Two Days of Mountain Culture, Craft, Food, and Live Music – With Exciting New Experiences for 2026

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. — The mountains are calling, and the Appalachian True Heritage Festival is answering. Organizers are proud to announce the return of this beloved celebration to the heart of Downtown Waynesville, gathering community members, cultural bearers, artisans, musicians, and storytellers for a two-day immersion in the rich history and living traditions of Western North Carolina. 

I’ll admit that I am not always the best about using our freezer to its full advantage; but here are some things I do like to keep in the freezer. 

• Cheese pizza — I like to look for sales on good quality cheese pizzas and keep a couple on hand for those nights when we don’t feel like cooking or eating out.  I can quickly top a cheese pizza with vegetables like sliced tomatoes, spinach or even zucchini slices or fresh arugula (once out of the oven).

Ready to take control of your wellness? MountainWise offers the North Carolina Minority Diabetes Prevention Program to help you get ahead of type 2 diabetes. 

Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is elevated over what is considered normal, but as yet, not high enough to be a diagnosis of diabetes. A HbA1C (glycated hemoglobin) test will indicate Prediabetes if the result is between 5.7 % and 6.4 % (equates to average blood sugars of 117mg/dl-137mg/dl).

Even before a blood test, you may notice some issues which may indicate prediabetes: