The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University will host a holiday sale of handmade items and a Fall Family Day in November.

Both events are free and the public is invited.

The second-annual Handmade Holiday Sale will be held from 3-7 p.m. (with wine and appetizers beginning at 5 p.m.) Thursday, Nov. 10, in the Star Lobby, adjacent to the museum. The sale is an opportunity to buy directly from artists including WCU students and staff and community members. All items are priced at less than $100 and include silk scarves, ceramics, jewelry, knitted wear, soaps, note cards and more.

The Fine Art Museum will host a Fall Family Day from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 19. In addition to exhibits currently on display at the museum, activities including a scavenger hunt and opportunities to create works of art, as well as music, stories, snacks and prizes.

The Fine Art Museum’s hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. The museum also is open one hour before Fine and Performing Arts Center Galaxy of Stars performances.

828.227.2553 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit the museum online at fineartmuseum.wcu.edu.

It’s by Nature will host well known Cullowhee painter, Susan Ling this Friday, Nov. 4, during Sylva’s After Dark.

Ling will do a demonstration combining the rhythm of both buildings and landscapes into one movement.

“It is not so much what building or barn we see, but how we feel while looking at it or our reactions to the whole surrounding area,” she said. Ling’s watercolor demonstration will be in the bright primary colors of fall.

Jazz guitarist Chad Hallyburton will perform. Wine and cheese reception from 6-9 p.m. 828.631.3020.

The Waynesville Gallery Association will hold its monthly Art After Dark from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.

Art After Dark takes place the first Friday of each month, May through December.

Studios and galleries on Main Street, Depot Street and in Historic Frog Lev will be open with working artists, specials sales and artist receptions. Art After Dark flags denote participating galleries. Musician Chris Minick will provide music on the street.

Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86 is hosting an artist’s reception during Art After Dark for its newest show featuring the artists of Signature Studio. Signature Day Program and Signature Studio are an alternative to the traditional Day Program option, offering creative expression and learning opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

For more information visit the Arts Council’s website at www.haywoodarts.org, call 828.452.0593, like the Arts Council on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter.

A collection of Catherine Stinson Yellowroot’s paintings titled “Return to the Wild” will be on display during the month of November at The Wilderness Society’s southeastern regional office in Sylva.

An opening reception for the exhibit will take place from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, at 563 West Main Street, Sylva. This reception coincides with Sylva After Dark, a first Friday celebration where the public is invited to stroll through downtown Sylva for an evening of arts, dining, music, shopping, and more.

Yellowroot’s artwork reflects her intimate relationship with nature. Roaming the woods and waterways  of the Appalachian mountains, piedmont, and coastal islands of the Southeast, she communes with the subjects of her paintings.

To the Editor:

Just prior to the opening of the “Bear Smart” program, on Tuesday night at the Sapphire Valley Resort Community Center, a very large black bear showed up to protest the theme of the meeting by walking down the ski slope to a nearby dumpster and having an evening snack. Even though it was a fascinating experience for early arrivals to see a “live” bear up close, it was a prime example of how black bears respond to available human food sources and the primary objective of  Bear Smart: Do Not Feed the Bears.

Although it provided an excellent jump start for the “Understanding Our Black Bears” presentation, it revealed the importance for across the board cooperation and support regarding denying bears access to human food sources. The actions of this bear, seen by many, indicates it is acclimated to human contact and subject to being killed or destroyed.

It is hoped that the full house of black bear enthusiasts attending this event, sponsored by Wild South and the Sapphire Valley Resort, were later moved to fully understand the importance of denying black bears all human food sources during an evening of  informative, entertaining and educational presentations.  These were all designed to develop awareness and pursue actions designed to preserve a healthy image of black bears, our iconic symbol of mountain living.

Kate Marshall, using her nationally acclaimed video along with insightful comments, provided exceptional glimpses of black bears and stories with emphasis on the importance of bears to our society. Her five point outline, showing reasons black bears are so valued by many wildlife enthusiasts, was a highlight of the evening.

In an exciting climax to a meaningful evening of discussions, Wendy Howe wowed the audience with her knowledge of black bears and everyone's role in keeping bears wild and wonderful. As a long time resident of the area, her comments were well received and further emphasized the need for major cooperative community action and support as we strive to co-exist with our black bear neighbors.

John Edwards

Director of Mountain Wildlife Days

Cashiers

To the Editor:

In the Oct. 19 Smoky Mountain News, a photo and story feature covered the Oct. 15 Occupy Sylva event. However, what the article did not report was that our Rep. Phil Haire, D-Sylva, chose the Occupy Sylva event to denounce Roses, a North Carolina business, and in fact encouraged the Occupy group not to shop at this store. He even told them where the store was located.

These outrageous remarks were stated by Haire in the midst of a disastrous economy and skyrocketing unemployment with shops and store closing all around us. Roses is the much-needed anchor of Jackson Plaza, a shopping center in Sylva. It is disgraceful that an elected official suggested a boycott that if followed could mean more job losses and even another closing of a business in Jackson County.

Rep. Haire coupled his remarks with high praise for a New Yorker Magazine article “State for Sale.” The New Yorker article, written by an ultra left winger for a ultra left wing magazine, to be read by big-city liberals, spent 10 pages slamming Republican spending in the 2010 elections and specifically the Jim Davis/John Snow race. The article focused on, well actually smeared, Raleigh multi-millionaire Republican funder Art Pope whose business is Rose’s Department Stores … .hmmm now we understand Rep. Haire’s motive.

You can see and hear Rep. Haire’s remarks on a video taken at the Occupy Sylva event. Go to Youtube at http:/youtu.be/LMNSl1yaC-0 or on Franklin videographer Bobby Coggin’s Thunder Pig blog at http://bit.ly/pKIlO4 . Rep. Haire also offered to provide the New Yorker article for anyone who wished to read it … that is if you want to read unbalanced and slanted reporting.

Just for the record, not of course covered by the New Yorker magazine, North Carolina Democrats spent $16 million to the Republican’s $14 million in the 2010 elections. Records also show that Democrats have, with few exceptions, consistently outspent Republicans on legislative races. The New Yorker article would have you to believe otherwise. That kind of money does not come from the coins and $5 checks from ordinary voters. Do we think there might be a Democrat “Art Pope?” How about Democrat funder millionaire Jim Goodmon, owner of WRAL-TV, who follows the Pope patterns of election contributions as well as funding liberal policy groups? Again, no mention of Goodmon in “State for Sale” but then the objective of the NewYorker article was not balanced journalism.

Yes, it is an exorbitant expense to be a candidate for any elected office. So, candidates and political parties must solicit funds from wealthy citizens as well as the general public. TV is extremely expensive and radio spots and effective print media programs are not far behind in cost. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, whose TV ads were shown over and over again, spent $2 million in his campaign against Republican Jeff Miller’s $1 million in 2010.

Is running for political office too expensive by ordinary standards? Probably. Do we want government to dictate to the media, graphics companies, mail houses and other candidate services how much they can charge candidates for their services and products? I don’t think so, unless we intend to allow government to move us farther along a path that is attempting to do away with our free enterprise system.

We see the government encroachment on free enterprise as more and more businesses and industries — healthcare, banking and finance, energy to name a few — are regulated and price controlled. Next thing you know government will be controlling what we are allowed to eat and even how we run our homes, like what light bulbs we can use. Oh, sorry, bad example, the light bulb restriction is already in place.

Carol Adams

Glenville

To the Editor:

In the election article for Maggie Valley, I read three candidates — the  mayoral candidate Ron DeSimone and two of candidates for aldermen, Phil Aldridge and Phillip Wight — are quoted as being in lockstep for their agenda, which seems mystical. I question their unspoken agendas and their personal experiences in town government. I have read of Aldridge’s attacks on those he disagrees with. I wonder if this trio has positive approaches to deal with current economic times.

My personal experience began with Ron DeSimone at a public hearing over the sanction of the Maggie Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Home in July 2009. He was chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the Town of Maggie Valley (a position he held from April 2005 until 2010, when he was not re-appointed). A second hearing at the Town Hall was held in July 2009, and in an official capacity I attended to support senior citizens and their needs. I waited until the end of the hearing, listening to both sides, and was recognized to speak.

Mr. DeSimone asked me what right did I have to speak and I answered. I told him I was born in the town in 1937, had lived here all my life, that we needed the facility and the employment and revenues, that I was an aging advocate with the N.C. Tarheel Legislature and a county representative to the Region A Area on Aging, and I believe I may have embarrassed him.

Shortly after, a letter to the editor was published under a false name attacking me and my brothers, who also live in the valley and are business and professional men. The source has been undetermined, but we know it was not a woman and that the writer was at that hearing.

Maggie Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center opened in August and is a credit to the leadership of the Town of Maggie Valley. DeSimone was clearly opposed to this just two years ago. Aldridge has been in office for the last eight years; he has aligned himself with the opposition at each election and then falls out of favor with those he supported. Aldridge facilitated the “no charge” for the Festival Grounds for the Popcorn Jam II in July and yet allowed a private restaurant to sell food and beverages and admission, sell tee shirts and make a profit without allowing other local businesses to partake of the Popcorn Spoils. Wight uses scare tactics of increased taxation yet he is unaware of the recent town audit that does not support his fear-mongering. Maggie Valley voters have a heavy responsibility to look beyond the signboards and rumors to truly understand which candidates are best.

I want my community of Maggie Valley to grow and continue to be a hospitable village where the business people, the residents and the visitors can live and share in harmony of the wonders of our mountains and our streams and our way  of life. Bitterness and name-calling do not project a friendly place to live or visit. We all have the responsibility of promoting friendliness and unity. No elected board can bring that about.

Ernestine E. Upchurch

Maggie Valley

To the Editor:

In reply to Shirley Slaughter’s letter of Oct. 19 in The Smoky Mountain News (www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/5374), I don’t think the N.C. Republicans need any help from The New Yorker to discredit themselves because they’ve accomplished that objective pretty well on their own.

Sometimes it’s difficult, Ms. Slaughter, to examine ourselves as others see us. The article by Jane Mayer, “State for Sale,” was unflattering to say the least. But it offered a fair interpretation of North Carolina’s political modus operandi (Republican style).

Obviously The New Yorker writer did her homework.   If my understanding of the word “smear” is close to accurate, the campaign Jim Davis waged to unseat John Snow epitomized the performance. The flyers sent by the N.C. Republican Party (which Sen. Jim Davis unbelievably denied responsibility for) were in extremely poor taste, outrageously offensive and framed a picture of John Snow that was blatantly untrue.

Whether it’s Art Pope’s money buying influence for Republicans or George Soros’ buying it for the Democrats or multinational corporations buying it for both, Americans are well aware of the enormous and destructive impact money has on our electoral system.

Subsequently, the editor of the SMN was precisely correct that voters should make every effort to stay informed, and knowing who is pulling the financial strings is very much a part of that responsibility.

David L. Snell

Dillsboro

Vicki Lane returns to City Lights to read from her newest novel, Under The Skin, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29.

In this haunting tale from the heart of Appalachia, Lane draws together past and present, good and evil, folklore and secrets, mesmerizing readers with the mysterious bond of true sisterhood — richer than blood, stronger than the passage of time.

Elizabeth Goodweather and her city-girl sister, Gloria, couldn’t be more different. Elizabeth lives on a farm in the Great Smoky Mountains. Gloria lives in Florida off an ex-husband’s fortune. Gloria is a beauty; Elizabeth isn’t.

For more information call City Lights Bookstore at 828.586.9499.

Author George Ellison will be conducting a book signing at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Wednesday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Ellison is the co-author of the introduction to the new edition of Camping and Woodcraft just published by Great Smoky Mountains Association. The 80-page introduction contains considerable new material about Horace Kephart’s unusual life and the importance of one of the most popular outdoors books ever published. Kephart lived in the wilderness of the Smoky Mountains in the early 1900s and was a famed conservationist, writer and anthropologist of Southern Appalachian lifeways.

Ellison will also do a reading at 2 p.m. Nov. 19 at City Lights book store in Sylva.

828.497.1919.

Hattie Best Polk of Lake Junaluska won the prestigious Robert Bruce Cooke Family History Book of the Year Award for her manuscript, Out of My Life and Reflections, at the North Carolina Society of Historians annual awards banquet.

Polk’s story, much like her recently published family history, is vibrant, colorful and unique in the close-knit community of Lake Junaluska.  She is an 85-year-old who lives in the home that she and her husband, Charles, built mostly with their own hands.

The books in the competition are judged by professionals in their field. One judge says this about Polk’s book: “It was an honor to judge this entry, to ‘relive Hattie’s life.” Another says, “It was so refreshing to read the stories that fashioned the life of this beautiful Southern Belle.”

The Jackson County Public Library will host WCU Psychology Professor Hal Herzog for a talk about his book, Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About Animals, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

The discussion will address the range of questions and moral issues linked to their relationships with animals. Is it OK to kill animals just because they taste good? Why is it OK to feed a mouse but not a kitten to your pet boa constrictor? Why do Koreans eat dogs but Americans don’t? Are pit bulls inherently dangerous? Do most children who abuse animals become violent adults?

Herzog will discuss his book and the research behind it. A question-and-answer session will follow his remarks.
For more information contact the library at 828.586.2016.

Students and staff of the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center helped with a trail restoration project on the popular Forney Ridge Trail recently in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

After hiking in to the work site, students, National Park Service staff, Friends of the Smokies, and other volunteers from across the Southeast got to work digging water bars, breaking and setting rock, stabilizing banks and moving soil.

Naturalization, restoration and recreation maintenance are vital to the Civilian Conservation Center’s special conservation mission. Hands-on projects in natural resources are integral to fostering these ideals in the nation’s youth.

“It is great to see public land management agencies supporting one another in a unique partnership for the good of the land and America’s young people. National Public Lands Day 2011 was a huge success both for the trail and for the mind,” said Holly Krake, Oconaluftee’s liaison specialist.

There’s no costumed ghouls or pre-recorded shrieks on the Friends of the Smokies’ November hike, but you will trek along a trail with a “road to nowhere,” visit a secluded cemetery and explore a dark, 365-foot tunnel.  

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, hiking enthusiast and author Danny Bernstein (Hiking North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Heritage) will lead this 9.4-mile hike along the Lakeshore Trail, often called “The Road to Nowhere.” The hike is moderate in difficulty and has a total elevation gain/descent of 1,350 feet.

Participants will depart from Waynesville at 9:15 a.m. and Bryson City at 10 a.m. Exact meeting locations specified upon registration. A donation of $25 is requested, and includes a complimentary membership to Friends of the Smokies. Donations will benefit Trails Forever, a program dedicated to trail improvement projects in the Smokies. There is no cost to current Friends of the Smokies members.

Space is limited. Contact Friends of the Smokies to register for the Road to Nowhere Hike at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.452.0720

Nantahala Outdoor Center has opened a retail concept shop from The North Face located inside NOC’s outfitters and retail store in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Covering 1,000 square feet of space within NOC’s Great Outpost, the specialty shop designed and merchandised by The North Face showcases products from The North Face’s full line. Featuring gear, footwear, outerwear and apparel for hiking, camping, running, snow sports and casual, customers can shop for unique and top selling items from the popular brand.

“We are thrilled to open our doors to The North Face. They are a premium outdoor lifestyle brand in line with our mission and values. This reinforces a very dynamic retail partnership,” says NOC President and CEO Sutton Bacon.

The first Smoky Mountain Paddling Club outing will be Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. on Bear Lake in Jackson County, weather permitting. Paddlers of all ability levels are welcome. Bring appropriate clothing, craft of choice, food, water and a personal flotation device. A group will be meeting at the United Community Bank in Sylva (1640 E. Main Street) at 9 a.m. to carpool or give you someone to follow.

252.558.5122 or e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The fifth-annual Power of Pink race will be held Oct. 29 at MedWest Health and Fitness Center on the campus of MedWest-Haywood in Clyde, with a 20-mile relay, 4-mile run and fun run/walk.

The event helps raise breast cancer awareness and funds to provide breast cancer detection services and treatment for underserved women in the MedWest-Haywood hospital service area.

Power of the Pink includes The Pink Relay, an all-women relay covering 20 miles between five team members; the Pink 4-Miler Run/Walk open to male and female runners or walkers; and the Bubble Gum Fun Run/Walk, a non-competitive event.

The HRMC Foundation, Haywood County Health Department and MedWest Health System sponsor the annual event. Since 2007, Power of Pink has provided more than 530 procedures for 373 women. Last year, the event raised more than $20,000.

The goal this year is to raise $25,000 and to attract 40 teams for The Pink Relay.

Cost to enter a relay team is $200, the four-mile run for men and women is $25, and the Bubble Gum Fun Run/Walk is $10 for adults and $5 for youth 12 and under. To register, visit www.medwesthealth.org and click on the Power of Pink tab. Or 828.452-8343

As clay is to the potter and stone is to the sculptor, river cane is the vital raw material to the Cherokee basketmaker. But it’s in short supply.

The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River has received a grant from a Cherokee artisans group for $9,500 to locate cane stands along the river to provide a local supply source for basketmakers.

Roger Clapp, WATR director, has issued a call for volunteers to help with the river cane hunt, which will run through September 2012.

With a revival of basketmaking in Cherokee, artisans are having to travel farther and farther from home to find cane suitable for their use, said David Cozzo, director of Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources, which provided the grant.

It wasn’t long ago, said Cozzo, that the art of basketmaking had gone into decline to the point that there were only two Cherokee artisans making double-weave baskets. Supply of cane wasn’t a problem.

Then the Cherokee Preservation Foundation stepped in and started basketweaving classes. A revival ensued. Now, the craft is even taught in the Cherokee High School.

“With the cultural revival, the need for river cane has increased,” said Cozzo. His group is planning a trip soon to Kentucky to harvest cane from a “really nice stand” there. And the group is working with Sumter National Forest in South Carolina to find cane there for harvesting.

Cozzo is convinced that there is river cane enough in Jackson and Swain counties to provide an adequate local source — it just needs to be located and the owners persuaded to allow the harvesting.

Volunteers or owners of rivercane stands should contact  the WATR office in Bryson City at 828.488.8418.

WATR meets Nov. 7

The fall meeting of Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River is set for 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, in the atrium of the new Jackson County Library. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m. Dan Perlmutter, a retired Western Carolina University professor, will discuss the proposed Watershed Activity and Discovery Science Center.

Regional water quality experts will give a state of local forests and streams report in a public forum held by the Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27, in Highlands. Information will be presented by Jonathan McCall, registered forester with the N.C. Forest Service; Ed Williams, basinwide planner with the N.C. Division of Water Quality; and Mike Wilkins, district ranger with the Nantahala Ranger District, U.S. Forest Service.

They will discuss the challenges they face in protecting these resources along with the current and potential threats to our natural resources. They will also offer solutions to help protect these valuable natural resources for the common good. There will be time for questions and answers, and audience participation in determining solutions to address these threats and challenges.

Held at the Highlands Community Building next to the Baseball field on Fourth Street. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.526.0890, ext. 256.

The leaders of the two primary Great Smoky Mountains National Park partners were recently presented with the Department of Interior Citizen’s Award for Exceptional Service.  

Terry Maddox, executive director, Great Smoky Mountains Association and Jim Hart, president of the Friends of the Smokies, were recognized for their outstanding support to the Smokies and the National Park Service.

Maddox has led the GSMA since 1990. The nonprofit corporation runs bookstores in the park and markets Smokies’ interpretive products outside the park as well. Under his leadership, the Association has grown from a small book retailer to a major author and publisher of award-winning educational products including books for adults and children, field guides, maps, videos, podcasts and web-based material.

“For years our bookstores offered mostly generic guidebooks, but our publications are now tailored to tell visitors specifically when and where they can expect to find a particular wild flower, bird, or tree. We also offer vivid stories on the Park’s history and prehistory,” said Smokies superintendent Dale Ditmanson.

Hart has served as president of Friends since 2002. Under his guidance, the Friends has substantially increased the public’s awareness of the value of the park and its various threats. They have placed a strong emphasis on providing educational programs for young people who will be the stewards of the Park in coming years by funding fieldtrips and ranger programs for area schools, as well as internships for high school and college students.

Over the nine years of Hart’s tenure, Friends donations have swelled from about $1.8 million a year to over $3.5 million, supporting everything from the restoration of historic buildings to black bear preservation. The Friends have also created a new “Trails Forever” endowment which is approaching $4 million.

The two groups also worked together to fund the construction of the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center at the North Carolina entrance to the Smokies.

“The outstanding leadership provided by Terry Maddox and Jim Hart is a tremendous asset to the Park’s preservation and to the service we provide to over 9 million visitors,” Ditmanson said. “Their service stands as a vivid reminder that the public support and individual stewardship which set aside created and developed this priceless national treasure is still alive and well 75 years after the Park’s creation.”

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is looking for great photos of people enjoying the Appalachian Trail in 2011. The conservancy is looking for images that illustrate your idea of a perfect day on the trail. Creative and unique shots are encouraged.

All entries must be submitted by email by Nov. 10. Submissions should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. A panel of judges will select the top 20 photos. Prizes will be awarded to the top three contestants.

For more information, including rules, or questions regarding the photo contest, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 304.535.6331 ext. 134.

In recognition of National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness month, Western Carolina University will offer free confidential memory screenings on Nov. 15 at the Haywood County Office Building on Elmwood Way in Waynesville.

The purpose of the 15-minute memory screenings is to promote early detection of memory loss and to provide participants with suggestions, strategies and information about brain health.

Leigh Odom, a professor in WCU’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, will conduct screenings. Because of this program, Odom was recruited to be involved in the development of the Brain Gym, a new program co-sponsored by Haywood Community Connections & Haywood County Recreation Dept.

Reservation necessary. Call 828.452.6789.

An HIV/AIDS Awareness Walk will be held Saturday, Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. in Asheville.

Walkers will gather at The Grove House Complex at 11 Grove Street, and then move uptown to rally at Pack Square.

The mission of the free awareness walk is to bring attention to the ongoing issue of HIV/AIDS infection in Western North Carolina and to inform the public about the current funding crisis of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which provides life-saving medications to low-income North Carolinians living with HIV/AIDS in this state.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will build a youth center facility on approximately 20 acres of national forest land near Robbinsville.

The youth center, affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club of America, will offer a variety of programs including Cherokee Language classes, social skills development, cultural craft classes, computer labs, and physical fitness programs. The center will serve the outlying portion of the Cherokee reservation in the remote Snowbird area of Graham County.

The 15,000 square-foot building will meet LEED green building certification and will including a multi-purpose field and an interpretive hiking trail. The youth center will be constructed directly across from the N.C. Forest Service Graham County Office on Massey Branch Road.

The state’s oldest metal truss bridge will be replaced with a new, $1.7-million bridge built beside the old one.

The truss bridge, which was constructed in 1891, is located over the Pigeon River on Chambers Farm Lane near the intersection of U.S. 276 and N.C. 215 in Haywood County.

A new bridge will be built adjacent to the existing bridge. The existing bridge will be rehabilitated and will remain in service as a bicycle and pedestrian-only bridge.

The rehabilitation work will include sandblasting and repainting the truss structure and replacing components. The bridge will additionally be fitted with taller railings to safely accommodate bicycles and pedestrians. The State Historic Preservation Office and NCDOT’s Historic Architecture Group will be consulted to ensure the original style of the bridge is maintained.

The contract was awarded to R.E. Burns & Sons Co. of Statesville. Work can begin as early as Oct. 31 and is scheduled for completion by Aug. 15, 2013.

More than 300 people packed a public hearing last week to debate whether Mission Hospital in Asheville is an overbearing monopoly and is unfairly squeezing out smaller hospitals in the region.

Doctors, hospital leaders and patients from across Western North Carolina gave passionate speeches in hopes of swaying a state committee investigating the issue.

At issue: whether anti-trust regulations limiting Mission’s influence should be tighter, or done away with.

“Mission must have the freedom to serve. It must have the freedom to compete for patients,” said Ron Paulus, the CEO of Mission. “It means letting patients and physicians choose where they go, who to align with, and letting performance on quality determine the winners and losers, not government regulation.”

But opponents portrayed Mission as a predator and bully, gobbling up smaller hospitals and buying doctors’ practices to funnel more and more patients to its mothership in Asheville, weakening the availability of health care in people’s home communities around the mountains.

“Mission success is inversely proportional to the success of the region’s smaller hospitals,” said Jason Wells, vice president of Park Ridge hospital in Hendersonville.

“When Mission gains market share, someone else has to lose market share.”

An HIV/AIDS Awareness Walk will be held Saturday, Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. in Asheville.

Walkers will gather at The Grove House Complex at 11 Grove Street, and then move uptown to rally at Pack Square.

County Commissioner David Gantt, local writer and poet Dennis Tillman and longtime HIV/AIDS activist Michael Harney are slated to speak.

The mission of the free awareness walk is to bring attention to the ongoing issue of HIV/AIDS infection in Western North Carolina and to inform the public about the current funding crisis of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which provides life-saving medications to low-income North Carolinians living with HIV/AIDS in this state.

Palliative Care and Hospice Services of MedWest Health System will hold a series of training classes for new volunteers Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 in Sylva.

The 12-hour series will acquaint volunteers with the Hospice philosophy and program. Sessions run from 9 a.m. to noon daily, at the Jackson County Public Library. Pre-registration is required.

Volunteer opportunities include: patient and family support, companionship visits, respite care for caregivers, errand running, bereavement support, chaplain-related and other professional services, office assistance, fundraising and community events planning.

828.452.8578 to pre-register.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will build a youth center facility on approximately 20 acres of national forest land near Robbinsville.

The youth center, affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club of America, will offer a variety of programs including Cherokee Language classes, social skills development, cultural craft classes, computer labs, and physical fitness programs. The center will serve the outlying portion of the Cherokee reservation in the remote Snowbird area of Graham County.

The 15,000 square-foot building will meet LEED green building certification and will including a multi-purpose field and an interpretive hiking trail. The youth center will be constructed directly across from the N.C. Forest Service Graham County Office on Massey Branch Road.

Carolina Readiness Supply will have a Customer Appreciation Day at their new location, 72 Montgomery Street in Waynesville, just below the Main Street Sun Trust Bank on Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.  

There will be book signings by three local authors: Larry Porter, True Globalization; Mike McCarthy, The Noah Option; and Patrick McConnell, Government of Deceit.

Fire-starting without matches classes will be taught by Doug Knight. Other topics include water pumps that will work if your electricity goes out and sanitation and waste disposal in a disaster.

828.456.5310.

Inspired by a Global Poverty Project presentation on campus, the president of Western Carolina University’s Student Government Association and the wife of Chancellor David O. Belcher will eat on just $1.50 per day for five days.

To help raise awareness of global poverty, student TJ Eaves and Susan Brummell Belcher will participate in the Live Below the Line campaign beginning Monday, Oct. 24. Belcher and Eaves acknowledge the challenges ahead.

“It will be a pretty interesting week because I am a fairly picky eater,” Eaves said. Belcher said she’d have to explore whether coffee with cream will fit in her budget.

“If not, I’ll struggle with that one,” she said.  

Participating in the challenge is a natural fit for Belcher, who after her husband’s appointment as new WCU chancellor designated herself a “WCU friend-raiser” and pledged to “wholeheartedly engage with students, faculty, staff, donors, alumni, community members and other constituent parties to create broad support for the WCU mission.”

