-term incumbent Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx.
Each of these maps shaves 2.3 points off the Trump 2020 vote total in NC-11, making 2022 Republican victory a little tougher but preventing a potential matchup between Cawthorn and Foxx.
That little notch carved out for Foxx may seem like a textbook definition of gerrymandering, but under the priorities that currently exist, it’s permitted because it avoids what’s called “double-bunking.”
Another map removes Avery County and more of Rutherford County — but not all of it — trimming the NC-11 Trump 2020 vote total to 55.4%.
Yet another map takes a different approach, removing Avery County but adding more of Rutherford County to NC-11, while splitting McDowell County right down the middle. This option would reduce the 2020 Trump votes to 55%.
Whatever the case, Cawthorn’s district won’t change much, and won’t become any easier for Democrats to flip in 2022, or at any other time over the next decade. With the stakes that high, it’s likely lawsuits over this congressional district — or any of the 13 others — will appear.
Madison Cawthorn, R-Henderson
Pandemic is financial bonanza for HCA
CEO says ‘disciplined operating culture’
enabled record earnings
BY P ETER H. LEWIS ASHEVILLE WATCHDOG
Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, which operates Asheville’s Mission Hospital and five other hospitals in Western North Carolina, reported Friday that it made $2.27 billion in profits in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, triple the amount in the same period last year.
The record earnings coincided with the summer surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations caused by the Delta variant. HCA said COVID patients accounted for 13 percent of all admissions to the chain’s 183 hospitals during the period.
Shares of HCA’s stock have also tripled in price since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic more than 20 months ago, creating a financial bonanza for investors and company executives.
Samuel N. Hazen, HCA’s chief executive officer, credited the company’s record profit margins to a “disciplined operating culture.” He said HCA was on track to use its cash to buy back $8 billion in company stock in 2021. He also announced a 48-cent per share dividend to shareholders.
“During the third quarter we experienced the most intense surge yet of the pandemic, and our colleagues and physicians delivered record levels of patient care to meet the demand caused by the Delta variant,” Hazen said. “Once again, the disciplined operating culture and strong execution by our teams were on display.”
The earnings report came a day after dozens of nurses gathered outside Mission
Hospital Oct. 21 to protest what they called unsafe staffing levels at the hospital, which HCA acquired when it took over the nonprofit Mission Health System in 2019. Registered nurses at Mission last year voted to join a labor union, National Nurses United, after complaining about HCA’s policies.
Earlier this year HCA’s board of directors rejected an attempt by shareholders to make quality of patient care more important than
Wfinancial earnings in setting executive compensation. Hazen will be paid more than $30 million this year, company filings show.
William B. Rutherford, HCA’s chief financial officer, said the chain used contract labor, overtime, bonuses, and “whatever it took to staff to the patient load that we had,” resulting in about 10 percent to 12 percent of fulltime staff being placed in premium pay categories. “And as COVID does subside, we expect those premium programs that we implemented during the quarter to subside,” Rutherford said. (Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Peter H. Lewis is a former senior writer and editor at The New York Times. He can be reached at plewis@avlwatchog.org.)
Triple-Win Climate Solutions: Test Your Knowledge of Climate Change
Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. —William Wordsworth, 1798
ith so many discoveries about Earth’s climate making the news daily, now is a good time to remind ourselves of the basic facts about climate change and its scientific context.
Try to answer the questions below on your own. The answers, with sources, will appear in next week’s Triple-win column.
1) How do scientists define “climate”?
a. the average air temperature of each latitude belt around Earth
b. the relative precipitation versus drought on a large region, such as a continent
c. the average weather for a large region of Earth and time period, usually three decades
d. the weather in fall, winter, spring, and summer over a year
2) How much has the Earth's surface tempera ture risen since the 1880s?
a. one-half or .5-degree Fahrenheit
b. 1.1-degree Fahrenheit
c. about 2 degrees Fahrenheit
d. about 3 degrees Fahrenheit
3) What has caused most of the global warming over the past five decades?
a. cars
b. large-scale ranching
c. volcanoes and hurricanes
d. industrial production
4) What do Exxon’s own documents, made public this year, show about its media campaigns?
a. Exxon lied about the damage to people’s health caused by fossil fuels.
b. Exxon buried its own scientists’ research demonstrating that fossil fuel extraction is the main cause of climate change.
c. Since 2016 Exxon has spent over $30 million on getting elected officials and the public to think climate change isn’t happening.
d. Both a and b
e. Answers a, b, and c
5) What did a 2018 US House of Representatives investigation on climate change disinfor mation discover?
a. Most lies about climate change come from North Korea.
b. Russia causes many Americans to believe, wrongly, that climate change is a “liberal hoax.”
c. China causes many Americans to believe, wrongly, that individuals, not corporations, are to blame for most global warming.
6) Which of these events is/are made worse by the warming climate?
a. hurricanes and wildfires
b. flooding
c. droughts and crop failures
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
7) The American Lung Association’s scientists found that the pollutants that increase global warming also cause which of these conditions?
a. more premature births
b. childhood asthma
c. under-developed lungs in children
d. All of the above
e. Both b and c
8) Which of these are characteristics of a “peerreviewed” scientific journal?
a. Three or more experts in the same field read each article submitted for publication.
b. the author’s/authors’ identities are un known to the readers
c. The scientific research can be replicated (duplicated) by other scientists who do not work for or with the original researchers.
d. all of the above
e. None of the above
9) At least what percent of climate scientists con clude that global warming has been happening and that human activity is the main cause?
a. 60 percent
b. 80 percent
c. 97 percent
d. 75 percent
10) Which kind of electricity-producing facility
costs the most?
a. coal-fired
b. solar-powered
c. nuclear power
d. wind-powered
11) How much do US taxpayers give to fossil fuel companies annually in federal government “subsidies”?
a. Nothing
b. $5 billion
c. $10 billion
d. $15 billion
12) What are the easiest, most cost-effective ways to reduce atmospheric CO2, which is driving global warming?
a. capture and store carbon
b. plant more trees and restore lost forests
c. transition to solar and wind energy to pro duce electricity
d. All of the above
e. Only a and c
The WNC Climate Action Coalition is an allvolunteer group working to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis in our region.
By WNC CAC volunteer, co-founder and Triple-win. wncclimateaction.com
Editor Mary Jane Curry, co-founder WNC Climate Action Coalition; and Climate Reality® Leader MJCinWNC@gmail.com Twitter: @WncAction
Free legal help for flood survivors
As a result of the federal disaster declaration for Tropical Storm Fred, free legal help is available to residents of Haywood County through the Disaster Legal Services (DLS) program, which is jointly coordinated by Legal Aid of NC, the NC Bar Association, and the NC Bar Foundation.
Legal Aid will hold free legal clinics on Nov. 5-7 in Haywood and Buncombe Counties to provide assistance to survivors.
A clinic will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at Cruso United Methodist Church, 11653 Cruso Rd., Canton.
To make an appointment, call 866.219.5262 on weekdays. For more resources, visit legalaidnc.org/disaster.
Libertarians to host Asheville event
North Carolina’s Libertarian Party will host a launch rally on Sunday, Nov. 7. The purpose of the event will be to promote liberty, to engage volunteers and to hear from Libertarian candidates and party officials.
Speakers include Shannon Bray, candidate for United States Senate, David Coatney, candidate for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, and Joe Garcia, Chair of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina. The event begins at 2 p.m. and will be held in the pavilion at Malvern Hills Park, 75 Rumbough Place, Asheville. Refreshments provided.
For more information, email info@coatneyforcongress.com
Last chance for free tuition at SCC
For the second and likely final time, Southwestern Community College is offering free tuition and fees to North Carolina residents who enroll in at least six hours this spring.
The “SCC Promise” program provides new students as well as those who’ve already enrolled with free tuition and fees so long as they complete the 2021-22 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); enroll in a minimum of six credit hours; complete the SCC Promise Application and are in-state residents.
“In the fall, a lot of students decided not to take a gap year simply because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Dr. Don Tomas, SCC President. “Anyone who’s thinking about waiting until the fall semester can save a lot of money by starting this spring.”
Free tuition and college fees are available for North Carolina residents for Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 only. This is a “last-option” financial assistance program that provides tuition after all other federal and state funds have been applied.
Anyone interested in more short-term training through SCC’s Career Academies can also get free tuition this fall through the GEER fund. Visit southwesterncc.edu/geer.
Cherokee aims to reduce carbon emissions
Resolution secures unanimous passage
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER
In a unanimous vote Oct. 11, Tribal Council approved a resolution that aims to drastically reduce the tribe’s carbon emissions over the coming years.
The resolution authorizes Principal Chief Richard Sneed to “set reasonable targets for reducing emissions from all aspects of tribal operations” and outlines four concrete targets to align with that goal.
Under the resolution, the tribe will set an official goal to buy at least 50% electric or hybrid vehicles when making new tribal fleet purchases, and to install 20 electric vehicle charging stations on the Qualla Boundary and at tribal buildings by 2024. Additionally, the tribe will pay for two staff members to become certified in maintenance for electric and hybrid vehicles, and it will assess opportunities to build new construction projects in a way that maximizes energy efficiency and renewable energy applications.
“The global climate is warming,” said Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Joey Owle, who submitted the resolution. “The emissions we put into the air from industry, vehicles, all facets of our life are contributing to that, and we have to make moves such as investing in new infrastructure to combat and reduce our emissions.”
Citing an August report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
Dogwood Health invests in Native Health
Dogwood Health Trust recently awarded more than $1 million over three years to the Center for Native Health to further strengthen and expand The Medical Careers and Technology Pipeline (MedCaT) for Indigenous and rural Appalachian students.
Started in 2010, MedCaT is an academiccommunity partnership between Wake Forest School of Medicine, Western Carolina University, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC), and the Center for Native Health.
“We are grateful for Dogwood’s investment, which will not only provide significant financial resources to support the MedCaT program, it also will help expand the program in important ways,” said Trey Adcock executive director of the Center for Native Health and associate professor/interim chair of Interdisciplinary and International Studies at UNC-Asheville.
“MedCaT is a fabulous program where students learn about the biomedical field while also understanding the importance of culture and its essential place in maintaining good, balanced health,” added Roseanna Belt
the resolution states that “the increase in average global temperature is resulting in more frequent and more intense weather patterns, in addition to reductions in Arctic sea ice, snow cover and permafrost, that is impacting our lives now and into the future.” Taking action is imperative to honor Cherokee tradition of “plan(ning) for seven generations in advance to ensure our progeny and descendents are able to enjoy the same level opportunities in the future, or greater,” the resolution says.
“We’ve got to save our earth here,” said Birdtown Representative Boyd Owle, who made the move to pass. “I think it’s very important we do this.”
The tribe has a jumpstart toward achieving its newly outlined goals in the form of grants from Duke Energy, state Volkswagon Settlement funding and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Diesel
already begun acting on the resolution, Owle told The Smoky Mountain News.
The move comes at a time of increasing governmental focus around climate change and renewable energy efforts. In his first
Unlike traditional automobiles, electric vehicles don’t rely on carbonproducing gasoline combustion to run. Instead, they use lithium batteries that charge from the electrical grid where the vehicle plugs in. This means that electric vehicles produce zero emissions on the road — instead, the amount of emissions created on a given trip depends on the power source of the grid where the car charged. An electric vehicle charged with energy created by a coal-fired power plant would produce a significant amount of carbon, while a vehicle charged with energy created by a nuclear power plant would not.
The tribe has a jumpstart toward achieving its newly outlined goals in the form of grants from Duke Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act Funding.
(Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), board chair for the Center.
The MedCaT program is designed to create pathways and address barriers for students — specifically Indigenous and rural Appalachian students — by integrating cultural education into the traditional health and biomedical science curriculum and teaching paradigm.
“Of the 12 percent of American Indians who earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, the percentage who are enrolled EBCI members and are going into health fields is less than two percent,” said Adcock.
To address these disparities, in 2015 MedCaT expanded into a year-round program that serves Indigenous and rural Appalachian students living on the Qualla Boundary and in surrounding areas, particularly Graham, Swain, and Jackson counties.
A key component of the program includes a week-long immersive experience at Wake Forest University. As a long-term partner to the program, Wake Forest provides students with multiple resources that support their pursuit of health and biomedical science careers.
Since the program’s inception, MedCaT has served 185 students and achieved the following outcomes: 100% graduated from high school; 75% graduated with an additional cer-
Emissions Reduction Act Funding.
Altogether, the grants will allow the tribe to replace five diesel buses at the Cherokee Boys Club with electric vehicles and install charging infrastructure for up to 12 buses, Owle said. Additionally, Duke will install two DC fast-charging stations at the Cherokee Welcome Center. Users will have to pay for charging time, and those profits will go back into the program, eventually funding additional charging stations. The tribe’s Fleet Committee has already approved two electric vehicle purchases for tribal programs, including two charging stations, so the EBCI has
tification and 81% have been or are currently enrolled in a post-secondary two- or four-year health or biomedical science program.
With the grant from Dogwood, program leaders now have the resources for data collection tools to track the long-term progress of students and help ensure their success in a healthcare-related field. Dogwood’s grant also will fund a weeklong immersive experience at Western Carolina University (WCU) in addition to the week at Wake Forest, and more students will be served during the school year through WCU’s Learning Labs. Additionally, because of Dogwood’s investment, a new partner specializing in cancer research has signed on, creating opportunities for expanded partnerships with regional medical centers, and the ability to bring in more guest speakers and mentors in the field giving students access to Native role models.
“The young people of this region are absolutely our most precious and valuable resource which is why Dogwood is investing in education,” said Dr. Susan Mims, interim CEO for Dogwood Health Trust. “As a foundation focused on health, we know that a good education and career fulfillment have a positive impact on health and wellbeing. Dogwood’s investment in the MedCaT program perfectly aligns with our strategic goals and our commitment to equity, expanding
month as president, Joe Biden issued an executive order to replace all feasible federal fleet vehicles with electric ones. Meanwhile N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 80, issued in 2018, stated a goal of marking 80,000 electric vehicle registrations in the state by 2025. In 2019, fewer than 10,000 were registered, Owle said. Last month, Cooper signed a bipartisan bill into law that aims to make North Carolina carbon-neutral by 2050. The tribe has pursued other renewable energy projects in the past, including a $2.36 million solar array at the Valley River Casino in Murphy, completed in April 2019.
access to STEM programming for underserved students and helping to prepare more students in Western North Carolina for the expected growth in STEM occupations.”
“MedCaT has opened and continues to open new doors of opportunity for me,” said Madison York (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), an alumnus and mentor with MedCaT. “Throughout my years of participating in and working with the MedCaT program, I saw how culture plays a huge role in health and learned rather quickly that I wanted to be close to the healthcare field, even if not directly hands-on.”
A recent graduate from Western Carolina University with a degree in healthcare management, York intends to further her education by pursuing a master’s degree of business administration.
“Representation matters,” York added. “I want younger generations to see what I am doing and know what is possible. The MedCaT program opened opportunities for me to learn, and I want to bring this knowledge to my community and hopefully implement changes to benefit health collectively.”
Between 20-30 high school students make up a cohort each year. Students who are interested in applying for a future cohort can visit centerfornativehealth.org/research or email centerfornativehealthinfo@gmail.com.
From renewable energy to electric vehicles, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will pursue multiple avenues to reduce its carbon emissions over the coming years. File photo
Macon votes for optional masking, universal testing in schools
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
The Macon County School Board decided last week to make masks optional for all K-12 students. The decision came on the same day that the state Department of Health and Human Services updated its guidance for North Carolina schools, no longer recommending districts require face masks for all students and staff in school.
The new guidance recommends school districts should require face masks when a county has high COVID-19 transmission rates. According to the StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit, “Given that our student population is largely not yet vaccinated, face coverings remain a critical tool for protecting children and keeping them safely in the classroom. NCDHHS recommends that schools base their mask requirements on levels of community transmission, as defined by the CDC.”
At a press conference last week, NCDHHS Dr. Mandy Cohen said almost all counties in North Carolina have high transmission rates. According to Cohen, those counties with high transmission rates should be keeping their mask mandates.
Macon County is now one of 14 school districts, out of North Carolina’s 115, to make masks optional.
As of Nov. 1, Macon County is still considered a high-risk county with 18.3 daily new cases and an 8.7% positive test rate. Just over 61% of people in Macon County have received one dose of the vaccine and almost 54% are fully vaccinated.
When the Macon County School Board made the decision to make masks optional on Oct. 25, there were 13 positive cases among students with 75 out of school for quarantine and one positive case among staff with 10 out
the school system estimates that 1,341 students have some level of immunity to COVID19, 29.6% of the total student population.
Similar to school board meetings throughout the year, at the Oct. 25 meeting several parents signed up to speak in public comment against mask requirements in schools. Some noted the negative mental health outcomes masks cause students, while others claimed that masks do not prevent the spread of COVID-19.
of school for quarantine.
These numbers are down significantly from the peak seen so far this year during week three, when there were 65 positive student cases with 350 out for quarantine and 12 positive cases among staff with 25 out for quarantine. Cases have steadily declined among staff and students since that time.
Since vaccinations became available to students 12-17, 654 students have been fully vaccinated, and 734 students have had their first dose. When combined with the number of students who have contracted COVID-19,
Jackson County Veterans Day Parade
ursday, November 11th
MAIN STREET SYLVA
Lineup begins at 2PM at Mark Watson Park
Parade will begin at 3PM
“I would like to commend all of you. This is a hard topic. I understand completely the pressure of wanting to get free of these masks. They are not the most comfortable thing for children, and it’s hard for them to get used to. But as we’ve come to learn over time, they are protective they protect us against the droplets that transmit this disease,” said Macon County Public Health Director Kathy McGaha. “The recommendation is that once you’re in the yellow for seven days straight is when they recommend even considering going optional, as long as you’re willing to consider the consequences of the possibility of quarantines going up.”
Students and staff are still required to fol-
low the quarantine requirements laid out by the state DHHS if exposed to a positive case of COVID-19.
“I would like to caution parents, if we were to move forward with a mask optional, that there is a responsibility that comes with that. We are in a pandemic — it is not over. If your child does not feel well, they should not come to school. And we need to remember that,” said board member Hilary Wilkes. Board member Tommy Cabe’s motion to make masks optional passed unanimously. The board also voted to implement universally available, free testing for all students and staff.
The universal COVID-19 tests are available thanks to a grant the N.C. Department of Public Instruction applied for through the CDC, making free testing available to all Local Education Agencies. Well over half of all North Carolina school districts have been participating in the program. The PCR tests are optional and must be consented to by students or parents. The tests can be self-administered or administered by school staff and are available to all students and staff. Results will be returned within 24-48 hours.
“Just the convenience alone, and the quick reporting would be beneficial for parents. It’s an option,” said Associate Superintendent Josh Lynch. “If we have the board’s approval, we can get the tests implemented within two weeks.” Case counts have continued to drop since making masks optional last week. As of Oct. 29, there are nine positive cases among students and one positive case among staff.
Under state law, schools are required to review masking policy at least once a month.
The next Macon County School Board meeting will be held Nov. 15.
At its latest meeting Oct. 26, Jackson County Schools voted to continue requiring masks. Haywood and Swain County School Boards will both meet for the first time since the state DHHS changed its masking guidelines Nov. 8.
As Delta wave recedes, hospitals see consequences of deferred care
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to fall to the lowest levels seen in months, but hospitals say that staffing shortages and increasingly acute presentations of non-COVID ailments are keeping them busy.
As of Nov. 1, Harris Regional Hospital and Haywood Regional Medical Center each had fewer than 10 COVID-19 patients, down from 15-20 at Harris and 25-30 at HRMC at the peak of the Delta surge. On Nov. 2, there were 53 COVID-positive patients in the Mission Health system, including four at Angel Medical Center in Franklin, down from a peak around 170 during the Delta peak.
Statewide, both hospitalizations and new cases hovered just over 1,000 on Nov. 2 and deaths have fallen from daily counts reaching up into the 80s in August and September to figures in the 20s. During the month of October, COVID-19 claimed eight lives in Haywood County, seven in Macon and one apiece in Swain and Jackson.
people, meaning that if all 136 positions were filled, they would account for 14.5% of the workforce. Nurses appear to be in especially high demand — 60% of Harris’ jobs were nursing positions, as were 40% of HRMC’s.
While those numbers are high, Burrell said that Harris is equipped to meet the community’s current needs.
“At this time, we can confirm that we have adequate capacity, staffing and resources necessary to care for patients, including the ICU,” she said.
The rate of new COVID-19 vaccinations has slowed to a crawl over the last month, but
“While our COVID-19 numbers have waned some since the height of the surge, we continue to see patients with other acute health issues,” said Lindsey Solomon, communications coordinator for HRMC.
Mission Health is having a similar experience. Media Relations Director Nancy Lindell said that the hospital is seeing more patients with acute health issues due to deferred care and screenings during the pandemic. This trend appears to be affecting hospitals nationwide. With flu season on the way, public health officials say that hospitals could soon face even more demand for their services.
“Last year flu season was much different as people were universally masked for most of the season,” said Allison Richmond, emergency services public information officer for Haywood County. “This year, flu season is a concern as masks have relaxed some, the COVID positivity rate remains high, and the healthcare system is strained. We understand that there is a risk of contracting COVID and influenza and are encouraging vaccines to prevent serious illness.”
Going into winter, both HRMC and Harris are carrying large numbers of open positions. As of press time, 83 jobs were available at Harris and 136 at HRMC. While Harris spokesperson Chelsea Burrell didn’t respond to an email asking how many people are currently employed at the hospital, Solomon said that HRMC employs about 800
county health departments have seen a high demand for booster shots. Last week, Haywood County distributed 612 booster shots, Swain County 400 and Jackson 300.
“All appointment spots were booked last week and are already booked for this week,” said Jackson County Deputy Health Director Anna Lippard. “We are only opening up the schedule one week at a time to ensure that we have enough vaccine in the building to cover all of the appointments.”
Health departments are also busy planning vaccination efforts for children ages 511. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for the shots, and as The Smoky Mountain News went to press the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory panel was debating whether to OK widespread vaccinations in that age group.
Lippard said Jackson County is planning to hold clinics throughout the month of November in collaboration with Jackson County Schools if the child-size shots are approved. Richmond said Haywood County is aiming for after-hours mass vaccination clinics to accommodate school and parent work schedules.
Currently, people in older age groups are more likely to be vaccinated than those in younger age groups, just as they are also more likely to become severely sick with the virus. In Haywood County, 91% of people 75 and older are vaccinated, compared to 33% of teens 12-17.
Local business endows SCC scholarship
Recognizing the need for talented, qualified and skilled tradespeople, Brad Waldrop and his team at Ward Plumbing, Heating and Air decided to create an opportunity for interested students at Southwestern Community College.
