Learn how to take great photographs of spring wildflowers by participating in a guided photography hike on Tuesday, May 15.

Professional nature photographer and teacher Don McGowan (Earthsong Photography) will lead this photography hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

McGowan has been a professional nature photographer for 18 years, including five years as staff photographer for Friends of the Smokies. McGowan’s images and articles have appeared in Smoky Mountain Memories, Georgia Journal, Outdoor Photographer, Smoky Mountain Living, Preservation, and Smokies Life magazines. He currently operates EarthSong Photography, providing in-depth nature photography workshop experiences around the country.

Participants will gather to depart from Waynesville at 8 a.m. Hikers should come prepared with food, water and appropriate hiking gear for the all day excursion. DSLR cameras preferred. A donation of $35 to go to the Friends of the’ Smokies is requested and includes a complimentary membership to Friends of the Smokies.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.452.0720.

A bird walk and program led by N.C. Audobon’s Curtis Smalling and international birding enthusiast Romney Bathurst will be held in Lonesome Valley in Cashiers May 12.

The event is sponsored by the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society. Participants will look especially for migratory warblers. Interested birders will carpool from The Bascom parking lot in Highlands at 7:30 a.m. Cashiers and Sapphire Valley residents are encouraged to carpool from the area just behind Wendy’s restaurant, or go directly to Lonesome Valley. The walk, which will take approximately three-and-a-half hours, will begin at 8 a.m.

At 4 p.m., Smalling will present a program at The Bascom, “The Birds of the Highlands Plateau: Amazing Stories from a  Remarkable Place.” The program is free.

James T. Costa, Western Carolina University professor and director of Highlands Biological Station, is the recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Biodiversity Educator of the Year award bestowed by Discover Life in America.

The nonprofit organization helps run the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. ATBI has resulted in the discovery of more than 900 species new to science and more than 7,000 species never before recorded in the park.

The annual educator of the year award recognizes a person’s contributions to outreach and education in the study of biodiversity. Dan Pittillo, retired WCU professor of biology, nominated Costa for the award, citing his commitment to education and to research in areas such as the socialization of insects.

“As Costa pushes the knowledge frontier further, he is passionate about providing this information to everyone,” said Pittillo. “Working as the director of Highlands Biological Station, he continues to make the biodiversity of our very diverse region available to all that come into contact with the station.”

The award was presented to Costa at the ATBI Conference held in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Author Bob Plott will discuss Western North Carolina’s unique Plott Hound at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 17, at the Bethea Welcome Center.

Plott’s 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 chronicle how five of the Plott family hunting dogs survived the passage to America from Germany in 1750 with his ancestor, Johannes Plott, and in the ensuing years developed into a breed that is sought worldwide as a premier hunting dog.

This event is sponsored by the Live and Learn Committee of the Junaluskans, an organization of the residents and friends of Lake Junaluska.  

800.222.4930 .

The North Carolina Arboretum will participate in National Public Gardens Day on Friday, May 11, waiving the parking fee for those visitors who present the National Public Gardens Day coupon, which may be printed from the Better Homes and Gardens magazine website, www.bhg.com.

The coupon is only valid for the one day. Coupons must be presented to receive free admission and must be surrendered upon entry.

National Public Gardens Day celebrates all public gardens, arboreta, botanical gardens, educational gardens, specialty gardens, entertainment gardens, farm gardens, historical landscapes, and zoos with each institution participating in its own unique way.

Now in its fourth year, National Public Gardens Day is a national day of awareness in which communities nationwide are invited to visit and learn about the important role their public gardens play in promoting environmental stewardship and awareness, plant and water conservation, and education.

828.665.2492 or www.ncarboretum.org.

Former Cullowhee resident Marly Youmans will return to City Lights Bookstore at 6:30 p.m. on May 16 to read from her latest book A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage.

“Marly Youmans’ new book is a vividly realized, panoramic novel of survival during the Great Depression,” said author Ron Rash. “There is poetry in Youmans’ writing, but she also knows how to tell a riveting story.”

David R. Dorondo, associate professor in Western Carolina University’s Department of History, is author of the newly published book Riders of the Apocalypse: German Cavalry and Modern Warfare, 1870-1945.

In the 336-page work, Dorondo examines the history of the German cavalry and describes how the cavalry’s tradition carried on against a backdrop of rapid military industrialization.

Dorondo, a scholar of modern German military and political history, said the inspiration for his book was a modern European military history course that he teaches at WCU, combined with his lifelong affinity for horses. He grew up around horses in Savannah.

Dorondo also is the author of Bavaria and German Federalism: Reich to Republic, 1918-1933 and numerous articles and reviews.

Leah Hampton, an English instructor and associate director of the Writing and Learning Commons at Western Carolina University, is the winner of the 2012 Doris Betts Fiction Prize competition for her story “The Saint.”

Hampton will receive a cash prize from the North Carolina Writers Network, and her story will be published in the North Carolina Literary Review’s 2013 issue.

Liza Wieland, fiction editor at the North Carolina Literary Review, selected Hampton’s story from 12 finalists out of a total of 89 entries. “The Saint” was “both disarmingly wise and breathtakingly beautiful,” Wieland said. She chose it as the winner in large part for its “quiet, deliberate voice,” “energy of the language” and “experiment with chronology,” Wieland said.

“It felt so good to finish it, to feed that part of myself. I am so thrilled and fulfilled by this whole experience,” Hampton said.

To the Editor:

The recent letter authored by the new chairman of the Macon County Democratic Party seemed to be more about personal attacks on Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and Republicans in general than about “Why I’m a Democrat.” Such hostile and inaccurate rhetoric is counterproductive in Macon County, as many Democrats and Republicans are friends and work together on non-partisan boards and organizations to make our community a better place.  

One big difference between the two political parties is in how they approach challenges with regard to the needy. The Republican philosophy is to empower rather than enable. The Democratic Party created the “Great Society” with the best intentions, but that approach of helping the poor caused generations to become dependent on and enslaved by government for their needs. A more favorable path would have been creating an environment of personal responsibility leading to success in their lives. As Billy Graham recently observed, “we have rewarded laziness and called it welfare”.

Historically, the Democratic Party has had moments which do not reflect well on its reputation. One in this state that comes to mind is the 1887 County Government Act in which county commissioners were not elected but selected by (Democrats), thereby controlling the money and preventing blacks and Republicans from gaining political power. And who can forget Democrat Gov. George Wallace attempting to prevent black children from entering a public school. Certainly nothing to be proud of, but by no means representing today’s Democratic Party either.  

Decades of Democratic control of the government in Raleigh resulted in being in debt and out of touch with where the money came from (us). Raleigh’s Democratic-controlled legislatures spent money faster than it could be sent to them.

Republicans in North Carolina are now making the tough choices. Sen. Davis, to his credit, is one of those Republicans. Sen. Davis has attempted to correct the inaccurate numbers being offered by the new Democratic county chair with regard to adjustments in education funding and other areas, but the inaccuracies keep coming.

With over three years of divisive rhetoric coming from President Obama against Republicans, the wealthy, the fuel industry and others, it is no wonder it has trickled down. This is unfortunate. It is unbecoming of the new Democratic chair to be so visceral and lies in stark contrast to an earlier time when Ben Utley and I sat having breakfast together at the Huddle House. Ben Utley is the former chair of the Macon County Democratic Party and a gentleman.

I believe a more civil tone would be productive and better represent Macon County citizens who are registered Democrats, but who may expect more of their leader.  

Chris Murray, Chairman

Macon County Republican Party

“No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar.”

– Abraham Lincoln

To the Editor:

I am going to give Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, the benefit of the doubt and suggest that he suffers from a poor memory rather than a duplicitous character. He apparently does not remember a long and protracted discussion that took place at the Macon County public library on June 23, 2011. The objective of that well-attended meeting was to discuss the severe budget cuts to public education inflicted on North Carolina residents by the current Republican-led State General Assembly.

As 40 percent of the school-age children in North Carolina are now living in poverty, and numerous studies have indicated a correlation between academic performance and socioeconomic status, the issue of poverty was acutely germane to the conversation. Like several other people who attended that meeting, I am blessed with an adequate memory; however, memories can be unreliable, so I also took copious notes, in which I recorded verbatim some of Sen. Davis’ more startling statements.

Consequently, I read with disbelief Sen. Davis’ response to a letter to the editor of The Smokey Mountain News by Dr. Ed Morris dated May 2, wherein Sen. Davis accused Dr. Morris of “false claims.” Morris paraphrased Sen. Davis as saying, “Poor women have no business having children.” In his letter, Morris in no way implies that he is directly quoting Davis. What Sen. Davis actually said was, “People in poverty shouldn’t have children.” Dr. Morris’ statements do not conflict at all with this sentiment and are therefore not “false.”

Furthermore, Sen. Davis’ statement was not one could be easily misconstrued. He elaborated at length. Citing a statistic that 75 percent of the babies born at Angel Hospital are under Medicaid, he stated that “We are rewarding people to be parents who shouldn’t be parents.” I would argue to Sen. Davis that every child deserves to be born with adequate medical treatment, whether the parents should be “rewarded” or not.

Now Davis says his comments were taken out of context and what he really meant was “… people should not procreate unless they are prepared to support and nurture their offspring.” This cloaked statement merely clarifies the unreality with which Sen. Davis and his Republican colleagues view the world. Unlike privileged Romney and Davis, most Americans cannot “loan” their children several hundred thousand dollars for college or even afford the approximately $20,000 it costs to deliver a baby. This does not make them bad parents. It makes them average Americans — average Americans who are tired of Republican policies that enrich the privileged class while undermining the infrastructure of the middle class.

Kathleen McNary Wood

Franklin

To the Editor:

I live in Albuquerque currently, but I grew up in North Carolina and spent summers at Lake Junaluska. My father is a Methodist minister. I am a Christian, lesbian and in the most committed, loving, relationship of my life.

My mom called keep me updated on the vote next week to exclude gays and lesbians from marrying, having civil unions and/or domestic partnerships.

Every day as a psychotherapist I work to keep heterosexual families together. Every day, my wife (significant other,single on tax forms) and partner who works in child psych and pediatrics, put family’s lives back together.  

Every single day we work with children who have been raped, tortured, molested and otherwise by married mothers and fathers. And each day in New Mexico a gay or lesbian family steps up to adopt another unwanted child. We work with all families, believe in all families, and are pro families, regardless of makeup.

We have been considering moving back home to be closer to our families.

How can we ever return to North Carolina to be closer to our family if when we do we: would lose the right to adopt, lose the right to have one of us covered under the other’s insurance, lose the right to visit each other in the ICU, and lose the right to teach our children that the state of North Carolina, and the South in general, believe in and provide rights for all families.

I thought Jesus was a civil rights activist. He promoted love and rights for everyone. Frankly, I think he would be disgusted.

You may never know of the positive impact this paper had on the lives of people because you stood up and voiced such a necessary opinion to protect all children and all families (in the column in last week’s Smoky Mountain News, “Voters should defeat bigotry and Amendment One,” www.smokymountainnews.com/component/k2/item/6928). Thank you.

Traci Tippett,

Clinical Trainer, Psychotherapist

Albuquerque, N.M.

To the Editor:

No president serves for more than eight years but his influence on the Supreme Court lasts far longer. Andrew Jackson was 12 years in his grave when his Chief Justice, Roger Taney, brought on the Civil War by holding that Congress could not bar slavery from the territories. Nothing that can be asked of any presidential candidate is more important than what sort of justices he would appoint.

Barack Obama has already demonstrated his preference for mainstream justices by appointing Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, would choose justices like the ones he says he admires: the right-wing activists Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts Jr. and Samuel Alito. And when it seemed that Romney’s judicial outlook couldn’t get any worse, it did. He chose Robert Bork to co-chair his justice advisory committee.

Bork, it will be remembered, brought so extreme a record to his 1987 Supreme Court confirmation hearing that the Senate rejected him by a vote of 58 to 42, the largest margin ever. In Bork’s opinion, there was no constitutional right to privacy, no broad protection for freedom of speech, no equality for women and minorities. Only a few months ago, he asserted that women “aren’t discriminated against any more.”

Bork’s character impugns Romney’s judgment no less than Bork’s views. That character was laid bare in the Watergate crisis of 1973.

President Nixon was desperate to keep Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor, from obtaining the White House tapes that he knew would prove him guilty of obstruction of justice. When Cox insisted, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliott Richardson to fire him. Richardson refused and resigned. So did his deputy, William Ruckelshaus. Bork, as solicitor general and third in line, had no compunctions against becoming Nixon’s hatchetman.

For such a person to have Romney’s ear is to give cause for wonder as to whether any part of the candidate’s soul remains unsacrificed to his ambition.

Martin A. Dyckman

Waynesville

To the Editor:

Oh I am so distraught; and Chief Hicks is “appalled.” The Franklin maintenance crew has killed the weeds on the Indian mound! Is nothing sacred? Why must we be subjected to these cruel and heartless insults? Is there no justice in this world? And look, just because I’m not eligible enough of an Indian to get any free casino money, that doesn’t mean I can’t empathize. When I was a kid and we’d play cowboys and Indians, sometimes I’d be the Indian. So you can’t tell me anything about hurt feelings.

Indignantly yours.

Scott Muirhead

Maggie Valley

Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center, Department of Art and Hunter Library are joining forces to offer the Good Old Time Summer Camp for children ages 9 through 13.

Participants will attend the camp from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, July 23-27. The camp will provide an opportunity for children to explore the region’s culture, including the Cherokee and pioneer experience.

Participants will investigate and create crafts such as mask-making, weaving, candle-making, open hearth cooking and pottery. They also will hear a performance by an old-time musician and go on a field trip to local sites of natural and historical interest.

The fee is $90 per child, and daily lunch in a WCU dining hall is included. To register or for more information, visit learn.wcu.edu and click on “Camps and Programs for Kids” or call 828.227.7397.

Haywood Habitat for Humanity is holding an open enrollment through this month for people interested in purchasing a home through the agency.

Requirements for participants include being a resident of Haywood County and having an annual household income between $20,400 and $32,880. Additionally, participants must currently live in substandard, unsafe, overcrowded or subsidized housing, and be willing to invest time into building your own home.

Houses are sold to approved partner families at cost to keep monthly payments affordable. There is no interest on the mortgage.

828.452.7960 or www.haywoodhabitat.org.

There will be a barbecue fund-raiser for the Waynesville Skate Park from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 2, at the Waynesville Recreation Center. The cost is $5 per sack lunch, which will contain a sandwich, chips and a drink.

Construction will begin late summer. The park will be 8,000 square feet and located at the site of the old horse ring on Vance Street in Waynesville.

The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department is also selling T-shirts promoting the new Waynesville Skate Park. The shirts are $10 each and may be purchased at the Waynesville Recreation Center. All proceeds will go towards the cost of the park.

828.456.2030 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

P.A.W.S. Animal Shelter will celebrate children and animals of all ages with a day of fun and games at the second Annual “PAWSitively Fun Kids Day” festival starting at 10 a.m. on May 12 at Rivermont Park in downtown Bryson City.

