Dustin Cornelison of Haywood County has turned his belief in living a sustainable and frugal lifestyle into an actual business.

Drawing upon his past experience as a sustainability technician for an environmental education center and his skills as a welder and blacksmith, Cornelison, along with his wife, Sara Martin, have put together a plan to turn their farm, Two Trees, into a model of sustainable practices.

“We are selling the farm life style,” Cornelison said. “We hope to demonstrate self sufficiency and furnish people with the tools and knowledge to live off their own land.”

While still a student at Haywood Community College, Cornelison’s business plan was chosen as the 2011 winner of the Sequoyah Fund Community College Business Plan Competition. Cornelison received $10,000 to help him make his business a reality. The Sequoyah Fund encourages and financially rewards students who aspire to start businesses in the seven western-most counties of North Carolina and the Qualla Boundary.

Cornelison founded Sustainabillies, a company that promotes sustainable gardening and living through example, education and artistic recycling and retooling of scrap metals and used objects. He plans to create and sell a variety of custom garden tools and accessories, with the emphasis on using as much recycled materials as possible.

“Designs may be simple and functional using entirely recycled elements or they may be more artistic and use a combination of new and recycled materials,” he said.

Cornelison’s welding shop is located on Two Trees farm.

“I want to incorporate found objects in my designs as much as possible,” he said. “I can re-purpose heirlooms to create unique functional pieces.”

Some of the crafted items that will be for sale are a variety of trellises, trellised planters, compost barrels, rain barrel stands, rain barrels, raised bed components, fire rings, decorative hand rails, fences and gates. Cornelison will also sell artistic handmade benches and indoor and outdoor furniture as well as a line of home goods such as towel and pan racks. He will carry a selection of tools such as knives, hoes, axes and custom/specialty hand tools. He will also do commissioned specialty metal work and forging for clients based on their designs or needs.

“All of the items I make are of the highest quality. They are intended to last a lifetime,” said Cornelison.  He can also fabricate new pieces based on old designs or tools.

As another component of Sustainabillies, Cornelison is planning a portable welding shop. “I can come directly to a client’s property to fix equipment. A person won’t have to worry about loading up heavy equipment and hauling it somewhere to get it fixed. I will be able to fix it on the spot,” Cornelison said.

Sustainabillies also sells small apple cider presses designed for home use. With the press, people can harvest juice from apple trees in their yard—another sustainable practice advocated at Two Trees Farm.

The business will offer several services such as the installation of permaculture, and the design and implementation of native, rain and edible gardens. It will offer all aspects of implementation, from tilling and planting to harvesting and preservation. Consultations on sustainability audits and the best use of a property will also be offered.

For now, the blacksmith and welding shop is open for business and Cornelison and Martin are making plans for other ways to use Two Tree Farms as a resource for their community. By next summer, the couple hopes to have farm tours once a week and to also offer a variety of workshops on sustainable living.

“We want to show people that you can live a normal, comfortable lifestyle-sustainably,” Cornelison said.

Two Trees Farm is located in the Beaverdam community of Haywood County. For more information about Sustainabillies and Two Trees Farm, you may visit sustainabillies.net or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 828.713.5972.

It’s not everyday that someone gets credit for contributing a previously unidentified variety of seed to the national seed bank, but that’s exactly what’s happened at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, just over the Georgia state line from Macon County.

A previously unidentified variety of corn — dubbed the Malot Strain of Hawkins Prolific — was detected by honors biology students and Science Department Chair Woody Malot. The National Genetic Resources Program verified the germplasm sample.

Malot keeps approximately 13 heirloom varieties that students sort through regularly, trying to find the most representative sample, when the new variety was discovered.

“Not only is the school making a contribution to the genome/germplasm database, we are also helping preserve genetic material that the modern hybrids depend upon,” Malot said. “In this day and time, seldom is a new (heirloom) variety of plant or animal identified. To have a variety we contributed recognized is a major accomplishment.”

Some in the farming business might know Malot through his other role, that of mill operator of Barker’s Creek Mill on Betty Creek Road in Rabun County, Georgia.

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park raised $201,209 through its 17th annual “Friends Across the Mountains” telethon — topping the $200,000 mark for the sixth year in a row.  

The total for all “Friends Across the Mountains” telethons since 1995 is now nearly $2.5 million.

“For 17 years telethon funding has protected wildlife, strengthened park environmental education programs, and improved our visitors’ experiences in so many ways,” said an appreciative Dale Ditmanson, superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Donations came in from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and, even, Texas. The event was broadcast on Knoxville’s WBIR-TV and Asheville’s WLOS-TV, plus webcast, as well.

Since 1993, the not-for-profit Friends of the Smokies organization has raised more than $34 million to benefit the park.

Macon County’s Frankebelle Scruggs and a local “greasy-bean team” from the Cowee community will show folks how best to collect and save heirloom seed Monday, Sept. 12, beginning at 6 p.m. at Rickman Store.

Many heirloom seeds have dropped in number or disappeared during the last century because farmers stopped collecting and trading their own seeds. By collecting, saving and bartering local varieties, folks cannot only save money, but preserve seeds and varieties that are adapted to this area.

Anyone with old-timey, open-pollinated seeds is encouraged to come relay the story and to barter with others. Those interested in starting an heirloom seed bank here in Macon County particularly should not miss this event.

Additionally, a pot of old fashioned Cowee-cooked beans will be on hand for sampling.

The Rickman Store is located in Cowee-West’s Mill Historic District, 259 Cowee Creek Road, next to Cowee Elementary School. This is seven miles north of Franklin off N.C. 28.

Macon County’s Frankebelle Scruggs and a local “greasy-bean team” from the Cowee community will show folks how best to collect and save heirloom seed Monday, Sept. 12, beginning at 6 p.m. at Rickman Store.

Many heirloom seeds have dropped in number or disappeared during the last century because farmers stopped collecting and trading their own seeds. By collecting, saving and bartering local varieties, folks cannot only save money, but preserve seeds and varieties that are adapted to this area.

Anyone with old-timey, open-pollinated seeds is encouraged to come relay the story and to barter with others. Those interested in starting an heirloom seed bank here in Macon County particularly should not miss this event.

Additionally, a pot of old fashioned Cowee-cooked beans will be on hand for sampling.

The Rickman Store is located in Cowee-West’s Mill Historic District, 259 Cowee Creek Road, next to Cowee Elementary School. This is seven miles north of Franklin off N.C. 28.

Learn about turning your woodlot into a farm through a Mountain BizWorks workshop on Forest-Farming Practices from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, in Sylva.