For WCU students who wish to participate in the challenge, Aramark, WCU’s food service provider, will host a station in the upper level of the Courtyard Dining Hall with foods and portions that comply with the Live Below the Line initiative for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Thursday, Oct. 27.

While Belcher and Eaves have initiated the project primarily to raise awareness, Belcher does have a goal to raise money for CARE, a humanitarian organization fighting poverty in more than 70 countries around the world. Anyone interested in sponsoring them or joining their effort, including community members, can visit WCU’s Live Below the Line page online (http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=262576). Updates on the effort will be available on the WCU Poverty Project Facebook page.

Western Carolina University Chancellor David O. Belcher this week fired C. Joseph “Chip” Smith, the director of intercollegiate athletics.

Belcher announced that Fredrick Q. Cantler, WCU’s longtime senior associate athletic director for internal operations, has agreed to come out of retirement to serve as interim director of athletics.

Cantler, who retired in March after 33 years in athletics administration at WCU, will serve as interim director of athletics as the university conducts a national search for a permanent athletics director, Belcher said.

“With Fred’s wealth of experience, including a previous stint as interim AD, I have the greatest confidence in his ability to keep the athletics program moving forward during this time of transition,” he said. “Fred brings extensive knowledge of athletics budgeting and NCAA compliance issues to this assignment, and I am grateful to him for his willingness to assume this responsibility.”

During his career as a sports administrator, Cantler helped develop the Catamount women’s soccer program from scratch in 1999. Two years later in 2001, the program captured the first of its three Southern Conference tournament championships. Also, the Catamount baseball team won both the regular season and tournament titles in 2003 and won the regular season in 2007, advancing to the NCAA regional tournaments.

There’s a move afoot in Sylva to designate some of the downtown area as a national historic district.

A study, expected to take about six months to complete, will help determine whether and which parts of town have enough historic aspects to qualify. First Citizens Bank is bankrolling the study.

Paige Roberson, executive director of the Downtown Sylva Association and the town’s economic planner, said the information gathered in the study would be shared with business owners. If 51 percent want to move forward and form a historic district, the issue would then come before Sylva town commissioners for a formal vote.

Individual homeowners can opt to have their houses included if historic standards are met.

“Sylva should be a pretty good candidate for a historic district,” Roberson said.

There are benefits to receiving such a designation, said Paul Benson, planning director for the town of Waynesville. Waynesville has three districts on the National Register: Frog Level, approved in 2002; Main Street, approved in 2009; and an expansion of the Main Street district to include nearby residential streets in 2010.

Benson said simply documenting historic buildings in town as part of the application process has proved valuable in and of itself.  

“The Waynesville Historic Preservation Commission used this information in their walking tour publication,” Benson said. Property in the historic districts also have special protection from road widening, for example.

Benson said the primary benefit will “hopefully be the long term preservation of historic buildings and the character and quality of life they bring to the community.”

Canton also has an approved National Historic District.

Business owners with buildings included in a district can get a 40 percent tax credit to help pay for renovations, Roberson said. The designation does not limit what they can do with their buildings.

“Building owners can do anything they want,” she said, emphasizing the tax credit given for following historic standards is optional.

— By Quintin Ellison

Casey Cooper, chief executive officer for Cherokee Indian Hospital, will deliver Western Carolina University’s annual public lecture on Indian health at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2.

Cooper will address the topic “The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians: Issues in Health” in a talk scheduled for the A.K. Hinds University Center theater.

The event is made possible through a $3,000 gift from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel to Western Carolina’s College of Health and Human Sciences to sponsor a public lecture series on Native American health issues offered through the university’s Culturally Based Native Health Program.

Established in 2006, the Culturally Based Native Health Program, or CBNHP, provides health professionals with an opportunity to acquire knowledge about Cherokee culture and other Native American cultures that might help them in treating patients.

The program’s lecture series is designed to help inform the public of issues that affect the health and wellbeing of Native peoples and to be of interest to those who work in rural communities in Southern Appalachia with other underserved populations.

828.227.2164 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Homeward Bound, a foster care/adoption awareness event coordinated by the Haywood County Department of Social Services and Western North Carolina foster care agencies, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5, at Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church.

The event is designed to provide information on how to become a foster and/or adoptive parent and to share information on Haywood County children who need placement with a family.

DSS currently has 96 children in foster care. Jones estimates that 40 percent of the children placed in foster care each year are placed in homes outside of Haywood County. The event will allow interested persons to learn more about how the process works and to talk to families who have fostered.

Homeward Bound will take place in the Long’s Chapel Fellowship Hall. The church is located at 175 Old Clyde Highway in Clyde. Admission and parking is free.

828.356.2367 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The final day to donate “Coats for Kids” through the Cullowhee United Methodist Church and Cullowhee Valley Elementary School is Monday, Oct. 31.

Donations of good-condition used or new warm clothing, hats, gloves, shoes and coats can be dropped off at sponsoring locations.

Underwear and sock donations should be new and in original packaging (in sizes newborn-18 or XS- XL).

“Coats for Kids” Distribution Day will be Saturday, Nov. 5, at Cullowhee United Methodist Church from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Parents or guardians will need to be physically present with their children in order to receive items.

Monetary gifts can be sent to Cullowhee United Methodist Church, PO Box 1267, Cullowhee, NC 28723. Please write on the memo line: “Coats for Kids.”

The Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet will perform a free concert Tuesday, Nov. 1, in the recital hall of the Coulter Building at Western Carolina University.

The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Members of SMBQ, the quintet in residence at WCU, are P. Bradley Ulrich and David Ginn, trumpets; Travis Bennett, horn; Dan Cherry, trombone; and Michael Schallock, tuba.