Bring your furry best friend or come and play with one of the shelter animals that will be at the festival. There will be all kinds of fun games, contests, a crafts table for kids to unleash their artistic talents, refreshments, and a prize for every kid that completes the “Waggin’ Trail” scavenger hunt.  

All pets must be on leash to enter festival grounds. For more information and directions call P.A.W.S. Thrift Shop at 828.333.4267.

The Haywood Home Builders Association is having its 2012 Spring Home Expo May 11-12 at the Waynesville Armory.

Those looking for a contractor, ways to update their home, or a way to update their landscaping should attend the Spring Expo. There will be more than 40 booths featuring construction industry leaders from Haywood and surrounding counties. Booths include local contractors, lumber suppliers, kitchen and bath companies, wood carving demonstration outside,  indoor garden display, home security and home insulation, real estate, heating and cooling, cooking demonstrations, tools for men and women, educational seminars and more.

The Expo is free, and there will be a drawing for a new iPad 3 and also raffle tickets will be available for a custom built  6-by-12 foot tool/garden shed. Also, on May 12, be sure to visit The Whole Bloomin Thing festival in Frog Level .

Times are 10 a.m.-7 pm. on May 11 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on May 12.

Randal Garrison will be the guest speaker at a meeting of the Western North Carolina Civil War Roundtable at 7 p.m. on May 14 at the Mountain Heritage Center Auditorium on the campus of Western Carolina University.

His topic will be “The Most Important Union Brigade at Gettysburg Who No One Ever Heard Of.” This was Willard’s Brigade on the Second Day, the Mystery Unit who sought redemption at Gettysburg for a humiliating performance at Harper’s ferry.  

Randal is a native of Burke County and a teacher at Freedom High School in Morganton. He also instructs at Western Piedmont Community College on the subject of the Civil War.

Members and guests will meet at 5 p.m. at Bogart’s for dinner with the speaker followed by a social time at 6:30 pm. in the lobby of the MHC. 828.293.9314.

Angel Medical Center will unveil new technology aimed at improving its treatment of stroke victims during a demonstration from 2-3 p.m. on May 15 in the hospital dining room.

“The Telestroke Robot is cutting edge technology that will allow the hospital to better diagnose and treat stroke victims,” said Bonnie Peggs, AMC director of marketing and public relations. “While mainly for use in the emergency room, the unit can also be taken to patient floor for rapid diagnosis.”

“This new technology allows Angel to utilize videoconferencing and image sharing technology with stroke specialists from Mission Hospital. Even though they are miles away, the physicians can remotely examine patients to help diagnose the patient’s ailment and recommend a plan of care for them,” said Peggs.

828.349.6639.

The annual national Letter Carrier’s “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive is May 12, and postal customers are reminded to leave bagged food and other non-perishable items at their mail boxes.

The drive is the largest one-day food-collection event in the nation. In Haywood County, nearly 30,000 pounds of food was collected last year and distributed to local residents through the Haywood Christian Ministry, the Salvation Army, the Open Door Ministry and the Community Kitchen.

Items should be in bags or boxes and not put out until the day of the food drive.  Residents who receive their mail at the post office should bring their food items to the lobby of the post office.

The North Carolina Baptist Church Library Team will host a library workshop for Western North Carolina at First Baptist Church in Waynesville on May 19.

This field training is aimed at greatly reducing the time and cost of training for anyone currently working in a church library or interested in starting one.

The workshop will focus on starting, managing and promoting church library ministry. Lunch is included in the registration fee. A guest author will be speaking and signing books during lunch.

All churches and denominations welcome. Since the N.C. State Baptist Convention is underwriting a part of the cost, the fee for churches that are members of the convention will be $30; for all others, the fee will be $35.

www.churchlibraryministries.org.

The United Way of Haywood County and The Haywood Volunteer Center are hosting an evening with Jeanne Robertson at 7 p.m. on June 7 at Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska.

Who is Jeanne Robertson? She is North Carolina’s own 6-foot, 2-inch tall former Miss North Carolina, who specializes in hilarious humor based on her own life experiences. This Miss Congeniality winner in the Miss America Pageant, “Yearrrrrrrrrrrs ago,” quoting Jeanne, uses her down-home Southern drawl to leave her audiences laughing … and thinking about her message.

Tickets are on sale at ticketfly.com and are $30 for reserved seating. For more information, visit www.jeannerobertson.com.

Proceeds from the event will benefit United Way of Haywood County’s Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Program and The Haywood Volunteer Center.

For more information call 828.356.2833.

During budget discussions earlier this year, Haywood County commissioners were adamant about their commitment to give county employees a boost after three years of no raises and frozen retirement contributions.

Commissioners stayed true to their word, based on a proposed budget released this week. The county will partially restore a 401K match, contributing 1 percent of employees’ salaries. The county won’t be giving across the board cost-of-living raises, but will give merit raises to some staff of up to 2 percent. The 401K match for some 500 county employees will cost $195,000.

This will be accomplished without raising taxes. The county’s budget has modest natural growth in revenue of $1.3 million — thanks to construction that’s added to the property tax base and an uptick in consumer buying, which means more sales tax.

The total overall budget is nearly $66.6 million. It is still down by more than $1 million compared to 2007-08, meaning the economy is slowly bouncing back but still is shy of pre-recession numbers.

