Admin
Tatting, caning, quilting and spinning demonstrations will highlight the 6th annual Patchwork Folk and Fabric Festival scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee.
The festival is presented by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, the Appalachian Homestead Farm and Preserve and the Jackson County Parks and Recreational Department.
Participants may purchase homemade lunch, made by the board of directors of CSA.
828.293.3053.
Maybe it’s the fear of snakes, mountain lions, or Bigfoot. Or the perceived boredom of time spent unplugged. Perhaps it’s basic opposition to exertion and sweat. Whatever the reasons, fewer people nationwide are spending time in the great outdoors.
If you like getting away from it all, though, this trend might not seem so bad. You can enjoy a hike on a remote trail or cycle down a country road without someone next to you blabbing on their cell phone or barking about some divisive political issue.
But I also see danger in the isolation — and not just the obvious risk of getting injured or hopelessly lost and needing help, though that’s reason enough to welcome human company.
To me, the greater problem may be that if very few people experience the great outdoors, then only a small number will care when our wild or rural areas are threatened by sprawling development, exotic species, pollution or other problems. And if these open spaces suffer declines, so will important community resources like clean water, clean air, fresh food, tourism dollars, wildlife, and more.
Meanwhile, a fair number of doctors, teachers, and others are concerned that children who don’t play outside may experience higher rates of obesity, attention-deficit disorders, and other maladies. They’ve written books like Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder and launched myriad “No Child Left Inside” efforts.
With so many people working on the issue, I wasn’t surprised when a recent news story announced a “positive trend” in outdoor recreation. The Outdoor Foundation had released its 2010 Outdoor Recreation Participation Report, which highlighted “many encouraging trends-especially for youth.”
Unfortunately, their “positive trend” consisted of a smaller annual rate of decline in outdoor recreation compared to the previous study. I’m no math expert, but to me, a decline in a decline is still a decline.
That left me wondering who or what can truly reverse the trend. A new website, www.planetexplore.com, marks one major effort to help people find ways to enjoy the great outdoors. Partners include major outdoor gear companies and conservation groups. Sounds promising, right? When I first searched for local events, the site offered up a drumming class and a winery tour. More recently, they’ve listed a plant sale, a tree-drawing workshop, and a “mini-landfill” project to help you “learn how things rot.” Hmm.
In case fermentation and decomposition aren’t your idea of getting back to nature, consider the basic walk in the woods. For anyone with children or grandchildren, check out www.kidsinparks.com, sponsored by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. The site has great ideas for getting kids excited about hiking.
Of course, we don’t need the internet to lead us outdoors. Step one: fold up the paper or turn off the computer. Step two: go outside. Step three: take a nature photo or take a hike, but whatever you do, take someone with you — a spouse, a friend, a parent, a child, or anyone who hasn’t been outside much lately. Maybe I’ll see you there. And maybe the next report on trends in outdoor recreation will be truly positive.
(George Ivey is a Haywood County-based consultant and author of the novel Up River. Contact him at www.georgeivey.com.)
To the Editor:
I’d like to thank the state House of Representatives for putting rich white kids first in North Carolina with your vote on May 3. It’s about time! I am so tired of these hard working, poor and minority children who go to school everyday trying to make their lives better in the only safe environment they know.
I want to thank you for creating jobs in North Carolina, specifically at the ESC to handle the larger unemployment lines coming our way in the next few years. It will feel good to get rid of these high-paid, fat-cat teacher assistants, counselors, school nurses, custodians and secretaries that help to feed and put clothes on the backs of these little leaches on society. The $600,000 House Bill 351 alone will take care of the salaries of seven teaching assistants right away, and showing my driver’s license when I vote will always trump a child’s welfare in my book.
I applaud you for your efforts! I know that you really want to look into the faces of these children as you sign the bills to eliminate the positions of the only trustworthy person in their lives; however, I can understand that it is probably more beneficial to your busy schedule not to mention your re-election campaigns to pass the responsibility of job layoffs to the State Board of Education. Why become involved with the needs and concerns of your constituents now? After all, life is like golf, lowest score wins! And now, you’ve put North Carolinaright on par to take the lead!
House representatives, I want to thank you for helping Art Pope, your very own “Skip” Stam, and of course your campaign contributing friend Bob Luddy to make some money off of these kids backs. You could have done the easy thing and continued the 1 cent sales tax that 70 percent of North Carolinians support, maybe even closed the captive Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) tax loophole that would actually generate income from big corporations who owe back taxes here in North Carolina. Or any number of smaller cuts in different areas, but you didn’t so thanks.
Really, we didn’t hire you to be creative thinkers, and you certainly haven’t disappointed. I want to thank you for the sound financial advice I have learned from you. From now on when I am in financial straits at home I will cut out my food budget and stop cashing my paycheck! Because I know that not feeding myself and having no income to pay the bills will always keep me healthy and get me out of debt.
N.C. House Representatives, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! The great state of North Carolina thanks you! I am sure that kids who are affected by the elimination of the state’s dropout prevention programs and the other members of the gangs they join will be thanking you and the rest of us some time in the near future as well. Especially when you have to cut law enforcement jobs in the next budget because God knows those people will be sucking the life out of our state by then! That however is for another letter, for another time.
Frederick Sean Parnell
Hickory
To the Editor:
Do you think more of your car than you do of your children?
If something is wrong with your car, you take it to a dealer to be fixed. When you get it back and it still is not right you either take it back to the dealer until you are satisfied or you go to another dealer. Competition forces the dealers to do a better job and satisfy their customers.
You send your child to school for 12 years and your chances are 2 to 1 that they will graduate. Even if they do, they have a 75 percent chance that they are behind grade level and will require 1 to 1.5 years of remediation to make it through college or to prepare for a productive and successful life.
