The Bethel Rural Community Organization will hold a spaghetti dinner fundraiser at Jukebox Junction from 5-7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 26 in support of its benevolence fund, student scholarships, rural and historic preservation initiatives, educational programs and community pantry. 

The sixth annual Blue Ridge Heritage Weekend Arts & Crafts Festival will return Aug. 10-11 to the Shelton House in Waynesville. 

Nearly three years after a historic marker on Haywood County’s oldest continuously operating farm was damaged by Tropical Storm Fred, the Bethel Rural Community Organization has replaced it — this time, adding language that acknowledges the sacrifice of the enslaved people who kept the farm in operation until their 1865 emancipation. 

It’s that small town feel — the Normal Rockwell-esque Main Street dimly lit by vintage streetlights, the brilliant fall colors painting Church Street in amber hues, the historic homes, the little off-the-beaten-path shops like Wall Street Books, the squeak of the floorboards at Mast General Store. That’s what makes Waynesville special, members of the public told Annie McDonald during her presentation before Waynesville’s Historic Preservation Commission on May 11.