Novice and experienced farmers will be introduced to crops that can be grown on forest farms and potentially sold in retail markets. Students will be given an overview of permaculture, an understanding of the advantages of poly-cropping and how these crops are related to timber production and forest health, examples of successful forest agriculture systems from around the world, and an introduction to 20 of the most promising perennial, forest-farmed crops for commercial production in our region.

The workshop will be held at the Jackson County Community Services Center in the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service’s meeting room. Zev Friedman, permaculture designer, teacher and writer, will lead the course.

This is a potluck. Bring a dish to share, eating utensils, plates and cups. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Call Sheryl Rudd at 828.631.0292 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Kathryn Greeley of Waynesville has published The Collected Tabletop, a book showcasing ways to create “easy, fun, and breathtaking tabletop designs that will make any occasion memorable,” says its publisher.

For each of the 13 events described in The Collected Tabletop, Greeley details the history and significance of specific items from each collection, ranging from heirloom china and crystal to intricate art glass and colorful majolica combined with hand-thrown pottery.

Chock-full of inspired ideas for hosting high-end theme parties, The Collected Tabletop includes photographs of place settings and tabletop decorations; elegant, painted menus; favors and floral arrangements; and easy-to-prepare recipes, such as Independence Day Flag Tart, Skillet Drop Biscuits, and Goat Cheese Truffles.

Greeley is owner of Kathryn Greeley Designs and has worked in the design industry for 30 years. The Collected Tabletop is published by Greenleaf Publishing Group and can be purchased for $45 by contacting Brooke Wallace at 501.868.9882 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Book Ends, the book discussion group at the Jackson County Public Library, will gather for the first time in the new library at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 12, to discuss the book Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland.

Girl in Hyacinth Blue is the story of a professor who invites a colleague to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor tells his guest that the painting was by the famous Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. The question arises as to why he had hidden this important work for so long. Throughout the book, the ownership of the painting is traced back three and a half centuries to its origins, one owner at a time.

The Book Ends group will continue the second Monday of alternate months. Book selections will announced in advance and extra copies of the selected books will be available at the library.

For more information call 828.586.2016.

I consider it a good thing when you meet someone new from a very different background that provides a chance to pause, and to see your own world in a different light. That view from another vantage point helps to put a wider perspective on our own understandings, experiences, preferences and prejudices, and I think provides a greater and more useful context in which to examine our lives. Unless that person is a loud-mouth, a know-it-all or other brand of royal-pain-in-the-ass, the meeting will probably leave you with a clearer picture of the world and your place in it, if you let it.

I recently spent the afternoon by a chance of fate with just such a person, and we both enjoyed the experience — though we couldn’t have come from more different worlds. I grew up in a middle-class American home with six kids, a mom, a dad, a dog and two cars in the driveway. There was always enough to eat and some presents under the Christmas tree. I had a red bicycle, a baseball glove and a basketball hoop mounted on the garage above the doors. I swam and played ball in the summer, went sledding and skiing in the winter, mowed lawns, and had a paper route in-between. Pretty nice, normal stuff from how I saw it.  

My new acquaintance had a very different story from thousands of miles away and a culture thousands of years older than mine. He was born in the People’s Republic of China, and shortly thereafter both of his parents committed suicide. He spent his first four years in several different foster homes and the next three in orphanages, seemingly being tossed around like a pair of Las Vegas dice. One day a single woman from America flew to Hong Kong, signed some papers and whisked him off to live in the suburbs outside New York City with his new life, new culture and new identity.

I tried to put myself in his place, attempting to forget my own comparatively idyllic childhood, but I could not fathom the experience as hard as I tried. His life was a total disconnect to anything I had ever known or had even imagined in my nightmares. I had no reference. If I were flown to Hong Kong at age 7 to start again, what would I be now?

His mom is a long-time friend of my wife’s, and they showed up at our home for a brief visit just before my new friend’s 12th birthday. We walked the dogs down by the creek while we told them about the sounds of the water and birds by day and the coyotes and owls by night, and bragged about the wonders of Southern Appalachia.

The next day when the girls headed off to Asheville, he announced that he’d stay here with the tall man he had just met – much to his Mom’s surprise, as well as mine. With a wink and a nod, the sexes headed their separate ways. I had a few errands to do in town so we loaded into the truck and headed down the mountain. We got some gas and then stopped by the farm supply store for collard seed and to look at all the stuff there with a ginger ale. Then to the grocery store, where I instructed him to get whatever he wanted for lunch as we walked the aisles. He picked out an apple and a bag of beef jerky, the plain kind, no spices. He doesn’t like spicy jerky, I learned. I knew that his mom is a vegetarian and asked him if he was one too.

“Not when I’m on vacation,” was his reply between bites. Works for me, I thought.

We got back to the farm and I showed him the woodshop and he asked what I could build. I told him I usually built houses, garages, barns and that kinda stuff.

He asked “Can you build a wagon or a spear?” I told him I thought I could, but why would he need a spear?

“In case of the coyotes” he squarely replied. “I think we need a spear, with a sharp point.”

I wasn’t sure where he had formed his coyote notions, but I obliged and we started looking for a perfect piece of wood that wasn’t too heavy, but really, really strong. We settled on a piece of oak which I planed and cut with my really, really loud machines, roughing it into a semi-spear for hand finishing. I showed him how to use clamps, a file and sandpaper and turned him loose. The next hour was spent pushing steel against wood, smoothing edges, and sharpening the all-important point, which he tested often with his tiny palm. Those small, Asian eyes were intensely focused on each stroke of the blade, knowing somehow that our safety depended on his skill as a spear maker.

A little later he announced that it was done if I would help him finish, and that we needed a box to test it on, and did I have one? We finished the piece to his satisfaction and found an old box in the corner, broken but perfect. Under his instruction we put a foam pad inside to make it more like a real coyote. We set it on end, standing almost as tall as he was, and the practice began. For the next hour our cardboard coyote took dozens of mortal blows, with frequent commentary, sometimes falling over with the spear sticking straight up in a perfect kill. When one side of the box, I mean coyote, was all but a shred he turned it around and started again. He asked if I had any ketchup or Hawaiian Punch we could put in bags inside to make it really real. I laughed and told him I had none, which was “OK,” and the practice resumed.  When Mom returned, he rushed her to the shop to see what he had done and how safe we would all now be.

They left the next morning with spear in hand, promising to come back for another hike by the creek, in absolute safety. We waved good-bye and I walked up to the shop and saw the tattered box where he had left it, deciding that was a good place for it for now.                   

