Admin
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation will hold the first annual Plates for the Parkway event on Sept. 18 in which local restaurants will donate 10 percent of a day’s revenue to the foundation.
Restaurants from communities along the 469 miles of the Parkway are invited to participate, and current participants stretch from the top of the Parkway in Waynesboro, Va. to Sylva. Participating restaurants include Sylva’s City Lights Café and Guadalupe Café. A current list of all participating restaurants can be found at www.platesfortheparkway.org.
“There are so many wonderful restaurants in the communities along the Parkway,” said Christy Bell, development director for the foundation. “For visitors, this event highlights some of these unique places and gives them the opportunity to benefit what brings many of them here in the first place: the Parkway. For those of us lucky enough to live near the Parkway, it’s a fun way to support this amazing place while dining out at a favorite restaurant.”
Restaurants may sign up to participate through Sept. 14. Interested restaurants may contact Christy Bell at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.
10 percent of Mast General Store sales in Waynesville on Sept. 15 will go to the Friends of the Smokies to help protect the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in significant, tangible ways.
“Friends Day” will help support the organization that has raised more than $37 million to help preserve and protect the park. Friends of the Smokies contributed more than $1 million last year to fund Park needs, including the ongoing battle to suppress the hemlock woolly adelgid across the Smokies, conservation of black bears in the backcountry, and management of the elk herd in Cataloochee. Friends also provided more than $275,000 for curriculum enhancement for the Parks as Classrooms environmental education program that serves more than 12,000 students in schools bordering the park.
Representatives from Friends of the Smokies will be on hand at the Mast Stores in Waynesville on Sept. 15. They’ll share information about projects the Friends are currently undertaking to preserve the character of the most visited national park in the United States.
North Carolina State University is hosting a workshop on organic broccoli production from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sept. 19 at the Mountain Research Station on Test Farm Road in Waynesville.
Learn about organic broccoli production including insect management, post-harvest techniques, and marketing. View 28 broccoli varieties and help rate which one is best, see which ones are most insect resistant, heat tolerant, and taste best.
To ensure that there will be a lunch, attendees should email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
This workshop is free and open to the public. 828.684.3562.
The Jackson County Public Library in downtown Sylva will host Cooperative Extension agent Christy Bredenkamp for a free seminar on ginseng production for homeowners who desire to grow “sang.”
Topics covered will include state regulations for growing and hunting “sang,” plant physiology, present and historical use of ginseng and comparing Asian versus American ginseng. The major emphasis of the program will be woods-simulated cultural practices such as: site selection and preparation, sowing, harvesting and drying the roots and seed stratification.
828.586.2016.
Author Jim Staggers will read from and discuss his book Messages To My Descendents — Please Fix Our Government from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Franklin library.
Staggers is a former Chief Operating Officer and vice president at APL Corporation who retired to Franklin five years ago. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in chemistry and attended Syracuse University to study finance and business management.
The impetus for writing the book is his frustration with the gridlock in Washington D.C., and he uses his experience as a businessman to describe his concerns.
The Macon County Public Library is located at 149 Siler Farm Road in Franklin.
828.524.3600 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Johnnie Sue Myers, author of The Gathering Place, will visit City Lights Bookstore at 1 p.m. Sept. 16.
The Gathering Place is a cookbook featuring traditional Cherokee dishes, wild game preparation tips and recipes and Southern Appalachian cooking. The book has received regional and national attention being featured in an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman on the Travel channel and in the September edition of WNC magazine. Myers will discuss the book and offer samples of a few of the recipes featured in her book.
828.586.9499.
By Kenn Jacobine • Guest Columnist
According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, we are about to enter another recession. Of course, one would be hard-pressed to convince the over 20 million Americans who remain unemployed or underemployed that the last recession ever ended. But, I suppose, according to economists, it technically did.
To the Editor:
The 2012 campaign illustrates two oft-quoted maxims: that war is a continuation of politics by other means, and that truth is the first casualty of war.
It’s more than the usual question about which party will occupy the White House for the next four years. The campaign has become a civil war — minus the bloodshed — over what kind of America this will be for a long time to come.
The Republican Party, its former “big tent” converted into a death chamber for dissent, single-mindedly idealizes an America where wealth is a measure not just of success but of one’s value to society. Whatever stands in the way of wealth — whether taxes or regulation — is to be rooted out.
The Democrats still believe that we Americans owe more than that to each other, to our children, to our future, to our planet.
No one alive has experienced a choice so clear or so stark. That’s the one thing on which the parties agree: it’s about changing the future. Whether for better or for worse is for the voters to decide.
But the Republicans don’t trust the voters to make that choice intelligently. If they did, they wouldn’t be lying so much and so often about whether President Obama repealed welfare’s work requirement or “raided” Medicare of $716-billion.
My side has shot from the hip too, but not nearly so flagrantly or persistently.
The Medicare issue, one of five falsehoods that Paul Ryan spoke to the Republican convention, has long since been effectively debunked by Consumers Union and dozens of media fact-checkers. But the Republicans are on record as saying they’re not going to let fact-checkers run their campaign, and so there was Ryan, retelling that big lie. I also found it reeking in my mail box last week and heard it in a Romney-Ryan robocall.
Ryan’s own budget incorporated the same $716 billion in savings, but of course hypocrisy is just another form of deceit. The truth is that Obamacare added new benefits to traditional Medicare, such as wellness visits and cancer screenings, and took none away. The savings will come from reducing overpayments to Medicare advantage plans, hospitals that because of Obamacare will no longer have to treat so many uninsured patients, and certain other providers.
The Romney-Ryan Medicare canard symbolizes the Republican attempt to insert generational warfare into the class struggle that they began. They want to peel off senior voters by assuring us that our Medicare and Social Security benefits would be safe in their hands, so long as we let them have their way with people not yet 55.
Do the Republicans truly take us to be that selfish? Are they betting that we don’t care as much for our children and grandchildren?
Yes, they do. Yes, they are. Is it surprising that a party pledged to Social Darwinism as national policy should be encouraging voters to look out only for themselves?
Martin A. Dyckman
Waynesville
To the Editor:
As a full-time resident of Maggie Valley, I am shocked at the shenanigans taking place in our town over the selection of a replacement for Alderman Phil Aldridge who resigned in August.
I think that the people currently serving the town on the Board of Aldermen need to remember that the positions on the Board of Aldermen are elected positions and that the person who is selected to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Aldridge will serve out the remainder of his term, for three years. Therefore, this is a serious issue for the townspeople and needs a serious solution. This is not an opportunity to put “one’s good friend” on the board or have back room discussions about candidates amongst aldermen about their “favorites” before candidate interviews have even been conducted. This smacks of cronyism and violates the Open Meetings Act. This is an opportunity to select the best person for the job of serving the town and the public needs to have input in this decision.
Since Mayor Ron DeSimone has decided to interview all the applicants, I suggest that these interviews be conducted publicly with opportunity for the public to question the applicants. This would take the place of scheduling an election and give the town their due process. I am aware that there is no requirement in the town ordinances to have an application process, or conduct interviews, or even have a public discussion when a vacancy occurs on the board of alderman. Since this is the third vacancy in the last two years, perhaps this time, the town needs to consider the correct process for filling vacancies that serves the best interest of the town and draft new ordinances accordingly. Otherwise, there is no transparency or fairness in government and the whole process is tainted.
Dr. Janet Banks
Maggie Valley
To the Editor:
While I support the display of the Confederate flag or the Ten Commandments as a means of individual personal opinion, neither should be displayed on property we the people own together.
The beginning of the end of the Civil War began on April 19, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant. At that time “all physical possessions of the Confederate army” were also surrendered (including their flag) and all troops became united under one flag. Grant charitably agreed to give back to the Confederates their horses and to feed and supply them. The union of the states was eventually reestablished. The 13th Amendment banning slavery was passed. And most importantly, the 14th Amendment, which reflects what our founders had previously established by the adoption of the godless and, without regard for any scripture, U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights.
Those did in fact create a secular republic whose primary duty is to equally protect its citizens as well as “all persons” within its borders, as to their naturally inherent or otherwise inalienable rights, of which came not directly from any God, but were inherited from their “creator” — their parents.
This embrace of the deistic notion of a God who created all things great and small never to interfere again, which is by itself a firm basis for separating the church from the state, can be found throughout our founding documents.
But of course there has been a long history of disregard for the 14th Amendment, whereby women and minorities were not considered to be “all persons.” The current Republican Party platform certainly reflects a disregard for a woman’s naturally inherent or otherwise inalienable rights as the result of her birth by denying to any woman under any circumstance her right to the liberty of self-determination by the means of her own conscience.
Again, neither the Ten Command-ments nor the Confederate flag should be displayed on public taxpayer funded property except as individual personal opinion.
Chuck Zimmerman
Waynesville
To the Editor:
You printed an interesting, however misguided, guest column in the Sept. 5 issue. John Beckman (“Proud to be an American … sort of,” www.smokymountainnews.com/opinion/item/8558) spends three columns lamenting the state of the country but then at the end admits he will vote for the President. Evidently, despite his frequent use of the internet, he has never examined the background and record of this president.
The corruption he deplores is all over this presidency and this administration.
So Mr. Beckman wants to be a proud American as our president “does by his actions not his words,” says he! Where have you been these nearly four year, sir? In the very first months of his presidency Obama made his “Apology Tour” to countries around the world asking for forgiveness for America’s bad behavior. Never mind that the USA has rescued failing countries, has sent billions of aid to help disaster victims everywhere and anywhere, has been a dedicated ally to countries in peril and has been an economic and lifestyle model to worldwide citizens. Do you see immigrants flooding to any other countries other than the good old USA?
Finally, Mr. Beckman refers to the “spin and obstructions” Obama’s opponents throw at him. According to my recollections it is just the opposite … the Obama campaign and PACs have thrown everything they can conjure up at Mitt Romney and now Paul Ryan. Romney is falsely accused of not paying taxes and causing the death of a cancer victim. According to the Obama machine Romney’s worst offense of all is being a successful businessman who has built his own success and that of others. This of course is outside of Barak Obama’s experience level since he has never worked in the private sector nor has he had any appreciable record of success … except of course to talk his way into the presidency of the United States.
Finally, if you think all of the above is “opinion,” here is the Obama record from 2008 to the present. Sorry, but this is not a record to be proud of.
• Unemployment: 7.8% then, 8.3% now.
• Median income: $54,983 then, $50,964 now.
• Gas prices: $1.85 per gallon then, $3.78 now.
• National debt: $10.6 trillion then, $16 trillion+ now.
• Half of all Americans are now considered “poor” or “low income.”
• One out of every six Americans is living in poverty, an increase of millions since Obama took office.
• Food stamp usage has increased by 45 percent under this president.
• Average family health care premium costs have increased to roughly $15,000 per year.
Carol C. Adams
Glenville
Communications chairman, Jackson County GOP)
To the Editor:
Some like to claim that ours is a Christian nation. But this was not the intent of our Founding Fathers. While a majority of our citizens may identify themselves as Christian (as do I), there is nothing in our Constitution that names our nation as Christian, or gives special recognition to Christianity. The Constitution is a wholly secular document and makes no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ. In fact, the Constitution refers to religion only twice — in the First Amendment, which bars laws “respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and in Article VI, which prohibits “religious tests” for public office. Both these provisions are evidence that our country was not founded as officially Christian.
The Founding Fathers did not create a secular government because they disliked religion. Many — though not all — were believers themselves. Yet they were well aware of the dangers of church-state union. They had experienced religious tyranny and oppression — either in Europe before they came here, or in one of the early colonies that allied religion with government. Determined to prevent such religious persecution here, they adopted a Constitution that insured the separation of church and state.
We can be thankful they did, as we have freedom of religion today precisely because neither government nor church can impose its will on the other. We must make sure that this dividing line is maintained, and guard with vigilance the assurance that our friends in the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other faiths have the same freedom and protection for practicing their faiths as do Christians. There can only be freedom for us if we protect the freedom of all by preventing the imposition of our faith on adherents of the others.
Doug Wingeier
Waynesville
John Tedesco, Republican candidate for superintendent of the North Carolina Department of Pubic Instruction, will be in town for two upcoming appearances on Sept. 15: an 11 a.m. lunch with the Macon County Republican Party at The Boiler Room Restaurant in Franklin and a 1 p.m. meet-and-greet at Swain County Republican headquarters in Bryson City. 828.488.2842.
•••
A talk on the Affordable Care Act moderated by former Republican Congressional Candidate Dan Eichenbaum will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Jackson County library in Sylva.
Sandy Goss, a registered nurse originally from England, will also offer first-hand comparisons of Britain’s government-run health care system and the traditional health system of the U.S. and field questions for the audience. Sponsored by the Jackson County Patriots group.
•••
“Patriots and Popcorn” will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Albert Carlton Library in Cashiers, which will feature of viewing of “A More Perfect Union.” It is sponsored by the unaffiliated Jackson County Patriots, a grassroots organization dedicated to fostering fiscal accountability and Constitution-based government.
•••
N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, will hold a fundraiser at 6 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Jarrett House in Dillsboro. Davis is running for re-election against former senator John Snow. $35 per person. 828.743.6491
Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for those 65 and older, and the chances of falling and being seriously injured in a fall increase with age.
In recognition of annual Falls Prevention Awareness Day, students and faculty from Western Carolina University’s Department of Physical Therapy are teaming up with the Jackson County Senior Center and Department of Public Health to offer free programs to help older adults decrease their chance of a fall.
• Learn general tips and brief exercises older adults can use to reduce their risk of falling 11-11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 17, at the Jackson County Department on Aging office in Sylva. RSVP for lunch. 828.631.8033.
• An hour-long balance improvement exercise class will be held from 2-3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, at the Jackson County Senior Center. 828.586.4944.
• A fall risk screening clinic will be offered at the Cashiers-Glenville Fire Station from 8:45 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27. Undergo a series of simple tests to assess your fall risk, including medication reviews by a pharmacist, and receive individualized recommendations based on the results. 828.587.8279.
Western Carolina University’s 38th annual Mountain Heritage Day Local is set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 29 on the campus in Cullowhee.
The foods competition will include divisions for canned goods, baked goods, extracted honey and “heritage foods,” plus the “Best in the West” whole grain recipe contest.
The foods contest is coordinated jointly by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service’s Jackson County Center and the Mountain Heritage Center. Ribbons will be awarded to the top three entries in youth and adult divisions and a grand champion will be selected from each of the divisions.
Canned goods, honey and heritage foods can be dropped off at the museum between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sept. 25. Baked goods and whole grain recipe contest entries should be brought to the Mountain Heritage Center between 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 28.
Winners will be announced from the Balsam Stage at Mountain Heritage Day at 12:15 p.m.
For more information, 828.586.4009 or 828. 227.7129 or www.mountainheritageday.com.
A 5-kilometer foot race and other competitions will take place on the day of the festival. Full race details are available at www.claws.wcu.edu/sma/5K.
Other competitions scheduled for Mountain Heritage Day include a chain saw contest, with registration beginning at 9 a.m. and competition starting at 10 a.m., and an old-fashioned attire contest for children and adults and a beard and moustache contest for men at 12:15 p.m. on the Balsam Stage.
828.227.7129.
Autumn’s colors and flavors take center stage from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 6 during the fourth annual “ColorFest – Art & Taste of Appalachia” festival in Dillsboro.
Macon County Public Library in Franklin will show a short film, “Living in Bear Country: Practical Advice on Living Responsibly in Bear Country” at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13.
A growing population of both bears and people in the area means that problems stemming from improper storage of garbage, barbecues and birdfeeders are growing.