Why do you not demand the same level of “customer service” and results from the business you have entrusted to educate your children? After all, is this not your most important responsibility as a parent?
You say, “Well there are no other options.” Whose fault is that? You continue to elect politicians that refuse to allow you the options a parent needs to see that their child receives the best education possible for that particular child. Every year since 1996, your previous state senators and state representatives voted to deny you those options by refusing to allow competition to exist. Your current state representatives, Phil Haire, D-Sylva, and Ray Rapp, D-Mars Hill, continue to do this. When will you realize that they vote for their best interests (campaign contributions) and the best interests of the monopoly, not the best interests of your children and grandchildren?
We have a lot excellent teachers in our public school system, but too often the best of them are frustrated by the bureaucracy that stifles their ability to teach. We can do better for our children and competition will cause all options to improve.
Bruce Gardner
Waynesville
To The Editor:
I attended the recent public hearing on the Comprehensive Transportation Plan and came away confused. First, according to the Division Engineer who manages Division 14 of the N.C. Department of Transportation, of which Macon is a part, all this hoopla about requiring a Comprehensive Plan or we’ll be cut off from road projects is not accurate. Yet it seems that the county administration is under the impression that this is the case.
Aside from the confusion over why the plan is necessary, I’m trying to understand its purpose, which, among other things, is ostensibly to create an environment that attracts jobs. Yet, there are many provisions and recommendations that make home construction more difficult and more expensive.
Considering the current plight of the construction industry and the attendant businesses — developers, realtors, well drillers, septic system contractors, landscapers, heating and air contractors, furniture stores, carpet layers, appliance stores, appraisers, cabinet makers, surveyors, interior decorators, tile contractors and so on — one wonders why county officials would consider the recommendations included in the Plan.
To trade the possibility of attracting job creators in the future, a task that has proven to be unsuccessful in the past, for the certainty of job destruction in the here and now seems like a fools game to me.
Don Swanson
Franklin
To the Editor:
I’d like to thank Quintin Ellison and The Smoky Mountain News for Ms. Ellison’s excellent article about the Corneille Bryan Native Garden at Lake Junaluska (www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/3978-don’t-rush-by-this-little-lake-junaluska-treasure). She gave a succinct history and an accurate and appealing description of what a visitor will find there. It is a true treasure and represents years of work by a small staff and many volunteers. We appreciate her taking the time to stop by for our annual plant sale and to take a closer look at our garden. We hope her enthusiastic endorsement will encourage your readers to come and take a thoughtful walk through.
Linda McFarland,
Chair of the Board
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
To the Editor:
Having served for more than a decade as president of Southwestern Community College, I was dismayed by what was reported in The Smoky Mountain News and the Sylva Herald as opposition by some Jackson County commissioners to the building of a much-needed and long-planned access road for Southwestern Community College. After 10 years of intense planning and tireless effort in securing legislative action and state support for funding, it boggles my mind that our local commissioners would consider opposing what is obviously an overwhelming need where a workable solution has been found along with the funding to fix the problem.
Is it wrong for Southwestern Community College to seek the necessary roadway infrastructure funding that other North Carolina public educational institutions routinely receive from the state? Are the commissioners aware of the safety risk posed by a single entrance and exit point to and from the campus? This was the primary reason for seeking funding to build a connecting road to eliminate the risk. Enrollment growth has now made the road an imperative.
From my perspective, opposition to the building of an essential ingress and egress roadway for the Jackson Campus must be based on something other than what is a factually and reasonably obvious need and proposed solution to a problem destined to grow worse unless addressed. Why not solve the problem while state funding is available rather than put the burden directly on local taxpayers as some schools have done? It troubles and confounds me that a public institution is being criticized for doing what is in the best interest of its students, the general public and local taxpayers.
Whatever the political persuasion or position, most agree that an educated citizenry is essential to the preservation of our freedom and a trained and knowledgeable workforce is critical to our economic prosperity. No one addresses these issues better than Southwestern Community College. Southwestern has more than proven its vital importance to the citizens of Jackson County and Western North Carolina. What better evidence is there than the soaring enrollment of local citizens, young and old, seeking a better future for themselves and their families? With its singular dedication to student teaching and learning, Southwestern offers the highest return-on-investment of taxpayer dollars.
Finally, I am most grateful to the Board of Trustees at Southwestern. During my tenure as president, board members never asked individually or collectively that a decision be made based on political or personal consideration. Decisions were made based on what is best for the students and the communities served. Appropriately, the naming of the new building in honor of Conrad Burrell was based on his years of dedicated service and accomplishment for all the citizens in Western North Carolina and especially for his support and advocacy at the local, state and national levels on behalf of Southwestern Community College. To allege or infer otherwise is wrong.
Cecil Groves
Former President,
Southwestern Community College
Haywood Vocational Opportunities has donated 103,500 black medical table covers to AmeriCares, a global disaster relief organization that delivers medicine and supplies to those in need around the world. The donation is being shipped to the AmeriCares warehouse in Haiti to help with ongoing medical care in relief efforts. The final shipment weighed more than 55,000 pounds and was shipped free of charge by the Wal-Mart Hearts program.
828.456.4455 ext. 1138 or visit www.hvoinc.com.
MedWest Health System is expanding its access to health care to the communities served by its hospitals in three counties. A third urgent care center will soon be available in Jackson County and a new one will be built in Canton.
The third urgent care center in Sylva is located at 176 Wal-Mart Plaza and will open August 1. The facility will have nine examining rooms and X-ray and lab services. It will provide 14 medical positions including two physicians, two physician assistants, two registered nurses, two radiology technicians, two lab technicians and two office assistants.
