Garret K. Woodward
Though unanimously passed 4-0, Canton town board members approved the 2014-2015 budget with some hesitation. The budget came in at $7,718,836, which is up from $7,085,956 for 2013-2014.
Screw it all.
There have been days, many days, where I’ve found myself sitting in traffic, standing in line, waiting on the phone, ordering something I really don’t want (or need), drinking and eating something that probably isn’t good for me, and think to myself, “Screw it all, I don’t want any part of this — no more.”
Nothing says summer more than the Fourth of July, and in Western North Carolina, we celebrate Independence Day with gusto. Between majestic fireworks, sizzling hot dogs and hamburgers, cotton candy, games, live music and craft demonstrations, there’s a little of bit of everything for any and all. So, grab your lawn chair, sunglasses and adventurous spirit and enjoy America’s birthday in Southern Appalachia.
Marc Pruett has won a Grammy and played the Grand Ole Opry stage, but his biggest concern on this day is sinkholes.
“Where is it? Canton?,” he asked a coworker.
Director of erosion control for Haywood County, Pruett sits at his desk, which is covered in paper, maps and books. After a heavy midday rain, two sinkholes have emerged in downtown Canton. Pruett puts a plan into motion, workers head for the door.
It’s a sound that immediately turns your head.
Sitting at a table within the 5 Walnut Wine Bar in downtown Asheville one lazy, sunny Appalachian afternoon, a trio of musicians took to the floor and eased into the subtle ambiance of the cozy space.
Randall E. Murff remembers the guns shooting at him.
“The Germans really could shoot those guns, they were good,” he said. “If you gave them 17 seconds, they’d knock you right down.”
Time sure does fly, eh? It hit me this week that my column recently crossed over the one-year anniversary threshold. How crazy, huh?
When the clock struck midnight this past New Year’s Eve, a new North Carolina state tax took effect.
“This isn’t a tax reform, it’s a tax shift,” said Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville. “It’s just part of the shift by the Republican legislature on revenues. They cut taxes on big business, then entertainment, tourism and nonprofits, who do so much with so little, and are the engine of our economy, get taxed while those huge tax breaks are given to those who contribute to the call.”
Waylon Jennings is alive.
Figuratively. Not literally, folks. Strolling down Haywood Road in West Asheville one evening last summer, I came across the Double Crown, a dive bar of the most enjoyable proportions. And I love dive bars, places where I feel as welcomed as the beer is cold.
It all started with a drum solo.
“My mother was of the big band generation, and she’d watch all of these movies when I was a kid with big bands in them,” said Michael Reno Harrell. “I remember seeing Gene Krupa do a drum solo and I decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
“Let’s go back to the 1930s,” said Judy Coker.
Standing underneath a large manmade birch tent in the backwoods of the Cataloochee Ranch last Friday evening, Coker welcomed around 40 people — friends, family and visitors alike — to partake in their inaugural Way Back When dinner.
With each throw, Scott Medlin is connecting to his ancestors.
“The Scottish Highland Games need to be preserved because most of the gatherings included athletic competitions, with each clan gathered around cheering on their representative of the clan,” the 58-year-old said. “It’s really about the competition and knowing that I too have done this and there’s not many people in the world that can do this.”
It’s 8:36 a.m. on a Thursday and I’m in Detroit.
Thee Irish Pub at the metro airport to be exact. Besides the usual fast food options I detest, it was the only other place open in Concourse B. And a nice local red ale sounds about right for this moment, especially since this is the beginning of my “vacation.”
Three Haywood County towns will be used as filming sites for an upcoming feature movie. The film — a Catalyst Pictures project called “Chasing Grace” — is a faith-based thriller.
From welcoming backwoods front porches to raucous downtown stages, the music of Western North Carolina weaves together the rich history, passion and camaraderie of Southern Appalachia and its inhabitants. At the heart of this deep love and appreciation for music are the communities that proudly display their heritage by offering weekly performances for residents and visitors alike.
He was completely shocked. Standing in front of an empty warehouse in Dillsboro, which will soon be the site of his new brewery, Dieter Kuhn couldn’t believe almost 500 people had shown up at the recent launch party of his new facility.
Short shorts and a neon orange trucker hat.
Strolling down Main Street in downtown Waynesville, I found myself adorned with those exact pieces of clothing. You see, I was headed to Tipping Point Brewing, and that evening I was going to enter the Cinco de Beardo contest put on by the Dixie Beard & Moustache Society.
Karen Wallace knows the importance of a library. “In a rural area, the library is the single greatest man-made resource offered to residents and tourists,” she said.
“Hey, Garret, what’s up, man?” I looked up from my notebook and there standing in front of me was a familiar face. Tony Casey, from the North Country. It was last Saturday evening and I was sitting at a picnic table at White Duck Taco in the River Arts District of Asheville. And there we were, two boys from the Champlain Valley of Upstate New York, crossing paths over a thousand miles from our hometowns.
What a difference a year makes.
For the last 12 months, Haywood County group Soldier’s Heart has been roaming Western North Carolina and beyond with their unique Appalachian porch-n-soul tone.
What does a washboard, a bucket and a beard have in common?
They make up the melodic magic that is The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. A three-piece country-blues outfit barreling out of southern Indiana, the group has one foot firmly planted in the rich history of early American music, the other stepping into a future where these sights and sounds are needed now more than ever.
Running downhill with a tray of wine glasses, Janelle Trevino had a simple objective: she didn’t want to drop any.
“It was intense,” Trevino said. “It’s a lot harder than it looks. I was pretty nervous.”
A server at Tipping Point Brewing in Waynesville, Trevino and her three teammates participated in The Greater Waynesville Wine Race on April 26. Taking place on Miller Street in downtown Waynesville, the spectacle, put on by the Relay for Life of West Haywood, brought together a handful of local restaurants to raise awareness of cancer through a fun and unique occasion.
Mary Harper was quite possibly the first real friend I made when I moved to Western North Carolina.
With my apartment a few blocks away from the Water’n Hole Bar & Grill in Waynesville, I ventured down there at night trying to see what was up in this town, trying to make some friends, and trying not to feel alone and isolated in a new place where I was unknown to all who surrounded me. Harper, with her million-dollar smile and swagger, immediately made me feel at home.
Gregg Fuller can sum up barbeque.
“It’s a southern tradition,” he confidently stated.
Owner of No Name Sports Pub in Sylva, Fuller knows his barbeque. It’s something the establishment specializes in, and aims to perfect when pristine, raw pork rolls in and juicy, fresh barbeque rolls out.
Monday is the new Saturday. Heading down Frazier Street in Waynesville to BearWaters Brewing Company, one can barely find a place to park on a typical Monday evening. For the last couple of months, the location has played host to a weekly open mic event called the Spontaneous CombustJam.
Pulling into his steep, gravel driveway, the first thing you notice about Gary Montanari are his numerous pets.
“I hope you like dogs,” he said, as several barks are heard from around the property.
The second thing you notice about Gary Montanari is that he has lived an extraordinary life.
So, what are you going to ask him?
That was the question constantly asked to me when friends and curious folks alike found out I was interviewing Kevin Costner. Yes, that Kevin Costner. You see the Academy Award-winning actor/director fronts a country/blues band called Modern West. They’ll be performing at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin on April 24.
Staring into a 2,250-degree furnace, Tadashi Torii sees his passion come to life.
“I’m really calm,” he said. “I try not to be bothered by anything else. I try to create my inner-peace area and then go from there and concentrate.”
Kacey Musgraves makes me feel like a teenage boy.
Shouts of joy escape my lungs when I find out she’s performing nearby. All my friends grow weary over my constant babbling about her. If there were a life-size poster available, I’d probably buy one — her music is just that good.
The ocean is a long way from Rick Miller’s kitchen. The kitchen is a long way from where his journey began.
“Back then I wanted to be a marine biologist,” the 61-year-old smiled. “And I can still give all the Latin names to the fish.”
SEE ALSO: Mélange of the Mountains returns to Haywood County
Canton Mayor Mike Ray was happy to see it come to an end. Finally, a decision has been made.
“We’ve gone through 80 applications and have worked hard to make a decision for our city, our employees and our residents,” Ray said.
I went out too fast. I always go out too fast.
A writer looking at a blank page is a like a painter staring at a fresh canvas, a sculptor facing a block of clay or a woodworker holding a chunk of wood. The desire to grab words from thin air and construct them into sentences, notions and ideas comes from an internal fire to describe human emotion and situation. It is a calling, one that picks its creators when the time and place is prime. Writers are messengers, connecting the unknown cosmos to an everyday modern reality.
