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Western North Carolina’s lackluster economy could get a significant boost from leaf lookers this year, if the annual prediction is right and we enjoy an excellent fall color show.
Kathy Mathews, who serves as the region’s and Western Carolina University’s fall foliage forecaster, said weather conditions over the spring and summer bode well for the critical autumn period.
“2011 should prove to be an excellent year for fall color,” said Mathews, a WCU associate professor of biology specializing in plant systematics. “While heavy spring rain is generally not a good sign for fall color, records indicate that rainfall was slightly below normal for March, average for April and May, and slightly below normal for June and July, as gardeners struggled to keep their crops watered,” she said. “These conditions actually are promising for good development of leaf color in September and October.”
In addition, mid-August brought a respite from the hot temperatures of June and July, another good sign of vibrant leaf color during autumn, she said.
Mathews believes that the formation of higher levels of yellow, orange and red pigments in the leaves seems to correlate with dry weather throughout the year. The drier the climate, the more brilliant the fall leaves tend to be, she said.
Of course, when it comes to forecasting the vibrancy of the fall color season, just as with forecasting the weather, there are no guarantees. Cloud cover and ample rainfall in the weeks ahead could mute the color show, Mathews said
“Anyone remembering the last two years may have noticed a shortage of brilliant red leaves in our area, which could be blamed on cloudy weather and rain during the fall,” she said. “Hurricane season also can be hard to predict as far as bringing rain to the mountains, but if we see cool and sunny weather, we can expect nice red color to develop this year.”
Cooler temperatures of autumn contribute to the decomposition of chlorophyll, the chemical that gives leaves their green color in spring and summer. As chlorophyll breaks down, yellow pigments – always present in the leaves, but masked by the green of chlorophyll – are revealed, and new red pigments are produced
Depending upon the timing of the first frost, the peak of fall color should arrive during the second week of October in the higher elevations, and during the third week of October in the mid-elevations, Mathews said.
“Early November can bring surprising bursts of color, too, particularly between 2,500 and 3,000 feet as the oaks peak out in oranges and reds while other trees’ colors are lingering,” she said. “Those planning leaf-peeping vacations should have a fairly broad window of time in which to choose for viewing excellent color change in the mountains this year.”
The color change should begin at the higher mountain elevations in late September and continue through mid-November in the lower levels of WNC.
“Look for the earliest color change to take place on the sourwoods and dogwoods, which both turn red, as well as the tulip poplars, which become yellow but tend to turn brown early,” Mathews said. “Colorful maples, with hues of red, orange and yellow, and birches, which turn yellow, bring us into the peak period. Finally, oaks turn orange and red to round out the later color change in the season.”
Sweet birches and tulip poplars already are starting to turn yellow in the mid-elevations around Cullowhee, which is a normal occurrence for this time of year, she said.
“Over the month of September, the color change should continue and spread. Expect buckeyes to give pops of orange early, as well. Maples will add more yellow, oranges and reds as they gradually change in late September, and sourwoods should turn a beautiful, deep red,” Mathews said.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will celebrate National Public Lands Day by hosting several volunteer projects Saturday, Sept. 24, in a unified effort with many public lands across the country.
National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands that Americans enjoy. Those interested in participating at the Smokies will have a chance to work on a trail rehabilitation or a native meadows restoration project.
• The Trails Forever program – a partnership between the national park and Friends of the Smokies – will be hosting a Forney Ridge Trail project. Adult volunteers (18 years old or older) can work with the park trail crew to reconstruct a section of this popular trail. The work will include collecting, moving, breaking and setting rock as well as naturalizing some sections where work has already been completed. To RSVP, contact Trails and Facilities Volunteer Coordinator, Christine Hoyer at 828.497.1949 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
• Park resource managers also are recruiting for volunteers to help restore native meadows in Cades Cove. Remnant stands of native Indian Grass remain scattered throughout the cove. Volunteers can help the park collect seed from this native grass that provides outstanding wildlife cover and nourishment for a variety of wildlife including ground nesting birds, small mammals, turkeys, and deer. To RSVP to contact Volunteer Coordinator Dana Soehn at 865.436.1265 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Pinnacle Park Foundation, the Jackson County Greenways Project and the town of Sylva will hold a volunteer workday at Pinnacle Park beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept.16.
Tasks include bridge installation and trail repair and construction. Pinnacle Park, the town’s 1,088-acre former watershed, has been permanently protected under a conservation easement and offers hiking and limited camping to visitors.
Volunteers with experience in masonry, trail building and construction are especially welcome to participate! Participants should plan to bring a lunch and water and to wear sturdy clothing and shoes, and to meet at the Fisher Creek trailhead no later than 10 a.m.
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.586.2719.
The Green Thumb Gardeners in Haywood County has received a state grant that will enable the group to expand its community garden.
The funding is through Nourishing North Carolina, a statewide community garden program making local, healthy food more accessible to people across the state. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina launched the program in partnership with the North Carolina Recreation and Park Association to create or enhance community gardens in all 100 North Carolina counties over the next three years.
Town of Waynesville employees and others began brainstorming, and Daydreamz decided to sponsor the community garden. Since that time, the project has become one that also benefits Kids at Work. The group uses some of the herbs and vegetables for its youth cooking program, the Open Door Soup Kitchen, and the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Summer Youth Program.
Other folks who come regularly to learn and grow together in the garden are local ARC group home residents, Meridian Behavioral Health Services participants, as well as Daydreamz volunteers and members of the Master Gardeners program. Anyone is welcome.
828.456.6629
With September’s arrival, many different species of hawks are winging their way south across the Blue Ridge Parkway, making for a great opportunity to work on identification techniques.
To this end, on Saturday at Waterrock Knob Visitor Center (M.P. 451.2) from 1:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m., there will be a program on raptors: where they come from, where they’re going and how they get there.
Binoculars are available, or bring your own. Tips will be given on how to properly use them when hawks are in full flight. Additionally, experts will provide information on hawk counts, and where the best areas on the parkway are for spotting these grand birds as they migrate.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.456.9530, Ext 3.
One of the South’s most-recognized horticulturist names is headlining the 12th annual Native Plant Symposium held Sept. 16-17 at the Highlands Performing Arts Center.
Michael Dirr, author of the Manual of Woody Landscape Plants and a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, is one of the speakers.
There’s also a list of 10 fieldtrips to choose from, ranging from a tea party in the Highlands Botanical Garden to a tour of the Southern Highlands Reserve, plus several guided hikes. Woody plants are this year’s focus at this annual event by the Highlands Biological Foundation.
The symposium concludes with a wine reception and native plant auction.
All of the proceeds raised go to support the Highlands Botanical Garden, which was established in 1962 as a refuge for more than 450 species of southern Appalachian plants. Seating is limited to 200; early registration is encouraged. www.wcu.edu/hbs/NPSymp.htm to register online and download a brochure, or 828.526.2221.