Another Urgent Care Center will open off Exit 31 in Canton and will have 16 treatment rooms. There will also be sleeping rooms and showers for EMS workers and a room for the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office and the N.C. Highway Patrol.
The rooftops of both offices of Smoky Mountain Foot and Ankle Clinic are now equipped with solar electric modules that will generate electricity through solar energy. Sundance Power Systems installed the panels at both the Waynesville and Asheville locations. The Waynesville installation was one of the first in Haywood County where the permitting and inspection processes were new for grid-connected solar systems. They were among the first systems in the area to participate in Progress Energy’s SunSense Program. 828.452.4343 or visit www.smokymountainfootclinic.com.
Two cardiologists with MedWest Health System now offer the first pacemaker designed, tested and approved by the Federal Drug Administration for use in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) environment.
Dr. David Peterson and Dr. Glenn Harris have successfully implanted the pacemaker on March 31. The procedure and follow-up is the same as the traditional procedure. Mary Lou Rinehart of Waynesville is the recipient of the first new pacemaker at MedWest Haywood.
The procedure is a one- to two-hour outpatient service with one overnight stay for observation. The new pacemaker cannot be used as a replacement for an existing one and it is not meant for someone who has other reasons to not undergo an MRI. 828.564.9222.
Clyde Fire Department recently underwent a state inspection that improved their insurance rating.
The businesses and homeowners in the Clyde/Central Haywood fire district will most likely see a reduction in their insurance premiums as a result. A homeowner who lives in the rural district could see an average decrease of $150-$180 of their insurance premiums annually, depending on the size and value of their home. The Clyde Fire Department currently has the lowest insurance rating in Haywood County.
The North Carolina Rating system is on a five-year cycle but departments can request an early review. Things such as new equipment and improvements to water systems play an important role in the rating.
A blower upgrade to the landfill gas system that helps power Jackson County’s Green Energy Park has been completed.
The upgrade, which included a moister separator, should help the system be more efficient, according to Director Timm Muth, director of Jackson County’s Green Energy Park, located at the old county landfill in Dillsboro.
The new blower has nine stages of operation that should better regulate the gas output pressure while facilitating a steadier and possibly higher level of gas flow to the forges and kilns.
The Jackson County Green Energy Park uses landfill gas and other renewable energy resources to provide fuel for blacksmith forges and the foundry, glassblowing studios and greenhouses. www.jcgep.org.
Southwestern Community College this week got a new president, Donald Tomas of Aledo, Texas, who takes over July 1.
Tomas replaces Richard Collings, who served in the top slot at SCC for just six months before resigning suddenly. Collings, who replaced SCC President Cecil Groves after his retirement, suffered a stroke after coming to North Carolina to start his new job.
Tomas is the college’s sixth president. The State Board of Community Colleges approved the board of trustees’ pick May 20. SCC’s service area is Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, plus the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
SCC Board of Trustees Chairman Conrad Burrell described Tomas as “a good fit for our college and the communities it serves. We feel he has the knowledge and skills to move our college forward to the next level and ensure we complete our mission of providing a quality, affordable education to the citizens of Western North Carolina.”
Tomas said he is excited about the opportunity.
Tomas currently serves as vice president of instruction at Weatherford College in Weatherford, Texas.
Tomas described his role at SCC as one of “servant leader,” with a focus on creating an atmosphere of innovation and success.
Tomas has holds a doctorate from Grambling State University in Louisiana, plus degrees from Texas State Woman’s University and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Weatherford College, where he currently serves, is a comprehensive two-year community college serving a rural four-county region of more than 202,000 residents. His previous positions include chief administrative officer for the Southwest Texas Junior College-Del Rio in Del Rio, Texas, and associate dean of instructional services at Southwest Texas Junior College.
Tomas and his wife, Allison, are the parents of three adult daughters.
A summer day camp for children from the ages of 6 to 12 will run from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, from June 15 through August 17.
The camp is run by Haywood Community College’s Regional Center for the Advancement of Children will offer campers the chance to take field trips around campus, such as working in the vegetable garden with horticulture, disc golf, trips to the library, computer lab, a bug camp and other hands-on learning activities.
Cost of the camp is $460 per month. 828.565.4187.
A new associate degree program at Haywood Community College will upgrade the existing one-year diploma program in auto body this fall.
The Collision Repair and Refinishing Technology program will prepare students to become qualified technicians to perform repairs and refinishing techniques on automobiles and diagnose and repair mechanical and electrical problems. Graduates will be qualified to take the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification examinations and also for entry-level employment in automotive dealerships, independent repair shops or self-employment as collision repair and refinishing technicians. Early registration is June 7 through June 8. 828.627.4581.
Know someone, maybe yourself, who should be minority businessperson of the year?
The Minority Enterprise Development Week Committee is now accepting nominations for this year’s awards.
Businesses open for at least two years can nominate themselves. In addition to the overall winner, awards will be presented to category winners in construction, manufacturing, restaurant, retail and service. For businesses open fewer than two years, a nomination for a new award, Outstanding Emerging Business, can be submitted.
The awards are open to minority small business owners from Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Madison, Buncombe, Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Henderson, and Transylvania counties.
All nominations must be received by June 30. The self-nomination forms can be found at www.wncmedweek.org, or 828.497.1670.
A grandparent support group will meet from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1, at the Jackson Family Resource Center in Sylva. Grandparents will have opportunities to share their own experiences as a grandparent, including struggles or successes. Topics include grandparents as parents again, seeking visitation, activities and more.
Health and Prosperity
Two of the main arguments in favor of Corridor K construction are safety and economic growth. Road advocates maintain that having an easily traveled corridor into the area will allow larger companies — and their requisite supplies and equipment — to set up shop there. It would also give faster, safer access to health care. Residents must now traverse steep and winding two-lane roads to get to nearby hospitals and doctors’ offices. Ambulances can take up to two hours getting to Asheville’s Mission hospital, since their rescue helicopter can only reach the area in clear weather.
Melba Millsaps
Job: Nurse
Lives in: Robbinsville – her home is in the road’s path
Position: Supports
“I really love where I live, and as much as I love living there, even more than that I want this road built. I know how important it is to receive quick medical care when you need it. We need to have quicker access to health care, which could mean the difference between life and death, so I’m for the road. Is it going to impact me? Yes, it is. But you know what? I’m thinking about my grandchildren and how to make it easier on them in the future.”
The Brain Drain
Many in Graham County are concerned about the brain drain that lack of economic opportunity creates there. Unemployment is high — just above 16 percent in March — and there is no community college within the county. Some road proponents are hopeful that a 4-lane will allow their top young minds to commute to college instead of leaving the county, and that it will entice industry that can provide them jobs after graduation.
David Matheson,
Job: Principal at Robbinsville High School
Lives in: Robbinsville
Position: Supports
“Our No. 1 export in Graham County is our young people. The young people that we are exporting are the top 10 or 15 percent of our graduating class, every year. Our school is performing miracles with our kids, but they don’t have the ability to come back to Graham County and make a decent living. This road is the first step and this road needs to be built, even if you have to bulldoze my house to start it.”
Environmental Destruction
Deleterious effects on the environment and natural mountainous character are the reasons some opponents list when making their case against the road. The new highway would cut a wide swath through Stecoah, and opponents highlight the changes it would bring to the region’s rugged mountain character. They also point to the road’s potential for environmental damage from leaching from acidic rocks to threats to native species.
Instead, they advocate for improving the existing two-lane road, making it less narrow and curvy, rather than building a brand-new highway.
Ken Brown,
Job: Chairman of the Tuckasegee Community Alliance, a chapter of the WNC Alliance.
Lives in: Sylva
Position: Against
“The WNC Alliance has long been opposed to the Corridor K proposal because of the effects on rare and endangered species and the Stecoah valley. We believe that growth should be appropriate to the region and should be managed to maintain the world-class natural resources we have here. We want [the North Carolina Department of Transportation] to undertake a more in-depth analysis of upgrading the current right-of-ways.”
Whole Road or No Road
One opposing camp believes the proposed segment of highway would be useless unless the final link of Corridor K — section A, stretching from Robbinsville to Andrews — also gets built. They say a four-lane highway into Robbinsville petering out to a two-lane wouldn’t bring a significant increase in traffic, just a significant expense.
Josh Carpenter
Job: Cherokee County planner
Lives in: Robbinsville
Position: Against
“I think the most important section of this road is the A section. If that’s not completed, I don’t think we’ll have any positive impact from the overall impact of the road. The road will make change and I think that Robbinsville and Graham County need to prepare for that.”
Way too costly
Other challengers to Corridor K cite its high cost — $383 million. $197 million of that would build the tunnel. Corridor K is a part of the Appalachian Development Highway System, and the federally allocated ADHS fund would foot 80 percent of the bill, with a 20 percent match from the state. Detractors say that the $3.46 million per mile is far too much, and that economic benefits won’t offset the costs.
Jim Grode
Job: Executive director of WaySouth, a group that promotes sustainable transport in Appalachia
Lives in: Asheville, N.C.
Position: Against
“If we make the generous assumption that North Carolina keeps getting about the same annual amount of federal money for this highway, the earliest it could have enough money to finish this project is in 2028. The bumper stickers that say ‘the money is there, build the road now’ would be more accurate if they said ‘a fifth of the money is there, build the road in 20 years.’ It will take over 75 years for the benefits to equal the cost. That’s a payback period no investor would ever touch, and this road may literally never pay for itself.”
Bryson City resident Jane Spotted Bird will read from her recently published memoir, Still Here: Dancing to the Beat of My Own Drum, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, at City Lights bookstore in Sylva.
The book tells the story of her journey after receiving a diagnosis of state IV cancer in 2008, when she was given six months to a year to live. She has now survived well beyond what her doctors expected and is healthy.
Spotted Bird will read selections from the book and take questions and comments from the audience. An signing will follow her remarks.
828.586.9499.
The Marianna Black Library in Bryson City will host an afternoon with Kim Michele Richardson, author of The Unbreakable Child: a Memoir of Forgiving the Unforgivable, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 21. She will discuss her book and present a program on the publishing process.
Richardson currently works with universities, schools and libraries, focusing on writing and the steps to publication.
828.488.3030 or visit fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department will offer TetraBrazil Soccer Camp for ages 10 to 18 July 11 through 15 at the Waynesville Recreation Center.
The camp will offer Brazilian coaching staff, individual technical development and a unique cultural experience. Learn new fakes, moves and tricks. Also, register by May 27 and receive a free soccer ball and camp T-shirt.
There will be a morning or afternoon half-day camp, or a full-day camp. The half-day camp is $135 per person and the full-day camp is $182 per person.
Since 1999, TetraBrazil Soccer Academy has been bringing Brazilian soccer expertise to American soccer players. www.challengersports.com or 828.456.2030.
Carolina Mountains Soccer Club in Haywood County is holding tryouts May 24 through 26 for the coming season.
The soccer club is designed for youth players who have the skill, drive and desire to take their development to the next level. There are three programs ranging in their level of competitive play. The club is affiliated at the state level with the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association.
Go to www.cmsoccerclub.org for the try-out schedule. 828.593.8280 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Adults with a hankering for soccer this summer can sign up to play in a league run by the Haywood County Recreation and Parks.