SEE ALSO: Wordsmiths converge on WCU for Spring Literary Festival
Western Carolina University will be once again play host to an array of writers during the 12th annual Spring Literary Festival, which runs March 31 through April 4. The event is a celebration of the written word, where finely-aged veterans intermingle with the young faces of future generations eager to find their voice. It is a bountiful cross-pollination, one crucial to the perpetuation of the craft.
Though the process has been long, Steven Lloyd is beginning to see the fruits of his labor.
“I sometimes feel like I’ve pushed a big boulder up a hill and it’ll fall backwards,” he said. “But, the momentum is still going. We’re a proven, successful theatre, and this is going to happen.”
The Canton town board remains undecided about who will take over as town manager. The board was expected to choose between three finalists at its March 13 meeting, but two members pushed for a delay until at least the next meeting.
The right place at the right time. We’re all aware of that notion, and most of us have experienced it at one moment or another. For Brad Boulet, it was standing in the mud at the Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta last spring. Beside him in the downpour was Caleb Burress, lead singer of Haywood County Americana outfit Soldier’s Heart. The two began talking and quickly found out they had much more in common than a love for music.
In a crowded, frenzied gymnasium, Macon County Sheriff Robert Holland was just trying to not embarrass himself.
“I haven’t touched a basketball in years,” he chuckled. “I’m trying to not look as dumb as possible.”
William McDowell remembers when segregation was a reality in Canton.
“When I was a kid we weren’t allowed to sit anywhere but the balcony at the Colonial Theatre in downtown,” he said. “You couldn’t eat in certain restaurants and there were black and white drinking fountains — segregation was really enforced.”
But, it’s only mid-March?
I’m well aware of that, dear readers. Yes, it is mid-March, but 2014 is hitting the ground running with a slew of incredible musical releases. Normally, I would wait until at least early July or the end of the year to mention some notable albums hitting the shelves, your iPod or stereo. And yet, within these last two months, there’s just too much melodic goodness out there to not share with y’all.
He was a toddler with tenacity and talent.
At three years old, Seth Taylor picked up his first guitar. Seeing musicians on television and hearing them on the radio sparked something inside of the Bryson City native. Once that instrument was in his hands, it was like two magnets connecting, where it would take all your might to pull them apart.
Heidi Dunkelberg is determined to make hops synonymous with Western North Carolina.
“I’ve got to figure it out,” she said. “There’s just got to be some way, there’s just got to be.”
Pouring its first pints in October 2013, Innovation Brewing in Sylva was created by Nicole Dexter and Chip Owen. The couple has a deep love for the craft beer, one that developed over the years through various jobs in the industry.
Sitting at her loom, weaver Amy Tromiczak feels right at home.
“It’s an amazing thing. You’re making cloth, and I love it,” the 25-year-old said. “It’s all about the whole process of choosing your fibers, deciding what kind of cloth to make, seeing it laid out on the loom.”
It was his voice that caught my ear. Turning towards the stage at the Water’n Hole in Waynesville, I was immediately transfixed on the bullfrog-deep vocals echoing from the microphone. Who is that voice?
The loud pounding echoed from the end of the empty corridor.
Crossing the threshold of the last classroom on the left at Smokey Mountain Elementary School in Whittier, one could see — and hear — that the source of the sound came from the feverish hands of students during their afternoon art class. Like an army of woodpeckers, the pupils each hammered away at copper sheet metal in an effort to make their designs a physical reality.
From the ashes of a recent fire, Mad Batter Bakery & Café will reopen. But, instead of returning to the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee where it was located for 15 years, the beloved establishment will set up shop in downtown Sylva.
There is no “I” in team for Jimmy Cleaveland.
“Listen, I don’t know where you’re going with this story,” he modestly said. “But, I sure don’t want this about me. I want it to be about these kids, for sure.”
Sitting on a toilet, Kyle Iezzi is ready for victory.
“The main thing is that I hope we go straight,” the 15-year-old said.
I ski in jeans. There, I said it. And I’ve been doing it for years — as far back as I can remember. Ever since I was a child, when the snowflakes started to drift down from the heavens, I hit the slopes. And this past week, the pickins’ were ripe in Western North Carolina.
Summer McMahan remembers the exact moment her life changed.
“Mountain Heritage Day [at Western Carolina University], 14 years ago,” she said. “I watched the Fiddlin’ Dill Sisters and decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
