Presented by the Town of Sylva, the 28th annual Greening Up the Mountains festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, along Main Street and Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.

The festival is a heritage arts gathering that celebrates the arrival of spring through both traditional and contemporary forms of Appalachian art, music, food and beverage which honor our community and local artisans.

A special “Appalachian Music Showcase & BBQ Dinner” featuring Americana/folk duo Anya Hinkle and Libby Weitnauer will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, April 17, at the Balsam Mountain Inn, located in Balsam right off the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway.

Asheville-based roots artist Anya Hinkle (vocals, guitar) teams up with Nashville-based fiddler/vocalist Libby Weitnauer for an intimate exploration of acoustic music rooted in the sounds of Appalachia and seasoned by travels around the globe. 

Thursday, April 16 • 3pm-6pm

Ingles Markets — West Waynesville — 1670 Brown Ave., Waynesville

Complimentary Samples (Limited Availability) 

Haywood Christian Ministries has announced its fourth annual Farm Fresh 5K on to be run at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 18.

The Farm Fresh 5K is a chance to come together as a community and make a difference. Runners will support local farmers, putting food on the tables of families in need while strengthening the local economy. 

The Community Table is in a small and unassuming brick building nestled between Sylva’s Municipal Drive and Poteet Park. It’s also a local lifeline. Every year, tens of thousands of community members visit the nonprofit — which since 1999 has envisioned a Jackson County in which no one “goes to bed hungry” — and are welcomed inside its doors. 

It may be tempting to believe some of the claims you see on social media about buying certain supplements that can help you achieve magical longevity, but the truth is actually much more mundane. Good overall health habits will benefit you much more than stacking supplements. 

Applications are now being accepted through April 13 for the N.C. Agriculture Manufacturing and Processing Initiative, which was created to fund and promote the establishment of value-added agricultural manufacturing and food processing facilities in North Carolina. The program includes $4.3 million in available funding to support eligible projects. 

Question: How can I tell how old eggs are at Ingles Markets?

Answer: You should see a number on the side of the egg carton. This is known as the JULIAN DATE. The Julian date shows you the year and date those eggs were packed, which would normally be within a few hours of the hens producing them. 

I’ll admit that I am not always the best about using our freezer to its full advantage; but here are some things I do like to keep in the freezer. 

• Cheese pizza — I like to look for sales on good quality cheese pizzas and keep a couple on hand for those nights when we don’t feel like cooking or eating out.  I can quickly top a cheese pizza with vegetables like sliced tomatoes, spinach or even zucchini slices or fresh arugula (once out of the oven).

Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is elevated over what is considered normal, but as yet, not high enough to be a diagnosis of diabetes. A HbA1C (glycated hemoglobin) test will indicate Prediabetes if the result is between 5.7 % and 6.4 % (equates to average blood sugars of 117mg/dl-137mg/dl).

Even before a blood test, you may notice some issues which may indicate prediabetes: