Celebrate Oktoberfest with the Haywood County Arts Council from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 on the patio at the Classic Wineseller in downtown Waynesville.

The event includes a traditional Bavarian meal of bratwurst, potato salad, sauerkraut and tea or soda. From the start, beer was an important part of Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest beers, a wide variety of craft beers and a large selection of wine are available for purchase. Proceeds from food and drink sales are to benefit the Haywood County Arts Council.

Tickets are $12 per person and can be purchased by calling the Arts Council office at 828.452.0593 or by visiting 86 North Main Street or the Classic Wineseller at 20 Church Street. In case of inclement weather, the celebration will continue inside the Classic Wineseller.

www.HaywoodArts.org.

Western Carolina University School of Music will present “British Invasion,” an evening of 20th century music for clarinet and piano, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2, in the Coulter Building recital hall on the Western Carolina University campus.

Shannon Thompson, on clarinet, and Bradley Martin, on piano, will perform a sonata by Arnold Bax; Paul Reade’s “Suite from the Victorian Kitchen Garden,” a 1980s television series from the BBC2; Alec Templeton’s jazz-influenced “Pocket Size Sonata No. 1”; and Geoffrey Bush’s “Tributes” to musicians Artie Shaw, Darius Milhaud, Erik Satie, Harold Arlen and Joseph Horovitz. The program also will feature soprano Susan Belcher joining Thompson and Martin in “A Garden of Weeds” by Terence Greaves.

Thompson heads the clarinet studio at WCU and Martin teaches a variety of music courses. The duo has performed together in North Carolina, Tennessee and Oregon. They’re planning future concerts at the South Carolina Governor’s School and the University of North Carolina School for the Arts.

828.227.7242.

“Hymns We Know By Heart,” a sacred music songfest, will be held at 4 p.m. Sept. 30 on Franklin’s Town Square gazebo.

The event is a front porch-style sing-along of familiar hymns and spirituals, from “Amazing Grace” and “In The Garden”, to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “This Little Light.” Cindy Miles and Bobbie Contino will lead the singing, with Lionel Caynon playing keyboard. Bring a

The gazebo is on the corner of Main and Iotla Streets, across from the Macon County Courthouse. Attendees should bring a lawn chair. In case of rain, the audience will sit under the gazebo cover. The program is sponsored by the Arts Council of Macon County, with support from the Grassroots Arts Program of the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. The final event of the fall “Sundays On The Square” series is a concert by Remnants Classic Rock Band at 4 p.m. Oct. 7.

828.524.7683 or www.artscouncilofmacon.org.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will perform all 10 Beethoven violin sonatas during a series of five concerts this fall and spring at Western Carolina University.

“The Beethoven Project” will feature concerts of two Beethoven sonatas, plus a significant work for violin and piano from the 20th century. Bradley Martin, WCU associate professor of piano, will perform along with Justin Bruns on violin.

The recitals all are free and open to the public and will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the recital hall of WCU’s Coulter Building. The first performance is Oct. 8 and will feature Beethoven Sonata Nos. 1 and 6 and Stravinsky’s Duo Concertante for Violin and Piano. Dates for the other “Beethoven Project” concerts are Nov. 5, Jan. 28, Feb. 25 and March 18. Asheville radio station WCQS-FM will broadcast a recording of the concerts at later dates. The WCU College of Music, WCQS and the Asheville Symphony Orchestra are event sponsors.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.227.3726.

Stayin’ Alive Canada, the world’s number one tribute to The Bee Gees, will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

It was The Bee Gees contribution to the soundtrack album for 1977’s “Saturday Night Fever” that took the trio to the ultimate limits of fame and fortune. This double album set, featuring three #1 American singles by The Bee Gees (“How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin’Alive” and “Night Fever”) went on to sell 30 million copies worldwide. Now you can relive the uncanny live performance of The Bee Gees as meticulously recreated and performed by Stayin’ Alive Canada.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online or stop by the theatre’s box office at 1028 Georgia Road, Franklin.

www.GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.

Haywood Arts Regional Theater’s regional talent show finals played to a standing room only on Sept. 22 at the HART Theatre in Waynesville, with 16 acts competing for a top prize of $1,000.