For the next few days I saw the box there and thought of my friend with the difficult past and the wonderful, hopeful spirit. Sometimes I chuckled and sometimes a tear fell off my face at the thought of his challenging life and what had been shared between these two strangers.

It occurred to me at one point that we all have “cardboard coyotes” we’re constantly battling, be they real or imagined. Personal shortcomings, unachieved goals, misunderstood fears and false notions can leave each of us feeling vulnerable at some point, no matter where we’re from or how lucky we’ve been.  Maybe if we all spent the time and energy my little friend did to skewer these unseen threats, we too could walk bravely and confidently through life, regardless of our past or what might or might not be lurking around the next corner.

(John Beckman is a farmer, builder and part-time spear-maker in Cullowhee. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

To the Editor:

In response to Dr. Dan Eichenbaum’s announcement that he is running for Congress again in the 11th Congressional District, it is my duty to inform the voters of a few facts that make him unelectable.

First, every candidate in the 2010 primary made the same promise to support the eventual nominee. All four other men kept their promise; but Dr. Eichenbaum never did endorse or support Jeff Miller.

As Jeff Miller said: “Dr. Eichenbaum failed this most basic test of honor and commitment to the voters.”

Second, Dr. Eichenbaum flip-flopped on both abortion and drugs during the primary.

His original abortion position on his website was, “Abortion is not a federal issue and is, therefore, more properly one legislated by the states and their citizens.” But four months in to the campaign it became: “Technically, abortion is not a federal issue for constitutional reasons. I do not, however, agree that it should be legislated by the states and their citizens.”

On drugs, his original position was that the “War on Drugs’ should be ended” and that only “the sale of potentially harmful chemicals to minors should be a criminal offense.” Later this position also pivoted.

The flip-flops on abortion and drugs are not surprising as he only switched his affiliation from Libertarian to Republican six months before the filing deadline.

Robert Danos,

Former spokesman for the 11th District NCGOP

To the Editor:

At the July meeting of the Jackson County Democratic Party Executive Committee, the executive committee voted to officially oppose the proposal of Duke Energy of the Carolinas to seek a rate increase for its electricity consumers in North Carolina.

We recognize the importance of an adequate and reliable supply of electricity at the lowest reasonable cost, however, given the economic conditions that are present in Jackson County and most of North Carolina, we do not believe that this an appropriate time to increase consumer’s rates. It is our understanding that Duke has proposed that the average increase would be approximately 17 percent for residential, 14 percent for general services and industrial, and 8 percent for outdoor lighting. For low-income families and struggling small businesses, even a minimal increases would prove to be devastating, which Duke is already aware of and has publicly acknowledged.

It is our belief that Duke Energy should do more to utilize its current profit margin to help mitigate the costs of these capital improvements.

Many of the improvements have already started or even been completed and any additional revenue generated from a rate increase would only be used to replenish lost profits.

The Jackson County Democratic Party urges the North Carolina Utilities Commission to deny Duke’s request for a rate increase at this time, or at the very least reduce Duke Energy’s rate increase request to the lowest amount reasonable under applicable law, and have the rate increases to be spread out over time to minimize customer impact.

Brian McMahan, Chairman

Jackson County Democratic Party

To the editor:

If mandatory health insurance is unconstitutional, as the Republicans hope the Supreme Court will rule, what about Social Security and Medicare? They’re compulsory also. The health plan is different only in allowing some consumer choice. You’d think the Republicans ought to be in favor of that.

Their hypocrisy makes sense, though, as a cover for their ulterior objectives. The first is to defeat President Obama by wrecking his proudest achievement. Ultimately, they would repeal even Social Security and Medicare.

Their disguise has evaporated with Rick Perry’s meteoric popularity in the Republican presidential polls. The Texas governor, so reactionary as to make the late Barry Goldwater look like a Socialist, openly doubts the constitutionality of Social Security.

And that’s not all. Perry would also repeal the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments, which authorized the income tax and provided for the people rather than the state legislatures to elect U.S. senators. This strange politician mistrusts not only government, but the voters too.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1937, amidst the Great Depression, that Social Security was constitutional under Congress’ power to promote the general welfare. “The hope behind this statute,” wrote Justice Benjamin Cardozo, “is to save men and women from the rigors of the poor house, as well as from the haunting fear that such a lot awaits them when journey’s end is near.” The states individually, he said, could not manage a problem that “is plainly national in area and dimensions.”

The same surely is true, 74 years later, of the fact that more than 40 million Americans lack health insurance.

But the current Supreme Court no longer pays even lip service to precedent. However it rules on the Affordable Health Care Act, it will likely be by a vote of five to four. Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife has campaigned ardently against the legislation, would be eager to write an opinion undercutting Social Security and Medicare as well as the issue at hand.

If they survive, it would be by only a thread — one that the next president might cut with his first appointment to the court. If you want to undo a century of progress, Perry’s your man.

Martin A. Dyckman

Waynesville

To the Editor:

I found it curious that the slew of bills rushed through the first session of our new Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature were reported in the national news as being introduced in other Republican-controlled state legislatures as well. I figured that the national Republican Party was pulling the puppet strings. Then I found about ALEC and got really scared.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a corporate-funded and controlled group of state legislators. Corporations write legislation that will directly benefit their bottom lines, and the participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, bring these proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the country as their own ideas. This is why the bills are so uniform across the country and were ready to be introduced on day one of the legislative sessions.  

You will find just about all of the controversial bills from our last N.C. legislative session there – repealing the federal health care law, suppressing voter turnout, privatizing schools, abolishing environmental  protections, granting tax breaks to big corporations and crippling the state’s ability to raise revenue. I found under “ALEC Politicians” 35 Republican members of our N.C. House of Representatives listed, including Speaker Thom Tillis who was the 2011 ALEC State Legislator of the Year. To their credit, Republican state senators Jim Davis. R-Franklin, and Ralph Hise, R-Spruce Pine, deny ties to ALEC (and they are not listed), but they voted consistently for ALEC legislation, and Sen. Davis says he supports ALEC’s philosophy.

It is shameful that our N.C. Republican-controlled legislature makes laws which benefit corporate bottom lines at the expense of the economic security of North Carolina families. I understand now why they did nothing to create jobs for our citizens. High unemployment allows corporations to keep wages and benefits low.  I fear that the radical Republicans in Raleigh are working for multi-national corporations instead of the people of North Carolina.