The program also will feature fellow faculty soloists John West, Will Peebles and Pavel Wlosok. West will perform “Blues Concerto for Alto Sax and Brass Quintet” by Holcombe. Peebles will be the bassoon soloist on Burrill Phillips’ “Concert Piece,” arranged by Ulrich. Wlosok, jazz piano, will be joining the SMBQ on his “Jazz Miniatures for Brass Quintet.”

828.227.7242.

The Overlook Theatre Company will present the “Wizard of Oz” Nov. 3-6 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances will be at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday’s performance will be at 2:30 p.m. Ticket prices start at $10 each.

This production of the “Wizard of Oz” will include 95 cast and crew members bringing the classic MGM film to life in a two-act production complete with songs from the Oscar-winning musical score.

This production of Wizard of Oz is sponsored by Watson Contracting of 201 Sloan Road, inFranklin.  Watson Contracting is a privately-owned business serving the construction and architectural needs of Western North Carolina and surrounding areas.

www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615.

The Cherokee Rodders are hosting the popular “Cruise the Smokies” Rod Run Nov. 4-6 at the Acquoni Expo Center (the old Cherokee High School).

This is the largest show and shine in the area for hundreds of classic and customized pre-1981 cars and trucks. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Travel & Promotion Department, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Smoky Mountain Chevrolet, GT Graphics, and ET Motorgear are the major sponsors.

All cars, either for show or sale, will be parked on the grounds of the center. Spectator parking will be available in surrounding areas around the Center. Gates will open at 8 a.m. for both cars and spectators. Daily spectator entrance fee is $5 with children 10 and under free.

Registration is $40 per car and provides unlimited entrance to the show for two people (children 10 and under are free); a dash plaque and button; chicken dinner on Friday night; poker walk on Saturday; poker cruise on Friday; a chance to win door prizes, cash drawings, and trophies. New this year are the “Trivia,” “Blind Driver,” and the “Loudest Muffler” competitions with prizes. Event shirts will be available for purchase.

Visit www.cherokeerodders.com or call 828.497.2603 to register or for more information.

Two award-winning, classically trained artists — guitarist Brad Richter and cellist Viktor Uzur — will perform this weekend at the Jackson and Macon libraries.

The Arizona Daily Star describes the duo’s original music as “straddling the divide of pop and classical music in a way that seems so natural, you wonder why someone had never thought of it before.” The programs will feature a set of their popular mash-ups and an exciting arrangement of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” among others.

Richter is the former U.S. National Finger-Picking Champion and has won numerous prizes for performing and composing. Uzur is former principal cellist and soloist with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and is a prize winner at many competitions.

The duo will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 at the Jackson County Library. The performance at the Macon County Library is at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30.

The Low Tech Ensemble will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, in the Coulter Building recital hall on the campus of Western Carolina University.

The Low Tech Ensemble plays gamelan music from the Central Javanese tradition and by contemporary composers. A gamelan is an orchestra of tuned percussion instruments that consists mainly of gongs, zithers and xylophones. The concert will feature several traditional pieces as well as a performance of an arrangement by Will Peebles, director of the WCU School of Music.

Joy Shea, also a WCU music faculty member, instructs the ensemble. A resident of Jakarta, Indonesia, for 12 years, Shea has studied and played gamelan with some of the foremost instructors in the United States.

Admission to the concert is free and open to the public.

For more information about the concert, contact the WCU School of Music at 828-227-7242. To learn more about the Low Tech Ensemble, contact Shea at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Western Carolina University Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Mario Gaetano, will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, in the recital hall of Coulter Building. The concert is free and open to the public.

The ensemble performs compositions specifically written for percussion instruments, such as drums, timpani, xylophones and marimbas. The ensemble is made up of 13 of Gaetano’s undergraduate percussion students.

The concert will include “Stratus” by Chris Crockarell, “Sacrificial Rite” by David Gillingham, “Ceremonium” by Jared Spears and Symphony, Op. 34 by Armand Russell. Also on the program is Gaetano’s “Fiesta Del Rio.”

The concert will feature traditional African drumming selections.

828.227.7242.

A talented lineup of potters is coming to Dillsboro for the seventh annual Western North Carolina Pottery Festival on Nov. 4-5.

The juried festival showcases 45 master potters hailing from 17 states.

Elmer Taylor of Denton, Texas, is this year’s featured artist. Taylor is the Regents’ Professor of Art at the University of North Texas and has a summer studio in the Sun Valley region of Idaho. Early in his career, Taylor trained in England under Bernard Leach, considered the father of the modern functional pottery movement.

Taylor’s appearance speaks to the quality of ceramic artists who frequent the WNC Pottery Festival on an annual basis.

“What started as a local pottery event has blossomed into a national show featuring some of the best potters in America,” said festival organizer Joe Frank McKee of Dillsboro’s Tree House Pottery. “These artists love our show because of the fall scenery, the great customers who come year after year, and the hospitality of everybody in Western North Carolina.”

The main portion of the festival is Saturday, with potters manning their booths along Front Street and demonstrations on-going throughout the day. All festival attendees receive a ticket for a day-long raffle, while a silent auction has been added this year to benefit a local organization that provides meals to needy families.

Pre-festival excitement takes place Friday from 1-5 p.m. with the third annual WNC Clay Olympics competition, featuring a field of 20 potters from the festival. Also Friday is the firing of the wood-fired kiln, plus the opportunity to buy pottery tools and equipment at discount prices from Shimpo Ceramics of Chicago. Stone Mountain Clay and Glaze of Tucker, Ga., will also be on hand Friday selling clay and glaze products.