The Overlook Theatre Company will present “Smoke on the Mountain: A Rip-Roaring Musical Comedy Revival” at 7:30 p.m. throughout the month of October at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Show dates are Oct. 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, 19 and 23.

“Smoke on the Mountain” is full of laughs and bluegrass and traditional gospel music. It’s set in the 1930s in Mount Pleasant and revolves around the Sanders family of the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, who sing in celebration of their new electric light bulb.

Tickets may be purchased online or at the theatre’s box office located at 1028 Georgia Road, Franklin. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students.

www.GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.

The Haywood Arts Regional Theater will stage the musical “The Light in the Piazza” Oct. 5 through Oct. 21 at the Performing Arts Center in Waynesville.

The musical tells the story of a woman from Winston-Salem whose husband, a tobacco executive, sends her off on holiday with their daughter. Margaret Johnson takes her daughter Clara to Florence, a city Margaret once visited with her husband in happier times. Clara is learning impaired, having suffered a head injury as a child. Now 26, her mother has sheltered her from harm and reconciled her to a life without romance. But Florence has other ideas. The city is alive with love and Clara is not immune.

The show is based on a 1960 novel by Elizabeth Spencer, a native of Mississippi who met her husband in Italy. She would go on to teach in Canada and finally at UNC-Chapel Hill where she still lives. A 1962 film version of the story stared Olivia de Havilland as Margaret, Yvette Mimieux as Clara and George Hamilton as Fabrizio, the young man she meets. The musical was created by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas who is best known for his play “Prelude to a Kiss.”

www.harttheatre.com or 828.456.6322.

Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation’s 4th Annual Furry Friends Benefit Bash will be held on Oct. 4 at the Cork and Cleaver in the Waynesville Inn on Country Club Drive in Waynesville.

The event will be a sit-down dinner, with four entrees from which to choose. The Cork & Cleaver is offering roasted New York strip steak, mushroom stuffed chicken breast, grilled mahi mahi or wild mushroom ravioli.

There will be a cash bar and live and silent auctions. Travis Royston returns as the auctioneer for the live auction that will include signature jewelry by Jeannie Tracy of the Jeweler’s Workbench, art and vacation packages, plus special dinners for eight, an art workshop and cooking class/tasting party. In addition, the silent auction will have golf, dining, and spa packages as well as unique items for you and your pets.

Tickets may be purchased for $50 per person at Sarge’s Adoption Center at 256 Industrial Park Drive in Waynesville and at the Earthworks Frame Gallery located at 21 North Main Street in Waynesville. There is also a link at Sarge’s website www.sargeandfriends.org for the registration form. Table sponsorships are available for $450, which will reserve a table for eight guests.

828.450.9797.

The WestCare Hospital Board voted 13-1 Tuesday night to dissolve its affiliation with Haywood Regional Medical Center.

WestCare, which includes both Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva and Swain County Hospital, partnered with Haywood Regional in early 2010 under the
MedWest banner. However, the partnership has not been beneficial to WestCare, the board decided.

Tuesday night's decision has been several months in the making, and comes with the support of physicians and hospital employees, who had been pushing for the partnership to dissolve.

While WestCare will now formally ask MedWest to dissolve the partnership, the MedWest board of directors — which includes an equal number of board members from both Haywood and WestCare — must agree to let WestCare out. The timetable for a vote is not yet known.

The Highlands-Cashiers Hospital Foundation will hold a breast cancer benefit 5K run/walk at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, in Highlands.

The event will begin and end on the hospital campus. Pour Le Pink 5k will provide support for maintaining the hospital’s breast imaging equipment as well as financial aid for patients. The race is being organized with assistance by Highlands Roadrunners Club.  

Registration is $20 by Sept. 21, and $30 thereafter. To register, become a sponsor, or for additional race details visit www.highlandscashiershospital.org or call 828.526.1313.

The annual Smoky Streak run will be held Saturday, Oct. 6, along the Tuckasegee River in Sylva to raise money for mammograms for women who otherwise couldn’t afford them.

Both the 5K and 10K run will start and finish at Webster Baptist Church. Both races are out-and-back courses, starting and finishing at the church. A short, sharp ascent and then descent will begin and end the race course. The middle section is a gentle, rolling course along the river. The bridge over the Tuckasegee River near the start line provides a great view of the race for spectators.

This race will raise funds to pay for mammograms for underserved, qualifying women. It is put on by MedWest-Harris, MedWest-Swain, the MedWest-Harris & Swain Foundation, and the Jackson County Department of Public Health. The funds the 2011 Smoky Streak run generated helped pay for 86 mammograms for local women in need, but those funds ran out in February. The Jackson County Department of Public Health has since then been able to help more than 80 additional women get mammograms.

The 5K will begin at 9 a.m. and the 10K will begin at 9:30 a.m. 828.586.8994 or www.haymed.org/smoky_streak.aspx.

Discover the world of herbs, from cooking to healing to the best ways to grow them, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, at the Jackson County Library in downtown Sylva.

At this “make and take” workshop, local herbalist Becky Lipkin will share fresh herbs, seeds, cuttings and handouts on growing tips and herb recipes. Participants will learn which herbs grow best in their own backyards and what to do with them.

Lipkin is a certified aroma therapist and is known as the “Herb Lady of Cedar Creek Farms.” She is a graduate of Western Carolina University with a degree in Environmental Health Science and travels throughout the Southeast conducting seminars about how herbs can be used for medicinal purposes, in cooking and in aromatic products. 828.586.2016.

The Macon County Public Library will present “Hiking Through History” with Leanna Joyner at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, in the library’s meeting room.

The presentation will cover the history of Civil War events in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and along the Appalachian Trail. Hear stories of tenuous mountain battles, the division of families and learn where to hike through history along the Appalachian Trail.

The program is part of the Thursdays at the Library series, an eclectic mix of programs by authors, musicians, and educators on topics designed for enjoyment and learning. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

www.leannajoyner.com.

A film about three Appalachian Trail thru-hikers will be shown 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, at the REI in Asheville.

The movie “Beauty Beneath the Dirt” follows the story of three young urbanites as they attempt to balance family, friendship, and personal happiness while hiking from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. Thru-hiker Katherine Imp, the director, executive producer and cast member, will be present for a post-screening question and answer. $5. Registration is required. www.rei.com/event/43769/session/56473 or 828.687.0918.

The North Carolina Bartram Trail Society will celebrate its 35th anniversary on Saturday, Sept. 29, in Franklin with a program on “The Natural History of the Southern Appalachians” and a guided hike to the Cowee Mound.

State wildlife officials have gone too far in their goal of putting a dent in the coyote population, particularly when it comes to allowing the practice of nighttime spotlight hunting, according to a federal lawsuit filed by several environmental groups.

The Nantahala Hiking Club, along with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, is holding a free “Family Hiking Day” on Saturday, Sept. 29, in the Nantahala National Forest outside Franklin.

The event will introduce families to the outdoors and the fun of hiking together. There will be a hiking lecture, organized hikes from one to four miles and a cookout lunch.

Registration will be from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Standing Indian Campground family pavilion. Standing Indian is located off N.C. 64 west of Franklin. From N.C. 64 past Winding Stair Gap, take a left on West Old Murphy Road on the left, go 1.9 miles and turn right at the Standing Indian Campground sign.

Bring appropriate shoes and clothing, including rain gear. www.nantahalahikingclub.org.

In an unprecedented move, the North Carolina Wildlife Federation has declined to honor a Legislator of the Year for the first time in the history of the organization’s 49-year-old Conservation Achievement Awards program.

These awards are the highest conservation honors in North Carolina, yet in the wake of one of the most wildlife and environmentally hostile General Assembly sessions of the last half-century, no legislator was singled out for heroic effort.

Politicians rolled back or severely weakened protections, and undertook policies that ran counter to science and economics, according to Tim Gestwicki, executive director of the Wildlife Commission.

“Under the cloak of a recession, many lawmakers gutted conservation protections that hunters, anglers and other citizens value and treasure,” Gestwicki said. “This is a very poor, short-sighted subterfuge that is a dark blight on our state’s history.”

The indictment is not a reflection of all state legislators, however.

“While there are certainly some elected officials trying to make intelligent decisions as to how our natural resources are best managed for the citizenry, it is undeniable that, as a whole, the N.C. Legislature took many steps backwards in conservation matters,” said awards committee chairman Edward Nickens.