Carole Larivee

Waynesville

Maggie Valley will host a craft show this Labor Day weekend from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 and 4 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds

Visitors can find handmade crafts of all kinds from local artisans and crafters. Works will include pottery, photographers, hand painted murals, stained glass, jewelry from gemstones to polymer clay bead art, dichroic glass designers, floral arrangements, wood turners and wood crafters, crocheted and knitted items, homemade jams & jellies, artful clothing, leather & deerskin pouches, kitchen accessories, quilts of all sizes, soy candles, soaps and more.

This year’s show will feature more than 100 exhibitors from North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama.

In addition to crafts, there will be piped music throughout the day and festival foods will be prepared by local groups and vendors.

Fireworks sponsored by the Town of Maggie Valley will start at 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 4.

For more information call 828.497.9425 or visit www.maggievalleycraftshows.com.

A LakeAlooza Party is being held from 12 to 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 at Fontana Village Resort. There are scheduled lake games, inner tube races, food and live entertainment provided by Randy Flack from noon until 3 p.m. Fontana Marina offers free launch and trailer parking for guests bringing their own watercraft to the event.

The Wildwood Grill will feature live music by My Highway from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday night. The band plays a mix from the country and southern rock genres.

Fireworks will start at 9:30 p.m. in front of the Wildwood Grill on the Village Green. The resort is also offering free admission to the Stone Creek pool and lazy river on Saturday and Sunday.

www.fontanavillage.com/events.

The Liars Bench, a Southern Appalachian variety show, will start at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1, at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center.

The Liars Bench was founded by Sylva writer and storyteller Gary Carden in June 2010, and the show’s cast presented monthly programs at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva during its first year. The ensemble gave its first performance in the Mountain Heritage Center auditorium in July.

With a theme of “Folklore, Lies and Tall Tales,” the upcoming show will feature Carden, voice artist David Hirt and author Curtis Blanton telling tales. Also performing will be show regulars Paul Iarussi, Barbara Duncan and Dave Waldrop.

The presentation is free, but donations will be accepted.

828.227.7129.

The P.A.W.S. Wine Tasting and Silent Auction, the largest fundraiser for the non-profit, no-kill animal shelter, will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, at Lands Creek Log Cabins Harmony Hall in Bryson City.

P.A.W.S. cares for approximately 150 to 180 dogs and cats each year through donations, grants and a thrift store.

Each year the auction features about 250 items ranging from handcrafted jewelry to weekend getaway packages, restaurant gift certificates and more.

Hors d’oeuvres and a selection North Carolina wines will be featured for tasting.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance or at the door. For directions to Lands Creek Log Cabins, call 828.488.9793 or visit www.landscreek.com.

828.333.4267 or www.pawsbrysoncity.org.

Music at the Mill is coming to the Francis Grist Mill in Waynesville from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 10, celebrating the newly restored 124-year-old mill.  

It is the only grist mill of its type in Western North Carolina.

Balsam Range and Hill Country Band will entertain visitors with bluegrass favorites. The Frog Level Philharmonic will provide a blend of Dixieland and jazz.

The 1887 timber frame mill operated until 1976. The vast majority of the restoration labor was done by volunteers who contributed over 4,500 hours of their time with more than $56,000 of in-kind donations.

Tickets for the barbecue and an afternoon of music are $10 and are available at Elements Salon in Waynesville or by calling 828.456.6307.

Rock the Square, a Labor Day weekend concert and street dance, will he held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2, in the Town Square gazebo on Main Street in downtown Franklin.

The award-winning C-Square Band will perform 1950s to 70s pop and Motown hits, including “Bye, Bye Love,” “Mustang Sally,” “Stand By Me,” “What’d I Say,” and many more.  

Bring a lawn chair, family, and friends. Food vendors will be on site. For more information call the Macon County Arts Council at 828.524.7683 or visit www.artscouncilofmacon.org.

A weekend of gospel music will kick off at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, and continue through Sept. 4 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Concerts will begin at 7 p.m. on both days.

Saturday’s concert will feature The Inspirations and The Primitive Quartet, and Sunday brings back The Inspirations and The McKameys.

The Inspirations, based out of Bryson City, have sold more than 1 million records, charted more than 60 hit songs, and have been awarded numerous awards.

The Primitive Quartet has performed together for 38 years. Their old-time Southern Gospel music features four-part harmony and instruments such as the mandolin, banjo, fiddle, guitar and acoustic bass. They are based out of Chandler, but travel 50,000 miles each year spreading the gospel through song.

The McKameys are a professional Southern Gospel group from Clinton, Tenn. They perform 150 days a year and travel all over North American. They have had 24 number one singles and in 1999, were honored by their record label, Horizon, for having the most number one hits in the history of Gospel Music.

Tickets start at $10. 866.273.4615 or greatmountainmusic.com.

A 9/11 Memorial Exhibit containing replica banners sent by school children to the volunteers, police, firefighters and EMS at Ground Zero In New York City will be on display starting with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 2, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

The banners are on permanent display in St. Paul’s Church, which served as the triage and rest area during the early days of rescue and recovery efforts.  Photographer Rick “Sharky” Gorton was the only photographer given permission to record these banners, and he has partnered with the Jackson County Arts Council and Gallery 1 to bring the commemorative exhibit to Sylva.

828.587.2233.

Tim and Beth Thrift will give a presentation on Photographing Your Artwork at 6:15 p.m. on Sept. 8, for the Art League of the Smokies in Bryson City.  They own PVP Studio, a full-service videography and photography studio located in Waynesville.

The Thrifts will give simple, step-by-step tips from their years of experience on how to get great results when photographing your artwork or other subjects.

The Thrifts were former educators and have spent many years in their respective crafts. Tim has over 40 years of experience in videography. He started working with educational television in the 70s.  In the late 80s he began videotaping weddings and continues to offer this service.

Beth’s interest in photography began as a hobby. When she left education in 2000, she devoted herself to becoming a proficient photographer, first in film and later in digital.  

828.488.7843 or www.swain.k12.nc.us.cfta

The Cashiers Arts and Crafts Show will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 and 4 at the Village Green in Cashiers.

There will be 57 vendors of fine arts and crafts along with food and fun for people of all ages.

In addition, the Rotary Club will be picking the winner for their annual raffle. The winner of the drawing will receive their choice of a large flat screen TV, a stainless barbecue grill or $2000 dollars cash. Tickets are $10 each and there will be some available at the show.

Admission is $3 and all proceeds from entrance fees will go to the charitable work of the Cashiers Valley Rotary Club. For more information, call David Berger at 407.620.2685.