Hikers can learn how to use proper dehydration techniques to make their own trail and backpacking foods at the monthly meeting of the Nantahala Hiking Club, set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, at the Macon County Public Library.
Participants will learn to build up a shelf-stable food supply unaffected by power outages; how to make trail food; and basic dehydration techniques. The demonstration will focus on fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, ready-mixes, one-pot-meals, storage, various dehydrators and resources.
Free. 828.369.1951 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
It’s not everyday you get to have afternoon tea with llamas, those unusual but valuable pack animals that are showing up frequently now on our trails. The Cradle of Forestry in America will offer Afternoon Tea with Llamas at 11 a.m. and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10.
The program allows kids of all ages the chance to learn about these animal companions.
George Appenzeller and Sarah Meadows will conduct the presentations. The duo founded Challenge Adventures, a nonprofit organization experienced in leading hiking and camping adventure programs for youth groups. Since 1989, they have involved more than 4,000 young people in educational experiences in the outdoors with llamas.
Visitors will hear about the llamas’ cooperative social structure, which includes teamwork and caring. The llamas will carry visitor lunches or snacks during an easy walk along the Forest Discovery Trail at the Cradle of Forestry. Ice tea and cups will be provided. As the group walks the Forest Discovery Trail, children can take turns leading the llamas. The group will picnic along the trail before returning to the Discovery Center.
This easy walk through scenic woods is about two miles roundtrip.
Admission to the Cradle of Forestry is $5 for adults. Youth 15 and younger are admitted free. Golden Age passports and America the Beautiful passes are honored. In addition to the llama program, this fee includes the
Forest Discovery Center with 15 hands-on exhibits, the film There’s Magic at the Cradle, historic cabins and antique equipment on two paved trails, the Adventure Zone, living history interpreters and a 1915 Climax logging locomotive.
The Cradle of Forestry is located on U.S. 276 in the Pisgah National Forest, six miles north of Looking Glass Falls and four miles south of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
828.877.3130 or go to www.cradleofforestry.org.
Cherokee students and teachers have undertaken the first part of a long-term monitoring project of birds at the Cowee Mound in Macon County.
A group with the Robbinsville-based Cherokee language camp in July participated in a breeding-bird sample survey at the tribally owned mound. Shirley Oswalt led the effort.
The event proved an opportunity for the students to familiarize themselves with native bird species, the traditional Cherokee names for these birds, and with the historic property itself.
Staff from Southern Appalachian Raptor Research, a local nonprofit group dedicated to the conservation and protection of birds of prey in the southern Appalachians through monitoring, education and field research, organized the survey. Mike LaVoie of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Fisheries and Wildlife Management program participated in the event, as did staff from the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, which has been collaborating with the tribe on the management of the property.
The survey is part of a nationwide program known Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship that is coordinated by the Institute for Bird Populations to monitor the health of breeding birds throughout North America. Last year, the Raptor Research group established a monitoring station in southern Macon County, and is continuing that work this summer.
“We chose the Cowee Mound site due to its diverse mix of early successional habitat along the floodplain,” LaVoie said. “Such habitat has been disappearing throughout the Southeastern U.S., yet is critical for the survival of many of our native wildlife species.”
Cowee is considered one of the most significant archaeological sites of the Mississippian period in North Carolina, when intensive agriculture first became established in the region. Pollen sampling has verified the presence of agriculture on these bottomlands dating back at least 3,000 years. The mound is thought to date from approximately 600 A.D. The council house of the Cherokee town of Cowee was located on this mound in the 18th century, at which time the town of Cowee served as the principal diplomatic and commercial center of the mountain Cherokee. For this reason, Cowee was also the center of significant historic events on the eve of the American Revolution in the South, including the target of the Rutherford Expedition in September 1776.
The 70-acre tribal property along the Little Tennessee River encompasses Cowee Mound and Village Site, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The Eastern Band purchased the property in early 2007 with assistance from the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund. The latter holds a conservation easement on the property that permanently protects its conservation values and prevents commercial and residential development.
The Friends of the Haywood Public Library offers the fifth and final book discussion in the Discovering the Literary South series at 4 p.m. on Sept. 15, in the auditorium of the Waynesville library.
The book to be discussed is The Coal Tattoo by Silas House. Dr. Merritt Moseley of UNC-A will lead the discussion. Books are available free at the library. Moseley’s teaching interests include English and American literature as well as the art of the novel. He specializes in Jane Austen and American humor.
828.456.5311 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Join a special story time with author Gail Nolen at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. Nolen will read from her book, Johnny, My Favorite Mouse.
Based on a true story, this book tells of the adventures Robert Andrew “Andy” Nolen enjoyed with his imaginary mice, Johnny being his favorite. Gail relates the story from memories of Andy when he was four years old.
Local artist Doreyl Ammons Cain created drawings for the book.
828.586.9499 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Martin A. Dyckman, a retired associate editor of the St. Petersburg Time who lives part of the year in Waynesville, will discuss Florida political history and present his latest book, Reubin O’D. Askew and the Golden Age of Florida Politics at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.
Dyckman is also the author of His Century: The Courage of Governor LeRoy Collins and A Most Disorderly Court: Scandal and Reform in the Florida Judiciary. In 1984, the Florida Bar Foundation recognized his writing on judicial reform with its Medal of Honor Award. A book signing will follow the discussion.
828.586.9499 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Marty Stuart, a four-time Grammy winner and platinum recording artist, will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.
Stuart is best known for his traditional country music and has roots in gospel and bluegrass. He is a self-taught guitar and mandolin player which led him to join Johnny Cash’s back-up band where he played for six years before breaking out on his own.
Stuart has played with music legends such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young and Billy Joel. He has toured beside county greats such as Travis Tritt and Merle Haggard.
Tickets are $25. For more information, call 866.273.4615 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com.
The Masters of Motown’s “A Tribute to Hitsville U.S.A.,” will open the Galaxy of Stars Series at Western Carolina University. The show features many of the greatest hits from the legendary Motown era at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, in the Fine and Performing Arts Center at WCU.
Based in Virginia Beach, Va., Masters of Motown features a 10-member cast that has toured extensively together for decades. Audiences can expect to hear plenty of hits from Motown artists such as the Temptations, the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight and the Pips and many others. Masters of Motown’s eight vocalists are backed by a band of seasoned musicians.
John Hodgens, vocalist-bandleader, formed the group in 1973 after graduating from high school in Virginia.
This is the seventh season of Galaxy of Stars performances. The series began in 2005 and features theater, music and dance.
Tickets are $20 for adults and seniors; $15 for faculty and staff; $10 for groups of 20 or more, and $5 for children and students. For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 828.227.2479 or visit fapac.wcu.edu.