Near the end of August, SCC received a gift from the Sylva-based business in the form of a new scholarship fund. The new Ward Plumbing, Heating and Air Annual Scholarship Fund is worth up to $750 and will give preference to Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration students at SCC. “It is our pleasure and honor to establish the Ward Plumbing, Heating and Air Annual Scholarship Fund,” said Waldrop, co-owner of the business. “SCC has long supported our local community, and demonstrates a commitment to continuing that effort with a highly cooperative approach.”
For more information about the SCC Foundation, contact Woods at b_woods@southwesterncc.edu or 828.339.4241.
Efforts to strengthen teacher pipeline
North Carolina education leaders signed an agreement recently to address the critical teacher shortage in the state. President Thomas Stith of the North Carolina Community College System and President Peter Hans of the University of North Carolina System made a joint announcement of their new Comprehensive Articulation Agreement to increase opportunities for community college students to transfer to teacher education programs within the UNC System. It is effective fall 2021.
The Uniform Articulation Agreement in Teacher Education/Educator Preparation is focused on developing a seamless transfer for students who begin teacher preparation studies in the Associate in Arts in Teacher Preparation and the Associate in Science in Teacher Preparation programs at a community college and then transfer to one of the educator preparation programs within the UNC System to complete a bachelor’s degree and become a licensed teacher in the K-12 system.
The agreement includes 15 universities within the UNC System. At Haywood Community College, the Teacher Preparation degree began this fall. After completing the two-year degree, students can utilize the Articulation Agreement to transfer to the University of North Carolina System with junior status. Students must obtain a grade of “C” or better in each course and an overall GPA of at least 2.7. This teacher preparation degree is available to Career and College Promise high school students and traditional students.
For more information, visit haywood.edu or contact us at hcc-advising@haywood.edu or 828.627.2821.
WCU in top collegiate rankings
Western Carolina University shows marked improvement and is in the top 10 in three categories of the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of colleges and universities for 2022.
WCU top rankings: Social Mobility, Regional Universities (public and private in the South) – 16, up from 18 in 2021; Top Public Schools, Regional Universities (South) – 9, up from 10; Best Value, Regional Universities (South) – 8, up from 9; Best Colleges for Veterans, Regional Universities (South) – 8, up from 13 and Regional Universities (South) – 21.
“Internally, WCU gives more credence to accreditations, such as our full regional accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, whose mission is to assure educational quality and improve institutional effectiveness. Marquee rankings certainly add a desirable feather to a university’s cap because they catch the attention of potential students and their families,” said Phil Cauley, associate vice chancellor for undergraduate enrollment.
HCC vehicles enhance student learning
When Haywood Community College’s next Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) students begin their training, they will have an advantage by learning in the newest vehicles used in the field today. HCC recently purchased 2021 Dodge Chargers with the police package to replace outdated vehicles.
In addition, the First Responder students will utilize a 2021 Ford F250 diesel truck to pull a rope trailer for high-angle rope training.
“Haywood County frequently receives calls for assistance for wilderness search and rescue due to the mountainous and remote locations of the parks of our area,” says Dee Massey, HCC Fire Services and Customized Training Coordinator. “Having resources available will help those learning to answer these calls be more effective when the high angle calls and searches for lost citizens come in. It will also help students complete state certification in this subject.”
The BLET course is designed to equip students with the basic skills, knowledge and ability to function as a law enforcement officer in the State of North Carolina. This class is a prerequisite for Law Enforcement Officer Certification in the state.
Jackson secures mental health grant
Mental health services for students in Jackson County Public Schools will soon be expanded thanks to a five-year grant from Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) also known as Project ACTIVATE (Advancing Coordinated and Timely InterVentions, Awareness, Training and Education).
The federally funded program was created by the NC Department of Public Instruction and the NC Department of Health and Human Services to promote student wellbeing, healthy behaviors and interventions to address mental health problems before they occur.
Pilot sites have been operating for the past three years in Beaufort, Cleveland and Rockingham County Schools. Jackson County Public Schools is part of a second cohort. A financial commitment from county commissioners combined with state and federal funding allowed the district to hire enough school social workers, nurses and counselors to provide adequate basic services to the district’s nine schools.
In the first year, JCPS will receive $322,963 to pay for personnel including mental health clinicians as well as training, travel, supplies and materials. School leaders will also have access to the three pilot districts to learn from their experience and replicate successful practices.
WCU School of Nursing ranked No. 1
Western Carolina University’s bachelor of science in nursing prelicensure program has been ranked first in the state by the Nursing Schools Almanac research team, in part for achieving an almost perfect rate of graduates passing the National Council Licensure Examination, the standard licensure test for
registered nurses, on their first attempt. Nursing Schools Almanac cited the statistic as an “excellent benchmark for comparing the relative quality” of bachelor’s degree programs. Data analyzed from 2013 through 2019 showed WCU had a 98.5% first-time NCLEX pass rate. In recent years, WCU nursing graduates have had a 100% pass rate on their first attempt.
“It really is a great time to get into nursing — the current shortage means there is a lot of opportunity, particularly in specialties that were often hard to break into, such as intensive care and labor and delivery,” said Terrica Durbin, director of WCU’s School of Nursing and an associate professor.
For more information on School of Nursing opportunities, visit nursing.wcu.edu
SCC gala raises $80,000
Despite a pandemic-induced cancelation for the second straight year, Southwestern Community College’s “Boots, Blue Jeans & Bling” gala raised more than $80,000 to support student scholarships.
The annual gala has raised more than $530,000 since the inaugural event in Cashiers, including more than $120,000 in combined donations the past two years that the pandemic has forced cancelations. All proceeds support students who might otherwise not be able to attend college.
Among this year’s scholarship recipients is Andrew Eastep, a student in Southwestern’s Physical Therapist Assistant program.
For more information about the SCC Foundation and its efforts to support student scholarships at Southwestern, contact Kathy Posey at 828.339.4227 or k_posey@southwesterncc.edu.
Macon schools gifted iPads
Altice USA, parent company of Optimum, presented Macon County Public School District with nearly $8,000 worth of iPads to increase access to virtual classroom opportunities, connectivity, and online curriculum for students.
This donation is part of Altice USA’s $1 million giving to 30-plus school districts as part of its COVID-19 response initiatives to support local communities as they recover from the impact of the pandemic.
“We are very grateful for the additional devices. Our students and families appreciate the assistance in staying connected with their classrooms during the pandemic,” said Macon County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Christopher Baldwin. “Technology plays a vital role in today’s world and is an important part of our students’ success. The additional iPads provided by Optimum will help our students become more successful in school and better prepared for the future.”
Clampitt’s Oath Keeper membership an embarrassment
Iknow Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Swain, and he’s a likeable, personable guy whom I disagree with on a lot of issues concerning how best to govern North Carolina. Political and ideological differences, though, are healthy and make for good debate and are the cornerstone of our representative democracy. Finding common ground amid those differences is how good government works.
However, count me among those bothered by Clampitt’s membership in the Oath Keepers, a controversial far-right group whose members tend to show up heavily armed at events around the country.
Clampitt’s affiliation as an avowed member of this looseknit organization became a topic of discussion back in October when ProPublica acquired a list of the group’s members from an anonymous hacker. According to the story, published Oct. 20, Clampitt’s name appeared on a list of more than 35,000 Oath Keepers that was presented to ProPublica from its source.
The list contained Clampitt and “47 more state and local government officials … all Republicans: 10 sitting state lawmakers; two former state representatives; one current state assembly candidate; a state legislative aide; a city council assistant; county commissioners in Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina; two town aldermen; sheriffs or constables in Montana, Texas and Kentucky; state investigators in Texas and Louisiana; and a New Jersey town’s public works director.”
To Clampitt’s credit, his name being on this list was not the breaking news ProPublica made it out to be. He’s been upfront about his membership in the Oath Keepers since an interview with The Smoky Mountain News in 2014 and in voter information guides dating back to 2012.
Non-conservatives won’t accept fascism
To the Editor:
A recent letter purports to represent conservatives but contains mostly platitudes and hardly anything substantive. The writer’s mention of “questionable votes” of the 2020 election is amusing.
There have been more than 60 recounts, heavily monitored, and zero have found any fraud. Actually, many of these recounts have resulted in fewer votes for Trump, indicating much pro-Trump miscounting during the election. So the results are questionable and, along with the highly questionable January 6, point out Trump’s attempt to steal this election and establish himself dictator of our country.
If, as the writer states, conservatives will not accept socialism, I don’t believe non-conservatives will accept fascism. I agree that we are a divided nation. So, what is each side willing to give?
Maybe we could start with a democracy where everyone has the freedom to vote, whether by mail, early voting, or the ballot
Just last week Clampitt had this to say about the organization to The Smoky Mountain News’ Cory Vaillancourt: “I would not say it’s a militia. I never attended a meeting in the past that there was any armed participation and organized attempt to conduct any kind of paramilitary training or education. [It’s] concerned citizens that wanted to ensure that their rights aren’t infringed upon by the federal government.”
Though Clampitt is obviously not intricately involved with the Oath Keepers, most in law enforcement don’t think the organization is as innocent or benign as he makes it out to be. According to the FBI — which with its staff size and investigative capacity likely are better informed than me or Clampitt or — the Oath Keepers are a “large but loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government has been co-opted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.” By one count at least 17 Oath Keepers were charged after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots with conspiring to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Clampitt and other elected leaders who claim membership lend credibility to an organization that has, at most, 30,000 members in a country with 330 million citizens. The group seeks former military, law enforcement and fire and rescue personnel as members, which — as a former firefighter — is likely how Clampitt got involved.
And since he claims membership, Clampitt will be associ-
LETTERS
box. And the person getting the most votes is elected.
Paul Strop
Waynesville
No big money from outsiders
To the Editor:
My name is Carrie McBane and I was a candidate for Town of Sylva Council 2021 in the election held just this week. I just read the letter to the editor from former candidate Luther Jones and have a couple of things I’d like to address that are of utter import to the validity of his claims and for the sake of the readership
Mr. Jones is spouting the same misinformation this election about the supposed financial support for my campaign from Down Home NC that was spouted during the 2019 election. Let me say this one more time loud enough for those who didn’t hear me the
ated with the organization’s beliefs and actions. The Center for Strategic and International Studies — whose board members include former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Richard Nixon Secretary of State Henry Kissinger — has this to say about the group: “Before their well-documented participation in the January 6 Capitol assault, the Oath Keepers were involved in several confrontations with local and federal authorities, as well as with far-left political protesters and rioters. So far, these confrontations have all been nonviolent, but the Oath Keepers’ heavily armed presence at emotionally charged and sometimes chaotic events remains a significant concern due to the potential for violence stemming from deliberate or miscalculated actions.”
Clampitt says he support the Oath Keepers fundamental beliefs about limited government, and among those beliefs is a list of “10 Orders We Will Not Obey.” So, if Congress or the state legislature, as duly elected representatives, vote to do something the Oath Keepers disagree with, will Clampitt support Oath Keepers who take up arms against what they consider an inalienable right? One can’t support and swear an oath to obey the Constitution but then make their own determination as to what exactly that oath means.
Look, we’ll always have far left and far right organizations in this country, and right now the militia movement has gained a disturbingly strong toehold in the Republican Party as defined by President Donald Trump. If this is where Clampitt wants to be, so be it. But, I for one, wish he would disavow his membership in this organization. It’s just embarrassing for his constituents and this region.
(Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com.)
first time, like Mr. Jones — Down Home NC (DHNC hereafter) never financially supported my personal campaign during the 2019 election. The only advertising that I paid for was business cards because I didn’t have the financial means to pay for yard signs, etc!
I worked as a part-time community organizer during that time and was never a part of DHNC’s local election campaigns, which was a focus during that election year. The actual focus was to get the rural residents to cast their vote. It was made very clear to me, via DHNC, that I could not and should not participate in any meetings or conversations that related to election matters so impartiality wouldn’t be questioned. I took that directive very seriously and still do to this date! I will not sit by and allow anyone to attach negative and false assumptions or besmirch my candidacy for the 2019 or 2021 campaign(s).
The question of outside influence and “big” money involvement in my personal campaign(s) has been bandied about like a punch line. I do not find these accusations humorous nor are they credible. There has never been nor will there ever be any impropriety in my personal campaign for Town Council.
Down Home NC ran newspaper ads in
support of me and David Nestler and Greg McPherson. Are they “in” on this “outside money and influence” as well? Of course they aren’t, just like me. None of us asked for DHNC to campaign on our behalf; that was a choice decided upon by DHNC as an organization, which is their right. The negative connotations attached to grassroots organizing are unfair, belittling, demeaning, and disrespectful to the organizers who give their energy, their heart and soul, and sometimes their very lives to social, educational, criminal justice, political, and environmental reforms (just to name a few).
It’s a sign of bad faith and ignorance when you accuse someone of “big money/corporate” political collusion without actually doing your research or asking said person any questions. All I have ever asked of the residents of Sylva is to vote their conscious and feel free to ask me questions should they ever have any.
It was my honor to be a candidate regardless of the outcome. Let’s all do our part to move forward with conviction, authenticity, meaning, and compassion! Thank you for your time.
Carrie McBane Sylva
Editor Scott McLeod
The circle of life for Main Street commerce
For several years, The Smoky Mountain News has partnered with the Haywood Chamber of Commerce to publish its annual magazine.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Chamber. One of our feature stories focuses on the history of commerce on Waynesville’s Main Street. It’s been a joy to dig into the past and chat with a number of business owners, many who have been around for decades.
While I’ve called Waynesville home for over 10 years, I knew very little about the origins of Main Street shops. As I interviewed merchants for the article, I learned of former establishments like The Toggery, the Open Air Curbside Market, Whitman’s Bakery, Tom’s Dairy Bar, Waynesville Hardware, Red Wing Gift Shop and others. I wish a time capsule could transport me into the past to experience those older locales during their heyday.
I grew up in Weaverville, a small Western North Carolina town similar to Waynesville. There weren’t many retail stores so for our backto-school or other types of shopping, we went to downtown Asheville. Most vividly, I remember shopping at Tops for Shoes and A Dancer’s Place. We would spend hours in Tops walking the creaky floors and looking at all the racks of shoes. A knowledgeable associate in the children’s department would measure our feet and help us find the exact shoes we needed or wanted.
ensure they have experiences frolicking around any small town we can find, but especially their own. They are very accustomed to downtown Waynesville and even know some store owners by first name, such as Patricia at Affairs of the Heart. They love shopping in her store, eating lunch at Boojum, getting ice cream at 828 Market or going into Mast General to look at toys and pick out candy.
The experience of writing the Chamber article reminded me how integral our small businesses are not only to our everyday economy but to the very threads that weave in and out of the American psyche and our own memories.
As the holiday season rapidly approaches, consider moving away from Amazon, Walmart and other big box stores. Move toward neighbors, friends and community members who own businesses in your very own town. Do your research. Their prices
are typically very similar to their chain competitors. In fact, buying local is often cheaper because you save money on shipping and handling and other unnecessary taxes and fees, not to mention the fact that your money is going back into our own economy.
A Dancer’s Place, a retail store for young dancers, was located on Patton Avenue. My sister and I would hold my mom’s hands and cross the busy streets from wherever we found parking with the goal of buying pink tights, black leotards and Capezio dance shoes for the coming season. They had a fulllength wall mirror with a ballet bar, so while my mom was checking out or talking to the sales associates, we would play around at the ballet bar practicing our positions.
The nostalgia of Main Street for many Waynesville locals and my own nostalgia of downtown Weaverville and Asheville would not exist if it weren’t for mom-and-pop stores and small town merchants. It’s impossible to conjure those emotions when shopping at Walmart or Amazon.
Since my boys were little, I’ve tried to
When I was teaching, I had seventhgrade students who had never shopped or eaten on Main Street. They held the false belief that Main Street was for tourists. It made me sad to hear this. I’ve always been a champion for my town’s merchants and have attempted to make that obvious to all people I encounter. It’s a collective responsibility to ensure younger generations carry on the tradition and obligation of supporting local businesses. Of all the ways people tout “supporting America,” this one is the most important and honorary, but is often forgotten in lieu of flashier, more selfish agendas. Let’s do the right thing and shop small.
(Susanna Barbee is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for The Smoky Mountain News, Smoky Mountain Living and Mountain South Media. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com.)
We are a family owned business, cultivated in deep family values. A foursome from Asheville, N.C., with extensive entrepreneurial experience, hard work ethic, and a lot of heart behind showing the world there is a better way to wellness. We are driven to back the proven science behind how CBD can enhance and improve all areas of your life. We hold a mutual belief that God filled this land with the answers to every earthly ailment.
Columnist
Susanna Shetley
It will if we let it
MC Taylor of Hiss Golden
Messenger
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR
In a modern world of meaningless priorities, constant distraction, finger pointing and incessant white noise, Hiss Golden Messenger remains a safe haven for those looking to peel back the layers of heaviness we all seem to be carrying around these days.
At the core of the indie/rock group is North Carolina troubadour MC Taylor, a poignant singer-songwriter, one whose devil-may-care attitude and ethos comes from years on the road and in front of a microphone of die-hard music freaks and the curious alike.
Taylor pursues any and all tones, onstage or in the studio. The same goes for the people, places and things that he may cross paths with, whether purposely or serendipitously — nothing and everything (and anything inbetween) sparking something within his vivid imagination and inclusive, radiating stage presence.
Smoky Mountain News: The music industry is slowly reawakening. Aside from the chaos of everything, what’s been your biggest takeaway, as a traveling musician and as a human being?
MC Taylor: That’s a big question. I mean,
when everything shutdown, that was a time that coincided with me feeling like I needed a break from the road. Nobody could have guessed that we would still be sort of in this world [right now] that we entered in March 2020.
But, initially for me, I didn’t understand the severity or the seriousness of it. [Back then], I welcomed it as a break. At this point in time? I would love to be able to travel and feel a bit safer. We’re all starting to travel again, but I think that we’re all doing it with some trepidation.
I think that audiences are both excited and enthusiastic to see shows, and I think they’re also a little bit nervous. So, the energy in the room when we’re playing is a little bit different than it used to be. And I suspect that it will be that way for a while.
SMN: And you have two young kids. I would surmise that one of the silver linings amid “all this” was being able to spend quality time with your family, where normally you’d be touring.
MCT: Oh, yeah. It’s been incredible. And I’m not alone in this. I’ve talked to a lot of people that travel for a living that have kids. And this [past] year and a half off the road has really made me think about what this life asks of us, you know what I mean?
And it has made me wonder whether there is an in-between. The music business drives people really hard. So, for that reason, I have a really deep connection and relationship with my kids. I see them all the time. But, this past year has the most they’ve ever seen me uninterrupted.
So, I don’t know. It feels strange. I don’t have any answers. But, we’ll see. We’re still in the inbetween right now. It’s not like we’re back to normal. There’s still people cancelling their tours every day.
I have absolutely no idea how long it will be until we can sort of move through the world with the type of ease that we did before COVID came around. But, I suspect it’s going to be a pretty long time.
SMN: And you try to find that balance. But, from the sidelines of observing you, you come across as someone that does value the life of a troubadour.
MCT: [Laughs]. I’ve been surrounded by those archetypes my entire life. So, it’s hard to
Highlands Food & Wine Festival
The annual Highlands Food & Wine Festival will take place Nov. 11-14 at various venues around the picturesque mountain community.
The intersection of fine wine, culinary delights and world-class live music, the events are as follows: Grand Tasting with Rufus Lee & The Handful Thursday, Nov. 11; Truckin’ featuring Hiss Golden Messenger w/Erin Rae Friday, Nov. 12; Main Event featuring Amos Lee w/Diana Demuth Saturday, Nov. 13; and Sunday Shindig featuring Devon Gilfillian Nov. 14. For more information, a full schedule of events and/or to purchase tickets, go to highlandsfoodandwine.com.
understand, for me, what is reality? What’s fantasy? What’s myth? How much do I need to participate?
When I’m the road, I’m trying to be pretty much on the straight-and-narrow. I’m not a
“The
role of the artist is to tell people that vulnerability is OK. And, even more than that, it’s something to be lifted up and celebrated. I think vulnerability is the key to all of us sort of finding collective peace.”
— MC Taylor
super young guy anymore. [Laughs]. I’m trying to stay alive. The first 40 years you’re given and you have to earn the next 40. And so, I’m in the process of earning my next 40.
SMN: What is the role of the songwriter in the 21st century?
MCT: You know, I’ve always been about this in my music, because it’s just always felt valuable [to me] — the role of the artist is to tell people that vulnerability is OK. And, even more than that, it’s something to be lifted up and celebrated. I think vulnerability is the key to all of us sort of finding collective peace. Being a human being is the long game. If you’re looking for the quick score, it’s hard to make a life out of quick scores. It can be frustrating to play the long game. But, the story that you get out of the long game is so much more complex, and so much more interesting — maybe that’s the game that I’m playing.
MC Taylor. (photo: Chris Frisina)
This must be the place
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
Ode to Billy Strings, ode to breaking down musical barriers
Standing in a sea of thousands of music freaks at the Asheville Civic Center (aka: Harrah’s Cherokee Center) on Sunday evening, it was surreal — more so poignant — to absorb the sights and sounds of Billy Strings on Halloween night.
It’s wild to see such a musical talent and staggering stage spectacle such as Billy & Co. sell tens of thousands of tickets in our backyard (with “sold out” now commonplace wherever he may roam these days). It’s also pretty great that he continues to circle back to Asheville for Halloween weekend.
His meteoric rise is something to behold: from a music freak perspective and from the angle of an in-the-trenches music journalist. But, it’s no surprise to understand and appreciate his massive appeal and intricate passion for performance, collaboration and artistic/creative vision, either.
Billy and I initially crossed paths back in March 2017. I randomly did an interview with him backstage at the Anastasia Music Festival in St. Augustine, Florida — a one-off bluegrass gathering of some of the biggest names in the genre. I had heard his name mentioned in a few bluegrass circles at that point, but had yet to cross paths with him.
Everyone who was anyone in the bluegrass and string music world was performing at this festival. Del McCoury Band. Sam Bush Band. David Grisman Bluegrass Experience. The Travelin’ McCourys. Mandolin Orange. Jon Stickley Trio. Jeff Austin Band. Sierra Hull. Fruition. Cabinet. Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters. Elephant Revival. And so on.
Anyhow, I was running around backstage interviewing Del, Sam, David and Jeff for my bluegrass book (that came out later that spring). Well, I remember standing sidestage during Grisman’s show and was mesmerized by his young guitar player’s picking. Come to find out from Grisman himself after the gig that his name was Billy Strings. After the set, I ran into Billy backstage in
HOT PICKS
1
Local author, songwriter, raconteur, and poet Dave Waldrop will be presenting his latest book “Roll Your Eyes Now” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.
2
Nashville singer-songwriter Karly Driftwood will hit the stage at 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill in Waynesville.
3
The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) will sponsor three performances at its gallery by Mental Health in Motion from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 4-6, in downtown Waynesville.
4
The immensely popular WNC Pottery Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, in Bridge Park at 76 Railroad Avenue in Sylva.
5
Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Shane Meade & The Sound (soul/indie) 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6.
the hallway. I introduced myself and asked if we could do a quick interview. Sure, he replied. No problem. I turned on my handheld recorder and we chatted for several minutes.
And I’ll never forget what he said to me in that hallway: “As I grow musically, I can’t stick to one thing, man. I’ve got to go outside the fence and eat the fresh grass that’s on the other side out there in the pasture, you know?” Truth, my brother.
Just a few months later, I ran into him again, as I was the stage emcee for the Cold Mountain Music Festival, right here in our backyard of Haywood County, North Carolina. I remembered how great he was onstage in Florida and told anyone within earshot to not miss his early afternoon set on Saturday.
And there we were, less than 100 of us, all watching Billy & Co. shred the Lake Logan stage, all present immediately becom-
ing fans by the end of the set. The band then wandered over to our group in the crowd and we all hung out for a while, passing around a couple of heady joints and sharing a container of fresh strawberries that someone had thoughtfully brought along.
Crazy to think back to those days with the whirlwind of sound, purpose and presence he’s recently created (and we’re all so proud, too). From there, I’ve interviewed Billy several times: over the phone to preview an Asheville gig, sitting on his van tailgate at RailBird in Kentucky, on his tour bus in Maryland at DelFest.
And I’ve covered him in numerous states and settings, many of which for Rolling Stone magazine, too. His star continues to burn brightly and stoically, all while he represents the future of the “high, lonesome sound.” Hell, he represents the current state of live music — where it blossomed from in the digital age, where it stands, and where it’s headed.
Thus, this past weekend, Billy Strings destroyed so many musical barriers with this sold out three-night Asheville run. The rollicking performances. The overwhelming stage production. The wild-n-out audience. The musical circles of bluegrass, rock and jam will never, ever be the same after this weekend. This is truth. Calling it now.
Sunday night? It’s the end of the beginning chapter that is Billy & Co. Monday morning? It’s whole new and different world of possibility for this ensemble — sonically, socially, musically, culturally.
As a longtime bluegrass freak, I’ve always been fascinated as to how folks find the “high, lonesome sound.” For me? It was my lifelong love of the Grateful Dead, which led to tracking down anything singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia was involved in, only to parlay that into his groundbreaking multi-platinum “Old & In The Way” bluegrass album — onward to discovering Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Flatt & Scruggs, The Osborne Brothers and The Stanley Brothers.
Now that I’m in my mid-30s, I’ve wondered when and where the modern-day access point (or rabbit hole) would emerge from? Where would the youth of today enter into the realm of bluegrass from, let alone the trajectory of this new generation of music consumers and concertgoers?
Low and behold, it was a shaggy-haired flatpicking virtuoso from Michigan with one foot in neo-traditional bluegrass and one foot in the progressive camp — one who perpetually radiates his deep love and sonic influences from the metal, punk, rock, country and hip-hop communities.
Yes, at the core of Billy Strings resides bluegrass and acoustic music. But, his creative heart and soul is a massive melodic sponge for whatever he can pick up and put to use in his act. He’s constantly listening, and always in search of the next musical horizon — something at the foundation of any timeless and immortal music/art. Again, we’re all so damn proud of you, Billy.
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
(Garret K. Woodward is the arts and entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News. He’s also the music editor for Smoky Mountain Living magazine and a contributing writer for Rolling Stone. You can reach him at garret@smokymountainnews.com.)
Billy Strings at the Asheville Civic Center. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)
Want to learn the dulcimer?
The Pic’ & Play Mountain Dulcimer Players has resumed in-person jam sessions at the St. John’s Episcopal Church basement fellowship hall in Sylva.
The group welcomes all beginners and
experienced dulcimer players, including mountain (lap) dulcimer and hammered dulcimer players. Songs played include traditional mountain tunes, hymns, and more modern music. The group meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of every month in the basement of St. John’s. Pic’ & Play has been playing together since 1995. The more experienced members welcome new players, help them navigate their instruments, and guide them through some of the basics of tuning, strumming, and playing.
The mountain dulcimer, also known as a fretted dulcimer or a lap dulcimer, is a uniquely American instrument. It evolved from the German scheitholz sometime in the early 1800s in Appalachia and was largely known only in this region until popularized more broadly in the 1950s.
For more information, call Kathy Jaqua at 828.349.3930 or Don Selzer at 828.293.0074. Karly Driftwood.
ROCK, SOUL ROLLS INTO JACKSON
Florida-based Shane Meade & The Sound (above) will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at Nantahala Brewing in Sylva. The band will also hit the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro. Both shows are free and open to the public.
Driftwood to make WNC debut
Nashville country/indie act Karly Driftwood will hit the stage at 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill in Waynesville.
In an effort to bust out of her Virginia hometown and head for the bright lights of Nashville, rising singer-songwriter Karly Driftwood put down her guitar and reached for the stripper pole — eventually gathering up enough dollar bills to fill the gas tank, the hood of the car soon aimed for Music City.
Known for her dark, snarky, yet honest melodic tales, Driftwood is a force of nature, this “hell or high water” presence that is steadily moving up the ranks.
Free and open to the public. Ages 21 and older. 828.456.4750 or facebook.com/waternhole.bar
Bryson City community jam
A community jam will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.
Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer, anything unplugged, are invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen. The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of the Sawmill Creek Porch Band.
The community jams offer a chance for musicians of all ages and levels of ability to share music they have learned over the years or learn old-time mountain songs. The music jams are offered to the public each first and third Thursday of the month — year-round.
This program received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment of the Arts. 828.488.3030.
On the beat
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. 828.631.1987 or balsamfallsbrewing.com
• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host karaoke at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, trivia at 7 p.m. on Thursdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.0350 or boojumbrewing.com
• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host a special dinner show with Cynthia McDermott (mandolin/vocals) Nov. 6 (call for price) and Sheila Gordon (piano/vocals) Nov. 13 ($10 cover). All shows begin at 7 p.m. Limited seating. Reservations required. 828.452.6000 or classicwineseller.com
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.369.4080 or coweeschool.org
• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. 828.634.0078 or curraheebrew.com
• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host an Open Mic Night 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and semiregular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.734.1084 or elevatedmountain.com
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 or froglevelbrewing.com.
• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Shane Meade & The Sound (soul/indie) 7 p.m. Nov. 6. All events are free and begin at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. innovationbrewing.com.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends and Liz Nance (singer-songwriter) Nov. 10 and Cam Cokas Nov. 17. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Roscoe’s Road Show Nov. 6 and Scott Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) Nov. 13. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Metal Spaghetti Nov. 5 and Andrew Thelston Band (Led Zeppelin tribute) Nov. 12. All shows
begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com
• Long’s Chapel Methodist Church (Waynesville) will host the Haywood Community Band at 4 p.m. Nov. 7. Free and open to the public. Donations accepted. The performance will honor veterans through music and words.
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Aces Down Nov. 5, Somebody’s Child Nov. 6, Alma Russ 7 p.m. Nov. 7 and 14, Bird In Hand Nov. 12 and Granny’s Mason Jar Nov. 13. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or mtnlayersbeer.com.
• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host Shane Meade & The Sound (rock/soul) Nov. 5. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. 828.641.9797 or nantahalabrewing.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. rathskellerfranklin.com
• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.482.9794 or satulahmountainbrewing.com.
• Southern Porch (Canton) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.492.8009 or southern-porch.com
• The Ugly Dog Pub (Cashiers) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. 828.743.3000 or theuglydogpub.com
• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.526.8364 or theuglydogpub.com
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Jason Lee Wilson & James County Nov. 5. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.
• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host semiregular live music on the weekends and The Lads AVL 6 p.m. Nov. 20. 828.926.7440 or valley-tavern.com
• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host karaoke on Thursday nights, Karly Driftwood (country/indie) 9 p.m. Nov. 6 and Whiskey Dick w/J.D. Pinkus 9 p.m. Nov. 13. 828.456.4750 or facebook.com/waternhole.bar
• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.743.6000 or whitesidebrewing.com.
LADIES
On the wall
‘Mental Health in Motion’
The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) is honored to announce it will sponsor three performances at its gallery by Mental Health in Motion from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 4-6, in downtown Waynesville.
“The gallery is really going to come alive each evening with a short movie projected onto our gallery walls, live dance performance and a question-and-answer period with the Mental Health in Motion team” said
Saturday, Dec. 4, 11 & 18
12:30-1:30 p.m. • $60
‘Comtemporary Clay’ at WCU
The Western Carolina University (WCU) Fine Art Museum in Cullowhee is currently presenting the “Contemporary Clay 2021” exhibit, which 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 everexpanding field of American-made ceramics. The exhibition encourages viewers to consider the concepts, processes, and context of clay in contemporary art.
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.
The exhibition and series of special events 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.
HCAC Executive Director Morgan Beryl.
“We are so excited to partner with this art therapy type non-profit to provide a donation-based event to our community that touches on a tough topic that many individuals struggle to discuss.”
Mental Health in Motion, founded in 2017 by mental health professional and lifelong dancer Lisa Santiago Linger, works to provide mental health education, advocacy,
Thursday. For information, call 828.227.ARTS. Masks are required inside all WCU buildings, including Bardo Arts Center. wcu.edu/bardo-arts-center/fine-artmuseum.
‘Small Works’ exhibit returns
The Haywood County Arts Council’s (HCAC) upcoming “Small Works” exhibit will kick off with an opening reception on Friday, Nov. 12, at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts showroom in downtown Waynesville.
“This exhibit is our longest and last exhibit of the year, stretching through the new year, and encourages buying art for holiday gifts,” said HCAC Executive Director Morgan Beryl.
Most of HCAC’s exhibitions require that you are a member of the organization to par-
and awareness through creative means. It was started as a way to engage communities with mental health topics through means that are often more accessible and engaging than lecture or discussion alone.
Visual art and dance have a way of inviting people into stories and subjects in ways that go beyond words. By bringing these often-invisible topics into light through artistic visuals, people can begin to understand the intricacies of the subjects more deeply, thus gaining greater awareness and empathy for ourselves and those around us.
“At Mental Health in Motion, we believe mental health is health, and it is worth investing in for the general wellbeing and growth of our communities. By investing in our mission, you are helping to bring impactful mental health education to more businesses, hospitals, schools, and cities just like yours,” Linger said.
Space is limited to 25 people per performance and is open for advance sign ups through the HCAC website: haywoodarts.org. For more information about Mental Health in Motion and the wide variety of programs and events they provide, visit mentalhealthinmotion.org.
Mental Health in Motion is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas 501(c)3. A recurring or one-time donation through their project portal is tax-deductible as allowed by law.
ticipate, but not this one. For a small fee, any Western North Carolina Mountain Region artist can participate.
Although the only other requirement is that the pieces be 12 inches in any dimension or smaller, HCAC challenges participants who are making holiday themed works to consider artistic expressions that are multicultural in nature and celebrate the many different holidays, ways of celebrating, and ways of experiencing holidays in the November and December season. haywoodarts.org.
