Florida-based indie/soul singer-songwriter Shane Meade will perform at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, at Mountain Layers Brewing Company in Bryson City.

Hailing from Elkins, West Virginia, Meade is a self-taught late bloomer who borrowed an old guitar from his father.

As the temperature drops in Western North Carolina, the fun only heats up. The holiday season here is filled with events and activities aimed to celebrate the best way we know how — with friends, family and visitors alike. 

“The Polar Express” train ride will roll down the tracks on select dates from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot in downtown Bryson City.  

Climb aboard one of the powerful locomotives and historic train cars as it departs the Bryson City Depot for the North Pole to pick up Santa Claus himself.

Nineteen new small business recovery projects in Western North Carolina have been awarded grants totaling $13.8 million through the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program. 

Western North Carolina voters turned out in strong numbers across municipal races this year, deciding contests that will shape local recovery, infrastructure and growth for years to come. 

In Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, ballots featured a mix of incumbents and newcomers in competitive races that reflected both the challenges and the momentum of a region still rebuilding from repeated disasters — a region where voters think they’ve now chosen the right people to move it forward. 

Overwhelmingly, municipal officials take pride in their nonpartisan service, but once they’re elected, they don’t just leave their party hats at the chamber doors.

Bryson City voters participated in only one election this cycle, tasked with choosing two out of three candidates for alderman.

Three candidates — incumbents Tim Hines and Ben King, and newcomer W. Kent Maxey — are vying for two open seats on the Bryson City Board of Aldermen.  

Though aldermen serve four-year terms with odd-year staggered elections, Hines has only held the position since his appointment in April 2023 following Steve Augustine’s resignation. Nonetheless, Hines, who also works as a manager at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, said he’s learned a lot about the nuanced nature of town issues throughout his time in office.  

Marianna Black Library in Bryson City was an outdated facility by 2010, so staff commissioned a feasibility study. On Sept. 10, the library held a groundbreaking for its $7.1 million expansion and renovation, 15 years down the line.  

Kevin Seagle, chair of the Swain County board of commissioners, has given the county his resignation effective Aug. 31, according to Swain County Sheriff Brian Kirkland.