The 27th annual Taste of Scotland Festival will be held June 19-21 at a variety of locations around Franklin.

The festival is a celebration of the heritage brought to these mountains, that of the Scots and Scots-Irish, along with celebrating the historic relationships with the Cherokee.

A “Community Contra Dance” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 18, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

Contra dance is a form of social folk dancing from which square dancing evolved, so it shares many of the same movements. As always, no partner is necessary, generations mix. All are welcome, including beginners. No dance experience or fancy clothing are necessary. Those who would like to come out just to listen to the music are welcome, too. 

Macon commissioners voted to notify the Fontana Regional Library System of the county's withdrawal.

Hello from Room 107 at the Skyline Lodge in Highlands. I’m here on assignment for the Bear Shadow Music Festival. But, my mind keeps drifting elsewhere. It wanders to the fact I’m not back home for the memorial service for the recent passing of my best friend. That, and the last time I stayed here was with the woman I thought that I’d spend the rest of my life with. 

A Macon County husband and wife already providing financial support of the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum in Cullowhee and its effort to expand the range of artists represented in its galleries are now backing the endeavor in a new way — through a gift of artwork from their personal collection. 

Franklin residents William Banks Hinshaw and Robin Markle Hinshaw recently donated a total of 18 artworks and artifacts to the holdings of WCU’s Fine Art Museum, Mountain Heritage Center and Tali Tsisgwayahi Archaeological Collections and Curation Facility.

The Franklin Bird Club leads walks along the greenway on Wednesday mornings at 8 a.m. through September. Walks start at alternating locations: Macon County Public Library, Big Bear Park and Salali Lane.

Walks are about two and a half hours. The public is welcome. All walks are weather dependent. Additional information, including directions to each location and a bird club checklist  can be found at  littletennessee.org/franklin-bird-club. 

Technology is evolving ever more rapidly, and Southwestern Community College in Franklin has taken steps to keep up by opening a mobile electric vehicle lab. 

The mobile EV lab was funded by a grant from the Duke Energy Foundation as part of its Project E-Volve program and will enable instructors to bring their class to students, even at local high schools.

The Town of Franklin announced the appointment of Justin Setser as the new Fire Chief of Franklin Fire and Rescue. Setser has been serving as the interim Fire Chief since the departure of Ben Ormond in February. Chief Setser will officially assume his full-time duties as Fire Chief on June 5.

With 24 years in fire service, Setser has held multiple positions including captain and assistant chief and has served as incident commander during several major incidents.

The series Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture, will present a program called “Beautiful, Beneficial Bees.”

The program will be focused on beekeeping in Western North Carolina and will cover a brief history of beekeeping, structure of a hive, what it takes to be a beekeeper here, issues that we face, the need for bees and what the average person can do to support bees and other pollinators. 

Macon County Manager Warren Cabe presented a budget to county commissioners last week that satisfies their wish to avoid a tax increase, but amid rising costs and ongoing capital improvements, some departments will likely come away with less than they’re hoping for. 

Last year’s budget came in just over $70 million, and this year’s proposal would drop it just a bit to around $68 million, but Cabe noted that he expects grant money to supplement that number as it has in past years.