Want to paint, sip craft beer?
The “WNC Paint Night” will return to local breweries in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties.
With step-by-step instructions, you will paint yourself a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. This is pure fun to do while you sip on something tasty at the brewery.
Events will be held at the following locations: Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 11 and Dec. 9; and Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 17 and Dec. 22; BearWaters Brewing (Canton) from 6 to 8 p.m. 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.
On the wall
• A basket reed snowflake workshop held by Dogwood Crafters will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 15, at the Dillsboro Masonic Lodge. David Jordan, a member of Dogwood Crafters, has been creating beautiful snowflakes from humble reed for many years. He will be sharing the techniques for crafting this holiday decoration for your home or gift-giving. All materials will be furnished. Cost is $5. Register to attend by Nov. 8. 828.586.2248.
• The transforming old Christmas cards into decorations workshop hosted by Dogwood Crafters will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, at the Dillsboro Masonic Lodge. See how old Christmas cards can be used in making ornaments, gifts, new Christmas cards, and gift wrapping. Participants will take home several handmade items as well as view an exhibit of ways to recycle old cards. Instructors include Junetta Pell, Andrew Beck, Debbie Douglas and Cheryl Beck. Cost is $10. Register by Nov. 5. 828.586.2248.
• Jesse Adair Dallas will be showing his artwork at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin during the months of November and December. There will be an informal reception to meet and visit with the artist from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at the library. Open to the public. jesse@enjoyarttoday.com
• To elevate the Dillsboro experience for the month of October, local businesses will be celebrating with “Dillsboro’s Downhome Harvest.” The community is inviting artisans to set up a booth in front of businesses from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad will be arriving daily at 1:15 p.m. There will be “walking scarecrows,” face painting, trick-or-treating, and more. If interested, contact Connie Hogan at chogan4196@gmail.com
• 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 828.349.4607 or contact Pat Mennenger at pm14034@yahoo.com. See more about Macon County Art Association at franklinuptowngallery.com
• 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.
On the stage
HART welcomes Barbara Bates Smith
Actress Barbara Bates Smith, noted for her Off-Broadway debut with “Ivy Rowe,” adapted from Lee Smith’s bestselling novel “Fair and Tender Ladies,” now celebrates her 30th year of touring this show with two benefit performances at 7:30 p.m. Saturday Nov. 6, and 2 p.m. Sunday Nov. 7, at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
Of its Off-Broadway debut, The Village Voice wrote “A lifetime’s worth of sass, whoop, hurt, and reflection;” WOR Radio: “We are captivated and enthralled;” Variety: “Both funny and heartbreaking.”
Musical accompaniment will be provided by Jeff Sebens. Tickets start at $14 per person. For tickets, call the HART box office 828.456.6322 or click on harttheatre.org. To learn more about Barbara Bates Smith, go to barbarabatessmith.com.
On the street
WNC Pottery Festival returns
The immensely popular WNC Pottery Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, in Bridge Park at 76 Railroad Avenue in Sylva.
Showcasing the work of more than 40 master potters from an array of states. A variety of clay art styles will be presented with over 40 master potters. The event is juried, and the lineup of potters are some of the finest in their craft.
Admission is $5. Children under 12 are free.
wncpotteryfestival.com.
‘The
Little Mermaid Jr.’ at HART
There will be a special stage production of “The Little Mermaid Jr.” by Kids at HART at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 and 20, and at 2 p.m. Nov. 14 and 21 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
The hour-long musical is based on the 2008 Broadway production and the 1989 animated feature film. The Kids at HART cast contains approximately 32 actors led by Shelia Sumpter.
HART is also pleased to announce that the intricate underwater photography of Dr. John Highsmith will be on display in the theatre lobby for all to enjoy. Highsmith, who maintains a dental practice in Clyde, has displayed his work throughout the country and is a longtime supporter of Kids at HART.
The cast includes: Morgan Allen, Noah Sheets, Drake Frost, Chelcy Frost, Savanna Shaw, James Cloninger, James Roundy, Henry
Blackburn, Logan Norman, Josie Ostendorff, Mary Gentry Seymour, Lia Collier, Kayenta Cruz, Erica Henry, Abby Welchel, Ellis Boone, Lilee Cornette, Reese Pifer, Tabitha Gevjan, Naomi Gevjan, Arielle Carpenter, Abbigail Haney, October Grumwell, Akilah Black, Kaia Black, Sara Joyner, Amelia Burch, Lily Carver, Nolan Perkins, Charlie Dunn, Charlie Seymour, Tiger Sutton, Elliana Bagley.
The cast is under the direction of Sumpter with Candice Dickinson, music direction by Maria Frost, stage management by Nichole Sumpter, and numerous other volunteers.
Tickets may be purchased online at harttheatre.org or by calling 828.456.6322.
ALSO:
• “The Magical Lamp of Aladdin” will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Nov. 56, 12-13 and 2 p.m. Nov. 6 and 13 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $13 per person. smokymountainarts.com.
Franklin arts and crafts fair
The Friends of the Greenway (FROG) will host an arts and crafts fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at the FROG Quarters, located at 573 East Main Street in Franklin.
A wide array of artisan booths will be onsite. Vendor fees, food purchases and purchased raffle tickets will benefit FROG. Live music will also be ongoing during the event.
Safety precautions will be in place with greater vendor spacing, hand sanitizer available, and masks encouraged. For more information, visit littletennessee.org or email frog28734@gmail.com
• The annual “Polar Express” train ride will kick off the holiday season on Friday, Nov. 12, from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot in downtown Bryson City. For a complete listing of departure dates and
times, call 800.872.4681 or click on gsmr.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. 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.
Barbara Bates Smith.
Those who served: a review of ‘The Twenty Year War’
As of this year, around 19 million Americans are veterans, which is less than 10% of our population. Currently, 1.4 million Americans are serving in the military.
couldn’t see in my body that stopped me.”
After working for a short time as a personal trainer, Graham found his calling as a firearms instructor for police and civilians. His advice: “Do what you know is right. In the SEALS they say: earn your trident every day. Just because you got it once doesn’t mean you deserve to keep it.”
WAYNE CALDWELL
author of Cataloochee and Requiem by Fire will be doing a reading from his new book of poetry, Woodsmoke
Many of us may have a relative in some branch of our armed services, but some people, I suspect, may not even know someone in service, relative or not. We may read articles about those soldiers, sailors, Marines, and air personnel who have seen action in the fighting in the Middle East or watch them on the evening news. We may receive some dramatized impressions of their lives from movies like “American Sniper” or “The Hurt Locker.” Yet many Americans have never heard about from a veteran’s lips what prompted them to enlist, where they served, what it’s like to reenter civilian life, or what lessons they learned during their stint in uniform.
“The Twenty Year War: A Photo Journal Dedicated to Veterans of the Global War on Terror and Their Stories” (Ballast Books, 2021, 223 pages) attempts to rectify that unfamiliarity. Here Dan Blakely, Tom Amenta, and photographer Beau Simmons introduce us to more than 70 young men and women who served in uniform in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.
We learn why these people chose to serve, what they faced in battle — mmany of them were wounded — and the difficulties of transitioning back into the civilian world. At the end of each of these mini-biographies, the subjects also offer words of advice and encouragement to other veterans and readers in general on living and on facing and overcoming obstacles.
Here are just a few of stories.
Alex Gruber served in the Navy as a cyrptologic warfare officer. Like several others in “The Twenty Year War,” the terrorist attacks of 9/11 led him to enlist “to serve my country and to do my part to protect this great nation.” Retired now, he enjoys “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, working on my Mustang, travelling, and spending as much time with my family as possible.” His piece of advice: “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Like some of the others in the book, Andy Hillstorm, an Army airborne infantryman, was wounded by an IED (improvised explosive device). After undergoing some 25 surgeries, he left the military, returned to college and graduate studies, became a construction manager for a time, and today works in the Foreign Service.
During his transition from soldier to
civilian, Hillstorm needed some time to regain that sense of purpose he’d found in the military. To those following in his footsteps, he advises, “Leverage the experience you gained in management during your time in service but understand you’re in a new place and you need to re-prove yourself.”
SEAL Richard Graham joined the NAVY just before 9/11, and though he deployed overseas, he developed a major blood clot and had to be sent home to the Portsmouth Naval Hospital. Eventually, his medical condition brought a discharge. “Readjustment was difficult,” he said, “because it came before I was ready for it to be there. It wasn’t my choice. It was this hidden thing I
Nikki Selby enlisted in the Navy, eventually became a critical care nurse, and deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq. Since then, she was worked for several organizations concerned with combat medical systems. “My mantra in life is: live hard, and enjoy what you’re doing!”
The hundreds of photographs in “The Twenty Year War” add much to these stories, allowing us to see these men and women in their military garb and as they are today along with pictures from the battlefields themselves.
With the holidays fast approaching, this fine book might make someone, veteran or civilian, a fine gift.
Speaking of the holidays, I was recently reading Lorri Moulton’s novella, “Christmas in Silver Birch Valley” (Lavender Lass Books, 2018, 126 pages) at the recommendation of a reader when the title reminded me of some information I intended to pass along to readers.
Some of you may remember the delays in deliveries during last year’s Christmas season, the packages that took days and even weeks longer than normal to arrive at their destinations.
This year promises an even worse backlog of goods. Right now, American harbors are jammed with freighters trying to unload goods. These cargo ships are bigger than ever, meaning they have the capacity to carry more goods. There is a shortage of warehouses in some ports to store those commodities, and many facilities have failed to keep pace with the technology that might speed the process of unloading. In addition, vaccine mandates in some areas have caused a shortage of longshoremen and truck drivers.
To make sure those books — and other presents — arrive on time, order them now. Santa Claus and the elves will be grateful for your assistance.
(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.)
&
9-5:30 | SAT 9-3 Hometown Bookstore since2007 your
Saturday, Nov. 6 • 1 p.m. WEST ASHVILLE’S LARGEST OPEN AIR MUSIC & FOOD VENUE Outdoor Stage & Dining Live Music | Amazing Eats
HAYWOOD
Writer Jeff Minick
‘Stronger than I thought’
Wheelchair-bound tribal member takes cycle trip along Trail of Tears route
BY HOLLY KAYS OUTDOORS EDITOR
As the September start date for Maranda Bradley’s long-planned bicycle ride along the Trail of Tears approached, its carefully woven threads began to unravel, and Bradley’s nerves began to fray.
“Mentally I wasn’t really in a good place as far as, ‘Is this going to happen? What are we going to do?’ because I had so many people just drop out on me,” she said.
Every year, enrolled members from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation cycle the 950-mile route once used to march thousands of Cherokee people from their Appalachian homeland to the prairies of Oklahoma. The three-week Remember the Removal trip is held every June following months of physical and cultural preparation for selected riders, and it was an experience Bradley yearned to have.
The shortened timeline made it impossible to bike the 950-mile route. Instead, the group drove as much of it as possible, stopping at key points to cycle specific trails. The trip began on Sept. 7 at Kituwah Fields in Swain County, a site revered as the birthplace of the Cherokee people. Skipping the typical Remember the Removal leg that dips down into Georgia, Bradley’s crew went straight on into Tennessee, then through Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas and to the trail’s end in Oklahoma, arriving back home on Sept. 17.
Despite the uncertainty, it proved a magical experience.
“It was the trip of a lifetime,” said Bradley. That’s not to say there weren’t setbacks. From the malfunctioning U-Haul brake lights
“I did cry a couple times on the trip because of the feeling of what our people went through. It’s real hard to take that in. But they overcame things too, and I was like, ‘I can do it. I can overcome this.’”