At its awards banquet last week, the N.C. Wildlife Federation honored conservation accomplishments in other categories, including individuals, businesses, nonprofits, scientists, journalists, volunteers, teachers and government agencies.

As for a conservation hero in the lawmaker category, there was a missing spot on the award program with the words “keeping fingers crossed for 2013.”

Visitors to Western North Carolina’s mountains can look forward to a good display of color this autumn, although some areas will enjoy brighter hues than others, predicts Kathy Mathews, Western Carolina University’s fall foliage forecaster and biology professor.

A program called “Bring Back the Monarchs” will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at the Cradle of Forestry Discovery Center in the Pisgah National Forest.       

The program, given by conservation specialists with the Monarch Watch program, will cover biology basics of the monarch’s life cycle and annual migration. The event offers information on threats these butterflies face in central Mexico in the winter as well as in their summer breeding habitat in the United States. Additionally, the program will cover the importance of their sole larval food source, milkweeds. Discussions will include the technique of tagging monarchs, sharing ideas for raising monarchs in the classroom and at home, and ways to grow native milkweeds and other native nectar-rich plant species for establishing Monarch way stations vital to monarch survival. Free samples of native milkweed seeds will be provided.

Admission to the Cradle of Forestry is $5 for adults; free under the age of 16 and for America the Beautiful and Golden Age passes. Located on U.S. 276 in the Pisgah National Forest four miles south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. 828.877.3130 or www.cradleofforestry.org

A free program titled “Hummingbirds: Delicate Gems or Sky Kings?” will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, at the Cashiers Library as part of the Village Nature Series.

The presenter, Romney Bathurst, has traveled extensively throughout Central and South America and has personally seen more than 5,800 species of birds, 220 of them hummingbirds. The talk will cover the Ruby-throated Hummingbird and other species found in countries across the world. The Village Nature Series, now in its fifth year, is a collaboration of the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust and Village Green. 828.526.1111. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Katherine Soniat will discuss her new collection, A Raft, A Boat, A Bridge, at City Lights Bookstore’s Coffee with the Poet Series continues at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

This collection marks Soniat’s sixth book of poetry. Originally from New Orleans, Soniat has taught at the University of New Orleans, Hollins University and for 20 years was on the faculty at Virginia Tech.

Soniat now lives on in Asheville and teaches in the Great Smokies Writers’ Program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The series is co-sponsored by the NetWest chapter of the North Carolina Writers’ Network and meets every third Thursday of each month.

828.586.9499.

City Lights bookstore will host Macon County resident Jim Staggers reading from his book, Messages To My Descendents: Please Fix Our Government, at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, in Sylva.

A retired business CEO motivated by the Washington, D.C., gridlock, Staggers has been writing his “food for thought” solutions for seven years. He’s a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and attended Syracuse University.

To reserve a copy, call 828.586.9499.

Author Bob Plott will be the speaker for the Lake Junaluska Live and Learn Committee at 2 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Bethea Welcome Center.

The Story of the Plott Hound: Strike & Stay was published in 2007 and awarded the 2008 Willie Parker Peace N.C. Historical Literary Award. Plott will present a program that chronicles how five of these dogs survived the passage to America from Germany in 1750 with Bob’s ancestor, Johannes Plott, and in the ensuing years have become a breed that is now sought worldwide. This is a remarkable segment of canine history that has unfolded in our own backyard and that has resulted in the Plott hound’s being named as the state dog of North Carolina.  

800.222.4930

City Lights Bookstore will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit and character Bilbo’s birthday on Saturday, Sept. 22, in Sylva.

In anticipation of the December film release of the literary classic, City Lights Bookstore will have birthday cake and hobbit trivia. The audio edition of The Hobbit will also play in the store.  

828.586.9499.

Western North Carolina writer Gary Carden will present his play “Outlander” at 7 p.m., Sept. 25, at the Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City. Earlier in the day, this historical play about the work of Horace Kephart and the mountains of Western North Carolina will be performed in a school assembly for students of Swain County High School. 

The musical “Pump Boys and Dinettes” will start off the 2012-13 mainstage season, presented by the students and faculty of Western Carolina University’s School of Stage and Screen. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 through Sept. 29, plus a 3 p.m. matinee on Sept. 29, at Hoey Auditorium.