Penland School of Crafts has open spaces in several of its eight-week fall classes available at half tuition to Western North Carolina residents.

The session runs Sept. 25 through Nov. 18 with openings in drawing, glass,  jewelry and letterpress printing. The drawing class, taught by Janet Link, will be an intensive session in observational drawing using graphite, charcoal and other media. Simon Maberley’s glass class will focus on glass sculpture through blowing, hot sculpting, mold making, cold working, kiln forming and mixed media. In the metals studio, C. James Meyer will cover all aspects of designing and making jewelry, including basic fabrication skills, soldering, stone setting and mechanisms. Printer Paul Moxon’s letterpress class will start with hand typesetting and production presswork using Vandercook presses. The class will also cover relief image-making, the fundamentals of book design and basic bookbinding.

Classes are open to students of all levels and beginners are welcome. For more information, call 828.765.2359, ext. 15 or visit www.penland.org.

The Haywood Arts Regional Theater will give area talent a chance to strut their stuff and win prize money in its first “Haywood’s Got Talent” event in September.

Auditions for the contest will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. on Sept. 11 and beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 12.

HART is offering a $1,000 top prize for the winner and lesser cash prizes for the runners up in two categories, 15 and under, and 16 and over.

Contestants are not limited to Haywood County, there is no age limit or category restrictions but all contestants must first make it past a screening audition. Everyone from musicians to jugglers and dancers to acrobats are encouraged to audition.

Anyone unable to attend auditions may submit a recorded audition via mail to HART at P.O. Box 1024, Waynesville, N.C., 28786, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or YouTube prior to auditions.

Those who get past the initial audition will part of a semifinal round of performances Sept. 16 and 17 which will be presented as full variety shows on the HART main stage. Each night will feature different performers selected from the prior weeks’ auditions.

The finals will be held on Sept. 23, with winners selected by three guest judges and the audience.

The event is a fundraiser for HART, now in its 26th season. The company presents a year-round schedule of plays and musicals.

For more information, visit www.harttheatre.com.

Area outdoor painters will bring their paint boxes and easels to Macon County for Paint the Macon Mountains on Sept. 10 and 11, supported by the International Plein Air Painters.

Artists from Asheville to Atlanta are expected to be outdoors throughout the county, painting the waterfalls and beautiful scenery.

Plein air artists seek the quality of natural light and atmosphere outdoors.  They use a variety of media, from oils through watercolors and pastels. The public will be able to join in by watching individual artists work on location throughout the two days. 

A list of locations where you can spot artists working will be available online at www.PaintTheMountains.info and submissions of artwork from the artists will be posted on the site after the event.

828.524.8585 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Waynesville’s Labor Day Block Party will run from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, in downtown. Main Street will close at 5 p.m. for setup.

Restaurants will remain open, many with outdoor seating. A kettle corn vendor and homemade baked goods will be offered by the Waynesville Police Department as a fund raiser for their SRT training. Mr. Tom, the balloon man, will return to the children’s area in front of Fun Things.

The 96.5 House Band will play a set spanning nearly four decades of hits. The Josh Fields Band, a mixture of Southern rock, classic and contemporary country, and bluegrass, is back and Rafe Hollister will bring their own brand of roots music with a seasoned and authentic sound.

Many shops and galleries will remain open. Port-a-jons will be in the upper parking lot of the United Community Bank.

The Waynesville Gallery Association will present Art After Dark from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2, in downtown Waynesville.

Art After Dark takes place the first Friday of each month, May through December. Patrons can stroll through working studios and galleries on Main Street, Depot Street and in Historic Frog Level. Art After Dark flags denote participating galleries. Steve Whiddon will provide music on the street.

Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86 is hosting its newest exhibition, “Donna Rhodes: All Over The Map” celebrating the wide artistic range and whimsy of artist and Tuscola High art teacher, Donna Rhodes.

Twigs and Leaves Gallery will be featuring clay jewelry artist, Jody Funk. Funk will be demonstrating her work in clay.

Gallery 262 is showing the works of Jere Smith and Dan Wright. Smith is a woodworker and furniture maker and Wright is a stained glass artist.

828.452.9284 or www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.

Artist draws on lifetime of experience for new show

An exhibition of artist Donna Rhodes’ work called All Over the Map will run through Sept. 17 at the Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86 in downtown Waynesville. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 2.

The show is a visual journey that criss-crosses the multi-media landscape Rhodes’ unique view of the world.

She holds a degree in music in addition to being a professional artist and art instructor at Tuscola High School, a writer and photographer and a staff writer for The Laurel Magazine in Highlands. She is currently working on three children’s books.

For more information, call 828.452.0593 or visit www.haywoodarts.org.

Four decades of tradition have built the foundation for the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, which will launch into its 41st year on Sept. 2 and 3 at Stuart Auditorium in Lake Junaluska.

More than 200 dancers and musicians grace the shores of Lake Junaluska to entertain spectators over the Labor Day weekend.

Open tent shows will kick off each evening of entertainment at 5 p.m. Shows on the main stage in the 2,000-seat auditorium will start at 6:30 p.m. and end after 11 p.m.

The festival offers the chance to experience a broad range of musical and dance styles. Masters of traditional bluegrass instruments such as the banjo and fiddle will show of their skills, and more unorthodox and unusual instruments such as the dulcimer, harmonica, Native American flute, bagpipes and even spoons and a carpenter’s saw will provide the weekend’s music.

Buck dancers, square dancers, ballad singers and other traditional performers will round out the thoroughly Appalachian lineup.

The festival finds its history in Festival Director Joe Sam Queen, who teamed up with a local fiddler to celebrate the mountain music and dance of his grandfather, who had recently died.

Those first festivals were held in the gym of what is now Waynesville Middle School.

“My grandfather, Sam Queen, made mountain music and dancing such a big part of this community’s life, we wanted to carry on this family tradition and share it with the community just as he had done,” said Queen.

So he gathered local talents to keep the traditions alive, and they proved popular with local crowds.

The audiences began to grow and eventually outpaced the meager space offered by the gym.

Today, the performances garner more than 1,500 visitors each night.

But though the festival has grown in size, the traditions that inspired its inception still inform the festival today. Each festivalgoer, for example, is still given a free slice of watermelon to munch on while enjoying the show.

Tickets are $12 at the door and $10 in advance. Children under 12 are admitted free. For more information, call 828.452.1688.