— Maranda Bradley
Incredibly, the pieces to make that dream come true fell into place. A pair of grants paid for a $5,800 handcycle, a bike that the rider powers with their arms rather than their legs.
A friend of the family offered to cover the cost of a 14-passenger van for use as a support vehicle. And a providential wrong turn introduced her to a paracycling expert who adapted the new bike for her particular needs. Inspired, Bradley worked to get her body in shape.
Everything seemed set. She had the bike, she had the drive, and she had a whole team of people offering to see her through the monthlong adventure. But as the date drew closer, support waned. People began to drop out of her entourage, and her fundraisers proved less successful than hoped. Finally it was down to Bradley, with her 9-year-old daughter and service dog, plus two aids and her good friend Sarah Buckey whose help was now more vital than ever with the smaller crew. But the friend, who would be traveling with her son, could take only 10 days off of work — not the month Bradley had originally planned.
But Bradley’s legs are paralyzed, the result of spinal cord injury sustained during a 2015 car accident. She uses a wheelchair to get around. Cycling the Trail of Tears seemed an impossible dream.
“It didn’t turn out as I wanted it to. Some of it, though, was better than I thought,” she said.
“If I brought back anything with me it was that I did it, I had a team of people that helped me accomplish this goal, and I’m stronger than I thought I was.”
that delayed the group’s departure to the busted van transmission that ended the trip abruptly as the group returned east through Chattanooga, Tennessee, transportation issues caused several stressful moments. While motoring along a trail at the historic Blythe Ferry site in Tennessee, Bradley’s power wheelchair slipped, getting her stuck in the gravel. It took four people to get the 400-pound wheelchair back on the road.
The transmission blowout hit her especially hard.
“I cried — ‘ Why is this the end of our trip? This sucks,’” Bradley said. “But even in that trouble, that hardship, I learned that nothing can stop me.”
Once again, her friends came together to help her, one with a AAA membership that greatly alleviated the cost of towing the van home, and another with a huge truck capable of bringing the stranded travelers back to Cherokee.
The trip had its high points, too — and they were incredibly high.
The crew stayed three days in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where Bradley attended the first pow wow she’d ever been to, despite living in Cherokee, where such events are held regularly. The town also has a greenway trail and houses the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, where Chief White Path and Chief Fly Smith are buried.
“This was a specific place where the (Cherokee) people camped out for a while, waiting to go on the Removal
Bradley and her daughter Kristin ride bikes together on the trip. Donated photo
Maranda Bradley and her crew pose for a picture at the Trail of Tears Heritage Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Donated photo
Prescribed burning project proposed for Macon County
Public comment is open through Nov. 19 for a U.S. Forest Service proposal to approve 10,024 acres in Macon County for prescribed burning.
Four locations are being considered for conventional burn treatments that rely on natural and constructed containment lines and will be completed in one day. An additional two locations would receive multiday, backcountry prescribed burn treatments relying on environmental and landscape factors to control fire behavior and spread, instead of fixed containment lines.
The proposal would aim to combat the results of aggressive fire suppression over the last century, which has caused changes to the mix of species in these areas. The burning would reduce fuel loads and poten-
Order native trees now
tial for severe wildfire, regenerate naturally occurring fire-tolerant species, increase age class and structural diversity, improve the availability and quality of wildlife forage, improve habitat for rare plant species that prefer a more open forest, and guard against wildfire at the wildland-urban interface.
Burn units would be located at Wine Spring Bald, Trimont Ridge, Winding Stair Gap and the Nantahala River headwaters.
Email comments to SM.FS.R8ncnancom@usda.gov or mail them to Steverson Moffat, Planning Team Leader, Nantahala National Forest, 123 Woodland Drive, Murphy, NC 28906. Write “Nantahala Ranger District 2021 Prescribed Burn Additions” in the email subject line or on the envelope. Make comments as specific as possible, and include your name and address, the proposed action title (Nantahala RD 2021 Rx Burn Program Additions), specific substantive comments with supporting reasons and a signature or other means of identification verification.
Submit orders by Sunday, Nov. 14, to take home native trees and shrubs this fall from MountainTrue’s annual Native Plant Sale.
There are 34 species available this year, including large shade trees, native ornamentals, pollinator species and those particularly beneficial to wildlife. All plants are quality local nursery stock and cost $15 for 1-gallon potted plants, $18 for 2-gallon plants and $25 for 3-gallon plants.
The annual fundraiser was established by the Hiawassee River Watershed Coalition prior to its 2019 merger with MountainTrue. All proceeds benefit MountainTrue’s nonnative invasive species eradication program.
Place orders at mountaintrue.org/nativetrees. Order pickup will be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at the MountainTrue Western Regional Office in Murphy.
Ag Options program accepting applications
The deadline to start the application process for this year’s WNC Agricultural Options grant program is coming up on Nov. 12.
The program offers grants to farmers in the 21 western counties to help them diversify or expand their farm business. Potential
and from Kentucky,” said Bradley. “It felt very spiritual.”
Spiritual awareness was a linchpin of the trip, due both to Bradley’s strong Christian faith and to the connection to her ancestors that the trek fostered. The Trail of Tears was a brutal experience for its original travelers — Cherokee families who were forced to leave the only home they’d ever known, to march through rain, cold, sickness and grief to an unknown land. Tens of thousands made the trip, and thousands died.
Bradley drew strength from their stories. “I did cry a couple times on the trip because of the feeling of what our people went through. It’s real hard to take that in,” she said. “But they overcame things too, and I was like, ‘I can do it. I can overcome this.’”
Bradley’s “this” is different than that of her ancestors, but it’s still hard. Being in a wheelchair changes your life, she said.
Conquer the mountain with running shoes
The Conquer the Mountain Half Marathon and 5K is back this year, offering the only USATF-certified race west of Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 6, in Franklin.
The half marathon begins at 10 a.m. and the 5K at 8:30 a.m., both originating at the Tassee Shelter off Ulco Drive on the Little Tennessee River Greenway. The event includes cash prizes, raffle prizes, T-shirts and a meal for participants.
Sign up as an individual or with a twoperson team at www.runsignup.com. Proceeds benefit the Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center.
Endurance relay coming to WNC
Gather a relay team and run a 63-mile journey from Asheville to Cherokee with the Land and Sky Relay Race Saturday, Nov. 6. The one-day race from Glory Hound Events will take four and six-person teams through amazing valleys and up and down the breathtaking ridges between the two towns. The 2021 course includes three redesigned legs near the end of the race, which will include parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
Register online at imathlete.com. All participants must be 21 or older.
Waynesville Rec closed for maintenance
The Waynesville Recreation Center is closed through Saturday, Nov. 6, for annual cleaning and maintenance.
The center will reopen at 6 a.m. Monday, Nov. 8, with the pool opening at 7 a.m. For more information, call 828.456.2030 or email rlangston@waynesvillenc.gov
applicants should contact their county Cooperative Extension agents by Nov. 12 to set up an appointment to discuss their projects, with full applications due Dec. 17.
The program is administered by WNC Communities, a nonprofit organization that has been improving agriculture in the region since 1947. For more information or to apply visit www.wncagoptions.org or contact a local Cooperative Extension center.
Normal, everyday tasks like taking a shower or changing your clothes suddenly become formidable challenges. There are places you can’t go, things you can’t do. Being a single parent, while never an easy task, becomes even harder. As much as she wanted to go on the trip, it scared her too. Traveling in a wheelchair brings with it a type of vulnerability that other people don’t experience — she faced a multitude of what-ifs.
But the drive, the stamina and the desire to overcome impossible odds that kept Bradley’s ancestors going lives on inside her. And this life-changing adventure reminded her, once again, that time moves forward, and that you don’t have to live mired in the weight of the worst thing that ever happened to you.
“It’s part of life, it’s part of what happened,” she said. “But we’re not going to stay there in the sadness. Keep moving forward — that’s what I chose to do.”
We are open to continue providing essential services to our patients in a safe environment. Our staff is following protocol recommended by the CDC and local and state health departments.
289 Access Road, Waynesville 452 4343
32 Asheville Hwy, Sylva 586 8950
188 Georgia Road, Franklin 349 4534
49 McDowell Street, Asheville 254 7716
35 NC Hwy 141, Murphy 835 8389
Hike safe
Learn how to be safe while hiking during hunting season at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.
Jeff Johnson, a grouse hunter whose love of the outdoors spurred him to a career in logging and free time spent hunting, fishing and kayaking, will give the presentation during the Nantahala Hiking Club’s monthly meeting. He’ll discuss safety for all forest users during hunting and training seasons, also giving tips on keeping canine hiking partners safe. Johnson will share his own personal experiences interacting with hunters, hikers and landowners.
NHC membership not required to attend.
Pitch in with Panthertown
Friends of Panthertown is hosting a series of trail workdays this fall, and all are invited to come pitch in.
Scheduled workdays are Saturday, Nov. 13; Saturday, Nov. 20; Friday, Dec. 3 and Saturday, Dec. 18.
No previous trail work experience is necessary. Workdays typically run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with about 5 miles of hiking on moderate trails while doing trail corridor clearing, pruning and some tread and drain work.
To sign up, email trails@panthertown.org. Learn more at www.panthertown.org/volunteer
Wheelchair-accessible trail comes to Cades Cove
A new wheelchair-accessible trail in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers a half-mile pathway at the John Oliver Cabin with a unique pastoral view.
Paved and about 8 feet wide, the trail offers space for wheelchairs and other mobility devices to pass each other. A $150,000 donation from the National Park Foundation coupled with $57,000 from Friends of the Smokies made the trail possible. It meets standards from the Architectural Barriers Act and provides access for visitors of all ability levels to see one of Cades Cove’s most popular historic homesites.
“The work of making our parks more accessible for all is so important,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “Now all visitors have the opportunity to leave the roadway and be more fully immersed in the Cades Cove story through a trail experience within the historic landscape.”
The trail looks over fields associated with the home of Cades Cove’s first European settlers, John and Lucretia Oliver, who settled there in 1818. The fields provide outstanding wildlife viewing opportunities for deer, turkey, bears and grassland birds.
Cades Cove Loop Road and the John Oliver Cabin are open daily from sunrise through sunset. Learn more at nps.gov/grsm/learn/historyculture/cadescove-history.htm
Smokies Superintendent Cassius Cash leads a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new trail. NPS photo
Emergency loans available for flood-affected farms
Twelve counties in Western North Carolina have received disaster declarations from U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack due to flooding from Tropical Storm Fred.
The disaster declaration includes Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Henderson, McDowell, Madison, Mitchell, Transylvania and Yancey counties. In addition, Swain, Avery, Burke, Graham, Polk and Rutherford counties were declared contiguous disaster counties.
Go coon hunting
Farm operators in both primary and contiguous disaster counties are eligible for certain assistance, including emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency, provided certain eligibility requirements are met. Farmers have eight months from the Oct. 20 disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans.
More information, as well as applications, are available at fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/farm-loanprograms/emergency-farm-loans/index.
The Jackson County Coon Hunters Association will hold a night hunt and bench show on Saturday, Nov. 6, in Sylva.
The bench show will begin at 3:30 p.m., and the night hunt will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The group will meet at 44 Oak Hill Drive.
Matthew Bryson, 828.508.6465.
