Year of the bird: Killdeer nest prompts planning shuffle for Greening Up The Mountains

Every year, Sylva’s population quadruples on the last Saturday in April as more than 10,000 people flock to the tiny town for Greening Up the Mountains, a long-running festival featuring live music on two stages, a 5K run and more than 125 vendors offering crafts, food and information about local nonprofits. 

Planning the event is a year-round endeavor for town staff, and as this year’s April 27 date drew closer, all the ducks seemed to be sorting themselves into their respective rows — until a different kind of bird threw a wrench in the plans. 

The beauty of simplicity: Bird in Hand & Ivory Hollow Farmstead

These days, Megan and Bryan Thurman call a 31-foot Airstream home. The iconic silver travel trailer is currently parked on a picturesque property in the rural southern edge of Sylva. 

DOT design for N.C. 107 ‘best option’ volunteer planners say

The Asheville Design Center will soon complete its final recommendations for the N.C 107 project in Sylva, but the document is unlikely to provide any drastic departure from the plan already put forward by the N.C. Department of Transportation. 

Sylva reorganizes public art efforts

Just over two years after forming it, the Town of Sylva has voted to disband its Public Art Committee — but with the intention of reassembling it under the auspices of the Main Street Sylva Association. 

Asheville Design Center to present recommendations for N.C. 107

The Asheville Design Center will present its findings on alternatives to the current plan for N.C. 107 in Sylva during a community meeting 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at the Jackson County Public Library. 

Haywood County native behind ‘#trashtag’ sensation

A trending hashtag … err … #trashtag has been gaining worldwide attention for encouraging people to photograph pictures of the trash they pick up, so it should be no surprise that the person who came up with the idea is from rural Haywood County in rugged, scenic Western North Carolina.

Shaeffer recognized for service to Sylva

The Sylva Board of Commissioners recognized longtime public works director Dan Shaeffer for his nearly 20 years of service to the town during its regular meeting today. The board presented Shaeffer with a resolution honoring his contribution to the town as well as the jokingly named "Order of the Short Leaf Pine Award," a title that plays on the governor-awarded Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

Detail varies in Sylva minutes

Of the nine closed-session discussions Sylva commissioners held last year, only three — all attorney-client privilege conversations related to an ongoing court case — are still sealed. 

Cell tower proposed for Sylva

A proposal to build a new cell tower off of Skyland Drive in Sylva will go before the Jackson County commissioners for approval during a quasi-judicial hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in room A201 of the Jackson County Justice and Administration Building. 

Déjà vu: N.C. 107 planners struggle to find solutions to road dilemma

After taking input from the more than 100 people who attended a Jan. 14 public forum and carefully combing their suggestions for the upcoming N.C. 107 makeover in Sylva, the Asheville Design Center generated a respectably long list of design alternatives to investigate. 

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