They all do something with their hands.

Meandering around Western North Carolina and greater Southern Appalachia, one thing becomes apparent — folk ‘round here are quite imaginative. It’s been said you can’t throw a rock in any direction without hitting someone with a zest for life coupled with a deep sense of the creative self.

Considering Bryson City didn’t even have a website until 2009, it’s no surprise that it lags behind the other municipalities’ web presence.

Alderwoman Heidi Woodard’s motion for the town to abandon the right-of-way on Fry Street was met with silence at Monday night’s Bryson City board meeting, but town leaders say that doesn’t mean the issue is dead.

“This is the ugliest fly I have,” says Mike Kesselring, pulling a battered-looking brown-bodied, black-feathered fly from a box marked “18. Antiques.”

The box is just one of the many filling the back of Kesselring’s red SUV, the fly just one the roughly 9,000 in his expansive collection. The flies run the gamut from the long, flowing streamers designed to resemble flashy-colored minnows to tiny but intricate creations mimicking the river’s smallest insect nymphs. Nearly all are prettier, more pristine than the 20-year-old thing Kesselring, 64, now holds up to the sunlight.

Great Smoky Mountain Railroad officials say they will make their deadline for getting a steam engine back up and running in Bryson City.

In a long-awaited strategic move, Nantahala Brewing in Bryson City will soon be putting the final touches on the purchase of a nearby bottling company.

While November is usually still a busy time for downtown Bryson City merchants, Paige Christie said her sales are down a third over last year.

While the former Hawthorn Heights teen shelter presented a number of challenges, the only challenge for teens moving into the new shelter will be calling dibs on their favorite room.

As the municipal elections were coming to a close last Tuesday night, it became clear that the race in Bryson City would be too close to call. 

Bryson City’s town election may be too close to call given that there were eight provisionary ballots left to count on election night.