The 1 percent 401K contribution is a far cry from the 5.5 percent match the county did during the 2008 fiscal year. When the economy went sour, it temporarily stopped contributions to save money.

“We are trying to phase it back,” Stamey said.

Something new this year is a one-time extra bonus for law enforcement officials. Officers will receive a bonus check, equivalent to one percent of their salary, on the anniversary of their hire date. The total cost will be about $38,000.

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of Francis Grist Mill and National Preservation Month, the Francis Mill Preservation Society is hosting “Cars and Cornmeal,” a pre-1972 car show, on May 19.

Stroll along the lane to the millpond, tour the restored mill, see grinding demos and local crafts. Then, enjoy barbecue by Blue Ridge BBQ and Mama Moody’s Fried Pies. Bring your street rod, antique car or the old truck your grandpa drove.

Registration is $10, and the event begins at 8 a.m. Spectator tickets are just $5. All proceeds from this event go to the continuing preservation of the mill and to promote and preserve our local heritage.

The Francis Mill Preservation Society was founded in 2003 to restore and preserve the 1887 Francis Grist Mill. Restoration began with a series of workshops staffed with volunteers from nine states and Switzerland along with donated materials from Haywood County.

The Francis Mill Preservation Society is a non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible. The mill is located at 14 Hugh Massie Road in Waynesville.

828.456.6307 or www.francismill.org.

The Labor Day Weekend Craft Show and the October Leaves Craft Show are looking for vendors to display their crafts at the event.

Starting this year, the promoters of the show are providing a new area for businesses of all kinds — from those who want to inform the public about what they do to those who provide a service to politicians, civic organizations or realtors. These types of businesses will be permitted to provide information via brochures, business cards, etc. However, products will not be for sale.

Food vendors are also welcome. For the October show only, vendors are encouraged to provide apple cider, sorghum, molasses, honey, apples, gourds and pumpkins.

Both festivals this year, the Labor Day Weekend Craft Show and the October Leaves Craft Show, during the second weekend in October, will run from 9 a.m-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.  

Apply now for a discount. The craft shows are juried, and crafters must meet certain criteria. Photos of your work must be submitted with your application, which are obtainable from www.maggievalleycraftshows.com or by calling 828.497.9425

In observance of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources has organized the “Freedom, Sacrifice, Memory: Civil War Sesquicentennial Photography Exhibit” to travel the state as part of its commemoration. The exhibition will be on display in the meeting room at the Macon County Public Library from now until May 29.

Visitors will see women who served as Confederate spies, well-known Confederate generals and re-enactment images of soldiers and battles.  The battlefield, homefront, African Americans, and women are all reflected in the exhibit.

A notebook accompanying the exhibit will offer sketches of the generals, of African Americans fleeing bondage, a woman whose home became a hospital, and other glimpses of lives from that turbulent time.

www.fontanalib.org/franklin or 828.524.3600.

The Haywood County Arts Council is hosting a barbecue supper from 4:30-6 p.m. and old-time community JAMboree from 6-8 p.m., May 19.

The event is a fund-raiser for the arts council’s Junior Appalachian Musicians after-school program. The supper tickets are $8 per adult and $5 per child. Community JAMboree tickets are $10 per adult and $5 per child. Advanced ticket purchase is strongly recommended.

The JAMboree will feature News Radio 570 AM’s John Roten as emcee, former state Sen. Joe Sam Queen as square dance caller, a Junior Appalachian Musicians showcase with students and JAM instructors, dancing by the J. Creek Cloggers, the Fines Creek Flatfooters, old-fashioned cake walks, and more.

The event is sponsored by Michael Gillespie, the Department of Social Services, OLDTOWN Bank, Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, the Fines Creek Community Association, Wells Fargo, and Blue Rooster Southern Grill.

The JAM program is in its 12th year in Haywood County and is offered as an after-school program for children in 4th grade and older. Children meet once a week at Canton Middle School to learn how to play old-time music on fiddle, guitar and banjo.

828.452.0593 or www.haywoodarts.org.

Elementary school-aged children and their families are invited to a free ARTSaturday workshop from 10 a.m. to noon on May 12 in the Mamie Keith Children’s Area of the Macon County Public Library. Make-and-take projects include 3-D floral Mother’s Day Cards, silk flower petal people, and paper sunflowers.

Every ARTSaturday features live music by Keyboardist Lionel Caynon. There’s no pre-registration; children should wear play clothes and can come for any part of the session. Adults are required to stay with younger children; there will be a special workstation where they can work together.

The library is off Siler Road in Franklin, adjacent to Southwestern Community College.

828.524.7683 or www.artscouncilofmacon.org.

The Macon County Arts Council will sponsor a one-day basket-weaving class from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., May 19, in the Macon County Cooperative Extension Building. Participants will construct a “Flower Vase” Basket, an original design by instructor and master weaver Joanne Nolen.  The basket has a graceful hourglass-shape with an open top and decorative color, floral accents. Class is for adult basket makers; no experience is needed.

The fee is $30 for materials and instruction. Pre-register by May 15.

828.524.7683 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.artscouncilofmacon.org.