Wildlife Commission heightens monitoring for chronic wasting disease
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is increasing its monitoring efforts for chronic wasting disease this deer season after a deer harvested this summer just 30 miles over the border in Virginia tested positive for the deadly disease.
CWD remains a looming threat to the state’s white-tailed deer population and to deer hunting traditions. There is no vaccine, treatment or cure for the always-fatal disease, which spreads between deer through direct contact and environmental contamination from infected saliva, urine and feces of live deer or carcasses and body parts. CWD is caused by abnormal proteins called prions that slowly spread through a deer’s nervous system, eventually causing spongy holes in the brain and leading to death.
To date, CWD prions have not been documented to cause sickness in humans, but closely related prion diseases, like mad cow disease, have made the jump. The CDC does not recommend eating CWD-infected meat.
The cases in Virginia are closer to the North Carolina border than any previously reported. In response, state wildlife officials are escalating proactive surveillance measures already in place and introducing new monitoring initiatives. Because there is no reliable, U.S. Department of Agriculture approved live test for CWD, effective sur-
veillance requires testing dead deer, primarily hunter harvests. The Wildlife Commission is setting up more check stations and drop-off stations around the state to make it easier for hunters to submit their deer heads for testing.
Signs of illness aren’t visible for at least 16 months after infection. The slow incubation period and ease of transmission makes proactive measures and following current regulations imperative, say wildlife biologists. Deer hunters can expect additional voluntary check stations, new voluntary drop-off stations, increased efforts to test roadkill and deer from taxidermists and meat processors, and continued enforcement of importation laws.
Other states already dealing with CWD have seen a decline in their deer populations, and in mature bucks, with some hunters becoming wary of eating harvested meat. That’s changed the deer hunting culture and tradition, something Wildlife Commission officials want to avoid in North Carolina. However, the agency has adopted a comprehensive Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan that will be activated immediately should CWD be detected in the state.
For more, including an interactive map of drop-off stations, visit ncwildlife.org/CWD.
*Offer expires 8/31/2021 Amazon, Kindle and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Featuring a stuffed black bear, a new exhibit tells visitors about the vast array of life that can exist inside a fallen log. BRP Foundation photo
Waterrock Knob gets new interactive exhibits
New interactive exhibits are now up at Waterrock Knob Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, highlighting elements of the high-elevation ecosystem ranging from bears to bugs.
The attractive panels and displays are replacements for timeworn and outdated exhibits. Makeshift posterboard displays have been replaced with new permanent panels that tell how elk have returned to the Parkway, and a 12-foot mural illustrates a multi-seasonal peek at the plants and wildlife found at the 6,293-foot Waterrock Knob, along with the striking geological features of the brightly colored rock formations found on nearby cliffs. Another panel tells the Cherokee story of “How the World was Made,” describing a buzzard creating peaks and valleys with its wings, in both Cherokee syllabary and English. An interactive element encourages visitors to turn a handle to see a magnified version of the balsam wooly adelgid, the insect responsible for the death of many trees seen outside the visitor center.
“We are so excited that visitors who come to hike and enjoy the beautiful views from Waterrock Knob will be able to engage in new and meaningful ways with the rich natural and cultural heritage of this site,” said Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Tracy Swartout. “We are grateful to Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and their Community of Stewards for supporting this project, and to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who ensured the new exhibit accurately tells these important stories.”
The panels were funded by donations to the Parkway’s nonprofit fundraising partner, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, and the design was a collaboration between the National Park Service interpretive staff and David Williams of Wingin’ It Works, which specializes in exhibits, murals and scientific illustration. Joe Bistany of BistanyWorks provided fabrication and technical assistance.
The visitor center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. but closes for the season Nov. 14.
These are only the answers.
Pisgah Center offers November fly fishing classes
Despite extensive damage to its building during August flooding from Tropical Storm Fred, the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education will offer a robust schedule of outdoor programming this month — but at locations other than its still-closed building. Courses cover various aspects of fly fish-
ing, with locations at DuPont State Recreational Forest, Marion State Fish Hatchery and West Fork Mills River. All programs are free, but registration is required at ncwildlife.org/learning/education-centers/pisgah/eventregistration/pageid/calendar or by calling 828.877.4423.
WNC Calendar
Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for:
n Complete listings of local music scene
n Regional festivals
n Art gallery events and openings
n Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers
n Civic and social club gatherings
COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
• The Jackson County Veterans Day Parade will be held on Thursday, Nov. 11, on Main Street in Sylva. Line up will begin at 2 p.m. at Mark Watson Park and the parade will begin at 3 p.m. 828.631.2231.
• An annual Veterans Day ceremony sponsored by the town of Canton will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, in the Pisgah High School auditorium. Free and open to the public.
• Live Forgiven Church will host a grocery and winter coat giveaway at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, at 45 Crown Ridge Road, Sylva. The grocery giveaway will be Thanksgiving Theme. Eggs and produce will be available. For more information, email Chris or Crystal at foodministry@LiveForgiven.Life.
B USINESS & E DUCATION
• The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) will sponsor three performances at their downtown Waynesville gallery by Mental Health in Motion from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. starting Thursday, Nov. 4, through Saturday Nov. 6. Space is limited to 25 people per performance and is open for advance sign-ups at www.haywoodarts.org. For more information about Mental Health in Motion and the wide variety of programs and events they provide, visit mentalhealthinmotion.org/about
• Drake Software will hold a hiring job fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at the Drake Software Employee Gym, 107 Technology Drive, in Franklin. edc@maconnc.org.
FUNDRAISERS AND B ENEFITS
• Traditional English Tea hosted by Dogwood Crafters will be held at 1 p.m. Nov. 13 in Sylva by reservation only. A fundraiser for scholarships, the cost is $20 per person. Call 828.586.2248 to save your seat.
VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS
• North Carolina conservation organizations need 100 volunteers from Nov. 5-7 to remove litter from Fontana Lake, the country’s largest trash cleanup effort in a national park. Volunteers can sign up for shifts anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sign up at tinyurl.com/pkh8zbze . For more information, contact Tara Moore at 704.332.5696 or tara@ncwf.org.
H EALTH AND WELLNESS
• Conquer the Mountain Half Marathon and 5K will take place Saturday, Nov. 6, in Franklin. The race is the only USATF certified race in North Carolina west of Charlotte. The Half Marathon begins at 10 a.m., the 5K at 8:30 a.m., at the Tassee Shelter off Ulco Drive on the Greenway in Franklin. Register now for individuals or two-person teams at www.runsignup.com
A&E
• The Haywood Community Band will have its final concert of the season with a tribute to Veterans at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7, at Long’s Chapel Methodist Church in Waynesville. The concert is free, but donations are accepted. The performance will honor Veterans in music and word.
• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host a special dinner show with Cynthia McDermott (mandolin/vocals) Nov. 6 (call for price) and Sheila Gordon (piano/vocals) Nov. 13 ($10 cover). All shows begin at 7 p.m. Limited seating. Reservations required. 828.452.6000 or classicwineseller.com
• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host an Open Mic Night 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and semiregular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.734.1084 or elevatedmountain.com
• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Shane Meade & The Sound (soul/indie) 7 p.m. Nov. 6. All events are free and begin at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. innovation-brewing.com.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends and Liz Nance (singer-songwriter) Nov. 10 and Cam Cokas Nov. 17. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Roscoe’s Road Show Nov. 6 and Scott Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) Nov. 13. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Metal Spaghetti Nov. 5 and Andrew Thelston Band (Led Zeppelin tribute) Nov. 12. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com
• Long’s Chapel Methodist Church (Waynesville) will host the Haywood Community Band at 4 p.m. Nov. 7. Free and open to the public. Donations accepted. The performance will honor veterans through music and words.
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Aces Down Nov. 5, Somebody’s Child Nov. 6, Alma Russ 7 p.m. Nov. 7 and 14, Bird In Hand Nov. 12 and Granny’s
n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.
n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com
Mason Jar Nov. 13. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or mtnlayersbeer.com
• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host Shane Meade & The Sound (rock/soul) Nov. 5. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. 828.641.9797 or nantahalabrewing.com.
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Jason Lee Wilson & James County Nov. 5. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.
• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host The Lads AVL 6 p.m. Nov. 20. 828.926.7440 or valley-tavern.com
• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host karaoke on Thursday nights, Karly Driftwood (country/indie) 9 p.m. Nov. 6 and Whiskey Dick w/J.D. Pinkus 9 p.m. Nov. 13. 828.456.4750 or facebook.com/waternhole.bar
F OOD AND D RINK
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, click on waynesvillewine.com.
• The “BBQ & Brews Dinner Train’’ will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Craft beer pairings with a meal, and more. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or click on www.gsmr.com
• 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.
• 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
ON STAGE & I N CONCERT
• “The Magical Lamp of Aladdin” will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Nov. 5-6, 12-13 and 2 p.m. Nov. 6 and 13 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $13 per person. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on smokymountainarts.com.
Outdoors
• Despite extensive damage to its building during August flooding from Tropical Storm Fred, the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education will offer a robust schedule of outdoor programming this month — but at locations other than its still-closed building. Courses cover various aspects of fly fishing, with locations at DuPont State Recreational Forest, Marion State Fish Hatchery and West Fork Mills River. All programs are free, but registration is required at ncwildlife.org/Learning/EducationCenters/Pisgah/Event-Registration/PageId/Calendar or by calling 828.877.4423.
• The Jackson County Coon Hunters Association will hold a night hunt and bench show on Saturday, Nov. 6, in Sylva. The bench show will begin at 3:30 p.m. and the night hunt will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The group will meet at 44 Oak Hill Drive. Matthew Bryson, 828.508.6465.
• Gather a relay team and run a 63-mile journey from Asheville to Cherokee with the Land and Sky Relay Race Saturday, Nov. 6. The one-day race from Glory Hound Events will take four and six-person teams through amazing valleys and up and down the breathtaking ridges between the two towns. The 2021 course includes three redesigned legs near the end of the race, which will include parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Register online at imathlete.com. All participants must be 21 or older.
• Join in for the 11th annual Lake Chatuge Shoreline Cleanup, 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Towns County Swim Beach Pavilion in Georgia. Volunteers will be assigned cleanup locations and given bags, gloves and safety information, along with coffee and grab-andgo-breakfast. The first 50 volunteers will also receive Tshirts. Organized by MountainTrue. Contact Callie Moore at callie@mountaintrue.org with questions.
• Through Nov. 9, the Storybook Trail of the Smokies along the Cosby Nature Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will feature prompts and activities based on A Search for Safe Passage, a middlegrade chapter book. Teachers and homeschool groups are invited to use the trail and review standards-based activities for the classroom or virtual-learning opportunities for students at SmokiEEEs.org. The storybook trail is free and accessible seven days a week.
• Learn how to be safe while hiking during hunting season at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. NHC membership not required to attend.
• Friends of Panthertown is hosting a series of trail work days this fall, and all are invited to come pitch in. Scheduled work days are Saturday, Nov. 13; Saturday, Nov. 20; Friday, Dec. 3 and Saturday, Dec. 18. No previous trail work experience is necessary. Work days typically run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with about 5 miles of hiking on moderate trails while doing trail corridor clearing, pruning and some tread and drain work. To sign up, email trails@panthertown.org. Learn more at www.panthertown.org/volunteer
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
young” boy loves hiking, talking, playing in water. Loves people! Fee already covered; Asheville Humane Society (828) 761-2001 adoptions@
sweet girl; ~1 year old. Spunky but will need gentle owner to help her gain trust. Asheville Humane Society (828) 761-2001
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!