The fun takes place at a roadside filling station and diner along N.C. 57, where the Pump Boys sell gasoline and across the road Prudie and Rhetta Cupp run the Double Cupp Diner. “Pump Boys and Dinettes” will feature direction by Brenda Lilly, School of Stage and Screen faculty member; choreography by Karyn Tomczak, director of the dance program; and musical direction by guest artist Jan Powell.  

Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and WCU faculty and staff, and $7 (in advance) and $10 (day of show) for students.

For more information, 828.227.7491. For tickets, 828.227.2479 or www.bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

Bryson City will host a community music jam from 6-7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Marianna Black Library. Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle or dulcimer (anything unplugged) is invited to join. Singers are also welcomed. The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of Grampa’s Music in Bryson City. Normally, he starts by calling out a tune and its key signature and the group plays it together. Then everyone in the circle gets a chance to choose a song for the group to play together. 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.

“Rock the Square,” a vintage rock concert and street dance, will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 21 on the Town Square gazebo in downtown Franklin.

Multi-talented musician Dave Stewart will open the show with pop and folk tunes. At 7:30 p.m., C-Square & Company, with keyboardist Lionel Caynon, vocalists Bobbie and Mike Contino and saxophonist Chris Corbin join Stewart on the gazebo stage to perform pop and Motown hits from Elvis to The Everly Brothers, The Beatles to Billy Joel.

At 4 p.m Sept. 23, a double-bill concert will feature humorist/vocalist Cindy Miles and The McChoir Sisters. Versatile musician and laughter therapist Cindy Miles blends rib-tickling commentary and lighthearted music to engage, involve and delight audience members. The award-winning McChoir Sisters Trio, comprised of Margie Kellam, Kathy Kuhlman and Cathy Sill, perform Big Band era and classic pop standards.

Bring a lawn chair, family and friends.

828.524.7683 or visit www.artscouncilofmacon.org.

Acclaimed country artist Darryl Worley will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

Western Carolina University’s School of Music will present a free faculty brass recital at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25 in the recital hall of Coulter Building.

The event, part of the Catamount Concert Series, will feature solo performances by Daniel Cherry (euphonium), Travis Bennett (horn), Michael Schallock (tuba) and Bradley Ulrich and Larry Black (trumpet). Cherry will be featured in Friedebald Grafe’s “Grand Concerto,” a Romantic-style piece originally written for trombone but suited for the tone quality, technical abilities and character of the euphonium.

Bennett will solo in Emmanuel Chabrier’s “Larghetto,” which was first performed in 1878 and originally written for horn and orchestra. Cast as the French horn equivalent of an operatic aria, “Larghetto” was discovered among the self-taught composer’s effects after his death. Schallock will be featured in Robert Jager’s “Concerto for Bass Tuba,” Ulrich in Paul Hindemith’s “Sonate” and Black in Johann Fasch’s “Concerto in D.” Bradley Martin, associate professor, will accompany the musicians on piano.

828.227.7242.

The fifth annual Youth Arts Festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 22 at the Green Energy Park in Dillsboro.

A cooperative effort between the Green Energy Park and Western Carolina University’s School of Art and Design, this year’s Youth Arts festival will feature painting, weaving and chalk art projects. Participants can also throw pots, do printmaking, clay hand-building, craft-making from recycled materials and parade with the famous GEP Trash Dragon. On the performance stage, there will be at least two bands and three dance troupes starting at 10 a.m.

www.jcgep.org/youth-arts.html, www.facebook.com/JCGEP, or call 828.631.0271.

“Journey Stories,” an exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution, will be on display at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., beginning on “Mountain Heritage Day” Sept. 29 and continuing through Nov. 9.

More than 30 artisans will demonstrate their craft at the upcoming Colorfest: Art & Taste of Appalachia from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 6 in Dillsboro.

In addition to the art demonstrations, local musicians/singers Ron Smith, Henry Queen, Pam Dengler, Keith Shuler, The Ross Brothers, Robin Whitley and Teresa Davis will perform.

There will also be food vendors along with beer and wine tastings. Vendors will include the Heinzelmannchen Brewery, Lake James Wineries, Cherokee Cellers, Carolina Pig Polish, Tarters Tasty Treats and Smoky Mountain Kettlecorn, among others.