Three Jackson County teachers — Jennifer Dall at Smoky Mountain Elementary, Kansas Heiskell at the HUB, and Gayle Woody at Smoky Mountain High School — were awarded a Learning Links grants to support an art workshop at their respective schools.

With the grants, area metalworker William Rogers was able to teach Jackson County students to handwork metal.

Learning Links projects must involve students in “hands-on” projects to support innovative, imaginative and creative approaches to teaching. During the series of three workshops, students as young as ten years old, hammered metal into shapes and then suspended those shapes along a wire framework to create a kinetic sculpture. Each student had a chance to work with steel wire, copper sheet and aluminum.

To better integrate art into the curriculum, Rogers incorporated a physics lesson on leverage along with art lessons on balance and proportion. Rogers has completed several artist-in-education projects in WNC.

Restless Heart and Little Texas, two classic American country music bands, will perform their all-time fan favorites at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, May 19. Showtime is set at 7:30 p.m., and tickets start at $24.  

Restless Heart had their first taste of success in 1984 with their first record release. They are known for hits such as “I’ll Still Be Loving You” and “When She Cries.” Throughout their career, they have entered the Billboard country charts with 26 singles, six of which reached the number one spot. Restless Heart disbanded in 1994, had a brief reunion in 1998, and began performing together again in 2003.

Little Texas released their first album in 1991. They produced many hit singles including “My Love,” “What Might Have Been” and “God Blessed Texas.”  The band went on hiatus in 1998 but reunited in 2004.

www.GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.

Waynesville’s 10th Annual Whole Bloomin’ Thing Festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., May 12, in historic Frog Level.

The event is Haywood County’s premier spring festival and kicks off the growing season with beautiful flowering baskets, vegetable and herb starts, berry bushes, and potted ornamental plants to jumpstart anyone’s garden.

Local artisans will feature a wide range of nature-inspired gifts and crafts – from baskets & birdhouses to soaps & stemware, pottery & jewelry to metal sculptures & flower planters, and dozens of other handmade creations. Enjoy fresh cheeses, homemade preserves and jellies, BBQ and burgers, veggie wraps, ice cream and desserts.

Live music and entertainment will be provided throughout the day by local musicians and dancers, including Chris Minick, Frog Level Philharmonic (Dixie Land Jazz), Marshall Ballew, The Ross Brothers with the J Creek Cloggers, Raq Shuraka Dance Co. (belly dancing), and Caleb Burress.

The Frog Level Philharmonic will play from 10 a.m. to noon. The band features Charles Alley on clarinet, Otis Sizemore on cornet, Pat Stone and Mary Thomas on keyboard, Mark Raines on trombone, Jerry Donahoe on banjo, Jim Boyer on drums and Jim Juhnke on tuba.

This year, people can also take home a little piece of Frog Level history. The tin tiles from the Water Street Cottage will be salvaged, embellished by local artists and sold at the Merchant’s Association booth.

The Frog Level businesses will be open during the festival, and the Haywood County Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer all gardening questions. Children’s activities include face painting, seed planting and more.

Parking is available at Haywood Builders, St. John’s Catholic Church, the VFW upper parking lot, the public parking deck on Branner Avenue and all public parking in the area.

Georgian poet Rupert Fike will read from his collection Lotus Buffet at 6:30 p.m., May 12, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Two of the collection’s poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and he was nominated as Georgia Author of the Year 2011 in poetry.

His work has appeared in Rosebud, The Georgetown Review, Natural Bridge, The Atlanta Review, storySouth and others. He has a poem inscribed in a downtown Atlanta plaza, and his non-fiction book, Voices from The Farm, recounts living in a spiritual community in the 1970s.

828.586.9499.

Natalie Bucki was named artist of the month for May at the Macon campus of Southwestern Community College.

Bucki is a Franklin artist that has been creating portraits of people, pets and places for more than 50 years. She has worked in all mediums, but for the last few years, she has concentrated on acrylics and pastels.

Her work will be on display in the front lobby and downstairs gallery at the Macon campus.

Young people can explore the world of theater this summer during a weeklong camp hosted by Western Carolina University’s College of Fine and Performing Arts.

The theatre camp is for children from ages 8 (and who have completed the second grade) to 17 and is limited to 30 students. The camp will run from 12:30-5:30 p.m., July 16-20, at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. A Friday performance is scheduled for 6 p.m., July 20.

The camp will include games, improvisation, stage direction, basic directing, character work, discussion and tours. Students will work in small groups to create characters and situations that will evolve into short scenes for Friday. Two professional actors with Bright Star Children’s Theatre in Asheville will run the camp.

No previous theater experience is required, but children with a theater background are welcome, said Paul Lormand, director of the Bardo Arts Center.

The cost of the camp is $110 per child, with additional children from the same family able to register for $100 each. Campers must provide their own snacks and beverages. Registration is under way through July 13, with payment due the first day of camp.

828.227.2505 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By Holly Demuth

What does your car believe in? Here in Western North Carolina, many people choose to express their love of the Smokies, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Appalachian Trail, state parks, and the elk and ducks with their full color license plates.  But soon that opportunity to show your support will not exist in its current form.

Full color license plates are slated to be taken off the road in 2015, according to North Carolina law. The plates that financially support attractions that are at the core of much of Western North Carolina’s travel and tourism economy, that provide more than 1 million voluntary dollars pumped into Western North Carolina in 2011 — gone. The program that made the state more than $800,000 in non-tax dollars in 2011 — eliminated.

The attractive Friends of the Smokies plate has helped generate since its inception more than $2.6 million to enhance Great Smoky Mountains National Park — one license plate at a time.  Among many projects, these plates funded history exhibits at the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, where visitation has increased 80 percent since its grand opening last year. It also supports the ongoing conservation of elk herds in Cataloochee Valley, which draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

Improving Great Smoky Mountains National Park makes financial sense for North Carolina. In 2010 alone, more than 9 million park visitors spent $818 million in surrounding communities and helped create more than 14,000 jobs.

Laws can be changed. It takes a great effort, but it can happen. Fortunately, there is hope that our state legislators will repeal the provision when they go back to Raleigh this year.

A recent report from the N.C. Department of Transportation recommends continuing the full color plate program. The state Highway Patrol agrees. And a legislative study committee recently recommended that the General Assembly repeal the 2015 sunset.

Let’s hope that our elected representatives are listening.

Eliminating North Carolina’s popular full-color license plate program will hurt the state’s travel and tourism economy, and beloved tourist destinations like Great Smoky Mountains National Park without improving public safety.

People who love these special places and business who benefit from them can help change the law. Ask your state elected officials to protect this important revenue source and support repealing the sunset on the North Carolina full-color specialty license plate program. More information can be found at www.friendsofthesmokies.org.

While we’re at it, let’s do all we can to support these special resources and show Raleigh what an effective program it is – if you don’t have a full-color plate yet, please go out and purchase one.  

(Holly Demuth is the executive director of the N.C. Friends of the Smokies. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

Haywood Community College won the N.C. RecycleMania competition again this year.

HCC beat out UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University. In addition, HCC is ranked as number 14 in the waste minimization category out of 605 participating colleges.

RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. During the competition, schools report recycling and trash data, which are then ranked according to who collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate.

828.627.4135.

For the second year in a row, Western Carolina University is included among The Princeton Review’s list of the most environmentally responsible colleges in North America.

The education services company selected WCU for inclusion in the third annual edition of its “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2012 Edition.”

“Inclusion of Western Carolina University in this guide confirms that we are making great strides in becoming a more environmentally friendly campus,” said Lauren Bishop, campus energy manager.

WCU’s profile in the new guide discusses the success of the campuswide energy conservation program called “Reducing Our Carbon Paw Print” that resulted in a 10-to 15-percent reduction in energy usage on campus through behavior modification alone, including a 34-percent reduction in BTU per square foot compared to 2002-03 levels.

The guide also notes a 15-percent reduction in petroleum usage in five years at WCU through the introduction of six neighborhood electric vehicles and by switching to E10, a blend of ethanol and unleaded gas, to power the campus fleet.

The book cites the fact that all new construction larger than 20,000 square feet is required to meet the United States Green Building Council standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification.

The Princeton Review chose the institutions based on a survey of administrators at hundreds of colleges that the company polled in 2011 about their school’s sustainability initiatives.

Anglers in North Carolina soon will be randomly selected to receive a state fishing survey designed to determine anglers’ view on and preferences for fish management.

Of the more than 800,000 anglers in North Carolina who holds a current freshwater fishing license, 9,000 will receive surveys through July.

The survey consists of 37 questions that assess the management expectations, fishing preferences and levels of participation of freshwater anglers in North Carolina.

While the survey is voluntary, the N.C. Wildlife Commission emphasized that angler participation is critical. The more anglers who respond to the survey, the better information the agency will have about anglers’ views of freshwater fisheries management in North Carolina.

It needs to be returned by July 31.

The commission will use the data taken from the survey, in addition to biological data, data collected by surveying anglers on specific bodies of water, and other forms of public comment, to help it make fisheries management decisions and program modifications that, ultimately, will improve fishing opportunities for all anglers.

The final report will be available in January 2013.

Get set for three days and 16 films at Nantahala Outdoor Center during the Adventure Travel Film Festival May 4 to 6.

The film festival hails from the United Kingdom and is an international celebration of the greatest adventure travel films from the 1920s to the present day, where people from all walks of life are invited to see the world through the artistic eyes of film.

The event will be hosted by international film-maker Austin Vince and travel writer Lois Pryce.

The event features a set of independent travel films dubbed “gritty, audacious and personal.”

Feature and short films range thematically from the first paddling descent of the Yenisey River through Mongolia, Siberia and into the Arctic Ocean, to “The Himalayan Adventure,” the 1958 story of three English housewives who drove a Land Rover from London to Zanskar (then a part of Tibet).  There will be tales of mountain biking from Mexico to Canada, alpha-females attacking the South Pole, paragliding across North America, canoeing the Congo, motorcycling through Afghanistan and much more.

Additionally, there will be photography clinics, video documentary classes, music and more.

The Adventure Travel Film Festival has three-day, single-day, and per film passes available. The three-day pass is $75 and includes access to all films, clinics and weekend entertainment and a free Nantahala rafting trip.

A one-day pass, which includes access to that day’s films and events, is $40. Individual films can be viewed for $10.

888.905.7238 or www.noc.com.

If you are looking for a tough but short trail race, the Bearwallow Beast 5K might be just the ticket. The race is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, May 6, in Henderson County at Bearwallow Mountain. This race will ascend from the community of Gerton in the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge and finish atop to the scenic grassy summit.  All proceeds benefit Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, a group that protects local land and water resources in Henderson and Transylvania counties.

The trail race ranks among the most difficult of any footrace in the southeast, gaining more than 1,300 feet of elevation over its course of 3.1 miles. Those who persevere to the finish line can enjoy a celebratory cup of beer at a mountaintop festival.

The Honey & Hops Festival will feature food, beer, honey vendors and bluegrass music by the Brushfire Stankgrass band at the mountain’s summit.  Runners may pre-register for the race online for $25; admittance to the festival is free for everyone.

www.bearwallowbeast.com or 828.697.5777.

Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians can take advantage of enrolled member day at Sequoyah National Golf Club in Cherokee and enjoy free golf from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, May 5.

Those who don’t golf can still tour the course. One hot dog and a fountain drink will be provided to each tribe member who attends.

828.497.3000.

One of the southeast’s premier endurance mountain bike races, 12 Hours of Tsali, returns to the Tsali Recreation Area from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. Saturday, May 19.

The goal for riders is to complete the 10- to 12-mile trail loop as many times as possible before the clock stops. The team or individual with the most laps wins; tie breakers are determined by fastest overall time. Racers can sign up for six-hour solo ride, 12-hour solo ride, or 12-hour team classes. Part of the competition is raced in the dark, giving it a special appeal. Registration will be capped at 350 participants.

This year’s race is sponsored by Bryson City Bicycles.

www.goneriding.com and 828.488.1988 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

A new 4,000-square-foot exhibit at the North Carolina Arboretum opening Saturday, May 5, will introduce visitors to the evildoers lurking in their own backyards and beyond. Inspired by author Amy Stewart’s book Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln’s Mother and other Botanical Atrocities, the exhibit gives visitors a hands-on experience with some of the world’s most diabolical botanicals — without the risk of intoxication, addiction, dismemberment, or other danger. Menacing interactive displays set in an eerie environment are designed to educate and entertain children and adults with information about some of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations.

Wicked Plants exposes plants associated with a myriad of negative health effects, including addiction, obesity, allergies, pain, poisoning, cognitive impairment, organ failure, and even death. Showcasing more than 100 plants, the exhibit takes an open-ended approach to health education, providing visitors with an opportunity to weigh the risks of utilizing specific wicked plants.

Wicked Plants will be on display at the Baker Exhibit Center through September 3. Admission is free with standard parking fee ($8 per personal vehicle).

Wicked Plants is supported in part by Smoky Mountain Living magazine and R.E.A.C.H. (Regional Emergency Animal Care Hospital) of Asheville. After completing its run at the Arboretum, the exhibit will begin a national tour of botanical gardens, museums, and science centers.

828.665.2492 or www.ncarboretum.org.

New gardeners are being sought to participate in Waynesville’s community garden, located behind the Old Armory in Waynesville.

This community garden project is available for community members who would like to share in the labors, decision-making, harvests and social enjoyment of working with others.

A number of recent improvements have taken place. An automatic watering system has been installed in the Old Armory greenhouse and some new shelves built for local residents to plant seedlings for their own gardening. A fence has been installed around the community garden and a container composting system has been added. A canopy soon will be installed for shelter over the garden area’s picnic table and more flower beds are being added.

The project is sponsored by Nourishing NC — Blue Cross Blue Shield, Waynesville Parks and Recreation, the Healthy Haywood Fitness Challenge and the Daydreamz Project.

828.456.6629.

Haywood Waterways is looking for individuals and groups to adopt a section of stream and help remove litter.

Groups are asked to clean their adopted stream section at least once a year and commit to the adopted stream section for at least two years. Each adopted stream receives an Adopt-A-Stream sign free of charge.

Trash can obstruct drains and cause flooding, clog water intake pipes used for industry, and affect recreational uses, such as fishing, swimming and paddling. Much of the trash found in the streams can take hundreds of years to decompose, and some will never disappear. Unless removed, the trash can eventually find its way to the ocean.

“I initially got involved with the stream clean-up program after I hooked a car floor mat while fishing in Richland Creek,” said Mike Gillespie, an Adopt-A-Stream volunteer. “As I fished, I saw so many discarded items that I got some trash bags from my vehicle and did an impromptu stream clean-up then and there.”

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The Macon County Beekeepers Association will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, at the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service office on Thomas Heights Road in Franklin. The speaker will be Linda Tillman, a master beekeeper from Atlanta. Anyone with an interest in bees is welcome to attend.

828.524.5234.

If you want to learn how to coexist with black bears, attend the Bear Education and Resources (B.E.A.R.) program at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, at the Macon County Community Center in Franklin. This is the first in this year’s B.E.A.R. talk program series. B.E.A.R. is a taskforce of the Western North Carolina Alliance, a regional conservation group. The program is FREE.

828.526.9227 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..