There is a open league and a women’s league. Teams in the open league (maximum of 10 teams) may include women, but don’t have a co-ed requirements. The women’s league (maximum of six teams) is for women only. Maximum roster for teams in either league is 13.
Games are on Monday and Wednesday evenings at Allen’s Creek Park from June 13 through August 3. Games will consist of seven versus seven, with each half lasting 25 minutes. The registration fee is $365 per team, which includes a soccer jersey for each player and tournament prizes.
To register a team, or for those who want to play but don’t have a team to play on, contact Scott Worley at 828.452.6789 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Do you want to attract more birds, butterflies, beneficial insects and other native species to your backyards? It’s easy, fun for the family and an important way to help restore native habitats.
Friends of Rickman Store, in the historic Cowee Valley area of Macon County, has joined an effort through National Wildlife Federation to certify backyards as “wildlife habitats” by meeting some simple, but important goals. The components for certification are to provide adequate water, food, cover, places to raise young and sustainable gardening practices.
The group is hosting several outings and workshops as part of a summer Gardening for Wildlife Series.
On May 22 visit Mary and Stan Polanski’s certified backyard in Oak Grove. This small treasured patch hosts an old-fashioned kitchen garden surrounded by native plants and wildlife-friendly features that portray a quiet respect for nature.
Meet at Cowee Elementary School at 3 p.m. 828.349.5201 or 828.369.5595.
For future programs in the series, call 828.349.5201 or watch the Outdoors calendar in The Smoky Mountain News
The Great Smoky Mountains Audubon Society will hold a Backyard Habitat Workshop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at the Maggie Valley Pavilion.
Come learn how to transform yards into native plant and wildflower paradises. Presented by Sara Martin, biology instructor at Haywood Community College. Bring photos/layout of your yard, notebook and lunch.
Register by sending a $20 check payable to GSMAS, P.O. Box 1262, Maggie Valley, NC, 28751. 828.550.5449 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Western North Carolina stargazers will be able to witness a rare astronomical phenomenon this month when four of the five planets visible to the naked eye can be observed close together in the early morning sky.
That’s the word from Paul Heckert, professor of astronomy and physics at Western Carolina University. Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury will be very close together just above the southeastern horizon in the predawn sky during May, Heckert said.
“For sky-watchers in Western North Carolina, the planets will be low in the sky, and anyone wanting to observe them will need a very good southeastern horizon, such as on a mountaintop or high on a southeastern slope,” he said. “Also, because they will be low, the fainter planets could be lost in the glare of the morning twilight without binoculars or other optical aid.”
Jupiter and Venus will be the two brightest objects visible, he said. In the second half of May, Jupiter will be easy to spot and higher than Venus in the sky.
Venus, Mercury and Mars have their closest approach on the morning of May 21, a close grouping that will last until the morning of May 25. For the rest of May, the four planets will move further apart.
“Providing one last treat for stargazers, the thin waning crescent moon will pass close to these planets from May 29 to May 31,” Heckert said. “The fifth naked-eye planet, Saturn, will be visible all night in May, but will be setting in the west in the twilight hours, not in the east where the other planets can be seen.”
The Mountain Sports Festival returns to Asheville on May 27-29, with a line up to entice any pro or amateur athlete to test themselves in mountain sports.
The festival brings in more than 15,000 visitors and competitors.
Competitions will take place throughout the weekend beginning with Rock-2-Rock Trail Run in Black Mountain and the Disc Golf Challenge at Festival Village, followed by the brand new Cyclocross Race and Longboarding.
Saturday, there’s a full schedule of high-energy competition highlighted by the Mountain Disc Golf Challenge, French Broad Challenge Triathlon, Urban Mountain Bike Challenge, 2011 Wheel Ride for Food, Dodgeball Tournament and the Climb Max Climbing Competition.
Sunday, the events are still in high gear with more of the Mountain Disc Golf Experience, Sand Volleyball Tournament and the Ultimate Frisbee Clinic.
A wildcrafting, general make-your-forest work for you workshop is scheduled from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 26 at the Cashiers library in Jackson County.
Topics include new ginseng regulations, how to start an agro-forestry business, green certification and branding and more. The event is sponsored by Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance, the WNC Forest Products Cooperative Marketing Project, the Forest Service Southern Research Station and Land of Sky Regional Council
On tap to speak are specialists such as: Jeanine Davis, N.C. Cooperative Extension Service; Alyx Perry, director of the Southern Forests Network; Brian Schneider, management forester at DuPont State Forest.
Call or email if planning to attend. Donations accepted. 828.526.0890, ext. 256 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Volunteers are needed at the bird-monitoring station at Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Macon County.
The program is a nationwide effort coordinated by the Institute for Bird Populations to monitor productivity, survivorship and population trends of breeding birds throughout North America.
Southern Appalachian Raptor Research, based in Mars Hill, is conducting the second season of monitoring at the Tessentee Bottomland Preserve, a tract owned by the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee.
Volunteers can help by setting up nets, picking and banding birds, birding surveys, vegetation surveys, paperwork and data management. Data samples are taken once every 10 days during late spring and summer. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Want to see some of the best fly-fishing imaginable? The 2011 U.S. National Fly Fishing Championship will be held May 19 through May 22. It will be headquartered in Cherokee with fishing held on several waterways in the region
The event is hosted by the N.C. Fly Fishing Team, in partnership with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians Fish and Wildlife Management and the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce.
This is the first time the event has been in the Southeast. The championship will see 60 of the top fly fishermen from around the U.S. Competitors for the 2011 National Fly Fishing Championships first had to qualify at regional competitions around the country.
Numerous businesses, organizations and volunteers have worked together to host the event here.