Saturday’s festival hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Admission is $3 per person, with children under the age of 12 admitted free.

“Festival attendees get to buy incredible works and see wonderful demonstrations all day long,” McKee said. “And they’re surrounded by the fall foliage of the Great Smoky Mountains.”

For festival info call 828.6315100 or visit www.wncpotteryfestival.com. For lodging information call the Jackson County Visitors Center at 800.962.1911.

A two-hour workshop in mixed media techniques will be taught at Leapin’ Frog Gallery on Friday, Nov. 4, by local artist Silvia Cabrera Williams.

Attention will be given to the elements and principles of art incorporating several mixed media techniques using gesso. The workshop is from 1-3 p.m. and cost of $25.

A recent mixed media piece of Williams has been juried into the 25th International Show of the North West Pastel Society in Tacoma, Wash. The show will be held at the oldest gallery in the Northwest by the oldest fine art company in the country, the American ART Company.

Call 828.456.8441 today to reserve your space for the workshop at Leapin’ Frog Gallery at 58 Commerce St. in th Frog Level area of Waynesville.

Artist and gallery owner Peggy Duncan has 31 of her paintings in pastel, acrylic, oil and mixed media on exhibit at Swain County Center for the Arts through Nov. 10. The “Fleeting Images” exhibit includes a retrospect of Duncan’s work from impressionistic pastels and low country landscapes to textural mixed media paintings on shaped wood panels.

There will be a reception for Duncan on Saturday, Oct. 29, in the lobby of Swain County Center for the Arts immediately following a concert of blues, zydeco, rock and jazz by Gas House Mouse at 7 p.m.  

Sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council, Swain County Center for the Arts and Swain County Schools, the public is invited to both the concert and the reception free of charge.  

Duncan moved to Bryson City in 2006 to pursue her own painting full time and to open The Artists’ House Studio & Gallery in her house. She displays and sells artwork by a variety of 2-D and 3-D local, regional and national artists, including her own pastel, oil and acrylic paintings. The Artists’ House Studio & Gallery is located at 40 Victorian Drive in Bryson City.

Duncan’s artwork has been accepted in more than 40 regional and national juried shows since the early 1980s.  Her painting, “Pretty in Purple,” is one of only 24 pastels selected out of a total of 77 entries to show in the Appalachian Pastel Society Juried Show to be held Oct. 14 to Nov. 23 at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts.

828.488.7843.

Smoky Mountain Living magazine prominently features images from across the southern Appalachians in each edition. Photo essays adhere to the issue’s overall theme.

The next issue of Smoky Mountain Living will focus on all things home. Appropriate photos would include hometown scenes, animal homes, feeling at home, homemade things, and whatever else evokes the spirit of home.

Reader submitted photos are unpaid but those selected are rewarded with publication in the nationally distributed magazine. SML covers the southern Appalachians and  celebrates the area’s environmental riches, its people, culture, music, arts, history, and special places. Each issue brings the Appalachians to life. Published six times each year, SML is a magazine for those who want to learn more about where they live and those who want to stay in touch with where they love.

Submissions should be hi-resolution digital images and include information about where  and when the photos were taken and by whom. Email photos to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Oct. 21.

This winter Smoky Mountain Living is celebrating the home. Help share the joys of home by telling about your hometown in 300 words or less.

Some questions to consider as you think about writing are: What was it like growing up in your hometown? What are your favorite memories? What does it feel like to be home? What gave/gives the town a sense of place? Why did you leave or did you? Would you live in your hometown again or do you live there now? What's one thing you would tell any visitor to your hometown to make sure to do?

Submissions must include a picture of the writer (current or, even better, in the hometown) as well as full name, current address, hometown name, email and phone number.

Submissions should be by those who grew up in the Southern Appalachian region or are now living in the Southern Appalachian region.

Send your submission to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Oct. 24.

Public comment will be taken on a proposed 17.4 percent rate hike by Duke Energy at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Macon County courthouse.

Commercial customers’ rates would increase by 14 percent.

Aside from general disdain of larger monthly power bills, the proposed rate hike has raised the hackles of environmentalists. Duke is hoisting the cost of building a new coal power plant onto its customers. Environmentalists have questioned the need for the new coal plant, instead calling for renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy conservation.

“The proposed hikes will place a burden on the public in an effort to build more generating capacity when such capacity is not necessary,” said Ken Brown, a member of WNC Alliance environmental organization in Jackson County.

The N.C. Utility Commission must OK the rate hike. It is holding public hearings across the state, including the one in Franklin.

A meeting called Green Drinks was held recently in Franklin, and helped prep talking points for opponents to use at the public hearing.

“We feel a large public turnout is needed to keep the decision-making process balanced,” said Bill Crawford, an organizer of Green Drinks.

Green Drinks is a monthly social gathering of conservationists, providing a forum and outlet for the environmental community to discuss issues and share concerns. It was patterned after a long-standing Green Drinks event in Asheville.

Anyone is welcome. 828. 524.2280 or 828.349.3067.

The Alliance for Saving Threatened Forests is hosting a one-day symposium, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., about host resistance research to the hemlock and balsam woolly adelgids.

The conference will take place Oct. 26 at the Haywood County Cooperative Extension Center, across from the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville.

There are several objectives, including bringing together scientists who are researching adelgid resistance to explain their work in layman’s terms.

The symposium is sponsored by the Friends of the Smokies, the N.C. Nursery and Landscape Association, and the N.C. Christmas Tree Association. A barbecue lunch will be provided.

www.threatenedforests.org or contact Erin Mester, ASTF development officer,

Department of Entomology, Grinnells Laboratories, Campus Box 7626, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-7626, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..