If you want to understand the history of bluegrass music, you need to look at its entire spectrum — of sound, of intent — as one large tree. With the deep, sturdy roots that are Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Dr. Ralph Stanley, and so on, the trunk is the culmination of those roots, with each growing branch another avenue of creative possibility and sonic exploration.

He was beloved by all who knew him. Richard Coker embodied the spirit of Appalachia. As a co-owner of the Cataloochee Ranch in Maggie Valley, his warmth and hospitality radiated from the top of the mountain and shined brightly to anyone lucky enough to see his light.

“Let’s go back to the 1930s,” said Judy Coker.

Standing underneath a large manmade birch tent in the backwoods of the Cataloochee Ranch last Friday evening, Coker welcomed around 40 people — friends, family and visitors alike — to partake in their inaugural Way Back When dinner.

Standing atop the 5,000-foot Cataloochee Ranch mountain retreat in Maggie Valley, the vastness and endless beauty of Western North Carolina stretches out before your eyes. Heading towards the main building, you reach for the doorknob and enter eagerly. Soon, your body, mind and soul are soaked by the sounds of friends, strangers and old-time string music.

Editor’s note: Alice Aumen has been a major voice in Haywood’s tourism landscape for more than half a century — as a founder of Cataloochee Ski Area, operator of the third-generation family-run Cataloochee Ranch and a leader in the Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Exiting your vehicle at Cataloochee Ranch in Maggie Valley, a cold, late fall wind hits you in the face like a frying pan. Standing atop the 5,000-foot mountain retreat, the vastness and endless beauty of Western North Carolina lies below. Heading towards the main building, you reach for the doorknob and enter eagerly. Soon, your body, mind and soul thaw to the sounds of friends, strangers and old-time string music.

“It’s just a different feeling up here; everybody is excited to be part of this,” said Billie Smith, event planner at Cataloochee. “We really open our arms to local musicians and folks from everywhere to come and join in.”

In contrast to its peaceful and stunning high-mountain setting, Maggie Valley’s Cataloochee Ranch has been at the forefront of a battle — a battle to restore the American chestnut, the iconic Appalachian tree devastated by blight in the mid-20th century. In 2007, working in partnership with The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), Cataloochee Ranch became the host site of a test orchard of potentially blight-resistant American Chestnut trees, and starting this week, they will open this orchard to the public for tours.

Come celebrate the return of the great American chestnut tree Saturday, Sept. 10, at Cataloochee Ranch outside Maggie Valley.

This second-annual event features live bluegrass music by Hazel Creek, clogging demonstrations, crafts (including wood-turned bowls, pine needle baskets, stained glass, handcrafted wooden benches, pottery and paintings), and a tour of one of the American Chestnut Foundation’s most successful research orchards, located on the ranch grounds.

For centuries, the American chestnut was the dominant tree of the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Mississippi. It was a fast-growing deciduous hardwood that reached 150 feet in height and 10 feet in diameter. But, in 1904, a deadly airborne fungus was introduced into the United States; by 1949, nearly four billion chestnut trees were lost.

Cataloochee Ranch is helping the American Chestnut Foundation bring back this tree, borrowing genetic code from the Chinese chestnut, which is blight resistant. By using the backcross method, researchers are working on a new tree that has just enough of the Chinese variety to be blight-resistant, but has the dominant characteristics of the original American chestnut. The ranch’s chestnut orchard is in its fifth growing season.

Tickets for the event are $10, and children 12 and under will be admitted free.

The night before, on Friday, Sept. 9, a fundraising dinner with entertainment and live auction will be held beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets to the steak dinner are $80 per person, or $120 per couple, which includes a one-year membership to the American Chestnut Foundation.

828.926.1401 for dinner reservations. For more information about Chestnut Saturday, call Richard Coker at 828.926.1345.

Farmers interesting in tapping the potential of agritourism can attend an all-day workshop on Thursday, Jan. 27, at Cataloochee Ranch in Maggie Valley.

Put on by the N.C. Cooperative Extension, “The Business Side of Agritourism” will explore the myriad ways farmers can boost their income. It can be as simple as setting aside part of the crop for a pick-your-own operation, or as involved as hosting tourists for week-long farmstays.

As the public grows more and more interested in visiting farms and buying directly from growers, farmers are responding accordingly. They are adding hiking trails and campgrounds on their land, turning their homes into a bed and breakfast, or luring people to their farms with hay rides and corn mazes.

The program will feature experts from across the state, as well as local farmers who will share their experiences. Cost is $40 per person and includes lunch and resource materials. 828.255.5522.

A local group has raised more than $10,000 to support local, state and national efforts to bring back that mighty giant, the American chestnut tree.

The Cataloochee Branch of The American Chestnut Foundation sponsored its first annual Chestnut Saturday and fundraising dinner in September. More than 500 people joined in the festivities which were held at Cataloochee Ranch, which boasts an outstanding chestnut breeding orchard.

Chestnut Saturday was scheduled just prior to the Branch’s fundraising dinner. The day-long event featured crafts and vendors, live bluegrass and dancing, chestnut orchard tours, hiking, horseback riding, fishing, horseshoes, kids’ games and wildlife biologist Rob Gudger’s captive wolves. The Branch’s dinner featured entertainment and a live auction and the event was almost sold-out.

“Cataloochee Ranch is ideal for growing chestnuts,” said TACF board member Dr. Paul Sisco. “The high-elevation site is good because chestnuts are susceptible to another introduced pathogen, Phytopthora, which causes root rot; however, Phytopthora can’t survive freezing.”

Now in its fourth growing season, Cataloochee’s orchard will be tested in a couple of years for resistance to the blight, and the survivors will be backcrossed again. The trees growing there will be ready for introduction to the wild in 2015, Sisco reports.

“Despite two inches of rain that day [of the event], we were extremely pleased with the turnout,” says Judy Coker, owner of Cataloochee Ranch. “We’ve already started planning next year’s event which will be held the first Saturday after Labor Day. We were very fortunate to have partnered with the Haywood County Council of Garden Clubs and we worked with three outstanding groups, Mountain View Garden Club, Richland Garden Club and the Waynesville Council of Garden Clubs.”

Linda Boyd, President of the Waynesville Council of Garden Clubs said that while Council members were meeting at Cataloochee Ranch to plan a program, they learned about the ranch’s involvement with TACF. The Council decided quickly to help promote the rebirth of the American chestnut tree by participating in the Chestnut Day and gala fundraisers.

For information about the return of the American chestnut, visit www.acf.org.  To join the Cataloochee Restoration Branch of The American Chestnut Foundation call 828.926.1401.