A tambourine-lover with creative tactics meant to take congregants outside of their comfort zone, Rabbi RuthE Levy of Mountain Synagogue in Franklin doesn’t mess around when it comes to musical shabbat. 

Known in Hebrew as Shabbat Shirah, this service takes place at the beginning of the harvest season, long before the Jewish holiday of Passover — the latter holiday at the start of April 2026, the former portion in late February — but it tells a well-known Passover story.

Greenhill Cemetery will once again take part in the annual Wreaths Across America ceremony, a national observance that began in 1992 and has grown each year as more cemeteries across the country join in the effort to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of American veterans.

Western Carolina University will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 12, to kick off the first phase of a series of planned upgrades for E.J. Whitmire Stadium and other aging facilities used by Catamount student-athletes. 

A free event for all emergency responders and veterans will be held in Bryson City on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. at Riverfront Park, in remembrance of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Alice Bradley says she’s just an old country girl who isn’t used to the applause and compliments that come with being in the spotlight.

The cemetery is up a dirt road, past an old barn and its bygone basketball  hoop. A tread-worn path leads up the hill, where Confederate reenactors have arrived in pickup trucks.