800.962.1911 or www.visitdillsboro.org.

The Western Carolina Dog Fanciers Association, an area kennel club, will host a three-day AKC Dog Agility Trial in the Great Smokies Arena at the Haywood County Fairgrounds on Sept. 21-23, 2012.

Classes will begin at 8 a.m. each day and will conclude at 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Food concessions will be available for breakfast and lunch. Vendors will be on hand. No un-entered dogs.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.734.3184.

Craft demonstrations at Dogwood Crafters in Dillsboro this week include Anthony Cariveau, Linda Parrish, Jeri Buek and Joyce Lantz.

• 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 20 — Anthony Cariveau will demonstrate the medieval art of chain mail, used here in making jewelry instead of armor. Byzantine weave, box chain, Celtic knot are among the various types of weave used in making this wearable art.

• 1-3 p.m. Sept. 22 — Linda Parrish will demonstrate how to embellish notepads using a variety of paper art techniques.

• 1-2 p.m. Sept. 23 — Jeri Buek’s rescheduled date to demonstrate punch needlework. Her miniature punch needle embroidery captures the look of antique hooked rugs on a small scale, creating unique works of art. Buek will have materials available and will offer instruction and assistance and will be available for questions until 6 p.m.

• 2-4 p.m. Sept. 25 — Joyce Lantz will demonstrate the ancient art of pine needle basket weaving. Agile and deft hands are required to control the pine needles as the basket takes shape in this deceptively simple looking ancient craft.

Crafters will demonstrate their work and discuss their craft in the Gallery Room. These Dogwood Crafters have their works for sale at the shop. Dogwood Crafters is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with evening hours until 9 p.m. in October.

828.586.2248.

Headwaters Brewing Company will host a Cornhole Tournament to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Haywood County from 2-4:30 p.m. Sept. 29 in Waynesville.

Kevin Sandefur, owner of Headwaters Brewing, was a Big Brother and spent years matched one-on-one with a child. The child is now grown up and will be at the fundraising event.

Cost is $40 for a two-person team and must be at least 18 years of age to enter. A $100 grand prize will be given to the winner. There will also be a second and third place team prize, door prizes, free food donated by Coffee Cup Cafe, along with a 50/50 drawing, live entertainment and loads of fun. Big Brothers Big Sisters is also seeking local business sponsorship to help with the cause. Nathan Lowe of Waynesville is helping facilitate the event.

828.273.3601 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The second annual Smokin’ BBQ and Bluegrass Festival will take place at 10 a.m. Sept. 29 at the Cold Mountain Corn Maize in Canton.

Activities include venturing through the corn maze, bluegrass music, clogging, and eating award-winning barbeque.

There will more than $800 in awards and cash prizes given to winners for the “Most Smokin’ Creation.” Everyone is encouraged to compete. Vendors are also needed. Admission is $10. Proceeds benefit the Good Samaritan Clinic of Haywood County. The event is sponsored by Rogers Express Lube and Tire, Seasonal Produce Farm, Haywood County Tourism Development Authority, Lowe’s, Ingles, Barkclad and 99.9 Kiss Country.

www.VisitNCSmokies or 828.279.6458.

The Waynesville Public Art Commission (WPAC) is currently seeking an artist for its fourth outdoor public art project.

To the Editor:

Carol Adams in her Letter to the Editor (SMN, Sept. 12) asserts that Obama’s record is “not a record he can be proud of.” What she sees as a record, others would see as a legacy of the Bush administration.

In January 2009, the job loss was the worst in 34 years, and by the next month, scarcely a month after Obama took office, unemployment was at 8.1 percent.

According to her, it was “7.8 percent then,” but she does not say when “then” was. When Romney was governor of Massachu-setts, job growth in that state rose 1.5 percent compared to a national average of 5.3 percent, placing Massachusetts 47th of 50 states in new job creation during Romney’s term. Not exactly a “record he can be proud of.”

As to Obama’s private sector work experience, he was an associate at two different law firms, and he was employed by the university of Chicago (a private university) as a lecturer from 1992-96 and a senior lecturer from 1996-2004. This seems a rather trivial argument, though.

Lynda Self

retired public sector teacher

Waynesville

To the Editor:

Mr. McLeod, instead of being upset over a Confederate flag flying in the South, perhaps you should actually be more upset about the following.

Slavery is not an exclusive club for blacks. Whites were slaves (not indentured servants) for a good 200 hundred years in America before blacks picked the first boll of cotton or planted or harvested tobacco. Why? Perhaps further research of the king’s records in the U.K. (or start with the state of Virginia) will explain why populating the colonies so quickly was important to the king. A hint for you: tax revenue for England?

If the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence and wrote the U.S. Constitution for themselves and their descendents meant for the slaves in the southern states or northern states to be free, they would have freed them at this time. Why didn’t they ?

Why did all slaveships fly the flag of the United States? Why were the three largest ports for slaveships in 1860 in Philidelphia, New York City and Boston if this war was about slavery?

Why was the Morill Tarrif imposed on the South if the war was just about slavery? Why did the North pass the Corwin Amendment which would have allowed the seceding states to keep their slaves if they re-entered the Union and avoid war if the war was about slavery?

Lastly, why do public schools and colleges only teach half the truth today, that of the victors? This alone would make a thinking person suspicious and ask questions.

Billy E. Price

Ashville, Alabama

To the Editor:

Mark Twain once said “If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you are misinformed.” Unfortunately, it appears there is too much truth in this statement of humor. When the New York Times sends unpublished columns to the Obama Administration to be vetted, or when CNN’s Peter Hanby has a “donate to Obama” link on his Twitter account, you know objectivity has gone out the window.

 Gone too is individual creativity. It has been squelched in favor of collective thought as witnessed by the open mic at the press pool where reporters engaged in collusion around a single question to ask candidate Mitt Romney regarding our embassy breach and murder of our fellow citizens. Away from any responsibility in analysis of our current foreign policy, they chose instead to deflect and distract from performing their due diligence.

 The failures do not stop at the national level. All too often the local papers, which should represent broadly and fairly the community they serve, routinely dismiss any Op-Ed or press release from local residents who do not share their point of view or back up the narrative they are charged with putting forward. When was the last time you were able to read about a local Tea Party event or hear an opinion expressed by a resident Libertarian? If you were the gullible sort, you would believe only the Occupy Movement existed. Educated persons seek multiple opinions and sources in order to obtain the truth. Why does the media fear that so? Is it a personal interest they wish to protect?

 There is no shortage of news or reporters, only a desperate lack of journalism.

Ginny Jahrmarkt

Sapphire

To the Editor:

According to David Whitmire’s recent letters sent to the media in WNC, two pending bills for 2013-14 could have a damaging effect on bear and deer management in Western North Carolina. Whitmire, a hunter from Lake Toxaway and program chairman for the N.C. Bow Hunters Association District 9, states: “Although some changes have good points, by loosening the established management on permit and non-permit depredation we could easily witness over harvest and questionable moral and ethical techniques.” He goes on to say, “It is the responsibility of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to manage depredation harvest of deer and bear in a controlled managed process that will be acceptable to the majority of N.C. citizens.”  

 To many of us, including Whitmire, it is clear that H-19 and H-20 as written could have a major impact on wildlife and undermine the efforts of overworked law enforcement officers, judges and courts who manage and prosecute unlawful practices such as poaching, out of season hunting and spotlighting. These very important areas of wildlife management need to be strengthened, not made more difficult. (Full details of H-19 and H-20 can be read by going to N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission home page. Go to 2013-14 proposed regulations and click on public hearing booklet. Scroll down to page 19 to find H-19 and H-20)

Wildlife in North Carolina belong to all of us, not just a few. Those who value wildlife in WNC, including hunters and wildlife advocates, need to express our concerns and stand up for what is best for our wildlife. Both the NCWRC and our N.C. legislators will hopefully recognize that H-19 and H-20 are unacceptable.   

To reply and express your feelings: Send emails to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. along with your comments to David Hoyle Jr., Chairman of the NCWRC (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), and Hayden Rogers, WNC Commissioner for NCWRC, (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). 