Elementary school-aged children and their families are invited to a free ARTSaturday workshop from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sept. 10 in the Macon County Public Library children’s wing. The theme is the United States Constitution, with a variety of make-and-take learning activities and patriotic music, including singing the Preamble to the Constitution.
Keyboardist Lionel Caynon will provide live music. Children should wear play clothes and come for any part of the session. The Arts Council provides all materials. For more information call 828.524.7683 or visit www.artscouncilofmacon.org.
The Green Energy Park in Dillsboro is offering more classes this fall in both glassblowing and blacksmithing. Come make a glass pumpkin or ornament for the holidays, forge a handmade knife for a gift or just try a new experience.
For details on the classes, costs, and times, visit the website at www.jcgep.org. To register for a class call 828.631.0271 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Classes marked WCU may be registered directly through Western Carolina University at http://www.wcu.edu/29054.asp.
Blacksmithing/Metals Classes
• Sept. 24-25 — Introduction to Coal Forging
• Sept. 24-25 — Introduction to Medieval
Chainmaille Armor
• Oct. 8-9 — Beginning Blacksmithing
• Oct. 8-9 — Intermediate Blacksmithing
• Oct. 22-23 — Introduction to Coal Forging
• Oct. 22-23 — Beginning Knifemaking
• Nov. 12-13 — Introduction to Medieval
Chainmaille Armor
• Dec. — Intermediate Blacksmithing
Glassblowing Classes
• Sept. 10 — Fundamentals of Glassblowing (WCU)
• Sept. 13 — Turn Recycled Bottles into Drinking Glasses (WCU)
• Sept. 15 — Create a Glass Tumbler (WCU)
• Oct. 1 — Grow a Glass Pumpkin
• Oct. 15 — Grow a Glass Pumpkin
• Nov. 12 — Holiday Glass Ornaments
• Dec. 3 — Holiday Glass Ornaments
Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville is holding a Star Wars party from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10. The event will include games and crafts for children, a trivia contest for all ages, free Star Wars souvenirs for the first 100 participants, and a costume contest. Star Wars prizes will be given for contest winners and there will be a raffle for other Star Wars prizes.
The highlight of the event will be a special appearance by several members of the 501st Legion. The 501st Legion is a costuming organization formed in 1997. Since that time, its members have spread the magic of the Star Wars genre worldwide through its authentic-looking costumes, and it has become the leading force in fan-based charity events.
This event is free. 828.45.6000.
Sylva resident Mercedes Fernandez will present an introductory Reiki workshop at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 13, in the Community Room of the Jackson County Public Library.
Reiki is a form of hands-on healing that was originally popularized in Japan in the late-18th and early-19th centuries. The practice was brought to America in the 1940s and has since spread worldwide. It is most probably based on ancient Oriental ideas about human energy systems. In Reiki treatment, the healer guides the Reiki energy to where the person receiving it needs it and allows the excess energy to be released.
Fernandez is a Master Reiki teacher who has been helping people sharpen their spiritual skills and healing abilities for nearly 40 years. During the program, Fernandez will discuss the history, practice and techniques of Reiki and will take questions from the audience.
For more information, call 828.586.2016.
Country singer Jody Medford will head to Maggie Valley on Sept. 21 to film the music video for his new single “Moonshine.”
The shoot is open to the public, who are encouraged to attend and be part of the video. The single will debut on CMT and GAC Networks.
The drummer from Lonestar, Keech Rainwater, has started a production company and will be producing the music video and there will be other on location shoots around town and the Maggie Valley Police Department will facilitate.
Six independent filmmakers and their films will land on the campus of Western Carolina University this year, as part of the Southern Circuit, a tour of independent filmmakers that provides communities across the South access to smaller films and opportunities to join film directors in post-screening discussions.
Kicking off the season is “Surviving Hitler: A Love Story” by filmmaker John-Keith Wasson. It will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 13, in the A.K. Hinds University Center.
This documentary chronicles war, resistance and survival through the eyes of Jutta, a teenager in Nazi Germany, and her sweetheart, Helmuth, an injured soldier. As members of the Nazi resistance, the two become co-conspirators in the final plot to assassinate Hitler. The film includes narration by Jutta and original eight mm footage shot by Helmuth.
For more information, call 828.227.3622, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit ACE online at ace.wcu.edu.
To the Editor:
Last week, North Carolinians joined citizens from all over the nation to celebrate Great Outdoors Week to focus on public lands and their importance to the state’s economy. Getting people outdoors is a growing business in North Carolina, accounting for almost $7.5 billion a year and 95,000 jobs. The money isn’t always easy to track, but it benefits many rural western areas of the state.
There’s a ripple effect through the economy. When somebody comes to the mountains, they buy supplies, they fill up their car with gas, they purchase equipment for their activity from outfitters, they stay at a hotel or a bed-and-breakfast; they go out to eat — and so those dollars support the local economy.
Janna Martin, owner of the Pinecrest Bed and Breakfast in Asheville, said, “Our guests come to this tiny hamlet from all over the country and the world — attracted by the remarkable natural beauty of the area. A good part of our business is folks from all walks of life who come to explore the forests, to hike the trails, to paddle the rivers and to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. We are truly blessed by the mountains that surround the city of Asheville.”
North Carolina is home to many remarkable publicly owned treasures …. That are important for clean water, wildlife and the recreation economy in our state.
However, current threats in Congress would remove current protections for more than 60 million acres of public lands. The Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act, H.R.1581, disregards the importance of our public lands to the American public. Industrial activities such as mining, logging and drilling are already allowed in more than half of our national forests and other public lands. This bill proposes to open up most of the rest. As a result, roughly 70 percent of America’s most valuable landscapes and waterways could be degraded through large-scale development and off-road vehicle use.
The measure is just one of multiple attempts by lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and the state to undo fundamental environmental protections for clean air, clean water, endangered species and public lands.
Great Outdoors week calls attention to and is a celebration of these magnificent lands. Hundreds of people joined outings throughout the Southeast which included hiking, horseback riding, fishing, and biking. These activities were especially important to raise public awareness and provide an opportunity for the public to get out of doors – leading up to Sept. 25 when Gov. Beverly Perdue proclaims “Public Lands Day” in recognition of these valuable public treasures.
North Carolina residents are encouraged to get out and enjoy their public lands and to speak out for their protection. I hope Great Outdoors Week and Public Lands Day gives people a chance to appreciate areas they might sometimes take for granted and to recognize that they can play a part in keeping these regional treasures protected.
They also serve as essential sources of clear water and habitats for fish and wildlife. We must ensure that they are protected and that we leave our public lands to future generations in as good or better shape than they were left to us.”
Mark Shelley
Executive Director
Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition
To the Editor:
The best way to keep private forestlands in forests is to have an economic environment that makes the timber on these lands valuable enough to encourage landowners to continue to manage their forests and receive a decent return on their land. This requires viable markets for lumber, pulpwood and other wood products in the region. In these tough economic times, timber and pulpwood markets are fluid throughout the country and in our region as well. Forest landowners who want to improve their position in today’s fluctuating markets may want to consider third-party certification.
Third-party forest certification is basically where an accredited organization, usually an independent nonprofit organization, certifies that the landowner is properly managing their land for natural resource sustainability, following applicable laws and regulations, and adhering to a written management plan guiding the management into the future (usually a ten year plan). All of these certifying organizations have standards that must be met in order to qualify in their particular program.
Third-party forest certification is a relatively new development in timber markets and it is uncertain whether a landowner will receive a premium price for “certified” timber. However, I believe it is wise to investigate forest certification because some forest product companies, including some in Western North Carolina, welcome “certified sustainable” timber to attract customers who want to claim they are utilizing products sourced from these lands. While you may or may not receive a premium price, depending on market conditions, you may get preferential attention and more competition for your timber when you decide to harvest timber on certified lands.
Landowners who want to pursue forest certification have several choices of organizations to negotiate with in order to achieve valid certification. I believe that the American Tree Farm System is the best choice for private landowners. It is the oldest certification program in the world – beginning over 70 years ago – and relies heavily on trained volunteer natural resource professionals to accomplish its certifications, inspections, etc. As a result, there is currently no charge for their certification or inspections. I don’t know of another certification program that is free.
Also, the American Tree Farm System certification is recognized by some other sustainable forest interests as meeting their standards, including the North Carolina Forest Stewardship Program, US Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (an international certification program).
You can learn more about the American Tree Farm System first hand by attending a free day-long workshop (including lunch) that will be held in Brasstown on Sept. 15 at the Brasstown Community Center. You can find out more about the workshop and the American Tree Farm System in North Carolina by going on the Internet to www.nctreefarm.org. Click on the “Workshops” feature for specifics on the Brasstown Workshop. You can register for the workshop by calling the Clay County Extension Office at 828.369.6305 to reserve a spot.
Steve Henson
NC Registered Forester #496
Haywood County
To the Editor:
For more than 25 years after the 1983 amendments to Social Security, the federal government collected more in Social Security payroll taxes each year than it paid out in benefits. Those surplus revenues were supposed to be saved, but instead Congress spent every last dime of them and replaced the excess payroll tax revenue it looted from the Social Security Trust Fund with IOUs written to itself. At the end of 2010, the federal government owed the Trust Fund $2.61 trillion. Congress has drained the Trust Fund dry. (Source: Forbes)
This should outrage every American who receives Social Security benefits and every American who has paid or is currently paying Social Security payroll taxes. What can we do about this? First, contact your Senators and Representatives in Congress and demand that the funds they stole from us be returned immediately. It is called a Trust Fund for a reason. Second, demand that these funds be designated for the payment of Social Security benefits and nothing else, under penalty of law.
Third, remove the cap on payroll taxes. Finally, spread this news to your family and friends. It matters not what political party you belong to. What matters is we have been robbed by the very people we trusted.
Jim Hartje
Macon County
To the Editor:
We traveled to Clayton, Ga., last week to attend a presentation featuring “The Transition Movement.” This movement started in Ireland, spread to the U.K. and is now being discussed in the U.S.
Transition towns are those that promote reduced energy consumption and less outside dependence on goods such as food and clothing. Victor Harris of Long Creek, S.C., was the presenter. He showed excerpts from the movie “The End of Suburbia” and then led a discussion on weaning ourselves from oil. There is consensus that oil has “peaked.” He asked for suggestions on what we as concerned citizens should do to facilitate a more sustainable community.
Two men in the audience took exception to the idea that oil has peaked, claiming that there is plenty of oil and that there is a United Nations conspiracy called Agenda 21 which has been pushing this sustainability idea. Look “Agenda 21” up on your computer. It doesn’t sound much like a conspiracy to me. They then pulled out their slick flyers about this Agenda 21 and proceeded to hand them out those in attendance.
I looked at the fine print to discover it was literature from the John Birch Society, a.k.a., the Koch brothers! I was furious and declined their propaganda. Of course the Koch brothers do not want us to live locally. It’s Big Business who has the “Agenda.” That is, to control us, the middle class.
Needless to say these men hijacked the meeting. It was a total disgrace to question the veracity of Mr. Harris and the people who gathered to talk about sustainable living. If anything it will push “we the people” to embrace a transitions movement!
Those men should go back under the rock they slithered out from and take the John Birch Society’s money with them.
Joan Palmroos
Macon County
High school students and residents will have a chance to talk with college representatives from over 55 southeastern universities, colleges and trade schools at the 2011 College Night from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 19, in the Haywood Community College Auditorium.
Prospective students and college transfer students get valuable information and talk first-hand with college personnel which could aid them in making the right choice of which college or university to attend.
All juniors and seniors in Haywood County, including private and home school students are invited. High school teachers and counselors are also encouraged to attend. For more information call 828.565.4095.
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A one-day seminar on how to abolish capital punishment will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center. The seminar will focus on “The Church & the Death Penalty: Winning New Victories in the Old South.”
There is no cost to attend the seminar, which is being co-sponsored by People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, interfaith organization, and the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society.
The training will provide an interactive process on how to become strategically engaged with the movement for abolition.
To register, go to http://www.umc-gbcs.org/ChurchAndDeathPenalty. For more information, call 202.488.5657.
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The Bogey Fore Volunteer Center Golf Tournament will get started at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, at Maggie Valley Club, to benefit the Haywood Jackson Volunteer Center.
The fee is $175 for a two-man team with captain’s choice. Up for grands is $5000 for a hole-in-one on one par 3 and there will be door prizes as well as lunch.
Holes can be sponsored for $100.
For more information, call 828.356.2833.
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Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale was elected Second Vice President of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners on during the association’s annual conference.
Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons performed the inauguration ceremony for Commissioner Beale and the other elected county commissioners who will serve as NCACC officers in 2011-12.
As NCACC Second Vice President, Beale will work closely to guide the NCACC Board of Directors on legislative and administrative issues affecting counties throughout the year.
Beale is in his second term as member of the Macon County Board of Commissioners. As chair of the NCACC Health and Human Services Steering Committee, he served as a member of the NCACC Board of Directors.
Verizon Wireless will pay Western Carolina University to put an antennae on top of Scott Hall as it starts providing “4G” wireless broadband service in the area.
This is a faster wireless service than what Verizon currently offers.
The Verizon Wireless network promises users 10-times faster download and upload services than current 3G technology. Verizon Wireless already offers a dozen or so 4-G capable devices, including smartphones, tablet PCs, USB modems and portable WiFi hotspot devices.
Ed Broadwell, a WCU board of trustee member, told fellow members last week about the deal, explaining Verizon Wireless already has antennae space on top of the nine-floor dorm.
The lease agreement calls for Verizon Wireless to pay WCU $30,000 during the current term and for each five-year renewal period, that amount would increase by 15 percent, Broadwell said.
Western Carolina University’s Division of Student Affairs will coordinate WCU’s annual Red Zone campaign during the fall semester.
The Red Zone refers to the period of time early in students’ first or second years at college during which they are at higher risk of unwanted sexual experiences. Campaign activities across campus are designed to educate and empower students to help protect themselves and others from sexual assault.
Red flags, ribbons and posters will be displayed across campus in September to raise awareness. Information regarding sexual assault, red flags in relationships, campus and community resources and upcoming events will be in the gallery on the second floor of A.K. Hinds University Center through Friday, Sept. 30.
Students, staff and faculty also are invited to make the Red Zone pledge to take a stand against sexual assault and dating violence.
Western Carolina University Chancellor David O. Belcher has appointed a 36-member committee that will help guide the university’s direction over the next decade.
The group includes representatives from the university community and from the broader external community.
“Because they are drawn from all of the university’s major stakeholder groups, the members of the 2020 Commission each bring a unique set of perspectives, expertise and knowledge to the table,” said Melissa Wargo committee chair. “These individuals will play a vital role in ensuring that Western Carolina’s new strategic plan is based upon a shared vision of the university’s future.”
The 2020 Commission will hold its inaugural meeting Wednesday, Sept. 7. The nearly yearlong process will include opportunities for participation, including separate roundtable discussions for faculty, staff and students, ongoing online input and hearings on and off campus.
About 20 young hunters, accompanied by licensed-to-hunt adults, will take part in a dove hunt Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Mountain Research Station off Raccoon Road near Waynesville.
There also will be a lunch and special educational sessions throughout the day, including hunter safety, responsible hunting, and a trapping and banding demonstration workshop.
“Many young people today are far removed from the land and our agricultural and wildlife resources,” said Chris Graves, the lead instructor of fish and wildlife management technology program at Haywood Community College. “It is opportunities like this one that provide a much needed connection with children and nature.”
Haywood Community College Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society will help host the event.
“This experience will put our fish and wildlife students in real world situations that they will encounter when they begin working. It’s hands-on training and experience that they can’t get in a classroom,” Graves said.
Monarch butterflies are back.
The first of the monarch butterflies have been spotted recently on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a key migration route for Monarchs on that long journey south to Mexico for the winter. A wave of monarchs will increase over coming weeks.
A special program at Waterrock Knob Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, prompting educators and workers there to launch a “Winging it on the Parkway” program Saturday, Sept. 3, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The environmental program at the visitor center, located a few miles south of the Parkway entrance at Balsam, will share information on the butterflies’ lifecycles, migration patterns and more. This is for kids of all ages, and activities include making butterfly puppets.
Swain’s newest 4-H Club, the Outdoor Adventurers, waded into a mountain stream recently looking for salamanders, damselflies and other critters in a program led by Smokies Rangers Katrina Krebs and Will Butler at Smokemont Campground.
Outdoor Adventurers 4-H Club youth get to experience the outdoors by participating in field trips, hikes, the Junior Ranger program, and other outdoor projects.
Outdoor Adventurers meets at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City every other Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. through November, and monthly December through March. Adult supervision is available until 5:30 p.m. for parents to pickup kids after work, and at 3 p.m. prior to the meetings. Fall registration is Sept. 7.
828.488.3848.
The Maggie Valley Moonlight Race this past weekend had 430 runners take to the street, a respectable comeback after a two-year hiatus, boding well for the likelihood the storied race will be on the calendar again next year.
“It was a good crowd. We had so many people thank us for bringing it back. That was the overwhelming thing, whether it was people who had been running it for years or people who lived in Maggie,” said Greg Duff of Glory Hound Events, the race’s organizer.
Sarah Beth Lee of Waynesville was the top female overall winner; Justin TeBockhorst of Asheville was the top male overall winner.
Come celebrate the return of the great American chestnut tree Saturday, Sept. 10, at Cataloochee Ranch outside Maggie Valley.
This second-annual event features live bluegrass music by Hazel Creek, clogging demonstrations, crafts (including wood-turned bowls, pine needle baskets, stained glass, handcrafted wooden benches, pottery and paintings), and a tour of one of the American Chestnut Foundation’s most successful research orchards, located on the ranch grounds.
For centuries, the American chestnut was the dominant tree of the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Mississippi. It was a fast-growing deciduous hardwood that reached 150 feet in height and 10 feet in diameter. But, in 1904, a deadly airborne fungus was introduced into the United States; by 1949, nearly four billion chestnut trees were lost.
Cataloochee Ranch is helping the American Chestnut Foundation bring back this tree, borrowing genetic code from the Chinese chestnut, which is blight resistant. By using the backcross method, researchers are working on a new tree that has just enough of the Chinese variety to be blight-resistant, but has the dominant characteristics of the original American chestnut. The ranch’s chestnut orchard is in its fifth growing season.
Tickets for the event are $10, and children 12 and under will be admitted free.
The night before, on Friday, Sept. 9, a fundraising dinner with entertainment and live auction will be held beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets to the steak dinner are $80 per person, or $120 per couple, which includes a one-year membership to the American Chestnut Foundation.
828.926.1401 for dinner reservations. For more information about Chestnut Saturday, call Richard Coker at 828.926.1345.
Dustin Cornelison of Haywood County has turned his belief in living a sustainable and frugal lifestyle into an actual business.
Drawing upon his past experience as a sustainability technician for an environmental education center and his skills as a welder and blacksmith, Cornelison, along with his wife, Sara Martin, have put together a plan to turn their farm, Two Trees, into a model of sustainable practices.
“We are selling the farm life style,” Cornelison said. “We hope to demonstrate self sufficiency and furnish people with the tools and knowledge to live off their own land.”
While still a student at Haywood Community College, Cornelison’s business plan was chosen as the 2011 winner of the Sequoyah Fund Community College Business Plan Competition. Cornelison received $10,000 to help him make his business a reality. The Sequoyah Fund encourages and financially rewards students who aspire to start businesses in the seven western-most counties of North Carolina and the Qualla Boundary.
Cornelison founded Sustainabillies, a company that promotes sustainable gardening and living through example, education and artistic recycling and retooling of scrap metals and used objects. He plans to create and sell a variety of custom garden tools and accessories, with the emphasis on using as much recycled materials as possible.
“Designs may be simple and functional using entirely recycled elements or they may be more artistic and use a combination of new and recycled materials,” he said.
Cornelison’s welding shop is located on Two Trees farm.
“I want to incorporate found objects in my designs as much as possible,” he said. “I can re-purpose heirlooms to create unique functional pieces.”
Some of the crafted items that will be for sale are a variety of trellises, trellised planters, compost barrels, rain barrel stands, rain barrels, raised bed components, fire rings, decorative hand rails, fences and gates. Cornelison will also sell artistic handmade benches and indoor and outdoor furniture as well as a line of home goods such as towel and pan racks. He will carry a selection of tools such as knives, hoes, axes and custom/specialty hand tools. He will also do commissioned specialty metal work and forging for clients based on their designs or needs.
“All of the items I make are of the highest quality. They are intended to last a lifetime,” said Cornelison. He can also fabricate new pieces based on old designs or tools.
As another component of Sustainabillies, Cornelison is planning a portable welding shop. “I can come directly to a client’s property to fix equipment. A person won’t have to worry about loading up heavy equipment and hauling it somewhere to get it fixed. I will be able to fix it on the spot,” Cornelison said.
Sustainabillies also sells small apple cider presses designed for home use. With the press, people can harvest juice from apple trees in their yard—another sustainable practice advocated at Two Trees Farm.
The business will offer several services such as the installation of permaculture, and the design and implementation of native, rain and edible gardens. It will offer all aspects of implementation, from tilling and planting to harvesting and preservation. Consultations on sustainability audits and the best use of a property will also be offered.
For now, the blacksmith and welding shop is open for business and Cornelison and Martin are making plans for other ways to use Two Tree Farms as a resource for their community. By next summer, the couple hopes to have farm tours once a week and to also offer a variety of workshops on sustainable living.
“We want to show people that you can live a normal, comfortable lifestyle-sustainably,” Cornelison said.
Two Trees Farm is located in the Beaverdam community of Haywood County. For more information about Sustainabillies and Two Trees Farm, you may visit sustainabillies.net or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 828.713.5972.
It’s not everyday that someone gets credit for contributing a previously unidentified variety of seed to the national seed bank, but that’s exactly what’s happened at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, just over the Georgia state line from Macon County.
A previously unidentified variety of corn — dubbed the Malot Strain of Hawkins Prolific — was detected by honors biology students and Science Department Chair Woody Malot. The National Genetic Resources Program verified the germplasm sample.
Malot keeps approximately 13 heirloom varieties that students sort through regularly, trying to find the most representative sample, when the new variety was discovered.
“Not only is the school making a contribution to the genome/germplasm database, we are also helping preserve genetic material that the modern hybrids depend upon,” Malot said. “In this day and time, seldom is a new (heirloom) variety of plant or animal identified. To have a variety we contributed recognized is a major accomplishment.”
Some in the farming business might know Malot through his other role, that of mill operator of Barker’s Creek Mill on Betty Creek Road in Rabun County, Georgia.
Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park raised $201,209 through its 17th annual “Friends Across the Mountains” telethon — topping the $200,000 mark for the sixth year in a row.
The total for all “Friends Across the Mountains” telethons since 1995 is now nearly $2.5 million.
“For 17 years telethon funding has protected wildlife, strengthened park environmental education programs, and improved our visitors’ experiences in so many ways,” said an appreciative Dale Ditmanson, superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Donations came in from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and, even, Texas. The event was broadcast on Knoxville’s WBIR-TV and Asheville’s WLOS-TV, plus webcast, as well.
Since 1993, the not-for-profit Friends of the Smokies organization has raised more than $34 million to benefit the park.
Macon County’s Frankebelle Scruggs and a local “greasy-bean team” from the Cowee community will show folks how best to collect and save heirloom seed Monday, Sept. 12, beginning at 6 p.m. at Rickman Store.
Many heirloom seeds have dropped in number or disappeared during the last century because farmers stopped collecting and trading their own seeds. By collecting, saving and bartering local varieties, folks cannot only save money, but preserve seeds and varieties that are adapted to this area.
Anyone with old-timey, open-pollinated seeds is encouraged to come relay the story and to barter with others. Those interested in starting an heirloom seed bank here in Macon County particularly should not miss this event.
Additionally, a pot of old fashioned Cowee-cooked beans will be on hand for sampling.
The Rickman Store is located in Cowee-West’s Mill Historic District, 259 Cowee Creek Road, next to Cowee Elementary School. This is seven miles north of Franklin off N.C. 28.
Macon County’s Frankebelle Scruggs and a local “greasy-bean team” from the Cowee community will show folks how best to collect and save heirloom seed Monday, Sept. 12, beginning at 6 p.m. at Rickman Store.
Many heirloom seeds have dropped in number or disappeared during the last century because farmers stopped collecting and trading their own seeds. By collecting, saving and bartering local varieties, folks cannot only save money, but preserve seeds and varieties that are adapted to this area.
Anyone with old-timey, open-pollinated seeds is encouraged to come relay the story and to barter with others. Those interested in starting an heirloom seed bank here in Macon County particularly should not miss this event.
Additionally, a pot of old fashioned Cowee-cooked beans will be on hand for sampling.
The Rickman Store is located in Cowee-West’s Mill Historic District, 259 Cowee Creek Road, next to Cowee Elementary School. This is seven miles north of Franklin off N.C. 28.
Learn about turning your woodlot into a farm through a Mountain BizWorks workshop on Forest-Farming Practices from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, in Sylva.
Novice and experienced farmers will be introduced to crops that can be grown on forest farms and potentially sold in retail markets. Students will be given an overview of permaculture, an understanding of the advantages of poly-cropping and how these crops are related to timber production and forest health, examples of successful forest agriculture systems from around the world, and an introduction to 20 of the most promising perennial, forest-farmed crops for commercial production in our region.
The workshop will be held at the Jackson County Community Services Center in the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service’s meeting room. Zev Friedman, permaculture designer, teacher and writer, will lead the course.
This is a potluck. Bring a dish to share, eating utensils, plates and cups. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Call Sheryl Rudd at 828.631.0292 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Kathryn Greeley of Waynesville has published The Collected Tabletop, a book showcasing ways to create “easy, fun, and breathtaking tabletop designs that will make any occasion memorable,” says its publisher.
For each of the 13 events described in The Collected Tabletop, Greeley details the history and significance of specific items from each collection, ranging from heirloom china and crystal to intricate art glass and colorful majolica combined with hand-thrown pottery.
Chock-full of inspired ideas for hosting high-end theme parties, The Collected Tabletop includes photographs of place settings and tabletop decorations; elegant, painted menus; favors and floral arrangements; and easy-to-prepare recipes, such as Independence Day Flag Tart, Skillet Drop Biscuits, and Goat Cheese Truffles.
Greeley is owner of Kathryn Greeley Designs and has worked in the design industry for 30 years. The Collected Tabletop is published by Greenleaf Publishing Group and can be purchased for $45 by contacting Brooke Wallace at 501.868.9882 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Book Ends, the book discussion group at the Jackson County Public Library, will gather for the first time in the new library at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 12, to discuss the book Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland.
Girl in Hyacinth Blue is the story of a professor who invites a colleague to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor tells his guest that the painting was by the famous Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. The question arises as to why he had hidden this important work for so long. Throughout the book, the ownership of the painting is traced back three and a half centuries to its origins, one owner at a time.
The Book Ends group will continue the second Monday of alternate months. Book selections will announced in advance and extra copies of the selected books will be available at the library.
For more information call 828.586.2016.
I consider it a good thing when you meet someone new from a very different background that provides a chance to pause, and to see your own world in a different light. That view from another vantage point helps to put a wider perspective on our own understandings, experiences, preferences and prejudices, and I think provides a greater and more useful context in which to examine our lives. Unless that person is a loud-mouth, a know-it-all or other brand of royal-pain-in-the-ass, the meeting will probably leave you with a clearer picture of the world and your place in it, if you let it.
I recently spent the afternoon by a chance of fate with just such a person, and we both enjoyed the experience — though we couldn’t have come from more different worlds. I grew up in a middle-class American home with six kids, a mom, a dad, a dog and two cars in the driveway. There was always enough to eat and some presents under the Christmas tree. I had a red bicycle, a baseball glove and a basketball hoop mounted on the garage above the doors. I swam and played ball in the summer, went sledding and skiing in the winter, mowed lawns, and had a paper route in-between. Pretty nice, normal stuff from how I saw it.
My new acquaintance had a very different story from thousands of miles away and a culture thousands of years older than mine. He was born in the People’s Republic of China, and shortly thereafter both of his parents committed suicide. He spent his first four years in several different foster homes and the next three in orphanages, seemingly being tossed around like a pair of Las Vegas dice. One day a single woman from America flew to Hong Kong, signed some papers and whisked him off to live in the suburbs outside New York City with his new life, new culture and new identity.
I tried to put myself in his place, attempting to forget my own comparatively idyllic childhood, but I could not fathom the experience as hard as I tried. His life was a total disconnect to anything I had ever known or had even imagined in my nightmares. I had no reference. If I were flown to Hong Kong at age 7 to start again, what would I be now?
His mom is a long-time friend of my wife’s, and they showed up at our home for a brief visit just before my new friend’s 12th birthday. We walked the dogs down by the creek while we told them about the sounds of the water and birds by day and the coyotes and owls by night, and bragged about the wonders of Southern Appalachia.
The next day when the girls headed off to Asheville, he announced that he’d stay here with the tall man he had just met – much to his Mom’s surprise, as well as mine. With a wink and a nod, the sexes headed their separate ways. I had a few errands to do in town so we loaded into the truck and headed down the mountain. We got some gas and then stopped by the farm supply store for collard seed and to look at all the stuff there with a ginger ale. Then to the grocery store, where I instructed him to get whatever he wanted for lunch as we walked the aisles. He picked out an apple and a bag of beef jerky, the plain kind, no spices. He doesn’t like spicy jerky, I learned. I knew that his mom is a vegetarian and asked him if he was one too.
“Not when I’m on vacation,” was his reply between bites. Works for me, I thought.
We got back to the farm and I showed him the woodshop and he asked what I could build. I told him I usually built houses, garages, barns and that kinda stuff.
He asked “Can you build a wagon or a spear?” I told him I thought I could, but why would he need a spear?
“In case of the coyotes” he squarely replied. “I think we need a spear, with a sharp point.”
I wasn’t sure where he had formed his coyote notions, but I obliged and we started looking for a perfect piece of wood that wasn’t too heavy, but really, really strong. We settled on a piece of oak which I planed and cut with my really, really loud machines, roughing it into a semi-spear for hand finishing. I showed him how to use clamps, a file and sandpaper and turned him loose. The next hour was spent pushing steel against wood, smoothing edges, and sharpening the all-important point, which he tested often with his tiny palm. Those small, Asian eyes were intensely focused on each stroke of the blade, knowing somehow that our safety depended on his skill as a spear maker.
A little later he announced that it was done if I would help him finish, and that we needed a box to test it on, and did I have one? We finished the piece to his satisfaction and found an old box in the corner, broken but perfect. Under his instruction we put a foam pad inside to make it more like a real coyote. We set it on end, standing almost as tall as he was, and the practice began. For the next hour our cardboard coyote took dozens of mortal blows, with frequent commentary, sometimes falling over with the spear sticking straight up in a perfect kill. When one side of the box, I mean coyote, was all but a shred he turned it around and started again. He asked if I had any ketchup or Hawaiian Punch we could put in bags inside to make it really real. I laughed and told him I had none, which was “OK,” and the practice resumed. When Mom returned, he rushed her to the shop to see what he had done and how safe we would all now be.
They left the next morning with spear in hand, promising to come back for another hike by the creek, in absolute safety. We waved good-bye and I walked up to the shop and saw the tattered box where he had left it, deciding that was a good place for it for now.
For the next few days I saw the box there and thought of my friend with the difficult past and the wonderful, hopeful spirit. Sometimes I chuckled and sometimes a tear fell off my face at the thought of his challenging life and what had been shared between these two strangers.
It occurred to me at one point that we all have “cardboard coyotes” we’re constantly battling, be they real or imagined. Personal shortcomings, unachieved goals, misunderstood fears and false notions can leave each of us feeling vulnerable at some point, no matter where we’re from or how lucky we’ve been. Maybe if we all spent the time and energy my little friend did to skewer these unseen threats, we too could walk bravely and confidently through life, regardless of our past or what might or might not be lurking around the next corner.
(John Beckman is a farmer, builder and part-time spear-maker in Cullowhee. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
To the Editor:
In response to Dr. Dan Eichenbaum’s announcement that he is running for Congress again in the 11th Congressional District, it is my duty to inform the voters of a few facts that make him unelectable.
First, every candidate in the 2010 primary made the same promise to support the eventual nominee. All four other men kept their promise; but Dr. Eichenbaum never did endorse or support Jeff Miller.
As Jeff Miller said: “Dr. Eichenbaum failed this most basic test of honor and commitment to the voters.”
Second, Dr. Eichenbaum flip-flopped on both abortion and drugs during the primary.
His original abortion position on his website was, “Abortion is not a federal issue and is, therefore, more properly one legislated by the states and their citizens.” But four months in to the campaign it became: “Technically, abortion is not a federal issue for constitutional reasons. I do not, however, agree that it should be legislated by the states and their citizens.”
On drugs, his original position was that the “War on Drugs’ should be ended” and that only “the sale of potentially harmful chemicals to minors should be a criminal offense.” Later this position also pivoted.
The flip-flops on abortion and drugs are not surprising as he only switched his affiliation from Libertarian to Republican six months before the filing deadline.
Robert Danos,
Former spokesman for the 11th District NCGOP
To the Editor:
At the July meeting of the Jackson County Democratic Party Executive Committee, the executive committee voted to officially oppose the proposal of Duke Energy of the Carolinas to seek a rate increase for its electricity consumers in North Carolina.
