Former WCU student Matthew Link Baker will read from his new book, My Mountain Granny: The Story of Evelyn Howell Beck in the Mountain Town of Whittier, NC at 7 p.m. Aug. 14 at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Baker met Beck in 1998 when he was a new student at WCU and unfamiliar with the people and culture of the western North Carolina mountains. The friendship that developed between the elderly woman and the young student forms the basis of the book.

“Evelyn Howell Beck was one of the finest human beings one could ever meet,” Baker says. “She allowed a young college student into her home and treated me like family. I learned lessons that could never be taught in a classroom. There were no layers to be peeled away when meeting her. She was a hardworking woman who lived her life by the light of faith and love of family.”

Beck was born in 1917 and lived her long life in Whittier. She told Baker what it was like living in the area in the “old days,” and how her life had changed over the years. Through her life story, the reader comes to learn about mountain culture and history.

Baker will read from the book and take questions from the audience. For more information or to reserve an autographed copy, please call City Lights at 828.586.9499.

Harry “Junior” Ward, Jr. recently retired from the North Carolina Forest Service as the Haywood County Ranger. Ward was a success story who got his start in the Haywood Community College Forestry and Natural Resources program. His first job was as a smokechaser in Haywood County. He later became assistant county ranger for Haywood County and remained in that position until 2004 when he became county ranger.

Ward has worked on fires all over the United States from Yellowstone National Park and the Everglades to many states in between, as well as all across North Carolina. He also worked on several natural disasters including five hurricanes, the blizzard of 1993 and the floods of 2004.

Two memorable fires he dealt with during his tenure were in 1987 on Sheepback Mountain in Maggie Valley and in 2008 at Pinnacle Ridge in Balsam.

Scores of people turned out recently for Ward’s retirement sendoff at HCC.

“Time has gone by quickly,” he addressed the crowd. “It’s bittersweet to reach this point. I got to work with and learn from a lot of great people. It’s been a great ride.”

By Michael Beadle

There’s a view on the way up to Clingmans Dome, an overlook where a maze of finger-like ridges unfurl at your feet and spread across the landscape before tumbling into the Oconaluftee River Valley below. Surveying this vast, unspoiled wilderness, photographer Don McGowan likes to think George Masa once stood here taking photos nearly a century ago.

McGowan can’t help but wonder whether the views of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that he enjoys today are largely the result of Masa’s tireless efforts to capture the subtle beauty and awe-inspiring vistas that many take for granted.

“I think he felt a kinship with these mountains,” McGowan said of Masa. “To see through his eyes is always an inspiration to me.”

Masa, who once helped scout the course of the Appalachian Trail through North Carolina and recorded peaks and distances in the Great Smokies, earned his very own spot on the Tennessee side of the park with the naming of Masa Knob in 1961. While the self-taught, Japanese-born photographer earned a great reputation for his endurance as a hiker promoting the idea of preserving mountain land for posterity, he died in 1933 before the Great Smokies became a park. Grieving over the death of his good friend Horace Kephart, plunged into debt during the Great Depression, and suffering from influenza, Masa died in 1933 in the Buncombe County Sanatorium in Asheville. Hundreds of his photos fell into obscurity, many unidentified, lost or stored away by private collectors. Even his grave at Riverside Cemetery in Asheville (the resting place of famous writers Thomas Wolfe and O. Henry) was unmarked. Today much of Masa’s work remains largely unknown beyond the Southern Appalachian region.

But that’s about to change.

A new Ken Burns documentary called “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” is set to air on UNC-TV the week of Sept. 27 and features the work of George Masa and the role he played with friend and writer Horace Kephart in making the park a reality. The 12-hour, six-part film by the award-winning and famous Burns may finally give Masa’s legacy the attention he so rightfully deserves, according to Paul Bonesteel, an Asheville-based filmmaker who collaborated with Burns on the “National Parks” documentary.

Bonesteel directed a Masa documentary of his own in 2003, “The Mystery of George Masa,” that fueled a resurgence in learning more about Masa’s work and found a home on PBS stations nationwide. Thanks to the added clout from Burns, Bonesteel’s documentary on Masa will be made available to PBS stations for the next three years.

“A lot more people will be hearing the story of George Masa because of that,” Bonesteel said.

Recent magazine articles, art exhibits, lectures and historical essays have given more people a chance to get to know George Masa, though his younger years before coming to Asheville are still shrouded in mystery. Why did he leave Japan? Why did he not discuss his past with friends and close business associates? How did he die penniless and in obscurity when he once counted the Vanderbilts as clients of his photography business?

Bonesteel learned of the man dubbed “the Ansel Adams of the Appalachian Mountains” through a biographical article written by William A. Hurt Jr. in the book May We All Remember Well: A Journey of the History & Culture of Western North Carolina, published in 1997. Intrigued by what he read, Bonesteel contacted Hurt, who said he felt like he’d only scratched the surface of this enigmatic figure. After a few years of researching Masa’s life, poring over letters and photographs from various university archives and private collections, Bonesteel found a fascinating story of a man who was leading the environmentalist charge long before the hippies of the 1960s.

“He was a curious and mysterious fellow,” Bonesteel said. “There are mysteries that we won’t ever be able to answer. And people like mysteries.”

 

Masa’s background

Masa was certainly not the first to photograph the majestic peaks and scenic vistas of the Great Smoky Mountains, but in the early 1900s, no one had taken on such a monumental task of measuring, mapping and photographing as many of these mountains with the passion and skill as Masa.

Based on the limited information about his early years, there’s not much to tell. He was born in Japan in 1881. His birth name was Masahara Iizuka. Late 19th century Japan was in a state of social and political upheaval. The long-running shogun government system which had isolated the country from Westernized culture finally opened up, bringing a flood of European and American traders into the country.

The Japanese ban on emigration had also been lifted, and tens of thousands of Japanese left their homeland for work in America, many going to Hawaii to toil in the sugar plantations, while others relocated to California, which saw an explosion of population and business after its gold rush.

Iizuka ended up in Asheville in 1915 as part of a traveling group of Austrian students. Together, they would go on mountain hiking excursions, and Iizuka fell in love with the region. When it was time for the Austrian group to leave, Iizuka stayed behind and found work as a valet at the Grove Park Inn. Fred Seely, the manager of the Grove Park Inn who also organized Biltmore Industries, hired the young Japanese newcomer as a woodcarver.

Iizuka, like many foreign-born immigrants with hard-to-pronounce names, decided to Anglicize his name, keeping part of his original moniker. And so he became George Masa.

Masa got his start in photography by developing film for hotel guests. By the 1920s, Masa developed his own business as a photographer, taking portraits and working as a freelance photojournalist for Asheville newspapers and news services. His photography studios went through various names and partners, but he soon became well known locally as a landscape photographer, and his work found its way into magazines, newspapers and chamber of commerce brochures.

 

The Kephart connection

Historians are not clear exactly when Masa befriended the outdoor travel writer Horace Kephart, but the two found a mutual passion in hiking through the mountains and for creating what would become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. George Ellison, a writer based in Bryson City, N.C., who has researched and lectured extensively on Masa and Kephart, notes that the two had a lot in common. Both were wiry men who loved the outdoors, and the park gave them a mutual goal to save the mountains they loved so much. They hiked and camped together, and Masa’s photographs would often accompany Kephart’s articles.

“They were quite a formidable team,” Ellison said.

When Kephart died in a car accident in 1931, Masa was devastated, and before Masa died two years later, he asked to be buried along side of his friend. Though that wish was not granted, and neither lived to see the official creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, they were among an elite few to have place names in their honor. Today, Masa Knob stands next to Mt. Kephart, two peaks for two kindred spirits.

While many of Masa’s photographs remain lost or undiscovered, Bonesteel believes that a large body of his work has been made available to give us plenty of insights into his artistry. Masa, sporting his signature bandana and home-made bicycle wheel odometer that he used to measure distances along trails and up to the tops of mountains, is pictured alongside fellow hikers and curious tourists.

There are various stories of this painstaking perfectionist hiking miles into the woods and waiting for hours to get the clouds and the lighting just right before taking his photos. Masa lugged heavy camera equipment into the wilderness and when he pitched a tent, he might store the camera and equipment under shelter as he slept outside. Sometimes friends and fellow hikers would help him carry the equipment up and over mountains.

Author and outdoors photographer Bill Lea said he admires Masa not only for his creative eye for putting the viewer right in the middle of a wilderness setting but also for his work ethic and his willingness to trek great distances with little provision for himself in his quest to find the best photos.

“In fact,” Lea explained, “many people felt he died young due to the disregard he had for his own welfare and subsequent exposure to the elements in his great desire to capture those perfect images.”

In addition to enduring long hikes and inclement weather through rough terrain, Masa most likely had prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals used in film developing that may have given him respiratory illnesses. He suffered from bouts of tuberculosis and ultimately succumbed to influenza.

And not everyone was keen on Masa.

Bonesteel found evidence in letters that Fred Seely, who once hired Masa as a woodcarver at Biltmore Industries, secretly reported on Masa to the federal government. At a time when immigrants and outsiders were viewed suspiciously, Masa’s meticulous record-keeping and documentation of his photographs may have raised some red flags, but Seely soon called off the dogs when there was no substantive evidence that Masa was doing anything un-American. From Bonesteel’s research, he found some subtle forms of prejudice, but more often than not local residents were accepting of Masa and his work and were attracted to the novelty of a talented Japanese photographer in their midst.

“He did a lot of work to capture the grandness of the mountains,” Bonesteel explained. And even in his more commercial work of buildings and architecture, the quality is still there.

 

True scope unknown

While Masa has been compared to Ansel Adams, whose photography popularized the Rocky Mountains and the beauty of the western U.S., Bonesteel argues that the two had very different intentions. Adams saw himself as an artist and had his work shown in galleries. Masa never had an exhibition in a gallery during his lifetime and made a living by selling postcards, portraits and tourist shots.

Bonesteel speculates that there may be hundreds, even thousands of Masa photographs still out there waiting to be seen. A Buncombe County listing of Masa’s possessions at his death suggest the possibility of thousands of negatives. Today, there are several sizeable archives of Masa’s work found at Pack Memorial Library in downtown Asheville, as well as the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

George Frizzell, head of special collections at Western Carolina’s library, helps to preserve Masa’s photos by storing them in Mylar sleeves to keep the natural oils in fingers from damaging them. Given the latest digital photography techniques and computer scanners, Frizzell hopes that more of Masa’s photos can be stored indefinitely and shown to wider audiences via the Internet.

Since Bonesteel’s film came out in 2003, he has been contacted by a family that once kept Masa as a guest at their boarding house in Asheville. Descendents of the family who knew Masa claim to have letters Masa received from Japan. Masa still owed this family about $1,200 at the time of his death, but they kept his letters because of the beauty of the Japanese characters on paper. If these letters could be acquired and translated, they might shed some light as to whether Masa was still in contact with Japanese family and friends and what his relationship was with them. But so far, Bonesteel hasn’t been able to procure those letters.

“I don’t rule out the possibility that something may come out of that,” he said. “There’s work yet to do. The answers may be out there.”

“I can see test scores going down and higher dropout rates in high school,” he said. “These kids are struggling. They’re really not at the age that they need to be left home alone.”

— Steve Claxton, Swain County Community Schools coordinator

 

The immediate consequences of this economic recession are obvious to those with eyes and ears open, as people lose jobs, struggle to keep their homes, and survive on reduced salaries or cuts in employee benefits. But the long-term negative effects are what are really worrisome, as education and social service budgets are slashed, as all levels of government deal with reduced budgets.

One glaring negative example of the potential domino effect affects middle school kids right here in Western North Carolina. As the state dealt with its massive revenue shortfall, an after-school program funded through the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention lost funding. Support Our Students offered low-cost or free after-school care to at-risk teens and helped about 14,000 students statewide

What the program did, essentially, was provide a place for middle school students to go after school until their parents got off work. They did homework, listened to guest speakers, and took part in other programs specifically designed to keep them in school.

It’s no mistake that this program was originally funded through the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Anyone who works with kids or reads newspapers knows that the early teen years are critical in keeping children on a path toward becoming functioning members of our society. They are exposed to all kinds of temptations that could lead them astray, and often well-meaning parents have few choices, as they must work well past 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. to provide for their families.

Leaving teens alone during this time period is, to put it bluntly, dangerous. The SOS programs provided a positive learning environment for kids who often were not doing well in school. And for parents who had become accustomed to latchkey programs at elementary schools, a necessity for after-school care.

The bottom line here is that teens and families will suffer if these programs are done away with. It will be a few years down the road before another child may drop out or another kid may get arrested on some random drug charge. Then they get in the system, and the cost to help them gets much more expensive than a very low-cost after-school program back in middle school that could have helped them stay on the right path.

And so we see firsthand the repercussions of these specific budget cuts. Similar “savings” are being found across our system of education system and social programs as we deal with this recession. Lawmakers are being forced to make some tough choices, but this one is surely a mistake.

The Mountain High BBQ & Music Festival will be held at the Macon County fairgrounds Aug. 7-8.

Gates open at noon on Friday. Barbecue cook teams from all over the United States will be cooking and competing to be crowned Grand Champion, earning a NC State Championship at this Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS) sanctioned festival.

The event boasts 48 professional cook teams, 12 backyard teams, over 50 craft and retail booths, live entertainment, barbecue and festival foods, an inflatable kids’ play area, a “Tastin’ Tent” and an opportunity to hear great grilling tips from the KCBS tour team.

Only 200 tickets to the Tastin’ Tent are available. Teams will submit samples of their barbecue work for audience judging in two seatings on Saturday, one at 2 p.m. and one at 3 p.m.

Live music will begin at 12:15 p.m. Friday and close out with the Rye Holler Boys who take the stage at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, music starts at 10:15 a.m. and ends with Eric Haggart just before the awards ceremony at 5 p.m.

A shuttle bus will run both days from the Franklin High School parking lot to the fairgrounds. Shuttle times are 1 to 7 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Admission for adults is $5, children 12 and under admitted free.

In addition, festival organizers have partnered with The Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts to present Shenandoah in concert Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce for only $10 with each paid barbecue festival admission.

By Andre A. Rodriguez • Special to the Smoky Mountain News

A new travel study revealed potential visitors lack awareness about activities and attractions in Cherokee and the surrounding region, detering them from planning a visit.

“People don’t have a very good understanding of Western North Carolina and the things to see or do here,” said Rob Bell, interim executive director for the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. “They’re aware of the scenic beauty and not aware of the activities.”

The study was aimed at increasing the effectiveness of tourism marketing on the Qualla Boundary and the seven counties of the Smoky Mountain Host region — Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Clay, Cherokee and Graham.

“We wanted to understand why people aren’t coming and if they had come what they liked and what they didn’t like,” said Bell. “What kind of things would motivate (visitors) to come?”

The study was commissioned by the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and Smoky Mountain Host and funded by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Travel and Promotion, Cherokee Chamber of Commerce, Western Carolina University and the Goss Agency were also partners in the study.

The Marketing Workshop out of Norcross, Ga., based the study on 600 online interviews with adults who have inquired about the North Carolina Smoky Mountains within the past four years, online interviews with 600 residents within a 300 mile radius outside Western North Carolina who may or may not have visited the area, and 50 telephone interviews with Cherokee Chamber members whose businesses deal with tourists.

The study concluded Cherokee needed to improve the quality of dining options, nightlife and variety of things to do on the Qualla Boundary. Families are looking for more family-friendly activities, and adults desire more nightlife and other activities besides Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

One of the things that stuck out for Bell — aside from the soft economy — was there were so many other places people wanted to visit. For example, they were looking for a vacation at the beach rather than one in the mountains.

Cherokee and the rest of the Smoky Mountain Host area would also benefit from improved perceptions of value for the money, which would have a significant impact on travelers the region seeks to draw, the study concluded. Most of visitors to the region are couples over the age of 55, according to the study, but the region seeks to draw more families with children.

Providing visitors and prospective visitors with sample itineraries and more education about activities in the area, along with package deals or a discount pass for the region, would help motivate more people to visit.

Bell said his organization is already at work on one of the study’s recommendations, which was to provide visitors and prospective visitors with sample itineraries.

“There’s a great hunger for sample itineraries,” Bell said. “We started preparing some that will soon go up on our Web site (www.blueridgeheritage.com).

“One thing that popped out to me with the study findings is people are planning their travel on a much shorter time frame. A lot of folks don’t have time to wait for material in the mail. They’re doing planning on the Internet and hopping in their cars and heading out that weekend or the next weekend. We need to be smarter about how we get the information out there about attractions and lodgings,” Bell said.

People are also interested in finding a good deal, such as area discount passes. The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area offers visitors the Go Blue Ridge card, which provides admission to up to 30 area attractions for two-, three- or five-day increments, including the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Oconaluftee Indian Village and performances of Unto these Hills.

Bell anticipates more attractions will get on board with the Go Blue Ridge program.

The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area is also in the process of rebuilding its destination-marketing Web site.

“We’re taking the study findings to heart,” he said. “People want to know that there’s a variety of things to do in the area. The Web site makes it easier to access that information.”

Susan Jenkins, executive director of Cherokee Preservation Foundation, said she was encouraged by the study.

“Cherokee Preservation Foundation is pleased to have supported research that identifies opportunities to increase family visitation by providing more family activities and then making the presence of such activities known. The foundation has sponsored previous research about heritage tourism efforts undertaken by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and we are committed to helping the members of the tribe market Cherokee and continuously improve what the Qualla Boundary has to offer visitors,” Jenkins said.

As if the death of hemlock trees across the Southern Appalachians wasn’t bad enough already, forest researchers believe the loss of hemlocks will alter the carbon cycle of forests.

An exotic insect known as the hemlock wooly adelgid has a death grip on hemlocks throughout the mountains. The giant hemlocks are an anchor tree species in the ecosystem and their loss could have severe ripple effects, from species that depend on them to the cool, moist microclimates found under their dense evergreen branches.

Forest service researchers at the Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory in Macon County now believe the die-off of hemlocks will also have a detrimental effect on hydrology and carbon cycle.

“The study marks the first time that scientists have tracked the short-term effects hemlock woolly adelgid infestations are having on the forest carbon cycle,” said Chelcy Ford, an ecologist with the Southern Research Station who was involved in the research.

Researchers tracked changes in the carbon cycle of infected hemlock stands over a 3-year period. Scientists measured components of the forest carbon cycle — including tree growth, leaf litter and fine root biomass, and soil respiration — finding a decline of 20 percent or more for some of the variables in just three years.

Another piece of news emerging from the research is that hemlocks are dying far more rapidly than initially feared. A total loss of the tree is expected with the next decade.

Researchers noted that other tree species are quick to occupy the space given up by their dying hemlock neighbors.

“We’ll continue to monitor this, but it’s still too early to predict just how different these forests will look 50 or 100 years from now,” Ford said.

A decrepit dam is being torn down along the North Toe River near Spruce Pine this week, clearing the way for a restoration of natural aquatic habitat.

The dam demolition removes a barrier to river migration of aquatic species, obstructions have led to a decline in some species, including rare and endangered ones.

“The North Toe is a wonderful river and taking this useless dam out makes it better,” remarked Cliff Vinson, the coordinator for the Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development Council, which is organizing the effort.

The cost of removal is $202,500 provided by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the North Carolina Division of Water Resources.

The dam was constructed for power generation in 1918, providing electricity to the town of Spruce Pine and a local factory. It was abandoned by the late 1940s or early 1950s, then partially dynamited in 1960 to clear silt which had accumulated upstream. What remains are massive slabs of concrete and scattered pieces of the dam’s metal inner workings.

“It’s not very often a dam comes out of a river,” remarked Anita Goetz, a biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

The dam removal will also make the river safer for paddlers. The partially crumbled dam creates a powerful hydraulic that claimed a boater’s life in 1983. Boaters that portage around the structure have to skirt an active railroad along the shore.

When Macon County economic development officials met last week and decided the aging workforce was among the county’s most pressing problems, that was news to our ears. An aging population — and workforce — presents many challenges, but we don’t think employers need worry about finding workers to fill the few professional jobs that are available in this region.

The worry, according to officials, is that the aging workforce and subsequent retirees will require more services. OK, that much is a given. As folks retire, many do require social services and other government aid while not contributing taxes — in the form of payroll taxes — to pay for them.

But in many ways, this fear is a straw man argument. If good jobs are available, professionals and service sector employees will flock to the area to take them. This newspaper, in fact, advertised over the last couple of months for a job requiring a college degree that paid a modest salary. We were inundated with prospective employees, with resumes arriving from Washington, Arizona, New Hampshire and all points in between.

When a reporter for this newspaper went into a restaurant to interview some 33-year-old workers in Macon County, they agreed with this assessment - if jobs are available, people of their generation are used to relocating to find work. It’s the norm these days.

These young family men pointed out a more important truth that economic development officials should concern themselves with — making sure Macon County and Franklin are desirable places to live. They pointed out that amenities like restaurants and other places to socialize are important. They bemoaned the fact that a recreation bond failed, meaning there will be fewer places for their children and them — young families today are active — to go play. They stressed the importance of continuing to focus resources on downtown development.

Yes, the population is aging. We are all living longer and working longer. But Macon County and the rest of this region will benefit more from that demographic reality than they will suffer.

If we want workers when we need them, we just need to make sure we protect open spaces, invest enough so our downtowns remain vibrant and walkable, and invest in education and recreation. As long as our quality of life remains high, people will come to fill the open positions.

Known for its legendary craftsmanship, Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc. just launched its new website, www.quallaartsandcrafts.org. For the first time, art collectors from around the world can view online what is said to be the largest collection of Cherokee art.

The website is a treasure trove of information about traditional and contemporary Cherokee art, and features extensive and detailed information about member artists, their work, techniques and the Mutual’s fascinating history.

“Launching the website was the next step in the cooperative’s progression so that we remain a leading vehicle for Cherokee art,” said Yona Wade, outreach coordinator at Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc. “We can truly offer our members a worldwide opportunity to showcase their work, and art collectors have a new way to view and learn about Cherokee’s legendary craftsmanship.”

Founded in 1946 to secure fair prices and provide a year-round market for Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian artisans, Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc. is the nation’s oldest and leading arts and crafts cooperative. It has approximately 300 members who create baskets, pottery, wood and stone carved sculpture, beadwork, fine art paintings and more for display and purchase at the co-op. Many member artists work with age-old, traditional techniques and materials, while others experiment with new methods and abstract forms.

Entry to Qualla Mutual is a juried process and is restricted to enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The purity and simplicity of ancient and contemporary Cherokee arts and crafts on display in the co-op’s gallery have attracted collectors from around the world. Free gallery tours are available Thursdays through Sundays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Aug. 29. Qualla Mutual also offers appraisal and repair services; and for more information about these services, call 828.497.3103.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Whitewater releases from the Nantahala Lake dam will be suspended in October, forcing rafting outfitters downstream in the Nantahala Gorge to miss out on critical fall tourist season.

Rafting outfitters rely on a predictable flow of water released upstream by Duke Energy, which has a hydropower operation below the Nantahala dam. But starting Oct. 5, Duke will shut down its 67-year-old generator for maintenance and cease water releases.

“There’s going to be two to four weeks lost revenue for sure, and a lack of things for tourists to do,” said Steve Matz, owner of Adventurous Fast Rivers Rafting and president of the Nantahala Gorge Association.

Matz said he wishes Duke had held out on the repairs for a few more weeks.

“The community is a little unclear as to why this could not have been delayed until after the tourist season,” Matz said. “Especially in a recession year like this. It’s a tough year for everybody.”

Other rafting outfitters say that while they’re taking a hit, they understand the repairs must be done to avoid a more detrimental scenario.

Mark Thomas, owner of Paddle Inn, estimates he could lose as much as $15,000 by shuttering his business early. But he’d rather see Duke perform maintenance in fall than risk an unplanned shutdown in summer.

“If this thing broke during this time of the year, that $15,000 would turn into something much larger than that,” Thomas said.

Ken Kastorff, owner of Endless River Adventures, agrees.

“None of us were enthused, but when you take a look at the alternative and the chance of having a problem, it was for sure the lesser of two evils,” Kastorff said. “I wish it could have been done at a different time of year, but you have to consider, this isn’t taking your car to the mechanic. It’s a bit of a bigger job.”

In a press release, officials at Duke Energy expressed their reasoning that a three-month, planned outage is better than a six- to nine-month unplanned one. They also said they will limit the repairs to the tail end of the rafting season, and gave Gorge businesses plenty of advance notice.

“One of the things that we do proactively is let people know our intentions as early as we can,” said Fred Alexander, Duke’s district manager for community relations.

 

Piece of the tourism puzzle

Outfitters concede that October isn’t their cash cow, compared to, say, July.

“If you take a look at the whole scope of things, October really isn’t that busy a period of time,” said Kastorff.

But the month, which marks the end of the whitewater rafting season, is important for other reasons. Keeping people employed is a major one.

“It’s not peak season by any means, but it still helps feed those who are here,” Matz said.

Matz said the repairs will mean people who need to work “are cut short by a month, so there’s going to be more unemployment.”

While rafting itself may not be a big draw in the fall, the industry plays an important role as an entertainment option for the many tourists who flock to the mountains during leaf season. Fall color, the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, and rafting together work to entice visitors to the far western region.

“In many cases, all three of those things go hand in hand with tourism,” said Kastorff. “Losing one of them I think is going to have a negative impact on the overall tourism of the area, and on hotels and restaurants.”

 

Making do

Rafting outfitters are figuring out how to compensate for the loss of business.

Thomas said his company is booking as many trips as possible prior to October while making sure to communicate the shutoff with customers.

“We’re just doing the best we can to get everybody on the river, and telling as many as we can that the river’s shutting off early,” Thomas said.

Kastorff said he’s concentrating on diversifying the activities his company offers.

“We’re going to go ahead and have a lot of other activities we’ll offer folks on the weekend,” like lake tours, kayak instruction, or day trips to other nearby rivers, said Kastorff.

Others are throwing up their hands in acceptance of the situation.

“There’s not a whole lot you can do,” acknowledged Matz.

However, the blow may be softened a bit by the fact that outfitters have already done surprisingly well this season, despite the shaky economy. Thomas, for instance, reports that June business was on par with 2008 numbers, and that July, “has just blown the lid off,” far exceeding numbers from the past few years.

“It’s been fantastic,” Thomas said.

Thomas’ case may be an exception, but other outfitters seem to be holding their own.

“I don’t think we’re setting any records, but I think we’re on track,” Matz said. “People are still spending money, and people are still here.”

Matz theorized that his guests are cutting out more lavish trips to the Bahamas or Europe in favor of low-cost getaways within driving distance, like Western North Carolina.

 

Nod to Duke

Repairs to the generator should be completed by December, Alexander said. Duke Power has already started lowering Nantahala Lake levels in anticipation of the repairs, though at a slower rate than was initially planned. By Aug. 15, the lake will be at 10 feet below normal levels. By Labor Day, it will sink to 35 feet below. By Oct. 5, the date repairs start, it will be 60 feet below normal.

While outfitters may grumble about the repairs, they do acknowledge that overall, Duke has been a good partner when it comes to managing the flows out of Nantahala Lake.

“It’s as good a flow as we’ve ever had,” Matz said. “We get really great, consistent flows, and they manage the lake levels really well.”

Thomas said that when the lake was under the control of Nantahala Power and Light, the former hydropower owner, the river could stop running without an explanation, leaving outfitters in a lurch. Thomas called Duke “a tremendous asset.”

“Nantahala Power did an okay job, but Duke is right on the money,” Thomas said.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

The year was 1954. An up-and-coming singer named Elvis Presley was beginning his musical career. The inaugural edition of new magazine titled Sports Illustrated hit the newsstands. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ended segregation in the nation’s public schools.

And in the mountains of Western North Carolina, a young Glenn Draper first set foot on the grounds of Lake Junaluska, along with the Keelser Air Force Base Male Chorus and Orchestra

Draper would remain an indelible figure at Lake Junaluska for another 55 years, serving as music director at the Methodist Assembly and as director of the world-renowned Junaluska Singers since 1956. The group has provided musical entertainment at conferences and worship services, toured extensively across the Southeastern United States and beyond, and produced 35 recordings.

During a career that has spanned more than a half century, Draper has mentored legions of young vocalists. In addition to the Junaluska Singers, his groups have included his own creation, the Glenn Draper Singers, as well as the Chattanooga Singers and the Singing Mocs at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, where was a professor of music for more than 30 years.

His vocal groups have appeared on national television programs “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Hour of Power,” have shared the stage with the likes of Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Liberace and Wayne Newton, and have performed in such illustrious venues as Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

“I feel that this is my calling,” Draper wrote in his 2003 autobiography. “I know that to some people that would sound trite, but my calling at Junaluska is not just to do better music or to educate people; that has never been in my plan. It is to sing music that people consider to be worshipful, and that they are going to like.”

His Junaluska Singers have spent this spring and summer on a farewell tour of sorts, as the 2009 season marks his last year as director of the vocal ensemble. And his swan song summer performance is set for Saturday, Aug. 8, at Lake Junaluska. As that bittersweet performance approaches, former members of the group recently shared their thoughts about the career of a man they call mentor and friend.

“He is the master of melody, the consummate showman,” said Bill Dixon, a vocalist with the Junaluska Singers from 1980 to 1990, who is now an elementary school music teacher and music minister in Quincy, Fla. “The repertoire in his head is incredible. It’s amazing that year after year he has consistently reinvented the singers and their ministry, yet kept the cohesiveness in the groups.”

Ron Whittemore, a singer with the group from 1975 to 1985 and sound technician in 1986-88, called Draper a major influence on his life and career. “He demands excellence, and expects a song to come from the heart and a belief in what you are singing. He is passionate and loving, he is a great motivator and doer, and he has a tremendous drive,” said Whittemore, director of music ministries at Arden Presbyterian Church and emcee/worship leader at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove.

“He is a unique individual, one of those ‘time and place’ individuals. I’m not sure there will be another like him,” he said. “Glenn is one of my greatest mentors. At 81, he still does it better than most in music ministry even today.”

When asked for his favorite memory of his time with the Junaluska Singers, Alan Miller, who is now associate dean of the Center for Performing Arts at the University of Mobile in Alabama, replied, “Oh my, do you have several hours?”

A singer with the group for 13 years beginning in the early 1970s and a sound technician for a year, Miller got his first exposure to Draper in the late 1960s as a participant at a music camp for youth. “Glen would stand up on a platform and direct the 600- to 1,000-voice youth choir, and it was amazing as we sang some of the greatest musicals, like ‘Celebrate Life’ and ‘Godspell,’” Miller said.

“I met some of my closest friends at Junaluska, sang the greatest music, learned to change costumes 14 times in one program, understood variety in music and how to thrill an audience from the master, Glenn Draper,” he said. “To this day, I often think ‘what would Glenn Draper do?’ when I plan a program at the University of Mobile.”

Those who have followed the Junaluska Singers over the years also credit Draper’s wife, Lounelle, with providing the behind-the-scenes support necessary for the group’s success.

“Glenn and Lounelle Draper are a great team,” said Minna Appleby of Lake Junaluka and Dothan, Ala. “They have given of themselves and worked together these 55 years in making the Junaluska Singers a world-renowned choral group. You cannot listen to this group sing under Glenn’s direction without marveling at their gifts and witness, without having your spirits lifted and being inspired.”

By Brent Martin • Guest Columnist

With the long August recess now behind them, Senators have returned to Washington, D.C., with a heavy workload. In addition to the momentous responsibility they have to pass legislation that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, they have an unprecedented opportunity to change America’s future for the better. Comprehensive climate and energy legislation that passes the Senate can and must dedicate 5 percent of the funding generated by such a bill to safeguarding fish and wildlife and natural resources on which we all rely. Just two weeks ago, 22 North Carolina organizations joined more than 600 groups from all 50 states to do just that. The letter delivered to the Senate has a clear message — we need swift action on climate change that will both create jobs and protect our natural resources.

This call for action is based not only on protecting our environment, but on creating green jobs that will help our economy for generations to come. If funded properly, climate legislation will create conservation jobs nationwide, employing construction crews, engineers, scientists and others to restore America’s landscapes and strengthen ecosystems so they can withstand disruptive changes, remove invasive species from natural areas, repair damaged watersheds and help revive rural economies. Furthermore, here in Western Northern Carolina, our outdoor recreation industry is dependent on healthy ecosystems — businesses that support fishing, rafting, and camping that are being threatened by the effects of global warming, putting at risk North Carolina’s $7.5 billion outdoor recreation economy. As the health of North Carolina’s forests suffers, a range of business and vital ecosystem services are likely to be negatively affected, such as North Carolina’s $100 million per year Christmas tree industry.

We simply can no longer afford to ignore this important issue. Many areas of North Carolina’s coastline are sinking at a rate of nearly 7 inches per century, and studies predict that sea level rise of 18 inches is possible by 2080, flooding more than 770 miles of the state’s coast. Upland ecosystems are also affected as evidenced by a decline in high-elevation spruce firs, loss of brook trout habitat due to rising steam temperatures and the destruction of hemlock forests by invasive species.

Since mid-century, temperatures across the state have risen approximately 1.2 degrees and are expected to rise up to an additional 5 degrees by 2060. A temperature rise of just 4 degrees would cause central North Carolina to resemble the climate of central Florida. In coastal North Carolina, projections show a decrease of up to 8 inches in annual rainfall by 2060. These changes are significant, and the impacts are already being felt.

The House of Representatives has already passed legislation that establishes a national policy to better safeguard natural resources from global warming and provided 1 percent of revenues generated by the bill for these efforts. Ultimately, significantly more dedicated funding will be needed to address the impacts of climate change on our wildlife and natural resources. The Senate is standing at the crossroads of history and we need its leadership now to get the whole job done and ensure that climate legislation both reduces greenhouse gas emissions and safeguards natural resources, wildlife and our own communities threatened by the changes already set in motion.

Millions of Americans have spoken – it’s time for the Senate to listen.

(Brent Martin lives in Franklin and works for the Wilderness Society. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

September in the mountains is an emotionally poignant time as it signals the end of summer and the beginning of fall in a dramatic show of color against a sky of brilliant blue. It carries an air of bittersweet longing accompanied by a scent of dying flowers and burning leaves as well as a sense of transition. Comings and goings, good-byes and tears all flood the soul like the swollen mountain streams. September is a time of changes that pull at the heart.

The mornings have become cooler with a hint of fall in the air. The days are still warm but shorter and the evenings chilly. Local churches organize homecomings and invite their members, old and new, to join in a day of reunion. There is singing of old hymns, delicious foods, handshakes and hugs through laughter and tears.

In 1971, I left my small Bethel community in September to attend college. I was a first generation college student and had little more than hopes and dreams of escaping mountain life to steer my course. My goal in life at that time was to leave this backwater community at any cost. This was a goal that I would both achieve and regret to some degree. Appreciating one’s childhood home is not a reality until a few years and many tears have passed.

This new world of freedom in a university was not only intoxicating but also filled with contradictions and disillusions. It was the 1970s. The Vietnam War continued hopelessly as young men died or came back broken in body and spirit. Racial disturbances continued. Richard M. Nixon lied to the nation about his role in the Watergate scandal. Our leaders were flawed. My newly found freedom was more than a little marred by the ugly truths of politics, wars and injustices. It was my first realization that life was far from simple. I was learning that personal freedom is rarely achieved without struggle and change.

I managed to avoid going home for months and when I did, I would pull out of our dirt road in my boyfriend’s VW bug early Sunday morning to avoid the inevitable church attendance. Finally in late September 1973, I was caught. I would attend the annual Homecoming at my childhood Baptist church. No argument. My mother was firm; for this, young lady, was a command performance. So on a clear, achingly beautiful September morning with a slight nip in the air and the leaves beginning to turn red and golden, I headed back to a building of mere wood and mortar that housed a lifetime of warm memories.

I had agreed to shed my faded jeans for a denim skirt but wore a faded peasant blouse on which I had embroidered flowers and symbols of peace. Despite my changing beliefs in politics and religion, I loved these good people who had watched me grow up and now welcomed me home. And it was with their hugs and their quiet show of love, I knew that I could still come home.

As the strains of “Amazing Grace” filled the air, I humbly joined the church members for dinner on the grounds. I knew that I was home. The plank table held comfort food for the weary soul; food that was as predictable and made from the recipes that were handed down generation to generation; foods that the women of the church had cooked at dawn that morning. Armed with a paper plate and paper cup of sweetened iced tea, I realized that the differences were not as great as I had imagined.

The smells from the food were intoxicating, as the preacher led the congregation in a blessing for the food, this community and the many joys of this earthly life. As I listened to the preacher, I opened one eye and as I absent mindedly brushed away a fly, I gazed at the beautiful array of food. I recognized the platters of fried chicken, potato salad, green beans laden with fat back, fried corn, fresh tomatoes, trays of deviled eggs and a multitude of congealed salads and desserts of all descriptions. All was simple and fresh, without complications.

The dessert table seemed endless with old standards like strawberry short cake, banana pudding, apple stack cake and numerous pound cakes and with new arrivals such as the sock-it-to-me cake and better-than-s-e-x chocolate cake. In the Baptist Church, the word sex was not uttered but spelled aloud.

The congealed salads were congregated at the end of the table near the desserts and could be found on every plate. They must be eaten quickly as they did tend to melt on a warm September afternoon and each church member seems to have a distinct favorite. The congealed salad in the South and in the mountains of North Carolina carries a history that probably began as regular bowl of jello spiked with some canned fruit cocktail. The dish evolved quickly from that humble beginning and became the star of the “church circuit.”

New “church circuit” dishes seem to begin with an initial preparation by women in a church, probably the Methodist, as I imagine their tastes to be more sophisticated than the Baptist. Once approved by the congregation at one of the many potluck occasions, the dish is then deemed worthy of making the circuit and travels by word of mouth or those little recipe cards to other congregations.

A host of congealed salads (most containing the inevitable crushed pineapple and Cool Whip) had made the circuit as well as the ever-popular casserole. In the mountains and rural South, these dishes were a definite departure from the simple dishes of fresh vegetables and meats. They combined flavors and textures and were exotic to the simple rural tongue. They caught on like wildfire. And as each new dish was tried and tested and ultimately made the church circuit, it was added to the annual church cookbook. Many of these cookbooks had separate sections for casseroles and congealed salads though I suspect that this also originated with the Methodists.

As I gazed the usual selection of salads, I recognized my favorite apricot salad as well as the blueberry/cream cheese salad and even a cherry Coke salad that became popular when Coca-Cola appeared in cans. But there — innocently nestled among the faithful was a newcomer — a strange green concoction with what appeared to be miniature marshmallows, a canned fruit and some brown objects. This new dish, my mother proudly crowed was ... Watergate salad! No one seemed to know why or to care exactly how this glowing green glob was christened “Watergate Salad” but it seemed to be all the rage.

Timidly, I made room on my paper plate for the strangely named Watergate salad, secure in the conviction that I would find its taste as disgusting as its looks. I was wrong. I identified the green fluffy stuff as pistachio pudding, the white blobs as marshmallows and the dark pieces as chopped pecans. The combination of sweet and salty unfamiliar to my palate was delicious. I was hooked and unabashedly returned to the table for two or three more helpings.

The recipe, tucked in the pocket of my bell-bottom jeans, was carried back to my dorm room. I impressed my new college friends with the dish and I continue to revive it throughout the years (adding red maraschino cherries at Christmas for a festive look). It is out of vogue now — replaced by other more sophisticated dishes on the church circuit, but I pull out the ingredients every now and again and remember ...

I remember the color of leaves in late September, the brilliant blue of an early autumn sky, the smell of dried leaves and wood smoke. I remember the moment in time when a still innocent young girl could return home and despite disillusion, despite the beginning of a cynical mind, could enjoy the sweet and the salty taste of Watergate salad at a church homecoming and shed a few tears of gratitude and homesickness for the simple life she had left.

Throughout the years I have continued to fix “Homecoming” foods but do change them to suit my changing tastes. I love the simple foods but choose to add my personal signature to familiar dishes. I add a dash of ground red chili pepper to the fried chicken and I bake chicken breasts with olive oil rather than with my mother’s lard scooped from a tin can.

I have numerous variations of the deviled eggs from a dash of curry powder to the addition of capers, cilantro or tarragon — all delicious. The changes may enhance the familiar tastes but the freshness and flavor in these good mountain foods remain the same. I may not get up at dawn to prepare my dishes, but I cook with the same love and attention that the women of my mother’s generation cooked their Sunday dishes.

While I wouldn’t dare change the sinful dessert recipes, I do limit them to once or twice a year and give the leftovers away as soon as I have had a helping. Too much “better than s-e-x cake” cannot be good for the waistline, but I miss the days when I could easily eat several helpings.

Old habits can be changed; new recipes can evolve from traditional ones; and old beliefs can be revised. I still hold the belief that God is larger than any one church or religion; that God is as present in the quiet of a forest or in the dark corner of one’s soul as in a church filled with golden offerings; that God is seen most often in the eyes of children and dogs.

I am still rather cynical about truth in politics and I keep a suspicious eye on the wealthy and the pompous, but I do believe in the possibility of change and the probability of transformation with love. While Nixon lied to a nation, Watergate salad made its debut among the old standards in a small Baptist church in Bethel, North Carolina. The simplicity of mountain foods can be enhanced to fit changing tastes and healthier habits. A young mountain girl could go back home again and be welcomed with open arms. If cynicism can give way to a heartfelt tears shed on a Homecoming Sunday in late September, then almost anything is possible.

(Karen Dill can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

By Julie Ball • Correspondent

As a boy, Gene Gibson remembers his parents heading to some of Western North Carolina’s high mountain ridges in search of chestnuts.

By that time — the early 1930s — most of the trees at the lower elevations were dead, killed by a devastating chestnut blight that all but wiped out the species.

“Most of the chestnut trees down here had already died, but there were still some in the higher ridges that were still producing,” said Gibson, who lives in Jackson County.

For southern Appalachian families, the American chestnut was an important part of life. Not only did it produce food for livestock and timber for homes, but the chestnuts from these massive trees could be used to barter or to sell.

Now a modern-day effort to bring back the tree is taking an important step forward. The U.S. Forest Service, American Chestnut Foundation and officials from the University of Tennessee recently announced the planting of 500 blight-resistant trees on U.S. Forest Service land in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

The planting took place last winter, and the trees have thrived over the past year, according to forestry officials.

“Today really is a historic event,” said Bryan Burhans, president of The American Chestnut Foundation, which has been working for more than 25 years to develop a blight-resistant tree.

The foundation has been breeding the blight-resistant Chinese chestnut with the American chestnut, resulting in a mix that is genetically 94 percent American chestnut and 6 percent Chinese chestnut. The cross will hopefully provide just enough DNA from the Chinese chestnut to stave off the blight, yet still boasts the signature characteristics of the American chestnut, such as the prized nuts and high quality wood.

Roger Williams, director of forest management for the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region, called the test planting another step toward re-introducing this “keystone species” to its native range decades after it was wiped out.

 

Forest experiment

The chestnut seedlings planted last year have grown an average of 10 inches already.

Stacy Clark, research forester for the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station, described them as “healthy” and “free from blight,” but it will take several more years to determine if they are blight resistant.

Clark said the blight normally doesn’t show up until the trees are five to 10 years old.

“We are hopeful the test plantings conducted last winter will be successful,” said Barbara Crane, regional geneticist for the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region.

The 500 blight-resistant trees were among a total of 1,200 trees planted at three locations on national forest land.

The other 700 trees included pure American chestnut trees, pure Chinese chestnut trees and various generations of trees that are a mixture of the two species. The seedlings grew for a year in a nursery before they were planted as part of this effort.

“These first test plantings are true scientific experiments,” Clark said.

Officials will monitor the growth and determine whether they can survive and what kind of management might be needed.

“Also, it’s important to determine how these trees will grow in a real-world setting,” Clark said.

The Forest Service and University of Tennessee planted the trees on Forest Service land under a memorandum of understanding with The American Chestnut Foundation. The agencies are not saying exactly where the trees are planted to protect them from possible theft.

“The trees we planted are approximately 4- to 6-feet tall. They came from nuts that were collected over two years ago,” Clark said.

Plans call for another 500 blight-resistant trees to be planted in 2010 on national forest land. The American Chestnut Foundation is also working to develop a plan for future restoration of the trees. The American Chestnut Foundation recevied a $1 million contribution last year from the Stanback family, known as champions of conservation in Western North Carolina for their large contributions to preserve tracts of land.

 

Loss of the chestnut

The loss of the American chestnut tree was a “disaster,” according to Gibson, who lives in Jackson County.

Chestnuts made up 25 percent of the hardwood forests in the eastern U.S. The massive trees grew alongside oaks, but they produced more mast and also produced food more consistently. Burhans said a mature oak would produce 1,000 acorns on average — but a mature American chestnut tree produced 6,000 chestnuts on average.

The chestnuts were an important source of food in the forest, but they also provided a crop that could be sold by people living in the southern Appalachian region.

Gene Gibson’s son, Bill Gibson, who serves as executive director of the Southwestern Commission, said his grandmother was born in Haywood County and later lived in Jackson County. She told stories of heading to high mountain coves during the fall to collect chestnuts.

The family would bring along buckets, washtubs, and any other containers they could find. They’d also bring along livestock to fatten them up on the chestnuts.

“They (the family) would go back there, and they’d stay a long time, maybe a week or more,” Bill Gibson said.

The family would roast the chestnuts on site, then haul them home to use during the winter.

Timber from the American chestnut was also used heavily in the mountains. And Western North Carolina is full of stories about the size of the trees. In some cases, it took several people holding hands to reach around the massive trunks.

The trees contributed to the overall health of the ecosystem and were a valuable source of food for wildlife, according to Williams. But in the first half of the 20th century, the trees began dying, hit by a fungus that would become known as the chestnut blight. By the early 1950s, the American chestnut had virtually disappeared, even at the high elevations.

Sprouts from the old root systems can still be found in mountain forests, and one goal of The American Chestnut Foundation is to collect pollen from those native trees for use in the breeding process.

The foundation developed the blight-resistant trees using backcross-breeding over a number of years.

James Lyle is an internationally renowned illustrator and artist whose work appears in comic books, in campaigns for major corporations, in video games and in the Weekly Reader read by thousands of students each week. He lives in Haywood County and is participating in the Oct. 3-4 Haywood Open Studios Tour:

SMN: Why do you participate in this event?

Lyle: I grew up in Haywood County and have spent most of my life here, but in spite of the fact that I’m known nationally — and even internationally in some circles — very few folks around here know what I do. So when the HOST event first started, I thought it might be a good way to let people in on the secret. It wasn’t until this year that I had the opportunity to actually participate.

SMN: What about your work gives you the most pleasure?

Lyle: Actually sitting down at the drawing board and drawing gives me the most pleasure. The difficulty now is that it seems that I have to spend a great deal of time in self-promotion and networking. Fortunately most of my experiences in “networking” have been positive, and I find that to be nearly as pleasant as the drawing process itself. I’ve been spending a great deal of time lately as vice chairman of the Southeast Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society and that offers a chance to work with a number of up-and-coming artists in the region. Mentoring them is a close second to actually drawing.

SMN: Is your art your sole source of income; and if so, how long did you work at it before getting to your current status?

Lyle: Art is my primary source of income. But my wife and I both work, and I do play an occasional gig with our band, Gypsy Bandwagon — which is technically still “art” in the larger sense of the word. I’ve been working as an artist full time since graduating from Southwestern Community College back in 1992, but actually did quite a bit of work as a freelance artist before getting that degree. So all in all, I have been working professionally since 1983. So, 25 years, give or take a year.

SMN: What attracted you to Western North Carolina?

Lyle: Besides growing up here, I think it’s a beautiful place to live. When I met my wife, I thought for a while that we might live near where she grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, but the cost of living there is so high that we added it all up and realized that the mountains was a great place to be. So we came back home.

SMN: What would you do if you weren’t an illustrator or cartoonist?

Lyle: I’d like to be a musician if I weren’t able to be an illustrator or cartoonist. Most graphic artists do seem to have some musical aspirations, so I’m in good company.

SMN: Who is your clientele?

Lyle: My clientele varies a great deal, from small comic book publishing companies and personal commissions to magazine publishers, major apparel companies, and advertising agencies. At the moment I’m working on an advertising campaign for a theater company out of Toronto, Canada, while also working on a series of event T-shirts for the U.S. Marines, illustrating a Pirate novel, and preparing to launch a new webcomic.

But there have been any number of other art-type jobs along the way. From painting billboards and doing mechanical paste-up (back before computers), to laying out catalogs and designing Yellow Pages ads. All in all, I’d rather draw.

SMN: Where are you from and what kind of training and education do you have?

Lyle: While we covered this one briefly a little more info might help. I’m from Haywood County. Our family has roots in Haywood from at least four generations back. While I was born in Asheville, Dad moved us back to the family home when I was just two. And except for a brief time in the Chicago suburbs and some time spent in Salisbury, I’ve been here most of my life.

I have an Associates of Applied Sciences degree in Commercial Art and Advertising Design from Southwestern Community College. I still try to help out there serving with the Graphic Arts advisory group and sending promising students their way when they present themselves. But most any artist will likely tell you that what they studied in school was primarily how to teach themselves. A degree is really just the beginning of an education in art, constant practice and application are required to achieve any real success as an illustrator or cartoonist.

Watergate Salad

• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix

• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice

• 1 cup miniature marshmallows

• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

• 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

In a large bowl, mix together pudding mix, pineapple with juice, marshmallows, and nuts. Fold in whipped topping. Chill. Eat on a late September day, wearing a tie-dye shirt and faded jeans.