“There has been a true partnership with everyone doing what they can to help make the event successful,” said Matt Pegg, Executive Director of the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce, who is excited about the exposure the event will bring.
More than 100 volunteers are assisting with the event. To help out, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Catch some of the action
Spectators are welcome to watch the competition. Competitors are split into groups and dispatched to one of five rivers. They then rotate over the course of the competition. Each river is divided into sections, with anglers assigned a specific section so they won’t be bumping into each other.
• Lower Nantahala River from just above Little Wesser Falls to the double bridge at Winding Stair Road.
• Cherokee Trophy Waters of the Raven’s Fork River, from the Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge to the pedestrian bridge at a campground.
• Tuckaseegee River, from the N.C. 116 bridge in Webster upstream to the N.C. 107 Bridge
• Upper Nantahala River from the confluence of generation canal just beside the Duke Energy Power Plant upstream to White Oak Creek.
• Calderwood Reservoir below the Cheoah Dam.
Anglers will be practicing on other area waters all week, but are barred from fishing on the competition sections until the competition day.
A “Bike to Work” ride will be held in Waynesville May 20 on National Bike to Work Day. The length is about three miles and is mainly over flat terrain.
The ride will begin at the large parking lot beside the new Super Wal-Mart at 8 a.m. The ride will follow South Main Street to Brown Avenue, go through the Hazelwood and by Waynesville Middle and Central Elementary School, a cruise down Waynesville’s Main Street before ending at the town’s mini-park at the intersection of Depot and Main streets.
At the conclusion of the ride, participants will be treated to coffee and pastries by ride co-sponsor Smoky Mountain Café. Members of BicycleHaywoodNC will be available to answer questions and take comments about the Haywood County Bike Plan currently under development.
Participants should arrive early to register, and should provide their own bicycle and helmet. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.bicyclehaywoodnc.org.
Hiwassee-Valley Land Trust, a project of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, has purchased the 100-acre Salman Farm that lies on Valley River near Andrews.
The farm was acquired by the land trust last month, and is now protected by a conservation easement that ensures the land will remain available for agriculture, stream and wildlife habitat, and passive recreation. The conservation easement allows one residence, as well as barns and other farm structures.
Lying near Andrews, about a mile and a half west of the airport, the Salman Farm contains exceptional surface waters, productive farmland, cultural history and scenic beauty. In addition to almost 4,500 feet of Valley River frontage, the farm holds portions of three creeks as well as 3,000 linear feet of oxbow wetlands — the old, meandering channel of Valley River — which provide outstanding waterfowl habitat. Streams and oxbows will be protected by buffer areas of native trees and shrubs, leaving two-thirds of the land for farming.
The sandy loam soil in the Valley River floodplain has a history of exceptionally heavy crop yields. This year, a local farmer will lease most of the farmland for corn, soybeans, and beef cattle, while a smaller section will be a community garden tended by local young people through Cherokee County Cooperative Extension’s 4-H program.
The cultural significance of the Salman Farm rests on its being a part of the historic Welch Farm; indeed, the property contains most of the cropland and river frontage of what was, in the early-to-mid 1800s, a two-square-mile estate.
“Welch’s Town” consisted of two village areas in the lower Snowbird Mountains north of today’s Salman Farm, where several Cherokee families escaped the 1838 removal by accepting safe haven provided by John and Betty Welch.
To the Editor:
The Natural Resources Leadership Institute is a multi-faceted instructional and community service program of North Carolina Cooperative Extension at North Carolina State University.
North Carolina is facing tremendous growth and development pressures in some of the most environmentally sensitive areas of the state. Resource extraction, urban and industrial development, and agricultural production can result in diminished resource and environmental quality. These increasing pressures place a premium on natural resource management.
Yet, management of our natural resources is plagued with controversy. Increasingly, disputes arise over such issues as endangered species; private property rights; forest, nutrient, and wetland management; industrial recruitment; air and water quality; and recently, floodplain management.
We believe that people involved in these disputes can reach mutually acceptable solutions by communicating in a more meaningful and effective way, opening the dialogue to include all stakeholders, and negotiating to settle disagreements. However, this will involve unprecedented cooperation from a cadre of strongly committed leaders representing many interests. To settle disputes and reach collaborative solutions to tough environmental issues, leaders must be able to access a network of diverse interests, possess the skills to effectively negotiate for mutually beneficial scientific, technical and social solutions, and work to implement those solutions.
Leadership development is the cornerstone in a larger effort to improve environmental decision-making in North Carolina by expanding our capacity to resolve problems effectively and collaboratively. Building on this foundation, we see the need to teach citizens across the state the fundamentals of collaborative problem solving and participatory decision making. In situations where people disagree on how natural resources should be used, conserved, and protected, citizens and communities often need support in the form of third-party intervention to help them reach collaborative solutions.
We also believe that North Carolinians can take a more proactive approach to collaborative problem solving by coming together to discuss important issues before a dispute arises. Local, regional, and statewide problem-solving forums organized around emerging issues can enable people to engage in meaningful discussion and move to collaborative solutions.
Robert Hawk
Jackson County Extension Director
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To the Editor:
The House in Raleigh recently passed a budget with deep spending cuts. According to Forbes.com, House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) said “… retirements, vacancies, turnover and flexibility for local school districts … would reduce actual job losses to fewer than 7,000.” I have seen several interviews with Mr. Tillis, and I was struck by his complete lack of empathy for those people – whatever the number – who will lose their jobs.
Our education system will be the hardest hit by the cuts. U.S. Sen. Richard Burr recently warned that even though North Carolina corporate tax rates are the highest in the Southeast, we win every time when competing with neighboring states because of our education system, particularly our community and state colleges. “When an employer looks at an investment in North Carolina, they are not looking at the return next year. They are looking at the return 30 years from now.”
North Carolina just came in second for the third straight year as “Best State for Business” in a poll conducted by Chief Executive Magazine. Sen. Burr summed it up: “When we talk about the things that work. Let’s not overlook what most employers in the 21st century are looking for – that’s an educated workforce.”
Our lawmakers are jeopardizing our future by not exploring every budget option, such as extending the one-cent sales tax which amounts to about $860 million a year. Mr. Tillis insists this money will go back to North Carolinians and create jobs.
It might, but I don’t believe that businesses create jobs because they save a penny on the dollar in sales tax. They create jobs when there is a higher demand for their products or services. Higher unemployment does not create higher demand. If my family spent an average of $500 a week on taxable products, we would save only $5 a week.
I agree with the 73 percent of North Carolinians who, in a recent Elon University poll, support extending the one-cent sales tax for another year to offset budget cuts. Please contact Sens. Ralph Hise, R-Spruce Pine, and Jim Davis, R-Franklin. Urge them to explore every available budget option to keep our state moving forward.
Terri McGovern
Waynesville
With its unending contradictions, life is at best confusing and at worst inexplicable. The U.S. is in the minority of nations today that embraces the death penalty. Since I endeavor to avoid self righteous mobs known as majorities, I like that. But the one troublesome aspect to the death penalty is its stingy application. Our justice system, otherwise known as the employment service for lawyers and clerks, is unfairly inefficient; and as regards the death penalty the unfairness of its lethargic foot-dragging bears not against the guilty, but against society.
If you can pardon the expression, I’m just dying to know why in capital offenses we dally in applying the appropriate punishment when there is no reasonable doubt of a person’s guilt. Death penalty opponents contend that capital punishment is cruel and unreasonable, and the irony is in the fact that those opponents usually come from the political left, where atheism and a general disregard for things divine seem to flourish in abundance.
Non-believers think the death penalty immoral. Believers think it righteous. (This is a generalization, but I subscribe to that word’s definition as being “a huge truth, highly disconcerting to sociologists and others who have earned like degrees from correspondence courses, community colleges and equivalent universities.”)
The paradox thrives in the fact that those who oppose the death penalty do not necessarily oppose war and all its much talked about collateral damage. That euphemistic term means, “Oops, we may have destroyed a town full of civilians.”
At present our government has elected to enter into yet another war, this time against the leadership of Libya. Never mind that Libya is a sovereign nation conducting its own affairs. No, the U.S. and its acolytes now think it necessary to get involved in that country’s internal affairs. Citing some abstruse moral code, our leadership tends to play down the fact that Libya has valuable oil reserves. This could lead some to believe in the insincerity of altruism. I’m one of those.
I frankly do not care anything at all about Libya, or what goes on there. If the people in that nation desire a civil war, let them have one. I don’t care. The quarter-billion dollars in cruise missiles the U.S. recently fired into the sand dunes over there is money that might have been better applied in paying down the national debt. As far as I know, we don’t owe Libya a dime.
See how confusing it is? Unlike an electric chair or tablets of cyanide or a syringe or two of poison, cruise missiles are somewhat indiscreet. They blow up, and anyone nearby gets blown up too. Conversely, an electric chair has room for only one. So why do we whimsically risk blowing up people whose only crime is misfortune, while here at home we debate and quibble and appeal and protest over the execution of deranged killers? Our political leadership calls Muammar Qaddafi deranged, and is ready and willing to kill him for it. Yet we allow deranged killers to languish on death row for 20 or more years. Worse, we sentence deranged killers to life imprisonment.
The Unabomber is now doing life without parole for blowing up people with dynamite. Serving the same sentence right down the hall from him is Eric Rudolph, who killed people in a like manner. They killed American citizens on American soil, but it is wrong to execute them? It is wrong to execute them yet it is right to execute people on the other side of the planet who may not have committed any crime against anyone?
Are you confused too?
(Scott Muirhead lives in Haywood County. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
Auditions for the 2011-2012 season of Voices in the Laurel will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24 and 31, and June 7.
The Western North Carolina children’s choir develops singers’ abilities through group practice and public performance. Categories of musical styles vary from gospel and hymns to jazz, international, Celtic and traditional folk music.
Choir participation is open to boys and girls in grades one through 12. The ensemble is led by Martha Brown, who teaches music in Haywood County Schools and has coached and guided Voices through 15 years of public performance.
828.734.8413 for an audition appointment or visit voicesinthelaurel.org.
Arts, crafts and food vendors are being sought to participate in Mountain Heritage Day, Western Carolina University’s annual fall festival of traditional Appalachian culture to be held in September.
The festival typically attracts more than 20,000 visitors who come to enjoy two stages of continuous music and dance, exhibitions of Cherokee stickball and shape-note singing, a midway of juried arts and crafts and food.
The festival arts and crafts are judged for quality of workmanship, booth display and design. Cash awards will be presented to the vendors with the best works.
Festival food vendors are required to use compostable and recyclable serving materials, with no plastic foam cups or plates, in an effort to make the festival more environmentally friendly.
Arts and crafts applications must be postmarked by Friday, June 10. Food vendor applications must be postmarked by Friday, May 27. 828.227.7129 or visit mountainheritageday.com.
The annual Smoky Mountain High School Mustang Roundup is scheduled for May 21, sponsored by the Smoky Mountain High School Parent-Teacher Organization.
The Roundup is an outdoor carnival held in the afternoon during the regular school day and features inflatables, face painting, relay races, a dunking tank, food, music, booths and more.
Wrist bands can be purchased for $8 for unlimited access to the inflatables and snacks will be available for a nominal cost.