Performers List — 2011 Smoky Mountain Folk Festival

Senator Joe Sam Queen- Master of Ceremonies

Friday Sept. 2

5:00 Open Tent Show

Stoney Creek Boys

6:30 — Mountain Tradition

Lee Knight

Honey Hollar

7 p.m. — Cole Mountain Cloggers  

George & Brook Buckner

Roger Howell

Rodney Sutton  

7:30 — UNC A Smooth Dancers

The Trantham Family

Mack Snoderly

8 p.m. —  Dixie Darlin’s

Laura Boosinger

Spirit Fiddle/ Robin Warren

8:35 — Green Valley Cloggers

Phil & Gaye Johnson

Cockman Family

9:15 — Southern Mountain Smoke

Ken Harrison

Joe Pendland

9:45 — Bailey Mountain Cloggers

Ross Brothers

Bryan McDowell

Stony Creek Boys

10:15 — J Creek Cloggers

10:30 — Southern Mountain Smoke

Stoney Creek Boys

Also expected to perform: Don Pedi, Karen “Sugar” Barnes, Bobby Hicks

Hazel Creek, and Mike Lowe        

Saturday, Sept. 3

5 p.m.— Open Tent Show

Whitewater Bluegrass Co.

6:30 — Fines Creek Flatfooters

Helena Hunt & Tracy Best

Ken Harrison

7 p.m. — Southern Mountain Fire-Smooth

Betty Smith

Mack Snoderly

7:30 —  Stoney Creek Cloggers

Phil & Anne Case

Hominy Valley Boys

8 p.m. — Southern Appalachian Cloggers

Trantham Family

The Cockman Family

8:45 — Appalachian Mountaineers

Paul’s Creek

Spirit Fiddle/Robin Warren

9:15 — Smoky Mountain Stompers

Joe Pendland

Whitewater Bluegrass

William Ritter

10 — Southern Mountain Fire Cloggers  

Mike Pilgram

Whitewater Bluegrass Co.

*All performers are volunteer; therefore schedule could change without notice.

The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce exceed goals set for its 2011 “Goin’ Coastal” Membership and Sponsorship Campaign.

The campaign teams recruited 68 new members and approximately $61,000 in sponsorship dollars. The original goal was 50 members and $50,000. During May and June, nine teams consisting of employees from area businesses volunteered to recruit new members throughout the campaign.

“The success of the campaign was directly attributed to the teamwork that the volunteers put into helping build value to both the chamber and the new businesses,” said Campaign Chairman Greg Boothroyd of The Smoky Mountain News.

Representatives from Champion Credit Union, Keller Williams Realty, The Smoky Mountain News, Old Town Bank, BB&T, Home Trust Bank, United Community Bank, chamber ambassadors, and the chamber board of directors shared the benefits of chamber membership as they reached out to area businesses that were not yet with the chamber. Chamber membership extends to all the employees of a member business, allowing them to take advantage of seminars, networking opportunities and special events that provide valuable business information and enable employees and business owners to build resourceful contacts. www.haywood-nc.com.

Drake Enterprises CEO Phil Drake, who owns a family of 18 businesses based in Macon County, will give a free seminar called “Guiding Business Expansion: There Is More Than One Way“ from 9:15 to 11:15 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, in Asheville.

A master of vertical integration, learn how Drake has spawned new revenue through diversified products, services, markets and businesses. He will talk about successful strategies and tactics Drake has used to leverage key company or business assets for more than one operational or revenue purpose, often transforming internal solutions to a business challenge into a new stand alone enterprise.

Learn how to retain customers, stay ahead of competition, and grow brand strength for any business in any industry.

Sponsored by Mountain BizWorks. Held in the Asheville Chamber Conference Room on Montford Avenue.

RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.253.2834 ext. 17.

The 28-year-old co-founder and CEO of a global organization committed to eradicating extreme poverty will visit Western Carolina University on Wednesday, Sept. 7, to inform campus and surrounding community members about the issues and inspire them to take action.

Hugh Evans of the Global Poverty Project will present an interactive multimedia presentation called “1.4 Billion Reasons” at 7 p.m. in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. The event, which kicks off a yearlong, poverty-focused interdisciplinary learning and service initiative at WCU, is free and open to the public.

In the presentation, Evans will discuss simple, everyday changes community members can make in what they learn, say, buy, give and do to be part of the solution. He will explore five questions: What is extreme poverty? Can we do anything about it? What are the barriers to ending extreme poverty? Why should we care? What can I do?

Evans’ presentation kicks off a year-long interdisciplinary learning and service initiative called the WCU Poverty Project. Throughout the 2011-12 academic year, students, faculty and staff from across campus will take part in engaged teaching, learning, service and creative and scholarly opportunities focused on poverty, locally and globally.

For more information contact John Whitmire at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.227.2636, or Cooper at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.227.2595.

The Waynesville Recreation Center will close for routine maintenance work from Sept. 12-18. The center will reopen on Sept. 19 at 5 am.

The pool will also be closed from Sept. 10 to Sept. 25. The lap pool will reopen on Sept. 26 at 5:30 am and the water park will reopen at 11 am. Both pools will be resurfaced and a new deck installed during the closing period.

For more information call the center at 828.456.2030 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Laura McCue, district director of N.C. Fair Tax, will be the guest speaker at the Sept. 6 meeting of the Mountain High Republican Women’s Club (MHRWC) luncheon and business meeting at the Wildcatcliff Country Club in Cashiers.

She will discuss bills currently in Congress for abolishing the IRS and eliminating the income tax, which she argues will ensure that everyone pays into the system and allow American businesses to compete fairly.

All MHRWC members, prospective members and anyone in the community interested in learning more about the Fair Tax are encouraged to attend. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. The cost of the lunch is $20 with advance reservations and $25 at the door. Reservations are requested by noon on Sept. 2 online at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone to 828.200.7900.

Maggie Valley will have a free Labor Day weekend fireworks on Sunday, Sept. 4, with viewing from the Festival Grounds.

The fireworks will start at dark. During the day, the Maggie Valley Craft Show will be taking place at the festival grounds. Gates at the festival grounds will open at 7:30 p.m. for those coming to view the fireworks.

No food, beverage or coolers will be allowed. Food and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase inside the venue. Bring blanket or lawn chair.

For information call 828.926.0866, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or visit www.maggievalleyfestivalgrounds.org.

If you are farming in Haywood County, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service is accepting applications to support efforts that improve water quality.

Cost-share is available for practices include watering tanks, fencing, streambank stabilization, pastureland improvement, sediment control on agriculture lands, agri-chemical buildings, forest stand improvement and more. A percentage for actual costs of installation of projects will be paid through this farm bill program.  

Interested farmers should stop by the USDA office at 589 Raccoon Road, Suite 203, in Waynesville by Oct. 14 to submit an application.

828.452.2741 ext. 3 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Learn how to manage forests for wildlife and timber production, plus review tax strategies and estate planning at an upcoming workshop through The North Carolina Tree Farm Program.

The event is set for Thursday, Sept. 15 beginning at 9 a.m. at Brasstown Community Center in Brasstown.

Participants will visit a Cherokee County forest landowner who is actively managing his property using the techniques discussed in the workshop. Transportation will be provided.

The event is being held in cooperation with N.C. Forest Service, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Natural Resource Conservation Service, N.C. Cooperative Extension and the Southern Appalachian Multiple-Use Council.

A free lunch will be served, sponsored by Valwood Forest Products, Evergreen Packaging, Columbia Forest Products and the Cook Brothers Lumber Company. Advance registration is requested. 828.389.6305.  Question about the workshop should be directed to Steve Henson, 828.506.4786.

The Jackson County Farmers Market will hold its annual “Taste of the Market” starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, featuring a variety of seasonal vegetables and local products.

A simple solar panel will be on display. There will be kid games and activities, and music. There also will be a Tomato Tasting, giving participants the opportunity to make their own tomato sandwiches using their favorite tomatoes in exchange of donations to The Community Table. A community garden helps The Community Table incorporate fresh produce in the soup kitchen’s meals.

The Farmers Market is located in downtown Sylva every Saturday on Railroad Avenue (in the Bridge Park) from 9 a.m. until noon.

Hal Herzog of Western Carolina University will discuss the complications of human-animal relationships, the focus of his recently published book, Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About Animals.

The event is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1 at the Highlands Nature Center, the final installation of the Highlands Biological Foundation’s “Think About Thursdays” summer series.

Herzog, a psychology professor at WCU, has investigated the complex psychology of our interactions with other species for more than 20 years.  

828.526.2221 or www.wcu.edu/hbs.

Shutterbug alert: A fall field photography program will run for four weeks starting in September in Haywood County. Class members will meet up Wednesday mornings in Waynesville then head into the field with group leader Bob Grytten, an award-winning photographer. Grytten captured this shot of a Cataloochee elk, a popular subject for his outdoor photography students. Every other Tuesday evening, a classroom session is held to review images, discuss equipment, composition, computers and other photography aspects.  Field shoots are $45 each; Tuesday evening programs are $10 each. 828.627,0245 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.lensluggerworld.com.

More than 400 riders participated in the second Blue Ridge Breakaway, held this Saturday (Aug. 20) in Haywood County. The Breakaway, sponsored by the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce, has four different rides for cyclists of varying fitness levels, including a 100-miler that takes participants on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

{gallery}breakaway11{/gallery}

Need help paying for research or educational outreach about the environment, gardening or horticulture?

The Haywood County Master Gardener Volunteer Association has money for either full or partial-matching grants. Deadline for applications is Aug. 31.

Projects must further the association’s and county’s goals, such as gardening projects including demonstration gardens and educational ventures at schools and community workshops.

Grants have been awarded to a Haywood Community College student studying horticulture, a worm bin (vermicomposting system) for a teacher at Hazelwood Elementary, a rain gauge for a teacher at Clyde Elementary, a children’s garden at Pigeon Street Community Center for installation and refurbishing a garden at HCC by a student.

“We encourage county schools that have horticultural classes to apply,” said Tim Mathews, horticultural agent at the Haywood County Cooperative Extension Service.

Money for the grants is raised by the association through annual plants sales, sales of the Master Gardener almanac and garden gloves.

828.456.3575.

Young gardeners from Junaluska Elementary School won first place recently in a landscape design competition at the N.C. Master Gardeners conference in Raleigh.

The Junaluska school garden is planted, maintained and harvested by 40 first- and second-graders working with a dozen master gardener volunteers.

Soon after the garden’s modest beginning in 2002, Tim Mathews, horticultural agent at the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, brought a small group of master-gardener volunteers on board. Since then, the garden has grown to 3,000 square feet where more than 30 different vegetables are integrated with annuals, perennials, herbs and blueberries.

“We couldn’t do what we do without the tremendous support and enthusiasm of the teachers and other school staff,” said volunteer Jane Young. “It has been a marvelous undertaking. The kids get so excited participating in this process of nurturing the soil and producing really good, interesting food. The sheer beauty of the garden with so many colors and shapes and fragrances, butterflies, and even a resident tree swallow, makes it a wonderful place for children and adults to work together.”

Mathews said that the success of the program at Junaluska has led to the initiation of similar programs at Hazelwood Elementary School and Riverbend, both in Haywood County.

828.456.3575.

A horse in the eastern part of the state tested positive this month for Easter Equine Encephalomyelitis, a warning to horse owners across North Carolina to keep their animals up-to-date on vaccinations.

Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis is a viral disease that impacts the central nervous system of all members of the equine species. Humans can also contract the disease.  Healthy adults who contract encephalomyelitis show flu-like symptoms. The equine mortality rate ranges from 75 to 90 percent.

Infected horses often show signs that include fever, depression, loss of appetite, irritability, weakness, excitability, central nervous system disorders (ie. circling, lack of coordination, head pressing, the tell-tale “saw horse” stance, sensitivity to light, and blindness). Horses should be vaccinated against the disease annually. In addition, measures to limit mosquito populations will help decrease spread of the disease. It is also important that horse owners report to a veterinarian any cases in which signs of encephalomyelitis are observed.

Three local dahlia growers in Haywood County, Jack Leatherwood, Johnny Trantham and Ken Zula, were recently visited by Southern Living Magazine and showcased in the Aug. edition of the magazine.

Haywood County’s secret — the temperate climate of cool nights and warm, sunny days — provides the perfect environment for dahlias. The county also has had a long history with this flower, starting with A.L. Freedlander, who was Dayco president and CEO for many years. When he made a donation to establish Haywood Community College, he stipulated that a dahlia garden be included in the initial funding for the 80-acre arboretum. The garden now has about 400 plants with more than 250 varieties of dahlias, and is open to the public.

The Wayesville Council of Gardens Glubs’ Dahlia Show will have a dahlia show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 25 through the 27 at the Waynesville First Baptist Church on Main Street.

All entries should be brought to the church from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Thursday morning. Judging will be done by viewers and a Viewer’s Choice Award in both the single flower and arrangement category. Free admission. www.carolinasdahliasociety.org or 828.452.2411.

Ron Rash will visit City Lights Bookstore to read from his first poetry book in 10 years, Waking, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28.

Rooted in places such as Watauga County, Goshen Creek and Dismal Mountain, the poems in Rash’s fourth collection, Waking, electrify dry counties and tobacco fields until they sparkle with the rituals and traditions of Southerners in the stir of their lives.

Rash leads his readers on a Southern odyssey, full of a terse wit and a sense of the narrative so authentic it will dazzle you. As we wake inside these poems, we see rivers wild with trout, lightning storms, and homemade churches, nailed and leaning against the side of a Tennessee mountain.

A two-time PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist, Rash has been compared to writers like John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy. With his eye for the perfect detail and an ear for regional idiom, Rash furthers his claim as the new torchbearer for literature in the American South.

For information call City Lights at 828.586.9499.

Local author Vivian McDarris will read from her recent book, Black Fog, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, at Blue Ridge Books in downtown Waynesville.

Of her writing, McDarris says, “stories have echoed through generations of my family; from grandfathers to great uncles, they all had a story to tell. Stories related to our family were the favorite ones shared.”

It was these stories that inspired her writing and desire to share those stories. Black Fog is a romantic time-travel novel and is the first of a series of four books which deal with the Clan of Darrock.

For more information call 828.456.6000 or visit blueridgebooksnc.com.

To the Editor:

Thank you for the thoughtful, informative and balanced article on Lake Emory in Franklin. I would like to put my comments in more context. I do this knowing full well that the worst response a biologist can make in discussions of environmental management is “it’s complex.” Sorry, folks, but this is complex.

My concern over the toxic substances which may be contained in deep sediment layers is just that, a concern. As the article points out, studies of some aspects of sediment toxicity are ongoing. I think it would be fair to report that these studies have yet to reach firm conclusions – it’s complex. My point is that, especially given the importance of the river below Porters Bend Dam for a suite of sensitive and in some cases endangered mussel species, the highest possible degree of caution is in order.

There is another Lake Emory pollution issue, which also rates consideration. Franklin’s municipal wastewater treatment system discharges directly into Lake Emory some distance above the dam. Below that point, all the way through the Needmore Game Lands to Fontana, there are no permitted point source discharges – surely a major factor in the persistence of one of the healthiest large river reaches in the Southeast.

Essentially the river benefits from Lake Emory serving as a free tertiary treatment facility. What would be the effect if all the nutrients from treated effluent were passed quickly to the lower river instead of being acted on by the still waters, sediments and myriad critters of Lake Emory?

Shirley Ches’ perception of the sediment buildup is understandable, and certainly downed trees and other debris serve to trap sediment, sometimes in inconvenient places, but sedimentation was a problem in Lake Emory long before 1993. It is a fact that all artificial lakes, absent dredging, have a finite life span. No matter how deep the reservoir at the outset, and even if the upstream watershed is a pristine wilderness, reservoirs will eventually fill up with sediment.

Today, thanks to the combination of a changing economy  and the efforts of organizations such as the Macon Soil and Water Conservation District, the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the Little Tennessee Watershed Association, as well as individual land owners, the situation appears to be much better – Lake Emory is probably filling up more slowly.  But we still don’t know how quickly a dredged Lake Emory would fill and without that information the cost-benefit aspect of dredging remains decidedly fuzzy.

I share and applaud Quintin Ellison’s asthetic perception of the islands and hidden channels of Lake Emory – a haven for waterfowl. What has been accomplished there is accidental mitigation for some wetlands lost to “development.” And yet, neither they nor a deeper, “cleaner” Lake Emory are natural or stable.

Here is where the matter gets tricky for me as a conservation biologist. Taking the long view, I consider all dams and the reservoirs they create as environmental insults to rivers. A river achieves its full natural potential only when it is continuous and can serve as a corridor for up and downstream migration of fish and other animals. I cannot help but wonder if some of the fish species which today are found below Porters Bend Dam but not above were present upstream before the river was dammed. I cannot help but imagine how beautiful the Little Tennessee must have been at the natural drop the engineers chose for the dam site.  

In my Utopian future, Lake Emory and others of its kind would not exist. People in Minnesota would recreate on lakes, but North Carolinians would swim, fish, hunt ducks and paddle on rivers. And there is a constituency for the removal of Porters Bend Dam, just as there was for the Dillsboro Dam.

On the other hand, my realistic side, based on nearly 30 years of living and working on the Little Tennessee, has always inclined to the opinion that on balance, Lake Emory does more good than harm.  If that be the case, then the question becomes “how best to manage Lake Emory” – a question which encompasses dredging and a great deal more. It’s complex.

Bill McLarney

Franklin

Principal chief candidate Patrick Lambert is calling foul after refusing to divulge his pay information to the tribe’s internal auditors. Lambert said they were trying to expose his personal information as a political smear.

The tribe’s internal audit office told Lambert it needed to know his salary at the Tribal Gaming Commission to prepare taxes for the Cherokee Youth Center/Boys & Girls Club. Lambert is a board member. The IRS, it claimed, needed the income paid to any board member of the Boys & Girls club by a related entity.

Both the Boys & Girls Club and gaming commission are tribal operations, so that means related, said the auditor.

Lambert, however, said “no.” Of all the people who sit on that board, why, he asked, was he being singled out?

“Nobody else was contacted to my knowledge,” said Lambert. “I refused to give my W2s. There’s often times people on these volunteer charity boards refuse to give these things, and the IRS accepts that fact if the organization has used reasonable effort.”

Auditor Sharon Blankenship, however, wasn’t taking “no” for an answer. She came to the office of the Tribal Gaming Commission, looking for the documents herself.

She was rebuffed there, as well, and asked to leave after Lambert’s staff put in a call to the Cherokee Police Department. Cherokee Code says that no one but a gaming commissioner can access gaming commission files.

Lambert charges that the effort to uncover his salary is politically motivated, an attempt by the current administration to use it as a smear campaign against him. Blankenship contends that she’s just trying to follow the rules set by the IRS.

The issue came up in a special session of tribal council last Wednesday, where Council Member Teresa McCoy asked why the audit office was going after the papers now.

“I was on that board in 2010 and nobody came to my house and said, ‘I want to look at your tax papers,’” said McCoy.

Blankenship, however, defended her actions. They did, she said, get in touch with everyone and the gaming commission is the only one that didn’t provide salary information.

In the end, Lambert’s attorney turned in an IRS form, but maintained that Lambert is in no way obligated to give out his W2s.