Apricot Congealed Salad (my favorite)

• 1 (8 ounce) crushed pineapple

• 1 (3 ounce) box apricot gelatin

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1 (8 ounce) container Cool Whip

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Heat crushed pineapple and jello until dissolved. Refrigerate until cool. Add buttermilk, cool whip and nuts. Refrigerate until set.

Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are pretty simple fare and there are numerous variations.

• 7 hard-cooked eggs

• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 1 scant teaspoon prepared mustard

• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

• salt and pepper

• paprika, optional

Cut 6 of the hard cooked eggs in half lengthwise. Scoop yolks out of egg halves. Press yolks and remaining whole hard cooked egg through a sieve into a small bowl. Stir in mayonnaise and mustard; season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with a little paprika, if desired, and top each deviled egg half with an olive half, cut side up. Makes 12 deviled egg halves.

Variations to the basic deviled egg recipe:

• Add some pickle relish and top with a sliced green or black olive.

• Use ranch dressing and cream cheese instead of mayo with chopped onion and pickle

• Add scallions and a dash of curry powder to the basic recipe

• Add cumin, Dijon mustard, 1 chopped jalapeno pepper, a dash of red chili powder and top with snipped cilantro

• Add chopped smoked salmon and top with green onions

• Add a touch of horseradish and freshly ground black pepper

• And my favorite: add capers and sprinkle with freshly snipped taragon

Oven Fried Chicken

Spicy oven fried chicken recipe with chili powder, a little cinnamon, cumin, and lime juice.

• 4 chicken breast halves

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime peel

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

dash cinnamon or allspice

• 2 cups fine dry bread crumbs

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

If desired, remove skin from chicken. Combine honey, lime juice, peel, salt, chili powder, cumin, pepper, and cinnamon or allspice in a large shallow bowl. In a large bowl combine the bread crumbs, chopped cilantro, and vegetable oil. Dip chicken in honey mixture, turning to coat well. Add coated chicken to the bread crumb mixture, patting on crumbs. Transfer to a foil-lined baking pan. Bake at 425° for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is browned and juices run clear. Serves 4.

Better than S-e-x Chocolate Cake

• 1 German chocolate or other chocolate cake, baked, 13x9x2-inch

• 3/4 cup fudge topping

• 3/4 cup caramel or butterscotch topping

• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

• 6 chocolate covered toffee bars

• 1 tub of whipped topping or whipped cream from a can

Do not remove cake from pan. After the cake has cooled, make holes in the entire top of the cake using a large fork or the handle of a wooden spoon. Pour (one at a time) fudge, butterscotch, and condensed milk over the top of the cake and let each flavor soak in before adding the next. Crush 3 of the candy bars and sprinkle on the top. Frost the cake with the whipped topping (or decorate with squirts of canned whipped cream) and crush the 3 remaining toffee bars to decorate the top. Try to keep your hands off of this great cake before serving! Serves 12

Local chefs are proving to be some of the best supporters of Haywood County farmers.

“The Buy Haywood project is having a great year, from new produce sales at Ingles grocery stores to a new map and brochure to encourage people to visit farm stands and farmer’s markets,” said George Ivey, coordinator of Buy Haywood, which helps develop stronger markets for Haywood County farm products. “We thought it would be logical to focus next on restaurants, and we’ve been very pleased to learn that many chefs are already on board.”

Those chefs are buying everything from seasonal items like peppers and tomatoes to year-round items like rainbow trout, with some buying directly from farmers at local tailgate markets and others relying on farm stands like Duckett’s Produce, according to Ivey.

The Haywood Regional Medical Center Cafeteria is one of many local restaurants that utilize Christopher Farms of Waynesville for deliveries of a wide variety of fresh, local produce. Chef Phil Mohr is very pleased with the results.

“It’s a great way to support the local economy, and it just tastes better,” he said.

Buying local is also important to Denny Trantham, Chef de Cuisine for the Blue Ridge Dining Room at Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in Asheville. A Haywood County native, Trantham buys from farms throughout Western North Carolina, including trout and salad greens grown by several Haywood County farmers.

“Buying fresh food from local sources is all part of our continuing effort to support sustainability,” said Trantham. “Plus, we love the opportunity to showcase these great local products to all our visitors from near and far.”

Several Haywood County chefs also utilize tomatoes and other local produce to make their own value-added products, including Hudson’s Smoked Tomato Jam, available through Sunburst Trout Farm; Maria Pressley’s salsa, available at Maria’s Mexican Pueblo; and a trio of tomato sauces made by Chef Ricardo Fernandez at Lomo Grill.

“We are very thankful that these chefs are offering local farm products to their customers, and in the process helping to support family farms,” Ivey added.

The Buy Haywood project has started compiling a list of local restaurants offering Haywood County farm products. The list is available online at www.buyhaywood.com/try.html.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to identify and support the restaurants that support our local farmers,” said Ivey. “If there are other people out there who offer or want to offer Haywood County farm products in their restaurants, we want them to call us so we can help them connect with farmers, consumers, or both.”

The Buy Haywood Project supports farmers in Haywood County in Western North Carolina by promoting high-quality farm products to community-minded consumers. The project is managed by the Haywood County Economic Development Commission, and it receives support from the Golden LEAF Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. For more information call 828.456.3737.

The department of stage and screen is kicking off Western Carolina University’s 2009-10 “Mainstage” theater season with the hip, dark comedy “Manuscript.” This season also will feature productions of Shakespeare’s classic “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Chorus Line” and the futuristic “Natural Selections.”

First on the playbill, Paul Grellong’s “Manuscript” tells the story of three college freshmen who find an unpublished manuscript that will guarantee success. On their quest for fame and fortune, the three are pushed to acts of manipulation and vengeance. Directed by Peter Savage, visiting lecturer in the department of stage and screen, “Manuscript” will run Sept. 23-27.

Claire Eye, theater program director for the department of stage and screen, will be directing Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which will run Oct. 29-Nov. 1. Eye will put a regional spin on Shakespeare’s classic comedy by setting the play in Appalachia, using the dialect and mannerisms of mountain people to tell this age-old, mystical love story with a contemporary zeal.

Hitting the stage March 18-21 is the hit Broadway musical “A Chorus Line” written by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, with music by Marvin Hamlish and lyrics by Edward Kleban. Revered as one of Broadway’s longest-running shows, “A Chorus Line” is the story of an audition for a Broadway musical. The play aims to show the determination of the performer and focus on the actor’s ongoing task of trying to land a job. Charlotte D’Amboise, two-time Tony Award nominee and star of “A Chorus Line” while featured on Broadway, will be directing this production.

Bringing the season to a close is Eric Coble’s “Natural Selections,” directed by D.V. Caitlyn, assistant professor in the department of stage and screen. In the play, set in an ultramodern and advanced world, a theme park curator must venture into the wastelands of what was once North America to find a genuine Native American in order to add luster to his park’s image. “Natural Selections” will stage on April 21-25. In addition to the “mainstage” performances, WCU faculty and staff who recreated the 1933 “War of The Worlds” broadcast last fall will be taking the audience back in time once again this season with “On The Home Front,” the re-creation of an entire Armed Forces Radio Broadcast program originally aired across Europe in November 1944. The Armed Forces Radio Broadcast programs helped keep American soldiers up-to-date with stateside news during World War II. The special Veteran’s Day performance will be held Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m.

The season also will include “A Moveable Feast,” the annual spring dance concert scheduled for Monday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m.

Shows will begin at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday afternoon matinees at 3 p.m. Seasons tickets go on sale Tuesday, Aug. 11. Prices for season tickets are $20 for students, $40 for WCU staff and faculty and senior citizens, and $55 for adults. Tickets also may be purchased for individual performances. Patron Club memberships, which provide additional financial support for the university theater program and its student organization, the University Players and their activities, also are available. There are three levels of membership – Actor ($250), Director ($500) and Producer ($1,000). Each level of membership offers tickets to all productions, and a portion of the membership cost is tax-deductible.

For season tickets call the Fine and Performing Arts Center box office at 828.227.2479. For more information about season tickets or Patron Club memberships, contact the department of stage and screen at 828.227.7491, or visit theatre.wcu.edu.

By Julie Ball • Correspondent

Some lottery money used to pay the debt on local school projects is coming to Western North Carolina months after the payments were frozen amid the state budget crunch.

The money, which was withheld by the governor in February, was released late last month, and several area school systems say it will be used to pay debt on new and existing projects.

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue earlier this year withheld $37.6 million from the state’s schools “to ensure the state had sufficient resources to manage cash flow and payroll obligations,” according to a release from the governor’s office.

That money was the second quarter lottery distribution for schools. Late last month, Perdue announced she was releasing those funds to counties.

In Macon County, those dollars help pay the debt from new school projects including the recently completed renovation and addition at East Franklin Elementary School and a new school for fifth- and sixth-graders under construction across from Macon Middle School.

The second quarter payment, which was withheld, amounted to more than $97,000 for Macon County.

“It [withholding the lottery dollars] resulted in the county having to dig somewhere else in paying the bills that are due,” said Dan Brigman, superintendent of Macon County schools.

Lottery dollars alone don’t pay the full cost for needed capital projects in Macon County, Brigman said. But Macon County has a couple of projects in the works that will benefit from the lottery money.

The new school for fifth- and sixth-graders is expected to be completed in February, and should open for the 2010-11 school year.

 

Jackson & Swain counties

Jackson County also uses its lottery dollars to pay debt on school capital projects, according to Gwen Edwards, finance officer for Jackson County schools.

The county’s second quarter lottery payment is nearly $83,000.

“We use the money for debt, and luckily our debt payment was due prior to the time they froze the money, so it really didn’t affect us last year,” said Darlene Fox, finance director for Jackson County.

The county is using the money to pay the debt on the new building at Fairview School in Sylva, Fox said.

Swain County’s lottery payment for the second quarter is $41,544, according to the governor’s Web site.

School officials say that like other districts Swain County uses that money to pay debt on capital projects.

 

New projects in Haywood

For Haywood County, the lottery payment withheld by the governor amounted to $175,622.

The timing of the release of the money didn’t really affect Haywood County schools, according to Bill Nolte, associate superintendent with Haywood County schools.

“It would have impacted us had we never received it,” Nolte said.

Haywood County plans to use lottery money to pay back a no-interest or low-interest bond that the school system is pursuing.

“The state announced that it would issue interest-free or low-interest bond funds for capital expenditures,” Nolte said.

Haywood County initially applied for $1.6 million for 11 projects, mainly to update heating systems at local schools.

“Those were essentially projects to improve energy usage, change lighting, change out old boiler systems, change piping coming out of old boiler systems,” Nolte said.

Because so few school systems sought the bonds, the state asked schools systems to revise their requests. Haywood’s revised request for $4.2 million included money to replace one of the buildings at Waynesville Middle School.

However, the state approved only $3.8 million of the request, meaning the system is $400,000 short of the amount needed for both projects. The school board’s Building and Grounds Committee is expected to begin looking at ways to reduce the WMS project.

The county couldn’t begin construction on any of the projects until 2010 at the earliest. And Nolte said the projects will also depend on the county’s ability to sell the bonds.

“There are steps along the way that could upend the whole process,” he said. “We could get into it, and no one would buy the bonds.”

What the lottery money can’t do for local school systems is help make up for cuts in their operating budgets, which left a number of school districts in the area having to reduce staff.

Because of budget cuts, Haywood County, for example, has lost seven teachers, two assistant principals, a central office director’s position and two counselors, and the system has fewer teacher assistants and fewer custodians. In addition, the system had to combine some bus routes and deal with cuts in funding for textbooks.

By Thomas Crowe

 

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful, not only as fountains of timbers and irrigating river, but as fountains of life.”

— John Muir

Depending upon where you live, naturalists and environmental saints appear with different names. When I was living in Northern California during the 1970s, the name John Muir was on the lips of all my environmental movement friends. On the East Coast and in New England, the naturalist canon consists mainly of John Burroughs and Henry David Thoreau. In the Southeast William Bartram is “the man.”

Yet, even with this kind of regional segregation of icons, there is some overlap. The most obvious and interesting of these to those of us here in the mountains of Western North Carolina is that of John Muir. Considered mostly a “westerner,” John Muir is primarily known for his adventures in the Sierra Nevada Range of northern California, his conservation activism that protected Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park, and as the founder of the Sierra Club. While the Sierras were his preferred stomping grounds, he did travel throughout his lifetime to many areas of the country, including the Western North Carolina mountains.

As if by some kind of time warp or reincarnation intervention, John Muir will be returning to the mountains of Western North Carolina for the first time since his now-famous 1,000-Mile Walk of 1867. As a walk-in to the body of California-based actor Lee Stetson, Muir will be giving talks in Asheville and Highlands that relate some of his most remarkable adventures in the wild, including a remarkable “tree ride” in a windstorm, a “sleigh ride” on a snow avalanche, his “interview” with a bear, and a face-to-fang encounter with a rattlesnake.

Muir’s true wilderness tales are liberally salted with his wilderness philosophy — all around the theme of the health and invigoration one acquires when one fully and joyfully engages wildness. But even more important to us here in the Smoky Mountains, he will be talking about his time spent here in the Western Carolina mountains.

“Looking out over the mountains of Western North Carolina, the scenery is far grander than any I ever before beheld,” Muir writes in his book 1,000 Mile Walk. “Such an ocean of wooded, waving, swelling mountain grandeur is not to be described — all curves and slopes of inimitable softness and beauty. Oh, these forest gardens! What perfection, what divinity, in their architecture! What simplicity and mysterious complexity of detail!”

Describing our Western North Carolina mountains with such superlatives, Muir sounds a lot like Thoreau in his similar diary entry style of writing in The Maine Woods and like Robert Louis Stevenson’s travel writings. But in 1,000-Mile Walk, Muir is not describing the Maine woods or the Highlands of Scotland, he is reminiscing on his trek through our hills at the age of 29 as part of his long hike from Indiana to Florida right after the end of the Civil War while living mostly on stale pieces of bread, almost dying of starvation, camping in a graveyards and encountering “long-haired horse-riding ex-guerrillas who would kill a man for $5.”

Writes Muir of the more pleasant part of that journey through the North Carolina mountains: “My path all today led me along the leafy banks of the Hiawassee River. Mysterious, charming and beautiful, it’s channels are sculptured far more so than the grandest architectural works of man,” Muir muses in his entry in the book for Sept.19. “I have found a multitude of falls and rapids where the wilderness finds a voice. Such a river is the Hiawassee, with its surface broken to a thousand sparkling gems, and its forest walls vine-draped and flowery as Eden. And how fine a the songs it sings!”

Born in 1838, John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, wilderness explorer, author, and early advocate of preservation of U.S. wilderness. His writings and philosophy strongly influenced the formation of the modern environmental movement. In 1849, Muir’s family emigrated to the United States, starting a farm near Portage, Wisconsin which they called the Fountain Lake Farm. Muir described his boyhood pursuits as including fighting and hunting for bird’s nests. As a natural storyteller, Muir taught people the importance of experiencing and protecting wilderness. In 1892, he founded the Sierra Club “to make the mountains glad,” he said. His work and writings contributed greatly to the creation of our National Parks System, or “national forest reservations” as he called them.

In his recently released PBS series “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns said of John Muir, “Mark Twain said the difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. John Muir was lightning. My eyes at times would fill with tears in the editing room as we worked on telling Muir’s story.”

The man who plays Muir in Ken Burn’s PBS series is Lee Stetson, the same man who will share Muir’s amazing adventure stories to the audience at the Crest Pavilion at the Villages at Crest Mountain in Asheville and at the Highlands Playhouse in Highlands in October. Stetson’s Muir shows have toured throughout the country since 1983. He also lectures frequently on the arts and the environment, and spends a considerable portion of his time promoting the performing arts in the national parks. One reviewer recently said of Lee Stetson’s performance: “This veteran actor makes us believe so deeply in Muir that we, too, begin thinking of the plants and trees and wildlife as people. Stetson has done as much or more to acquaint Americans with one of its most remarkable sons than Muir himself in all his writings.”

In his dairy entry for Sept. 20 in his 1,000-Mile Walk, Muir writes, “All day among the groves and gorges of Murphy. Found a numbc er of rare and strange plants on the rocky banks of the river Hiwassee. In the afternoon, from the summit of a commanding ridge, I obtained a magnificent view of blue, softly curved mountain scenery. Among tress I saw Holly for the first time. My companion this day informed me that the paleness of most of the women in his neighborhood, and the mountains in general hereabouts, was caused chiefly by smoking and by what is called ‘dipping.’ I had never even heard of dipping. Their term simply describes the application of snuff to the gum by means of a small swab.”