John Edwards

Director of Mountain Wildlife Days

Cashiers

To the Editor:

PetSmart, which is known for not carrying puppy mill dogs or cats, also holds on-site adoptions for rescue groups to find homes for homeless dogs and cats. This new facility is state of the art and includes a “cat room” designed to reduce stress and maintain healthy animals waiting for adoption. So the opening of the new Haywood County PetSmart was more than welcome by local rescue groups. But everyone got a surprise a few days before the scheduled opening. PetSmart was informed that the facility needed an inspection by the Department of Agriculture inspector before animals could be on the premises. PetSmart’s two store openings in Buncombe County had not required an — occupancy (my word) — inspection and they were dismayed to learn at the last minute that they would not be able to have the planned cats and dogs on the premises (inside or outside) for adoption. They rushed to get the paperwork completed so the adoptions could take place. Ironically, an inspector was able to drop by to check for pythons in the building but did not have time to check out the cat room. The grand opening took place Sept. 8-9 with rescue groups but no dogs or cats.

 Because of this unexpected delay, the animals pulled from the shelter in anticipation of the event by a local rescue group did not get adopted. This meant no new spaces for adoptable animals were available; this meant that the county shelter did not have enough space for incoming pets. So, 20 cats were euthanized during the week of Sept. 10.  

Making the grand opening a non-event because of a bureaucratic schedule is shortsighted. PetSmart has employees, pays taxes and works within the community on behalf of animal welfare. The lack of collaborative thinking by the state inspector has led to loss of income, for PetSmart, the rescue group and the community, not to mention the needless loss of life of shelter animals.

Haywood County taxpayers, indeed North Carolina taxpayers, should be angry enough to let their local and state representatives know that we deserve better.

Penny Wallace,

Exececutive Director Haywood Spay/Neuter

Waynesville

To the Editor:

The Macon County Democrat Headquarters got my attention with their sign. For those that haven’t seen it, it reads the “Republicans have cut $926 million from the budget for schools.”

As a parent of school age children, I noticed this and did a little more digging. In my search I also saw an article by the NC Public Schools that said: “State Graduation Rate is Highest in NC History; Sixth Consecutive Year of Improvement,” and one in the Asheville Citizen-Times with the headline “Schools do well despite budget ills.”

Upon further investigation by viewing several of the past and current state budgets it was shown that the “cut” was actually the end of federal stimulus dollars not a cut of state funding. By going to the N.C. Legislative website and viewing the budget one can see that the number of state dollars increased not decreased. According to the www.newsobserver.com web site’s article from Aug. 12, the Republican-written state budget adds more than $250 million to K-12 education spending. This increase doesn’t cover cuts in state funding done during the Democrat controlled legislature of 2008-2010 when temporary federal stimulus dollars were used to replace state dollars.

During these tight times we all need to tighten our belts, not just the taxpayers but the tax spenders as well.

I commend the education system for continuing to work hard for the future generations, they should not be doing it alone. It is my responsibility as a parent to do all within my power to make sure that my children get the most out of their schooling. I am the one that needs to make sure they do their homework and study. We as parents need to make the effort and step up to be the parents our children need not expect the teachers and government to raise them for us. I personally don’t desire to give any government that much control.

Tearle J. Conner Jr.

Franklin

Haywood County Historical and Genealogical Society will meet at 7 p.m. Sept. 25 at the First Methodist Church on Haywood Street in Waynesville.

There will be a short business meeting, followed by a program presented by Roland Osbourne. Osbourne will trace the history of cameras from the pre-Civil War years through the early twentieth century. He will display a functioning large-format camera for anyone interested in taking a picture. The meeting is free and open to the public.

828.627.0385 or 828.627.9828.

An etiquette dinner for children will be held at the Lambeth Inn at Lake Junaluska at 6 p.m. Sept. 24. The event is sponsored by the local 4-H club.

Youth participants will learn to use proper table manners and utensils correctly, navigate a formal place setting and go through a buffet properly. The cost is $20 and attendees will need to dress business casual. Sign-up by Sept. 21. 828.456.3575.

Deb Teitelbaum of Sylva, a former public school teacher and longtime show fan, will appear as a contestant on “Jeopardy!” during the program’s upcoming broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 on WLOS-TV.

Her advice for other constestants: “It’s all about the buzzer,” Teitelbaum said. “Everybody on the show is knowledgeable. Whoever gets a jump on the buzzer has the advantage. To win one game is difficult, to do what Ken Jennings did and win 74 consecutive games is remarkable.”