The Jackson County Recreation Department has announced it will host an “Archery 101” class for kids ages 10-14. 

The Lake Junaluska Golf Course is hosting a Junior Golf Program for boys and girls under age 17 from 4-5:30 p.m. each Wednesday Sept. 25 - Oct. 31.

Recently I had the opportunity to speak by phone with writer and podcaster Jennifer L. Scott. The author of the Madame Chic books — “Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris” was the first — Scott is as delightful a conversationalist as we might expect, witty, thoughtful and easily given to laughter.

Jackson County Parks and Recreation is hosting a youth soccer camp. The camp is open to boys and girls ages 8-14. Camp will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. Aug. 19, 21 and 23. 

In the face of rising prices for school lunches, the Macon County Board of Education is set to request funding from the county commission that would ensure all students in Macon County receive free lunch for the coming school year. 

The Talking Trees Children’s Trout Derby will be held from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Oconaluftee River Islands Park in Cherokee. 

A recent town hall in Cullowhee laid out a heartbreaking problem in our public schools, as well as a sensible solution. The problem is hunger. The solution is to provide free meals to all students in our public schools. But, how do we get there? 

The COVID pandemic may seem like ancient history to most western North Carolinians, but foster children in Haywood County are still feeling its ripple effects. Due to abuse, neglect or other adverse circumstances, they need stable and supportive temporary homes and there are not enough foster homes. 

Without immediate action from the General Assembly, Pandemic-era federal grants to child care providers will run out on July 1 — plunging the state into a child care crisis that will hamper economic and workforce development, make child care more difficult to find and further burden North Carolina’s working parents already feeling the pinch from unaffordable housing and the relentless corporate greed that’s driving inflation. 

I recently experienced a visual about worrying. It was a mountain where the highest point is the peak of worry.