 

(Thomas Crowe is the author of the award-winning nature memoir Zoro’s Field: My Life in the Appalachian Woods and The End of Eden: Writings of an Environmental Activist. He lives in Tuckasegee in Jackson County and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

Haywood County is shelling out $75,000 for an out-of-court settlement that resolves an ongoing lawsuit by a landowner over the county’s erosion control laws.

The county’s liability insurance pool will cover the remaining $105,000 of the $180,000 settlement.

“It was going to be very expensive to go forward,” said Chip Killian, the county attorney. “It was better to put it behind us.”

The settlement ends the pending lawsuit Mr. and Mrs. Ron Cameron and Mr. and Mrs. Brian Cameron filed against the county to recover $250,000 in attorney’s fees plus damages, as well as the county’s plans to appeal the initial decision that favored Cameron.

The county spent $282,000 in legal fees of its own and $5,000 in insurance deductibles to fight the suit.

In an official statement, the Haywood County commissioners said they do not agree with the outcome of the case but have decided that it was in the best interests of Haywood County citizens and the Haywood County Sediment Control Board to resolve these matters “fully and finally.”

A copy of the settlement agreement will be available after all pending matters have been dismissed, and all closed session minutes related to the case will be available for public review once approved for release by the commissioners.

In the lawsuit, Ron Cameron claimed he was wrongfully being held to the higher erosion control standards than apply to developers rather than the lesser standard that applies to logging operations. The county claimed Cameron was not a logger but had intentions to develop the property one day, and thus should comply with the more stringent erosion control measures.

A nearly three-week trial in May came out in Cameron’s favor. The county had planned to appeal the ruling in Cameron’s favor.

Continuing with an appeal would have racked up more costs for both sides, giving both not only an incentive to settle but also bargaining power.

By Julia Merchant • Contributing Writer

A year and a half ago, Fatie Atkinson spent most of his time in an office designing custom furniture and tossing around ideas with other creative professionals. Today, instead of the chatter of a bustling office, Atkinson is more likely to hear the roars of his 2- and 4-year-old sons as they chase him around, pretending to be monsters. A far cry from his position in the corporate world, Atkinson has a new title — stay-at-home dad.

When the economy forced Atkinson’s employer to let him go, he took on a whole new role — one that’s traditionally been held by women. He now takes care of his sons all day while his wife goes off to work as a hospice nurse, providing for the family financially.

But Atkinson is far from alone. The United States has an estimated 5.5 million stay-at-home parents, including 140,000 fathers, according to 2008 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s triple the number from a decade ago — and the figure is rising as the economy forces more and more to rearrange their lifestyle.

For Atkinson, a Clyde resident, having his meetings replaced with trips to the playground has been a big adjustment.

“What I would say is that it’s hard to accept the role,” Atkinson says. “It is what it is. It’s definitely different. There’s a lot more emotion involved, and being a guy, that’s just different. You just don’t expect to be doing the dishes and cleaning the house. It’s definitely a role reversal.”

Clint Matthews, another new stay-at-home dad, refers to himself as a “domestic engineer.” Matthews graduated from Southwestern Community College in the spring with a Graphic Arts degree but couldn’t find work. His wife fast-tracked her degree to enter the workforce as a teacher, while the couple decided Matthews would stay home to care for their 7-year-old daughter at least until the economy improved.

Now, Matthews’ daily responsibilities include “keeping the house clean and doing the shopping and laundry, so when my wife comes home, she still has a happy child and clean house.”

 

Breaking stereotypes

In many ways, it’s a role reversal that society is still struggling to adapt to. When Mark Upton of Cullowhee quit his job as a sheetrock hanger to care for his daughter, now 4, while his wife pursued a master’s degree, his co-workers were skeptical.

“They thought I was some sort of con man who tricked his wife into taking care of me,” Upton says.

On top of the typical challenges that come along with being the primary caregiver — Upton’s daughter was a colicky baby who cried nonstop — Upton has continued to deal with society’s perception of him. A burly and admittedly scruffy guy, he chuckles as he recalls his daughter’s tantrum in a grocery store, which prompted stares from strangers who feared she was being abducted.

Upton has grown used to strangers’ glances. He’s still often the only dad around when he takes his daughter to the playground or library in Sylva.

Jerry Span, of Fontana, says his parents were a bit taken aback when he presented the idea to them. Span lost his job as an activities director at a resort roughly six weeks ago. Until then, his wife had been caring for their two daughters, ages 2 and 5; the couple decided Span’s layoff would give them the opportunity to switch roles.

“They’ve been raised as the father is the provider,” Span says of his parents. “But while I may not be supporting my family financially, I’m providing a lot of other gains by doing this.”

So far, Span is relishing his new role, particularly the way it’s impacted his relationship with his 2-year-old daughter, whom he’s home with full-time.

“I’m able to spend a lot more time with my daughter,” he says. “Before, I saw her about two hours a day, but now we’re pretty much with each other all day seven days a week. I’ve noticed a difference in our relationship, and I’ve been able to appreciate her a lot more.”

For Jake Ferguson, being the primary caretaker of his 5-year-old son affords him an opportunity his own father was unable to have. Ferguson’s wife, a technician with AT&T, had better benefits through her job, so the couple decided she would continue to work after their son was born.

“My mom died when I was young, and my dad worked and we stayed on our own a lot,” Ferguson recalls. “We could never afford a babysitter and stayed home a lot by ourselves. I decided early on that any time I could spend with him could be precious.”

 

Daunting task

Of course, staying at home with a kid brings spending time with them to a whole new level. More experienced stay-at-home dads know first-hand that ambitions don’t necessarily match up to reality.

“Basically, I thought it would be a lot of fun and games. It’s a little more work than I thought,” admits Ferguson. “Up to about 3, it seemed like it was all work. He needed help with every little tiny thing.”

Upton had plans to write in his free time.

“I thought it was something I’d do as a stay-at-home dad, but by the time she went to bed, I’d be too exhausted,” he recalls.

Newer stay-at-home dads Atkinson and Span have ambitions to continue working part-time from home. Atkinson has discovered, though, that between breakfast, baths, and entertaining the kids, it’s not easy to slip away.

“I’m lucky if I get a shower and brush my teeth,” he says. “You lose a lot of independence. It’s hard to have time to get mentally recharged.”

Span is experiencing the same challenges while getting his business, Simplicity Public Relations, off the ground.

“Two-year-olds demand a lot of attention,” he says. “In the middle of working on something on the phone with a client, the last thing you want to do is be distracted by a 2-year-old that wants something.”

Being in charge of a child’s well-being can be daunting. Upton describes his biggest challenge as “sort of trying to be everything for her; protecting and keeping her safe, but instilling discipline; and recognizing she also has a need for play.”

Stay-at-home parents must map out a day’s activities and try to diversify them.

“I feel like I should be doing more for them,” worries Atkinson. “I don’t want to get stuck in a rut as far as doing the same thing over and over and over. That gets monotonous. I try to get them out of the house as much as I can.”

The isolation of being a stay-at-home father can compound the day-to-day challenges of parenting. None of the dads interviewed for this article were aware of more than a couple other stay-at-home-fathers, if any. There aren’t any active groups specifically for stay at home dads in Western North Carolina.

“For a while there, I did go stir crazy, until I got involved in some groups and activities and started to take him places and stuff,” Ferguson says.

It was overwhelming at first, Ferguson remembers. “I didn’t really know where to start. That’s the hardest part for me as a dad — most guys are used to doing stuff on their own. We don’t ask.”

Ferguson credits a program administered by the Haywood-based group Kids Advocacy Resource Effort for providing him with guidance. Through the program, a child development specialist visits a home to show parents developmentally-appropriate activities to do with their child, like tossing a ball into a basket.

Ferguson also joined some local playgroups, and he says the moms welcomed him.

Other dads do things differently when it comes to activities and social interaction.

“We just hit the playgrounds and meet people out there basically,” Upton says.

Span says for now, he’s managing fine on his own.

“I don’t really feel like I’ve needed a support system. I’m sure as I get into this further, I’ll get tired of the redundancies and try to find something,” he says.

 

Worth it

Despite all the challenges stay-at-home dads face — including isolation, a loss of independence, and the pressures of everyday care — there are certain moments that make it all worthwhile. For Atkinson, it’s the “wonderful, adorable moments” like when his sons chase after him with ferocious monster voices. Or for Ferguson, the fieldtrips he was able to take that allowed him to watch his son’s reaction to new sights and sounds, like Sunburst Trout Farm. For Span, it’s walking hand in hand with his two daughters after they waited to greet the oldest one at her bus stop.

Matthews, another stay-at-home dad in Clyde, may sum it up best. He says the importance of his relatively new role as his daughter’s primary caregiver really hit home recently, when he read a statistic that the average American father spends an average of 37 seconds a day in direct communication with their child.

“I spend hours a day with my daughter,” Matthews says. “I consider it a job, not a drudgery. I’m really blessed.”

Bob Buckner, director of Western Carolina University’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band, is one of the first two recipients of the Award for Excellence in Marching Music Education presented by MENC: The National Association for Music Education and Drum Corps International.

Buckner, a resident of Waynesville, received the award in recognition of his outstanding work as a music educator, and for his efforts to assist both organizations with the creation and implementation of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band.

The newly created award will be given twice a year to recognize educators, organizations or businesses that have made significant, life-long contributions to the art of marching music. It was designed by Tom Batiuk, an American comic strip creator. Batiuk created the Funky Winkerbean comic strip, which featured Harry Dinkle, the self-proclaimed world’s greatest band director.

MENC is among the world’s largest arts education organizations. It serves millions of students nationwide through activities at all teaching levels, from preschool to graduate school. Drum Corps International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing positive experience through the art of marching music performance.

Bucker has established a distinguished career in the field of music education and in the marching pageantry field. Under Buckner’s direction, WCU’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band earned the distinction of being the only marching band ever selected to perform at the North Carolina Music Educators annual convention and has performed at the prestigious Bands of America National Marching Band Championships. Among his other awards and honors are MENC’s Lowell Mason Award and selection to the Bands of America Hall of Fame.

Buckner’s latest music education award is another addition to the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band’s growing 2009 awards roster. The band recently was named the recipient of the prestigious Sudler Trophy, the nation’s highest and most-coveted award for college and university marching bands.

Western Carolina is the first institution in the state of North Carolina and the first member of the Southern Conference selected for the award, which has been called the “Heisman Trophy” of the collegiate marching band world. Formal presentation of the award will be during the WCU vs. Wofford football game held on Oct. 24 in Cullowhee.

The marching band’s 2009 halftime show “Born to Be Alive” features the music of the Black Eyed Peas, Pearl Jam, Patrick Hernandez, Maroon 5, Bee Gees, Motley Crue, Kanye West, Michael Jackson and Chick Corea.

For more information about the Pride of the Mountains, visit www.prideofthemountains.com or call 828.227.2259.

A $10,000 cash prize is at stake for the second annual Rumble in the Rhododendron Fly Masters Tournament on Sept. 26-27 in Cherokee.

Sponsored by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Fisheries and Wildlife Management in partnership with the North Carolina Fly-Fishing Team, the top three teams in the two-day, two-person competition will split the prize money with $5,000 going to the first-place team, $3,000 going to the second-place team, and $2,000 to the third-place team.

The Rumble is the only fly-fishing tournament to award this much prize money. The only other tournament to ever offer such a hefty cash purse was the nationwide “Fly-Fishing Masters” series produced by the Outdoor Life Television Network (OLN) from 2004-2006. The grand prize of $50,000 was split among the top three finishers. The event consisted of four regional qualifiers and a final round in varying locations, but both the television channel and national tournament were cancelled.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Fisheries and Wildlife Management have sponsored the event since its inception and have embraced the opportunity to promote its fishery through this tournament.

“The Tribe is very proud of their fishery and intends to make this tournament a premier event to attract world-class anglers,” said tournament spokesperson Christopher Lee, who is also a member of the North Carolina Fly-Fishing Team. “A large prize should attract a lot of angling talent from across the country.”

Furthermore, the event is set in the Ravensford Valley where anglers often find themselves fishing among wild elk and other native wildlife

For more information about the Rumble in the Rhododendron Fly Masters Tournament visit www.RumbleintheRhodo.com or call 828.421.0172 or 828.269.6529. For more information on the North Carolina Fly-Fishing Team visit www.flyfishingteamnc.com.

By Jon Beckman • Guest Columnist

The human brain must have been the first computer, capable of capturing and storing data for future reference, helping us learn to get out of the rain and not to put our hands in the fire a second time. Those millions of experiential bytes it processes over one’s lifetime are sorted and filed, covering all five senses as well as emotions, reason, free thought and imagination. Where that stuff’s piled and how it’s programmed precisely remains a mystery, but it’s clear that it’s always there, and sometimes it’s downright amazing what you can find in those dusty bins.

On Aug. 29 I was selling produce at the Sylva Farmers Market, as I do every Saturday. I saw a face in the crowd that I hadn’t seen there before, but there was something strangely familiar about it. I didn’t think it was just because she was attractive (which can scramble a memory card, even for a farmer), so I ran a quick scan of my mental hard drive while I hawked watermelons, typing in the search bar “Do I know her?” was the only thing that came back on my “I”screen.

I went back to business, passing it off as something my Spam Blocker had failed to filter. But as I packed up at the market’s close the image reappeared with more detail, making me think I had missed something with my driver’s first search. I re-Googled my search to “Lovely maiden with blond hair to her neck that I must have known who would cause me to pursue this” and ran it again, sending a virtual ME-mail link to all the other addresses on my cerebral list serve.

A minute or two later a thin file came back from the depths of my own cyberspace: “Four Days in Cape Cod 1975” .

I asked myself “What’s this old file?” With little hope, I right clicked and opened two lines of text and three attached JPEG’s. The text read: “Went on vacation with Grandma, Mom, bro & sis to Cape Cod. I met some guy named Grog with a fast car and later a girl on the beach. Not much else happened.”

“Huh” no info here, I’d better keep looking. My cursor opened the first grainy attachment: a modest, shingle-sided Cape set on a knoll surrounded by maritime vegetation. Yeah, so, I thought. I moved my mind’s mouse to open photo #2: a sandy beach with rolling waves. O.K., O.K., and, and. I clicked #3, my driver slowed to retrieve the larger file before filling the screen with faded pixels ... then, there she was.

“That’s the image! Bingo! “OMG!” I texted back to the unknown. It was the same face and the same hair and same smile (well, I did have to virtually Photoshop in 34 years of graceful aging). I studied the image for a while before noticing the two hyperlinks below it.

Curious to know more I hit the first link which took me to the site “Boy meets girl on beach, goes Gaa-Gaa.” It told the story of a chance meeting, summer teens in love, the girl’s crazy brother, stolen wine and analogous kisses on the moonlit sands, breaking rules and a small-town boy is swept away by an angel. It ends with the boy going to see her on his last night there only to find her gone, with someone else. He leaves crushed; the perfect teenage tragedy. “Wow, poor bastard,” I thought.

Reluctantly, I hit the other link to “Boy Returns to Chase Angel,” it simply read, “He returned the next year alone with a 1966 Rambler and a rose to look for her. She is not to be found, nor a trace of their few blissful days. Crushed again, the difficulty of catching angels becomes clear to him on the long quiet road from the Cape Cod shores back to Buffalo. “Wow, poor bastard,” I thought.

Not knowing quite what to do with this new info, I minimized it on my brain’s desktop and got back to driving home to clean out the truck and cut grass. I must have forgotten to close that window because a day or two later the page auto-refreshed and a tweet came across my cranial Blackberry ... “Kathy, er...um.. McCloud, MacLeod, maybe?” Who’s this? I queried. The thread went back to the angelic image of 1975, perhaps driven by an entry error or a misfiring synapse. I rebooted and refreshed the system, tried defragging and compaction but the only reply was .

It’s true, I lamented, you can’t expand an existing file without adding data, and I had none. I called my brother with the flypaper memory for backup. He confirmed the dates and some shenanigans with Grog, but nothing on the girl. “Sorry Dude, you’re the only one with that data” was the most he could offer. I ran the search a few more times over the next few days, pleading with my server for a better connection, but there was no more info to be gleaned from those miles of magnetic tape from the 8-track days.

I returned to the market the next Saturday hoping to see that face again and verify the ancient data I had found. Once again, the angel had disappeared.

I decide to end my search and close the file before the guys in the white suits showed up for me or my wife, accused me of being a delusional, middle-aged loser chasing unrequited love. I logged off and a message came through my inbox: “Four days in Cape Cod 1975” .

I came to the conclusion that not all files are created equal and that the mind’s motherboard — like any machine — has its limitations. It seems our human hard drives really only crash one time, when the Great Ethernet no longer responds. And until that time comes, there are some files that simply cannot be deleted. They are yours until you scroll that final message .

(John Beckman is a farmer, builder and human hard drive in Cullowhee. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

Western Carolina University professor Rob Young has co-authored a book titled The Rising Sea, which bears an “urgent message” for society about the threat posed by global sea-level rise.

Sea-level rise is not merely a future possibility but is happening right now, according to the book and related research co-authored by Young and his friend and mentor from Duke University, Orrin H. Pilkey.

Scientific data indicate that over the last decade, seas worldwide have moved upward an average of slightly more than one-eighth inch per year, and reliable research indicates oceans may climb as much as seven feet in the next 100 years, Young and Pilkey say.

The evidence of sea-level rise is abundantly clear through casual observation at coastlines around the world, according to the authors. For example, a cemetery used by English settlers on North Carolina’s Portsmouth Island has become a salt marsh, “while the old pipes that are supposed to drain surface water runoff from South Carolina’s Charleston Peninsula are now partially blocked at high tides.”

Young and Pilkey argue that societies around the world must begin responding to the challenges of sea-level rise “in a planned and rational way, taking the long-term view” before major cities and other coastal development are inundated.

Young said scientists might still debate whether humans are causing global warming, but no reputable scientists can deny sea-level rise because it has been documented over the past two decades. Young said he believes it is “important for scientists to speak more forcefully” about issues such as sea-level rise to combat the wave of naysayers who use the media to spread non-scientific falsehoods.

“We hope this book will start a national conversation,” he said.

Young is a geosciences professor and director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at WCU, while Pilkey, a pioneer in the study of American shoreline development policy, holds the position of professor emeritus in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke. The two scientists became acquainted when Young was in graduate studies at Duke, and Pilkey was Young’s adviser and teacher.

Young joined WCU’s faculty in 1997. Over the years, he has become a much-sought-after expert on the topics of hurricane impacts and coastal management. 828.227.3822 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

When John Springstead went hiking through the forest behind his house outside Bryson City last week, he stumbled across a pale blue wad of paper peaking through the leaves. He stooped down to retrieve it as any good Samaritan would and ended up unearthing an interesting ecological find.

“As I cleaned the pine needles away, I realized they were mushrooms,” Springstead said. “I cleaned off all the debris and they rose up in beautiful shape.”

Several days later, more of the same mushrooms appeared about 20 feet away.

Springstead looked the mushrooms up in a quick reference guide book, but the only blue mushrooms listed in the book were Blewitts. It wasn’t a perfect match, so Sprinstead kept probing until he identified the mushrooms as Indigo Milk Caps. They are edible, though Sprinstead refrained from trying them.

The mushrooms were found near Kirklands Creek above the Holly Springs Cemetery road.

Plans for a 300-acre golf course on Cullowhee Mountain in Jackson County have been temporarily sidelined after developers failed to follow through on a federal environmental permit.

Several creeks were in the way of Legasus’ golf course design. Nearly two-thirds of a mile of streams had to be buried for construction of the greens and fairways. To do so, Legasus needed a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The agencies sent Legasus back to the drawing board in April 2008 to consider a different golf course design that would lessen the environmental impacts.

A year lapsed, however, prompting the Army Corp to put Legasus on notice that its permit application would be canceled. Legasus sought a 120-day extension, but that extension has now lapsed as well.

“As such we assume that you no longer wish to pursue federal authorization and your application has been withdrawn,” the Army Corps wrote in a letter to developers dated Sept. 4.

The golf course was part of an 1,800-acre development with more than 850 lots and condos called Webster Creek. Legasus failed to make timely mortgage payments on the tract and a portion of it landed in foreclosure in July, prompting 368 acres to be sold off — including a portion once slated for the golf course.

Webster Creek was one of five tracts being developed under the name River Rock, which called for a total of 1,700 lots on 3,500 acres on five separate tracts between Tuckasegee and Glenville.

The status of the grand plan seems to be in flux, however, with several of parcels sold off voluntarily or through foreclosures in recent months.

Four Haywood Community College Professional Crafts students, representing each field of study, were recently awarded Gateway to the Arts Scholarships.

Those receiving the $1,000 awards for the 2009-10 academic year were Stephanie Costa, fiber; Melinda Erwin, clay; Penny Jewett, wood; and Julie Merrill, jewelry.

The Gateway to the Arts Scholarship is a new scholarship available at HCC and is the result of the “Gateway to the Arts, Fine Art and Craft Show” which was held in May. Gateway Club co-owner Art O’Neil and Studio Thirty Three jeweler Diannah Beauregard partnered to host the event and create the scholarship fund.

According to Beauregard, who is a 1986 graduate of HCC’s Professional Crafts-Jewelry program, the intention of the “Gateway to the Arts, Fine Art and Craft Show” and scholarship is to support the education of fine art and craft artists in Haywood County.

Costa says fiber is a passion of hers and upon graduation, she would like to integrate working with people, anthropology and weaving together. In addition to attending HCC full-time, Costa works 30 hours a week at Early Girl Eatery in Asheville.

“If I had not got this scholarship, I could not have come to school full-time and would not be able to get my degree in two years,” Costa says.

Erwin says she grew up around clay all her life near Sea Grove. She is in the process of setting up her own studio out of her home in Haywood County. The studio is called River Glass Studio. Receiving this scholarship was especially helpful to her, being a mom of two children ages 8 and 9.

Jewett already has her own small business, Rustic Nature Creations, and feels that earning a degree in Wood is an extension of what she already does. Her custom work is available at Turning Creek Gallery in Clayton, Georgia, Fiddle Stix in Mars Hill, and the Watershed Trading Company in Bryson City.

Jewett returned to school after being laid off with more than 20 years in office management and customer service. “It was time to do something for myself and I have found a passion. I have never felt more whole in my life.”

Upon graduation, Jewett will complete an apprenticeship with Western Heritage Furniture in Jerome, Arizona.

Merrill has made jewelry for six years and came to HCC to take the blacksmithing courses. She participated in the workstudy program at the John Campbell Folk School in the blacksmithing program. She likes to incorporate steel into jewelry and enjoys rustic, older-looking jewelry.

After completing a degree at HCC, Merrill would like to complete a residency at the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.

For more information about the Gateway to the Arts Scholarship, please call 828.565.4170. For more information about HCC’s professional crafts programs, please call 828.672.4500 or visit online at www.haywood.edu.

A scholarship fund to encourage biological research among students at Western Carolina University has been created as a tribute to Bob Zahner, a plant lover, botanist and former trustee of the Highlands Biological Station.

The fund will cover tuition and fees of WCU students engaged in the semester-long residency program at the Highlands Biological Station, a research field station run by the University of North Carolina system. Plans are to grow the fund to pay for students doing research or other coursework at the field station.

The scholarship fund was created thanks to a $20,000 contribution from the Barstow Foundation. The Barstow Foundation was established by the late E.O. Barstow of Michigan, the first chemist and later board member of the Dow Chemical Co. Barstow’s grandson is the director of the Foundation and was good friends of Zahner.

“Bob was an outstanding environmentalist in Western North Carolina,” said Barstow.

Zahner was a research scientist for the U.S. Forest Service and a professor of forestry and natural resources at Michigan and Clemson Universities. Highlands had long been a second home for Zahner, but he moved here full-time for the later part of his life and was devoted to its conservation.

828.227.7124 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By Julia Merchant • Contributing Writer

Take a drive through the countryside of Western North Carolina, and you’ll likely notice brightly colored squares adorning the sides of barns and other rustic structures. Look closer, and they’ll tell you a story about that place.

“Turkey tracks,” for instance, hangs on the side of a barn where a flock of turkeys come for their morning meal. “Bard of Avon” graces the side of the Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville. Nearby, “Monkey wrench” pays tribute to a local resident well-known for his fix-it abilities.

The blocks are actually quilt patterns, carefully selected to honor the history behind the structures and homesteads they grace. It’s all part of the Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina project, and soon, it will expand to include Macon and Jackson counties, the first west of Asheville to take part. In the six counties where the project currently exists, it’s grown to involve the entire community in preserving both local history and the heritage craft of quilting. But it’s also become much more — an important economic development tool for all of Western North Carolina.

“It’s a community history project, basically,” says Barbara Webster, executive director of Quilt Trails of WNC. “We are capturing the stories of the land, the people, and the buildings with this project, and in so doing, we are building community and creating economic development for the area.”

First introduced to WNC in 2006, the Quilt Trails project has grown to include 158 quilt blocks hanging on barns and businesses in Mitchell, Yancey, Ashe, Madison, Watauga and Avery counties. Each features a different quilting pattern that is representative of its location. Volunteers build and paint the blocks, and write stories that reflect the heritage of each place. Building a block can take anywhere from three weeks for a simple pattern to nine months for a more complicated one.

Webster, who resides in Mitchell County, has seen her county become a model of success. Along with Yancey, Mitchell boasts the highest concentration of quilt blocks in the entire nation, a feat accomplished in just three short years. The project has achieved an amazing amount of community buy-in.

“The entire community has embraced it,” Webster says.

Kids from the local high school art department paint blocks alongside senior citizens. Volunteers take pictures and write stories about each block. A history teacher takes kids out to photograph the blocks in order to learn about the history of the county. A calculus class uses them to learn about symmetry.

Webster believes tying a story to each block, an aspect of the project unique to Mitchell and Yancey counties, played a large role in sparking community interest. On the application form for a quilt block, there’s a space for the applicant to describe their family history or something interesting about the building or land.

“We use that information to hunt for the prefect quilt block that will trigger their story,” Webster explains. “That’s what made such a big difference in our county — when people saw they could capture their family story this way.”

 

Tourism booster

Along with local history, the Quilt Trails project is preserving something on a larger scale — the region’s economy. In an area that has struggled to cope with the loss of industry in recent years, the Quilt Trails project has become a key component in the growth of a newer, tourism-based economy.

“It’s amazing what’s happened here because of the quilt blocks,” says Webster. “People are coming from all over the place to see them.”

A recent Wall Street Journal article that profiled Quilt Trails of WNC drew a flood of tourists, “from Maine to Mexico,” Webster says. The visitors are sure to keep coming — the project was selected by the state Department of Tourism as one of 10 state tourist attractions that will appear in a series of radio spots broadcast throughout the Southeast.

“It’s a wonderful example of taking cultural heritage and turning it into a contemporary experience,” says Handmade In America executive director Geraldine Plato of why the project works. “It appeals to a lot of different people. They can get in a car, drive around, read the quilts, and maybe learn something else about the town.”

Webster estimates that one group of 15 people coming to see the blocks contributes an average of $3,000 to the county in one day.

The economic impact ripples throughout the community, thanks largely to the collaborative nature of the project. It seems everyone’s involved — local artists, for instance, are employed to craft pins that resemble the quilt squares, and local businesses sell copies of the one that hangs on their storefront. Maps of the quilt block trails also point visitors to local attractions, like a nearby organic farm.

“We realized fast this could be an economic development engine for the county,” says Webster. “We’ve purposefully gone in that direction, and it’s worked.”

Though Quilt Trails of WNC is currently only in six counties, it’s benefited the region as a whole.

“We’ve used this as a way to market the entire western part of the state as a tourist destination,” says Webster.

As the project expands, Webster hopes counties will work together to promote each other. Say there’s a quilter’s convention in Haywood County — guests could take a daytrip to see the quilt blocks in Yancey County, for instance.

“We could put these packages together and involve multiple counties,” says Webster. “There’s a huge opportunity here.”

Plato thinks Quilt Trails of WNC has tapped into something.

“It’s a beautiful way to pull together the whole region,” Plato says.

 

Coming soon

Soon, quilt squares will be popping up in the far western counties. Volunteers in Macon County are busy painting the first four blocks, one of which will hang in the Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s underway, and hopefully we’ll be able to see the first things going up before winter,” says Linda Harbuck, executive director of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce.

The project seems particularly fitting in Macon County, which boasts a proud quilting tradition. The now-defunct Maco Crafts Cooperative created the World’s Largest Quilt, which hung at the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, as well as the World’s Largest Quilted Wall Hanging.

Harbuck hopes the project will bring a renewed interest in the craft.

“I think it will help preserve tradition, and I think it may bring it back into the light again too,” she says.

The quilt squares, and the stories that accompany them, could also draw a different demographic of visitors to the area.

“It will bring in a new group that might not have necessarily come before,” Harbuck says.

Led by the local Arts Council, Haywood County is also looking to become part of WNC Quilt Trails. Arts Council Director Kay S. Miller says already, the project is sparking interest from a cross-section of community members, both new and native.

“The excitement is coming from people who were born and raised here, not just those who moved to the county,” Miller says. “Hopefully, it will bring together residents in various communities across Haywood County to gain more satisfaction and pride in the heritage we share.”

The first quilt blocks will be hung in Haywood in June 2010. Miller encourages everyone — young or old, artistic or not — to get involved.

“You don’t have to have an art degree to be involved in this project,” Miller says. “Again, that’s the beauty of (it) — schoolchildren and adults alike can participate. There are many phases of the project, and all levels of skill are needed.”

• The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina are collected in a travel-size book that leads visitors on eight driving tours along scenic byways and back roads to more than 500 galleries, studios, heritage sites, historic inns, and restaurants serving local cuisine. www.handmadeinamerica.org.

• The Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook is a guide to Cherokee cultural sites, including living history demonstrations, Cherokee crafters and artisans, archaeological sites, sections of the Trail of Tears and museums. www.cherokeeheritagetrails.org.

• The Blue Ridge Music Trail uses a handy guidebook as an excellent resource for visitors aiming to sample the rich musical culture of the North Carolina mountains and foothills. Festivals, jamborees, local jam sessions, and other music venues are profiled. www.blueridgemusic.org.

• The Farms, Gardens and Countryside Trails of Western North Carolina is a handy guidebook for touring farms, orchards, gardens, nurseries, heritage sites, and historic inns across the region. Provides six auto loop trails off of the Blue Ridge Parkway through 21 counties in Western North Carolina.. www.handmadeinamerica.org.

• Discover North Carolina Farms contains 213 agritourism farms and vineyards where visitors can see what grows on a farm, take part in educational or recreational activities, and see up close North Carolina’s agricultural lifestyle. www.ncagr.gov/markets/agritourism.

• The WNC Fly Fishing Trail, situated in Jackson County, features some of the best trout waters in the Great Smoky Mountains. The trail leads to 15 excellent spots for catching brook, brown and rainbow trout. www.flyfishingtrail.com.

• The North Carolina Birding Trail consists of three trails and accompanying guides, one for each of the state’s major geographical areas: the coastal plain (east of I-95), the piedmont (between I-77 and I-95) and the mountains (west of I-77). Each trail contains more than 100 top regional birding sites. www.ncbirdingtrail.org.

• The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail retraces the route of patriot militia as they tracked down the British. Eventually the two forces clashed, ending in patriot victory at the battle of Kings Mountain. The trail is still under development through partnerships, but the public has many places to visit and walk today. www.nps.gov/ovvi/index.htm.

• The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail commemorates a tragic chapter of our nation’s history—the forced removal of the Cherokee from their mountain homelands to the plains of Oklahoma in 1838-1839. Interpretation and signage for the Trail is planned for sites in Western North Carolina, where the removal began. www.nps.gov/trte/index.htm.

• The North Carolina Civil War Trails are a collection of interpreted Civil War sites connected by suggested driving tours. Map features numerous sites in addition to the sites identified on the original Carolinas Campaign Trail map, a driving tour of the 1865 Carolinas Campaign following many of the roads the soldiers used. www.civilwartraveler.com/EAST/NC/index.html.

A project to create prime ruffed grouse habitat in the Cold Mountain Game Lands has been dedicated as the Jerry Smathers Memorial Ruffed Grouse Habitat.

Smathers was an avid outdoorsman and loved spending his free time in the woods hunting, fishing, camping and horseback riding. Smathers, who lived in Canton, worked in resource management for Champion Paper Company and was involved with every facet of forest and wildlife management and timber procurement. Smathers died of an apparent heart attack while tending to his horses on his farm the day before Thanksgiving in 2006.

The ruffed grouse habitat is a joint effort by the Southern Appalachian Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Cold Mountain Game Lands is a 3,295-acre tract of former timber land that was purchased from Champion Paper in 1999.

The habitat project aims to create wildlife openings in the forest and pockets of early successional habitat, places where the forest is regenerating after being logged. They are thought to be important to wildlife. The tract is being actively logged, new roads constructed and prescribed burns planned. Timber management is selecting for hardwoods over pine and aiming to improve oaks, which provide acorns.

By Julie Ball • Correspondent

Working parents in Macon County have few choices when it comes to child care for their infants, according to members of a committee tasked with coming up with some solutions to the county’s child care shortage.

That group is expected to make some recommendations to county leaders this fall, and the solution could involve a public-private partnership.

“We have the facts, and we know it’s needed, and the next step is how can we achieve (a solution) and not put all the burden on the Macon County taxpayer,” said Ronnie Beale, chairman of the Macon County Board of Commissioners.

The goal of the committee is to come up with at least 40 additional infant and toddler day care slots in Macon County, according to Johnny Mira-Knippel, a member of the committee and vice president of Tektone, a private, family-owned company based in Franklin.

Macon County has just 72 slots in licensed day care facilities available for children ages 2 and younger, including slots within the Head Start program. Of those, less than 25 slots are for babies under 1 year old, according to Jane Kimsey, director of the Macon County Department of Social Services.

Chuck Sutton, executive director of Macon Program for Progress, the nonprofit that administers the Head Start program, said Head Start has a waiting list of up to 100 children, newborn to age 3, for its programs.

“That’s been consistent the last three years,” Sutton said.

One problem is providing care for infants costs more, and those costs discourage some providers from offering infant care.

“This is the most expensive age. That’s one reason you don’t see it,” Beale said.

State licensing rules establish ratios of children to teachers or caregivers, and infants require another level of care compared to older children.

The shortage of slots for infants means parents often depend on grandparents or other relatives to take care of infants. If the relative gets sick or isn’t available for some other reason, working parents can find themselves without care for their children.

“It’s extremely important. You lose employee days when children are sick. As a parent, you are stressing about how to take care of kids,” Mira-Knippel said. “It’s not just one person’s problem. It’s a community issue.”

Beale said the shortage also affects the county’s ability to recruit new industry.

“It’s hard to recruit businesses when the first question they ask is how are we on day care,” Beale said.

Barbara Waters, volunteer preschool administrator for Resurrection Lutheran Church in Franklin, said even day care facilities that only take older children struggle with insurance costs and meeting safety and security concerns. The Resurrection Lutheran Church facility only takes children who are more than 3 years old.

The county’s committee is still developing solutions to address the shortage. The group is expected to bring recommendations to the Macon County Board of Commissioners in October.

One possible solution is a public-private partnership, which allows the county to provide a building at a low cost to a private group. The private group would then provide infant care.

Beale said any solution will carry a price tag.

“Those recommendations are going to involve money, and that’s at a premium in every county,” he said.

An Internet search for tourism trails spawns a list of results including biking in Texas, rail travel in England, a tour of “Sex in the City” sites in New York and a heritage trail in Washington, D.C.

But the trail at the top of the list are North Carolina’s own HomegrownHandmade trails. The trails are designed to take visitors to arts and farm locations across the state’s Foothills, Piedmont and Coastal regions. Among the 16 trails are the memorably-named “Hushpuppies, Pimento Cheese and Sweet Tea,” “Music, Millponds and Mousetraps.”

The trails grew out of a grant awarded to the North Carolina Arts Council, North Carolina Cooperative Extension and HandMade in America for a project to stimulate sustainable tourism statewide and to showcase the state’s rural riches. Despite this aim, the trail project abruptly stops when it reaches Western North Carolina. The farthest trail travelers will get is Cleveland County – where the towns of Shelby and Kings Mountain are located.

When and if the HomegrownHandmade trails incorporate Western North Carolina, they will become part of an already well-developed tourism system capitalizing on the trail model. The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area was designated by Congress and the President in November 2003 in recognition of the unique character, culture, and natural beauty of Western North Carolina and their significance to the history of our nation.

Visitors exploring the BRNHA who are interested in crafts may choose to visit any of several major sites such as the Mountain Heritage Center in Cullowhee, Music of North Carolina Handicrafts in Waynesville or YMI Cultural Center in Asheville that have been identified as craft destinations. Or The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina, published by HandMade in America, leads visitors on eight driving tours along scenic byways and back roads to more than 500 galleries, studios, heritage sites, historic inns, and restaurants serving local cuisine.

A similar book, Farms, Gardens and Countryside Trails of Western North Carolina, provides six auto loop trails off of the Blue Ridge Parkway through 21 counties in Western North Carolina.

The trail model is popular in part because it encourages travelers to keep going — and keep spending. An economic impact study cited in the development of the North Carolina Birding Trail stated that on a similar trail in Texas travelers devoted an average of 31 days/year to birding on the trail and averaged expenditures of $78.50 per person, per day. Nationwide more than 71 million Americans spent nearly $45 billion (in retail sales) on observing, feeding, or watching wildlife in the US in 2006, according to a US Fish and Wildlife Service National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

“When we first discussed the WNC Fly Fishing Trail Guide and Map idea, we decided that a ‘trail’ seemed easy to conceptually follow,” said Julie Spiro, director of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Travel and Tourism Authority. “Our ‘trail’ spans the length of Jackson County, and it was our hope that fishermen would want to fish the whole ‘trail’ of 15 marked spots. We also knew that the ‘golf trails’ had been successful in other places and felt we could market the same type of concept effectively to fishermen.”

The success of any trail is a question of both supply and demand. A Canadian university study of trails and tourism posed the important question: Is there a tourist market share that will be interested in a specific trail and are there enough sites to make the trail worth traveling?

With those criteria met the development and maintenance of a tourist trail relies on “the four As of tourism” — attraction, access, accommodation and advertising — which address issues including whether the area is culturally or historically interesting, who can travel the trail, if there are places to stay and places to eat along the trail, if there is a good map of the trail and if people know it even exists.

Award-winning outdoor writer Jim Casada has just published what he describes as “my book of a lifetime.”

Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: An Insider’s Guide to a Pursuit of Passion, features separate chapters covering every major stream in the park and many feeder creeks. Casada is a native of Bryson City and grew up probing the creeks and streams of the Smokies that lay just beyond his doorstep.

“My intention was to provide fisherman, whether newcomers to these storied streams or veterans who have fished them for years, with a truly comprehensive guide to the hundreds of miles of trout-holding water found within Park boundaries in North Carolina and Tennessee,” Casada said. “The Park provides the finest fishing for wild trout east of the Rockies, and it has provided me an incredible measure of pleasure over all but the earliest years of my life.”

The 448-page book also incorporates a great deal of natural and human history, looks at tactics and techniques, visits “Seasons of the Smokies,” discusses equipment, and addresses safety issues for anglers. Dozens of simple maps show the profile of a creek’s elevation gain over its length, marked with waypoints of note such as backcountry campsites, trail crossings, and feeder creeks.

There are scores of photos, including many of historical significance; graphs showing monthly variations in temperature and precipitation; information on guides and outfitters; and a removable folding map of trails and backcountry campsites.

Paperback is $24.95 and hardback is $37.50. www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com; or by calling 803.329.4354.

By Julia Merchant • Contributing writer

As a professional storyteller, Tim Hall is no stranger to spinning yarns — but it’s in Western North Carolina that Hall hopes to weave his biggest story yet.

Hall’s ambitions of creating a five-story Storytelling Center of the Southern Appalachians in downtown Bryson City may seem sky high, but according to him, they’re anything but a tall tale.

Today, Hall’s dream is not much more than a sign that hangs in the window of the 1910 Citizens Bank Building on Everett Street, proclaiming the site the future home of the Storytelling Center. Hall has already taken out a 30-year-lease on the building, and envisions it one day housing a museum, storytelling center, live radio broadcast, and an entire wing dedicated to research and education of the Southern Appalachian region.

“It encompasses all sorts of new ideas that we’ve always wanted to see here but just could never seem to get the ball rolling,” says Karen Wilmot, executive director of the Swain County Chamber of Commerce. “I really admire his initiative and the scope of the plan.”

Securing enough funding will be the most important factor in getting Hall’s vision off the ground, and likely the most challenging. Hall has personally paid for all the expenses related to the Center so far but can’t continue to do so.

Hall estimates it will cost $2.4 million to renovate the building and build a five-story addition. He hopes to raise the money through donations, grants, benefactors, members and sponsors.

 

Treasure trove of tales

Hall, who lives near Atlanta and collects stories throughout the South, felt like he had stumbled upon a treasure trove when he first visited Bryson City several years ago.

“I think it’s one of the most glorious cultures that there is in the world,” Hall says. “Story after story can be found here.”

Because of its remote character and independent spirit, the area clung to a way of life that had long been abandoned in many other places. There are still plenty of old-timers walking the streets who remember what it was like to build a cabin or cook over an open fire. And Hall has collected these tales by simply sitting downtown and striking up conversations with people.

“I’ve had 85-year-old men sit down next to me and talk to me for two hours,” Hall says.

The stories of Bryson City residents became fodder for the show Crossroads, Hall’s first foray into radio, which was broadcast on 1590 AM WBHN in Bryson City. Subjects have included the once-booming logging town of Proctor and a local midwife who is said to have birthed nearly 1,000 babies.

“I like for folks to feel like they’re sitting in the main room of a log cabin in front of the fire in mid-January, when Grandpa’s in the rocker telling them a story,” Hall says. “That’s the type of stories I like to tell.”

 

A lost art

It’s a tradition that’s quickly disappearing, Hall says, as more modern forms of entertainment, like video games and the Internet, have come to replace it.

“We’ve lost the art of being able to sit down and tell a story,” he says. “I want people to understand that a story doesn’t have to be anything projected; that the mind itself can paint a wonderful picture.”

When one hears Hall’s vivid depictions, it’s easy to be transported to times gone by.

“What I like about storytelling is taking people on the journey,” Hall says. “I want people not to just hear the story, but to listen to the sounds of the birds in the forest or the chaos of the lumber yards in Proctor.”

Bringing history to life in the way that storytelling does creates a level of understanding and appreciation of the past that is “sorely needed” in today’s world, says Wilmot.

“Museums are nice, but there’s just something about seeing people do it,” she says.

Storytelling is sometimes thought of as children’s entertainment, but Hall says he enjoys telling stories to adults even more, because he can watch them connect with his words and transport themselves back to a past era.

“Everybody can relate to these stories — they think back to their family and their heritage,” Hall says.

Hall is optimistic that storytelling won’t be lost completely. He believes there’s been a recent trend toward remembering and preserving the past.

“More people are coming back to their heritage and their history than in the past,” he says. “An awful lot of it is being lost, and people are realizing that.”

 

Lofty vision

Hall envisions the Storytelling Center for the Southern Appalachians playing a key role in preserving the mountain’s rich heritage. He has spent three years so far cultivating his idea, incorporating the nonprofit Psalms of the South to back the project and securing a home for the Center.

Hall’s long-range vision calls for converting the Citizens Bank Building into a museum of regional history. Behind the bank building, Hall wants to build a five-story research and education center that will host live broadcasts of his show Crossroads, as well as lectures and classes on Southern Appalachian topics.

Plans for the Center “are set in stone, but not in granite,” says Hall.

“I have preliminary drawings of the proposed interior, but nothing is finalized,” he says. “It is a work in progress. Each step towards opening the doors of the center brings challenges and rewards.”

The first phase of the project, restoring the historic Citizens Bank Building, is currently on hold. An engineering firm’s structural analysis of the building uncovered asbestos and lead paint, which must be removed before restoration can begin. The roof, which was found to be in poor condition and contains asbestos, must also be replaced. It will cost approximately $100,000 to perform these tasks.

“The funds for this work must be acquired, and the work performed, prior to the restoration beginning,” says Hall.

While Hall tries to raise $100,000 for the roof repairs, the larger goal of $2.4 million looms ahead. While there is no shortage of philosophical support for the project, the lack of activity on the ground has made some “a bit cautious,” according to Gary Carden, one of the region’s best-known storytellers

Carden agreed the idea of a storytelling center is a fantastic one.

“In fact, I would be willing to contact a platoon of storytellers who would gladly contribute their talents to the ‘dream center,’” Carden said.

Carden uses that term because in his eyes, the Center is still more of a hope and vision than an actual place. He says the proposed Center has yet to initiate a storytelling activity.

“Something needs to happen other than radio shows and the display of grandiose blueprints,” Carden says. “We need an announced program, the names of participating storytellers and an audience.”

Carden says that the obstacles Hall has already encountered won’t deter the region’s storytellers from getting involved with the Center, as long as “the Center will define goals that they can relate to and if the Center will conduct activities in which they can participate.”

To advance his fundraising goals, Hall held a public information meeting about the Center this past Saturday (Aug. 29). He said he’s already worked with the Partnership for Swain County to identify possible grants and loans. He has also hired Jerry Span, former director of activities at Fontana Village, to direct public relations for the project.

Wilmot hopes that ultimately, Hall’s vision will strike a chord with people and translate into success though it may take a while.

“Anything this large in scope will seem like he’s got a long way to go, but I think the community will embrace the idea,” says Wilmot, who pledged the Swain County Chamber’s support for the endeavor. “We do have a unique heritage and culture here, and we certainly need to work to preserve that.”

Graham County has thrown a curve ball in an ongoing debate with Swain County over ambulance service in Deal’s Gap, a motorcycle mecca that sees a disproportionately large share of wrecks.

Deal’s Gap is an outlying area of Swain County, so far-flung that it takes an ambulance 45 minutes to reach it from Swain County. The area is much closer to Graham, which has historically provided emergency services to the area as a courtesy.

Graham and Swain are at a stalemate in negotiations over whether Graham should be compensated for providing the service within Swain’s borders. Swain thus far has refused to ante up, claiming it already provides a quid pro quo by transporting Graham residents who end up in the Swain County Hospital.

In a surprise move on Tuesday, Graham informed Swain that it would not answer emergency calls to Deal’s Gap over Labor Day weekend. Graham will have its hands full responding to calls within its own borders, they said.

Swain County Manager Kevin King said the news came as a surprise, since the two counties were still in talks and Graham previously said it would give Swain time to make arrangements to cover the area if they couldn’t come to another resolution.

King said Swain County generally has two ambulances in service at any given time. A third ambulance that usually serves as back-up will be posted in the Deal’s Gap area for the Labor Day weekend.

King said Swain will also be willing to help out Graham if they are stretched too thin.

“If they need our help, we will be right there,” King said.

Swain will continue transporting Graham residents receiving treatment at Swain’s hospital.

“We are not going to play that game with them,” King said.

A new trail management plan designed to rein in heavy use by competing forms of recreation in Panthertown Valley will be discussed at a public meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at the Cashiers Library.

The Friends of Panthertown organized the meeting to inform the public about changes coming to the trails in Panthertown Valley.

The forest service recently finalized a trail management plan that will designate certain trails as hiker only, making them off-limits to horseback riders and mountain bikes.

Panthertown is a 6,000-acre tract near Cashiers with unique features, including a bowl-shaped valley, granite domes and waterfalls. It has historically been a free-for-all, with all uses allowed on all trails. But a rise in popularity was causing conflict between users as well as damage to more fragile trails, according to the forest service.

Restrictions will “maintain the recreational experience provided by Panthertown” and “prevent resource degradation,” Forest Supervisor Mike Wilkins wrote in his justification of the final trail plan.

About half the trails in Panthertown will now be for hikers only. In addition, commercial horse trips and guided mountain bike trips will no longer be allowed anywhere in Panthertown.

The new trail management plan has been several years in the making. As part of the plan, parking will be improved at three access areas and trail signage will be installed noting the names of trails and distances. Some users created trails through fragile areas will be decommissioned. Camping will continue to be allowed anywhere, except within 50 feet of a creek.

Friends of Panthertown has arranged for a representative from the forest service to attend the meeting to answer questions about the new recreation management plan.

“We encourage you to attend the meeting to learn how you can support Friends of Panthertown and become a part of what’s going on in Panthertown Valley,” said Nina Elliott, the Friends of Panthertown coordinator.

Friends of Panthertown has worked closely with the forest service during the process to provide feedback and represent stakeholders. The group organizes monthly trail workdays and other volunteer projects, logging more than 1,500 hours maintaining trails, building bulletin boards at trailheads, and collaborating with the forest service on a new trail map last year.

Friends of Panthertown will coordinate volunteer labor to help implement elements on the new trail plan, including trail rehab and installing trail markers and signage. Work days are on the fourth Saturday of the month.

For more info, go to www.j-mca.org or call 828.526.9938, ext. 258, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

An exhibition by critically acclaimed fiber artist Cat Chow opens with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, at The Bascom in Highlands.

Chow, who has been hailed by The New Yorker magazine, will give an artist’s talk during the reception.

“Chow draws on her training in fashion design when making her mixed media pieces; her work incorporates zippers, measuring tapes, fish line, keys, wire and other unusual materials,” said Kaye Gorecki, Bascom artistic director. “It’s a definite don’t-miss.”

The exhibit will run through Oct. 10.

Chow’s art/design work has most often been involved with creation of apparel from non-traditional materials; however, she has expanded her work into other forms of fiber art. She is best known for her garments made from zippers; however, other works such as her Power-Ranger Kimono, made from Power Ranger collector playing cards aim to subvert stereotypical representations of Asian women. The piece Measure for Measure, addresses socio-political issues in the form of a 1950s house dress woven out of measuring tapes.

Her work has been shown across media venues including the Met’s Costume Institute and the Museum at FIT and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston.

Chow will be teaching three classes at The Bascom during the month of September.

“The Repeated Object” (Sept. 8-9, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) is a two-day workshop in which students will have the opportunity to create a sculpture that is inspired by the idea of repeated objects. The workshop will include a slide lecture of artists’ work, a demonstration of connecting techniques, sketching and the actual making of a finished piece. Cost is $300 for the general public and $275 for Bascom members.

“The Artist as Collector” (Sept. 10-11, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) gives students the opportunity to create a work inspired by collecting objects or images. Enjoy a slide lecture, class discussion, show-and-tell and the creation of a finished work. Cost is $300 for the general public and $275 for Bascom members.

“Unconventional Adornment” (Sept. 12, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) is designed to guide students to use unconventional materials to make a small wearable object. A slide lecture of artists’ work that incorporates unconventional objects, a demonstration of connecting techniques and the creation of a piece that adorns the body such as a piece of jewelry or an accessory will be the focus of this day. Cost is $175 for the general public and $150 for Bascom members.

All three Chow workshops are offered at $625 for the general public, $600 for Bascom members (includes some materials).

The Bascom’s is located at 323 Franklin Road in Highlands. For more information about classes and events or to sign up for a Cat Chow class, visit www.thebascom.org or call 828.526.4949.

A five-day search for a lost hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park had a happy ending last week.

What began as a three-night backpacking trip for Morgan Briggs, 70, of Pigeon Forge, turned into an eight-day ordeal.

Briggs became lost his second day on the trail while bushwhacking through rugged and remote terrain on the north face of the Appalachian Trail ridgeline below Charlie’s Bunion, an area characterized by sheer rock cliffs and dense rhododendron. He pitched his tent on a rock outcrop and waited, holding out hope that rescuers would find him. Six days ultimately passed until ground crews spotted what looked like a tent on an outcrop. It was too difficult to reach by foot, but they directed a helicopter to fly over the area. Pilots spotted the tent and Briggs waving his arms, but it was too late in the day to orchestrate a rescue.

They dropped him a park radio to communicate along with provisions to get him through what by then was his seventh night in the woods. Briggs had apparently rationed his food and was able to capture rain water to help sustain him over the course of the week.

While Briggs had shared his hiking itinerary with his family and park rangers when securing his backcountry camping permits, his trip covered considerable distance. When he did not turn up back home on time, there was initially no telling where in his journey he had taken a wrong turn, and therefore where rescuers should start looking. Briggs began his hike in the Greenbrier area and planned to pass over Mt. LeConte before hiking out of the park along Alum Cave trail.

Rangers sought out other hikers who may have encountered Briggs and confirmed that he made it to his campsite the first night but was not seen after that.

Rangers hiked to the trail shelters where Briggs intended to stay his second and third nights — Icewater Springs and Mt. LeConte — and checked the log book to see if he signed it, but he hadn’t.

Briggs had planned to do about two-miles of bushwhacking between his first and second nights on the trail. His campsite the first night and the second night were separated by a whopping 16 miles of trail, but as the crow flies, were only two miles apart. Those two miles called for scaling the north face below Charlie’s Bunion along the Appalachian Trail ridge line. The bushwhacking would have been quite challenging due to very steep terrain and made more so with a loaded pack.

Rangers quickly deduced that they should focus their efforts in the area that Briggs would have departed from the trail. Several search-and-rescue teams set out on possible bushwhacking routes that Briggs may have taken, but off-trail searching proved difficult and time consuming.

On day four of the search, rangers spotted Briggs’ tent, but it was a mile away and couldn’t be reached easily by foot due to rocky cliffs and dense vegetation.

A helicopter, which was already involved in the search, was radioed to the area for a closer look and indeed found Brigg’s perched on a rock outcrop on Porter’s Mountain, a narrow ridge at approximately 5,000 feet in elevation and one mile north of the AT and one mile east of the Icewater Springs shelter.

The next morning, the Tennessee Highway Patrol Special Operations team, flying a Huey helicopter, lifted Briggs in a hoisting seat 250 feet into the hovering helicopter.

Briggs did not need any medical attention and after a debriefing with park rangers, he left with family members.

Briggs is a very familiar with the park’s backcountry and was one of the park’s first Appalachian Trail Ridge Runners, spending months at a time on the 71-mile portion of the AT that traverses the park doing trail maintenance and helping other hikers.

To the Editor:

We’ll start with the 1943 North Shore Road Agreement since that’s what is supposedly being settled. A park road is promised — adustless surface not less than 20 feet in width. Over $10 million has been spent arriving at the conclusion that the road is not going to be built. Instead a financial settlement is the preferred alternative. It would appear that the

settlement is in lieu of the road described in the 1943 Agreement.

Not so. The cost of this road from the EIS is $729 million. The park and Department of Interior consider that amount and that road “not relevant.” The 1943 Agreement is not relevant unless you’re Swain County.

Then the contingency clauses are critical and Swain County is constantly reminded that these clauses are relevant and binding. Would they agree to let Swain County cherry pick from this Agreement? Take what you like, discard the parts you don’t like. Of course not.

Instead they want to pay for the old road that was flooded. That would be cheaper. So now they are looking at how to calculate the 2009 value of old 288. That presents a problem too. In 1980 Secretary of Interior Cecil Andrus calculated the value as being $1.3 million in 1940 and adjusting that value by 5 percent compounded annually he came up with $9.5 million.

That doesn’t sound too bad until you take into account that the average prime interest rate from 1940 to 1980 was 4.92 percent which rounds to 5 percent.

That’s a problem. Interest rates went up. The average prime interest rate from 1940 to 2009 that’s 6.31 percent. Doesn’t sound like much but the settlement amount then becomes $94 million. Can’t do that or talk about inflation or the consumer price index. This also leaves out that the 1980 deal had much more icing for Swain County. Can’t talk about that either.

So how do they get the amount to be lower and still have an alibi claiming to be fair. Well math being what it is, the matter is simple. The starting amount has to be less and the interest rate used has to be less also. The original cost by Swain to build the road was $694,000. That’s still a problem. If we use 6.31 percent for the interest rate it adds up to more than $50 million. They’ll have to use 5 percent for the interest rate and ignore what the rates were since 1980. That’ll do it. Just over $20 million.

Did you miss the slight of hand here. We started out talking about the replacement cost of the road described in the 1943 Agreement and ended up talking about the original construction costs of the old flooded road. Slick huh? Think about it. That’s like a parent telling a teenager who just got their license that they are going to buy them a new Mercedes, then picking up a discarded “cash for clunkers” car that hasn’t been crushed yet and saying here’s your car and it’s all the same.

There is a math lesson in all this. All this math is bogus. Here’s the proof. Take any product you want. Find out what it cost in 1940. Do the magic math then go out and see what it cost today. It won’t matter if it’s a road, car, gas, or toilet paper. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything where today’s price can be calculated using one of these formulas. For the method to be considered valid it should work for most everything.

There are all kinds of problems with this magic math. The value of something is not necessarily what you paid for it. The value is the replacement cost. If someone ran into your car and totaled it, the issue is not what you paid for it. Somebody might have given it to you. The question to be answered is what will it cost to replace it equitably today. What’s the value of the Park? Is it the price the government paid for it plus a dribble of interest or is the value that so many place on it because it cannot be replaced?

Swain County has offered to settle for $52 million. You can’t build 30 miles of any kind of road in this park for this amount. It is a very generous offer. A little common sense here would go a long way.

Leonard Winchester

Bryson City

The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers returns to Western Carolina University at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, with “Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records,” a trip into Los Angeles’ underground punk scene in the late 1970s.

This historical documentary profiles the Stern brothers, who at ages 19 and 20 organized what they hoped would be a more positive take on punk rock. They established a venue where punks ran the door, security, sound and lights, and worked the bar and restaurant. The venue’s success at attracting local, national and international acts helped grow the punk community and solidify the movement.

Shawn and Mark Stern eventually created their own record label and released their own album under the name Youth Brigade. The album earned rave reviews and today is considered to be one of the top 100 punk albums of all time.

Director Jeff Alulis graduated from the University of Southern California’s prestigious graduate screenwriting program in 2002 and shortly thereafter formed Emo Riot Productions alongside co-producer Ryan Harlin. “Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records” is Alulis and Harlin’s second feature-length film collaboration. Alulis will discuss the film with audience members after the screening.

Southern Circuit is the nation’s only regional tour of independent filmmakers, providing communities with an interactive way of experiencing independent film. The goal is to connect audiences with independent filmmakers and encourage them to talk with one another about the films and their meanings. The tour comes to WCU in conjunction with the 2009-10 Lectures, Concerts and Exhibitions Series, which brings a dynamic mix of arts and culture to campus.

The next film in the Southern Circuit series will be “The Way We Get By” on Thursday, Oct. 29. Beginning as a seemingly idiosyncratic story about troop greeters — a group of senior citizens who gather daily at a small airport to thank American soldiers departing and returning from Iraq — the film quickly turns into a moving, unsettling and compassionate story about aging, loneliness, war and mortality.

Additional films in the Southern Circuit Tour include: “Flying on One Engine,” Nov. 19; “TRIMPIN: The Sound of Invention,” Feb. 18; “God’s Architects,” March 25; and “Between Floors,” April 15.

All films are shown in the theater of A.K. Hinds University Center on the WCU campus. Admission is free.

For more information about the Southern Circuit Tour, visit www.southarts.org/southerncircuit and click on the programs and events tab. For more information about film showings at WCU call 828.227.3622.

What’s good for the goose

In his latest letter to the editor in Smoky Mountain News (8/19/09) the Canary Coalition’s executive director, Avram Friedman admonishes us to “stick to factual information” and calls Tonya Bottomley’s range of 40 to 70 acres per turbine, “grossly inaccurate”

Ms. Bottomley’s range is correct even according to American Wind Energy Association’s own figures. “Wind projects occupy anywhere from 28 to 83 acres per megawatt, depending on local terrain, but only 2 to 5 percent of the project area is needed for turbine foundations, roads or other infrastructure.” – AWEA.

But Avram is right – this is grossly inaccurate. AWEA knows this is inaccurate and one would assume that the director of the Canary Coalition knows this. The reason this is grossly inaccurate is because the “megawatt” AWEA is referring to above is the “rated capacity” – that Oz-like figure that emanates from behind the curtain – that means in the perfect windy world, where the wind blows constantly at around 25 m.p.h. or so a 1.5 megawatt turbine would actually produce 1.5 megawatts of electricity. Pull the curtain and there stands the Wiz with his hand on the 28 percent throttle.

The Energy Information Administration notes that the average “capacity factor” (actual amount of electricity turbines supply to the grid per year) for wind is around 28 percent. Which means that wind projects occupy anywhere from 28 to 83 acres per .28 megawatt.

Now there is a caveat. AWEA also states that, “A wind plant located on a ridgeline in hilly terrain will require much less space, as little as two acres per megawatt.” Of course they mean per .28 megawatt and they must be talking about just the footprint of the turbine because I can’t find any actual installation where only 2 acres of land were disturbed per turbine and they’re not including any property-line offsets.

The trade off comes because turbines on ridgelines are strung out singly in a linear progression a la Buffalo Mountain. So instead of a plot or 500-acre parcel of land for 18 turbines you get a 2-mile strip. Avram seems to imply that Buffalo Mountain is a typical site location one would encounter along the ridges of Western North Carolina. I don’t think so, as Buffalo Mountain was already basically cleared – the site of an old strip mine.

And Avram states as fact: “This 29 megawatt project provides enough energy to power 3780 homes according to TVA.” At least he attributes the statement to TVA. But he knows better. TVA knows better too and even admits, “The new turbines are expected to have a capacity factor of 28 percent because the towers are 49 feet taller. The low capacity factor is related to the availability of the wind resource in the Southeast.” (http://www.tva.gov/greenpowerswitch/newsletter/vol5_1/gpsnews_vol5-1.pdf.)

Remember 29 megawatts is the rated capacity. TVA admits they will only produce 28 percent of this rated capacity. So if you wanted to put it on a per home basis (which you really can’t do) you would be looking at 1,058.4 homes. Not the 3,780 stated as factual information.

And to put this in perspective let’s look at an actual forested ridgeline wind farm. Mountaineer wind farm in West Virginia consists of 44 turbines stretched along a 50-foot wide newly constructed service road that runs for 4 to 5 miles. Approximately 5 acres of forest were cleared per turbine.

In one of Avram’s previous, letters to the editor, he noted that the ridgelines of Western North Carolina could produce 1,000 megawatts (rated capacity) of power. Any idea how much area TVA estimates would be required to produce 1,000 megawatts (rated capacity) or 280 megawatts (capacity factor) of actual electricity?

“For instance, one 1000 megawatt nuclear unit requires 1,000 acres. It would take 12,160 acres of wind turbines, or 23,760 acres of solar panels to generate the equivalent amount of energy as the single 1000 megawatt nuclear unit.”

I salute Avram’s desire to stick to factual information regarding wind power. A good place to start would be replacing rated capacity with capacity factor and let’s talk about the actual electricity produced.

A free composting workshop will be held next week by the N.C. Cooperative Extension in Jackson and Swain counties.

Learn more about acceptable materials for composting, types of structures, preparing and maintaining your compost pile, temperatures, carbon to nitrogen ratios, water requirements, types of worms, bedding, proper food scraps, worm bins, harvesting the compost and worms and ideas for troubleshooting.

Dates are from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 5, at the Jackson Extension Center in Sylva, or from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7, at the Swain Extension Center in Almond.

828.488.3848 or 828.586.4009.

Witness the fall migration of monarch butterflies and learn about their spectacular 3,000-mile journey from naturalists with Wild South during a special monarch viewing day at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2, on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The orange and black butterflies travel in massive groups and are passing through the region en route to the mountains of Mexico. Monarchs depend largely on milkweed and follow its trail as it blooms. The same butterfly does not make the entire journey, but instead reproduces along the migration route, with each consecutive generation resuming the journey where their parent left off.

Meet at Milepost 412 along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Haywood County, near the intersection with U.S. 276. Bring a lunch, water, binoculars, camera, a camp chair and sunscreen. This event is free and suitable for all ages.

RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 828.258.2667. Check out www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch for more information on monarch migration.

Visitors to Gorges State Park will have the opportunity to get a close look at two peregrine falcons, Seymour and Zelda Suri, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2.

Seymour and Zelda are cared for by trainer Peter Kipp-Dupont, a licensed master falconer and raptor rehabilitator. He has trained birds of prey for 40 years.

The peregrine falcon was saved from extinction, recovering from only 40 known breeding pairs in the nation in 1970 to an estimated 1,800 breeding pairs today.

The Grassy Ridge trailhead can be reached by turning south off of U.S. 64 on to N.C. 281 South to the park entrance. The parking lot is one mile from the entrance.

A performance depicting John Muir and President Teddy Roosevelt called the “The Tramp and the Roughrider” will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, at the Highlands Playhouse.

Journey back to May 1903 to an evening around the campfire in Yosemite Valley with Roosevelt and Muir, America’s best-known conservationist. Hear them spar over environmental and wilderness issues. Enjoy their amazing adventure stories. Witness the conversations that helped lead Roosevelt to establish 200 million acres of wilderness, five new national parks and 65 wildlife preserves during his presidency.

The performance is hosted by the Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance and serves as a fundraiser for the organization.

Lee Stetson has been the Voice of John Muir for over 25 years and was featured in the acclaimed Ken Burns documentary “National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” Joe Wiegland has been reprising Theodore Roosevelt for six years and performed at the White House in 2008 in honor of Roosevelt’s 150th birthday. 

$35. 828.526.0890, ext. 320 or www.j-mca.org.

To see the performance in Asheville on Oct. 7 instead, contact Western North Carolina Alliance at www.wnca.org or 828.258.8737.

The Chief’s Challenge, a 2-mile race in Cherokee, will be held 2:45 p.m. on Oct. 5 to benefit the Madison Hornbuckle Children’s Cancer Foundation

“I challenge all runners and walkers to join me in this benefit run, which will help children and their families in the fight against cancer. Madison Hornbuckle was a special young lady who fought this fight and we honor her memory through the work of this foundation,” Principal Chief Michell Hicks said.

The run/walk will start at the Cherokee Council House and end at the Urgent Care building. It will take place prior to the Cherokee Indian Fair Parade.

Registration begins 8:30 a.m. at the Cherokee Tribal Council House and will end at noon. $10 registration fee. The first 200 participants will get a free Cancer Foundation wristband and T-shirt.

828.497.1970 or 828.497.1976 or 828. 497.1971.