Get ready for softball season with an organizational meeting for an adult co-ed league at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21, at the Vance Street Park pavilion in Waynesville.

The field got just a little bit smaller in the race for Waynesville Town Council last week, as one of the nine candidates seeking four available seats withdrew.

To the Editor:

Congratulations to the Smoky Mountain News and Cory Vaillancourt!

Help Haywood Waterways Association celebrate its 25th birthday with trivia and reminiscing 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at BearWaters in Waynesville.

A one-hour, one-person show, a production of “Every Brilliant Thing” by Duncan MacMillan will be held at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4-5, 11-12, 17-19 and 2 p.m. Aug. 6, 13 and 20 on the Fangmeyer Stage at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

To the Editor:

After attending the meeting on Tuesday evening at the Waynesville Town Hall, one of the speeches that stuck with me the most wasn’t one I would have expected — it was the dad who said he was afraid for his daughters, and that while he felt for people who believed they were stuck in the wrong bodies, he shouldn’t have to worry every time they went into a bathroom.

The Town of Waynesville is looking for members to serve on its new Environmental Sustainability Board.

Claims of indecent behavior involving a transgender person at the Waynesville Recreation Center roiled this tight-knight rural community last week, even after a town investigation found no evidence that any crimes were committed and that one of the allegations was completely unsubstantiated.

But if those allegations were meant to divide, deride or dishearten the people of Haywood County, they’ve proven to be a spectacular failure after a recent meeting of the Waynesville Town Council that will be remembered as a watershed moment for LGBTQ+ rights in a small Appalachian town nestled right in the heart of MAGA country.

The world has felt heavy lately… more than usual. I’ve felt pretty helpless. Thinking to myself, “What’s the use?” It takes so much energy to deflect all the hate and negativity happening around us, it’s easy to feel apathetic and give up. 

Waynesville native, retired DEA agent and unsuccessful 2019 Waynesville aldermanic candidate Joey Reece will run for mayor of Waynesville, Reece told The Smoky Mountain News on the afternoon of July 17.