We recognize the importance of an adequate and reliable supply of electricity at the lowest reasonable cost, however, given the economic conditions that are present in Jackson County and most of North Carolina, we do not believe that this an appropriate time to increase consumer’s rates. It is our understanding that Duke has proposed that the average increase would be approximately 17 percent for residential, 14 percent for general services and industrial, and 8 percent for outdoor lighting. For low-income families and struggling small businesses, even a minimal increases would prove to be devastating, which Duke is already aware of and has publicly acknowledged.
It is our belief that Duke Energy should do more to utilize its current profit margin to help mitigate the costs of these capital improvements.
Many of the improvements have already started or even been completed and any additional revenue generated from a rate increase would only be used to replenish lost profits.
The Jackson County Democratic Party urges the North Carolina Utilities Commission to deny Duke’s request for a rate increase at this time, or at the very least reduce Duke Energy’s rate increase request to the lowest amount reasonable under applicable law, and have the rate increases to be spread out over time to minimize customer impact.
Brian McMahan, Chairman
Jackson County Democratic Party
To the editor:
If mandatory health insurance is unconstitutional, as the Republicans hope the Supreme Court will rule, what about Social Security and Medicare? They’re compulsory also. The health plan is different only in allowing some consumer choice. You’d think the Republicans ought to be in favor of that.
Their hypocrisy makes sense, though, as a cover for their ulterior objectives. The first is to defeat President Obama by wrecking his proudest achievement. Ultimately, they would repeal even Social Security and Medicare.
Their disguise has evaporated with Rick Perry’s meteoric popularity in the Republican presidential polls. The Texas governor, so reactionary as to make the late Barry Goldwater look like a Socialist, openly doubts the constitutionality of Social Security.
And that’s not all. Perry would also repeal the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments, which authorized the income tax and provided for the people rather than the state legislatures to elect U.S. senators. This strange politician mistrusts not only government, but the voters too.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1937, amidst the Great Depression, that Social Security was constitutional under Congress’ power to promote the general welfare. “The hope behind this statute,” wrote Justice Benjamin Cardozo, “is to save men and women from the rigors of the poor house, as well as from the haunting fear that such a lot awaits them when journey’s end is near.” The states individually, he said, could not manage a problem that “is plainly national in area and dimensions.”
The same surely is true, 74 years later, of the fact that more than 40 million Americans lack health insurance.
But the current Supreme Court no longer pays even lip service to precedent. However it rules on the Affordable Health Care Act, it will likely be by a vote of five to four. Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife has campaigned ardently against the legislation, would be eager to write an opinion undercutting Social Security and Medicare as well as the issue at hand.
If they survive, it would be by only a thread — one that the next president might cut with his first appointment to the court. If you want to undo a century of progress, Perry’s your man.
Martin A. Dyckman
Waynesville
To the Editor:
I found it curious that the slew of bills rushed through the first session of our new Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature were reported in the national news as being introduced in other Republican-controlled state legislatures as well. I figured that the national Republican Party was pulling the puppet strings. Then I found about ALEC and got really scared.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a corporate-funded and controlled group of state legislators. Corporations write legislation that will directly benefit their bottom lines, and the participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, bring these proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the country as their own ideas. This is why the bills are so uniform across the country and were ready to be introduced on day one of the legislative sessions.
You will find just about all of the controversial bills from our last N.C. legislative session there – repealing the federal health care law, suppressing voter turnout, privatizing schools, abolishing environmental protections, granting tax breaks to big corporations and crippling the state’s ability to raise revenue. I found under “ALEC Politicians” 35 Republican members of our N.C. House of Representatives listed, including Speaker Thom Tillis who was the 2011 ALEC State Legislator of the Year. To their credit, Republican state senators Jim Davis. R-Franklin, and Ralph Hise, R-Spruce Pine, deny ties to ALEC (and they are not listed), but they voted consistently for ALEC legislation, and Sen. Davis says he supports ALEC’s philosophy.
It is shameful that our N.C. Republican-controlled legislature makes laws which benefit corporate bottom lines at the expense of the economic security of North Carolina families. I understand now why they did nothing to create jobs for our citizens. High unemployment allows corporations to keep wages and benefits low. I fear that the radical Republicans in Raleigh are working for multi-national corporations instead of the people of North Carolina.
Carole Larivee
Waynesville
Maggie Valley will host a craft show this Labor Day weekend from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 and 4 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds
Visitors can find handmade crafts of all kinds from local artisans and crafters. Works will include pottery, photographers, hand painted murals, stained glass, jewelry from gemstones to polymer clay bead art, dichroic glass designers, floral arrangements, wood turners and wood crafters, crocheted and knitted items, homemade jams & jellies, artful clothing, leather & deerskin pouches, kitchen accessories, quilts of all sizes, soy candles, soaps and more.
This year’s show will feature more than 100 exhibitors from North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama.
In addition to crafts, there will be piped music throughout the day and festival foods will be prepared by local groups and vendors.
Fireworks sponsored by the Town of Maggie Valley will start at 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 4.
For more information call 828.497.9425 or visit www.maggievalleycraftshows.com.
A LakeAlooza Party is being held from 12 to 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 at Fontana Village Resort. There are scheduled lake games, inner tube races, food and live entertainment provided by Randy Flack from noon until 3 p.m. Fontana Marina offers free launch and trailer parking for guests bringing their own watercraft to the event.
The Wildwood Grill will feature live music by My Highway from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday night. The band plays a mix from the country and southern rock genres.
Fireworks will start at 9:30 p.m. in front of the Wildwood Grill on the Village Green. The resort is also offering free admission to the Stone Creek pool and lazy river on Saturday and Sunday.
The Liars Bench, a Southern Appalachian variety show, will start at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1, at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center.
The Liars Bench was founded by Sylva writer and storyteller Gary Carden in June 2010, and the show’s cast presented monthly programs at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva during its first year. The ensemble gave its first performance in the Mountain Heritage Center auditorium in July.
With a theme of “Folklore, Lies and Tall Tales,” the upcoming show will feature Carden, voice artist David Hirt and author Curtis Blanton telling tales. Also performing will be show regulars Paul Iarussi, Barbara Duncan and Dave Waldrop.
The presentation is free, but donations will be accepted.
828.227.7129.
The P.A.W.S. Wine Tasting and Silent Auction, the largest fundraiser for the non-profit, no-kill animal shelter, will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, at Lands Creek Log Cabins Harmony Hall in Bryson City.
P.A.W.S. cares for approximately 150 to 180 dogs and cats each year through donations, grants and a thrift store.
Each year the auction features about 250 items ranging from handcrafted jewelry to weekend getaway packages, restaurant gift certificates and more.
Hors d’oeuvres and a selection North Carolina wines will be featured for tasting.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance or at the door. For directions to Lands Creek Log Cabins, call 828.488.9793 or visit www.landscreek.com.
828.333.4267 or www.pawsbrysoncity.org.