Brevard’s Hogtown Squealers Band will play a concert of traditional string band music at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, in Franklin’s Town Square gazebo.
Over their 20-year collaboration, the Squealers have incorporated honky-tonk, ragtime and other traditions into their lively music, sharing an approach to their craft reminiscent of the early Red Clay Ramblers and other greats of recorded Southern string band music.
Attendees should bring a lawn chair, and in case of rain, the program will be held in Tartan Hall at First Presbyterian Church, one block from Town Square. This event is sponsored by the Arts Council of Macon County, and is the first of a series of Sundays on the Square. 828.534.7683 or visit artscouncilofmacon.org.
A special evening concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 27, at Grace Episcopal Church in Waynesville.
The event will be held as a fundraiser for the children’s summer program at Pigeon Community Multi-Cultural Development Center. The Pigeon Center was able to operate the summer program for children in the past with a grant which is no longer available.
Performers will include William Staley, pastor of Jones Temple AME Zion Church who specializes in gospel music.
Becky Mendez will be presenting Latino selections, including some of the music of Selena. The evening will be opened by The Signature Winds, who will perform some traditional spirituals as well as music from Africa and Mexico. Rounding out the program will be The Frog Level Philharmonic, offering spirited renditions of Dixieland classics.
Tickets are $10 for adults and children are free. 828.926.8721.
Members of the Haywood County-based Balsam Range will be joined by the host of the television show “Life in the Carolinas” during a performance at 7:30 p.m. on May 24 at Smoky Mountain Roasters in Waynesville.
Host Carl White will interview band members between songs for his documentary style show. The coffee shop only seats 75 and the setting is very intimate. Doors open at 6 p.m.
For tickets call 828.452.1212.
The Vettes in the Valley Corvette show will be held May 28 and 29 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.
Vettes in the Valley hosted more than 320 Corvettes from 15 states last year and anticipates an even bigger show this year. The official show car of the NASCAR Nationwide Series will also make a pit stop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 28.
Along with the show car, there will be a race car simulator, a wheel game with prizes and the NASCAR car carrier.
Included in the show is class judging with trophies and awards in each class, people’s choice, participant’s choice and specialty trophies and awards. There will be vendors, entertainment, door prizes, contests and a silent auction, with a Corvette Parade at 4 p.m. on May 28.
Tickets are $5 for adults and children are free. 828.734.9126 or visit smokyevents.com.
The Osmond Brothers are coming to the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, to perform all styles of music from barbershop to jazz.
The Osmond Brothers have been performing world-wide for 50 years. They practically grew up on stage, and they’re still pleasing audiences with their special brand of entertainment.
As regulars on the Andy Williams Show and the Jerry Lewis Show in the 1960s, The Osmonds learned 28 musical instruments and perfected their dance skills. They have sold more than 77 million records and have accrued more than 30 gold records.
Tickets are $30. 866.273.4615 or visit greatmountainmusic.com.
A benefit concert featuring Jon Byrd and Milan Miller will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, at Smoky Mountain Coffee Roasters in Hazelwood.
The performance will raise money for the Kids Advocacy Resource Effort and is the second benefit for the cause this year
828.456.8995 ext. 205.
Get a taste of English tradition at Mountain High Tea, a fundraising party for the Haywood County Arts Council.
The event starts at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, at the home of Nancy Rhead. Party-goers will enjoy a traditional English high tea, with champagne, tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and lemon curd, and a variety of sweets. Food will be served on antique British bone china using silver serving pieces, joined by fine linens and fresh flowers.
Tickets are $35 and seating is limited to 16.
828.452.0593 or visit haywoodarts.org.
Dillsboro will close Front Street to host a block party from on the third Saturday of each month from now through November. The event will include live music, food, games for kids and more. Most shops will be open late.
The May 21 line-up includes local artist Liz Nance followed by Blood Brothers.
Nantahala Brewing will celebrate its one-year anniversary at noon on Saturday, May 21, at the new tap room in Bryson City.
In addition to its own craft brews, there will be live music from the Freight Hoppers, door prizes and brewery tours.
The owners and brewers will also be on hand to answer questions. 828.488.2337.
The Haywood County Arts Council’s Quilt Trails project unveiled its first quilt block in Maggie Valley in April at the Maggie Valley Town Hall.
More than 30 people attended the unveiling of the Little Red School House block, which is the fifth block on the Haywood County Arts Council’s Quilt Trail. Other blocks can be seen on the Shelton House in Waynesville, and the Shook House, Lil’s, and Haywood institute in Clyde.
The Town Hall block design was selected and purchased by the High Country Quilters and given to the Town of Maggie Valley as a gift.
The rock town hall was once a schoolhouse, built in 1930 with assistance from the Work Progress Administration at a cost of $8,000. Families in the community donated rock, which came mostly from nearby creeks. The building was used as an elementary school until 1986.
The Haywood County Quilt Trails concept is based on similar projects in Ashe, Avery, Madison, Mitchell, Watauga, and Yancey counties in North Carolina where quilt squares are painted on wood and installed on barns, public buildings, shops, and other appropriate buildings around the community.
For current information and block locations visit haywoodquilttrails.org.
“Buzz’s Summer Blast Youth Camp” at MedWest Health & Fitness Center in Haywood County will be held two weeks this summer, June 20 to June 24 and July 25 through July 29. The camp will offer games, activities and exploration of fitness and sports. Children will play indoor and outdoor games, swim in the pool, watch movies, make crafts and more.
Daily schedule includes a drop-off period from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., counselor-led activities from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m., and a pick-up period from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Enrollment is $110 for members and $120 for non-members for each camp. 828.452.8056.