Cynthia Strain, Anne Allison and Kathy Sherrard are wildlife educators affiliated with both Appalachian Bear Rescue and the B.E.A.R. Taskforce of the Western NC Alliance. The trio will share information about black bears and explain how to reduce human and bear conflicts.
The B.E.A.R. Task Force joined forces with the Western North Carolina Alliance a year ago, with a mission to promote safe, harmonious coexistence between humans and bears.
The Friends of the Library is sponsoring the program. It is free, open to the public and appropriate for all ages.
The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will hold auditions for its November production of the celebrated Broadway play “August Osage County” at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24-25.
“August Osage County” is considered to be one of the greatest productions of the past decade, winning the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for best play. Set in the contemporary Midwest, it is the story a family coming together after a crisis. The play has roles for adults of all ages. This is a very large cast.
Community theater actors will be given scenes to read from the script. Anyone auditioning as a professional actor is expected to have a headshot, resume and prepared monologue. Anyone interested in working backstage on the production is also encouraged to come by during auditions to sign up.
Steve Lloyd is directing the production, and it will run two weeks beginning Nov. 9.
Auditions will be held in the Performing Arts Center at 250 Pigeon St. in Waynesville. www.HartTheatre.com.
Silvia Williams will instruct a workshop on experimental art from 1-3 p.m. on Sept. 14 at Leapin’ Frog Gallery.
Williams is an abstract experimental artist interested in expressing herself through color, texture and line. Students will be doing a collage applied with exciting colors and shapes. Various techniques will be shown and students may choose which technique is most suited for them.
Cost is $25. Leapin’ Frog Gallery is located at 58 Commerce Street in Waynesville. 828.456.8441.
Phillips, Craig, and Dean, an award-winning contemporary Christian music trio, will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts.
Randy Phillips, Shawn Craig and Dan Dean are all full-time pastors who have been performing together since 1991. They have released 12 albums and 18 number one radio singles. They have sold more than two million albums and earned multiple Dove Awards. Group hits include, “Here I Am to Worship,” “Your Grace Still Amazes Me” and “Crucified with Christ.”
Tickets start at $15 and are available at the theatre’s box office at 1028 Georgia Road in Franklin.
www.GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.
Well-known Waynesville artist Jo Kelley will teach a one-day painting workshop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 6 at River’s Edge Studio in Asheville.
Tickets are on-sale to see pianist Bruce Hornsby at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12.
Hornsby writes powerful songs from the heart that touch on several distinctly American traditions: pop, jazz, bluegrass, and ‘60s soul. He had his first hit in 1986 with “The Way It Is.” He continued to release albums and has backed bands to suit the genres in which he works. Most notably, Hornsby has toured as a temporary member of the Grateful Dead in the early ‘90s and collaborated on offshoot recordings and live shows.
Must be 21 years of age or older to attend.
www.ticketmaster.com or 800.745.3000.
Sylva businesses will stay open late Sept. 14 for its monthly art stroll.
Sylva Art Strolls, which are sponsored by Jackson County Visual Arts Association and the Chamber of Commerce, are held from 5-9 p.m. on the second Friday of each month through December.
Gallery 1 will host an artist reception that night for artists in its new multi-medium art show, SEASONS. The event will also include a make-and-take project, where visitors can paint tile coasters.
Signature Brew Coffee Company and Dawn Behling will present an exhibit, “Hot Wax & OctoLove,” showcasing new work that focuses on the whimsical nature of the ocean. Hot Wax refers to the encaustic technique that uses hot wax and pigment.
City Lights Cafe will feature an ongoing exhibit by Corina Pia and will present live music with singers Ansley & Margaret McAllister on acoustic guitar and harp.
Other participating venues include Survival Pride Clothing Store and Art Gallery, Nichols House Antiques and Collectibles, Papou’s Wine Shop, Lulu’s on Main Restaurant, Main Street Bakery, Mill & Main Restaurant, Hooper’s Restaurant, Pixie’s Emporium & Bistro and Guadalupe Cafe.
828.337.3468 or www.MountainLovers.com.
Craft demonstrations at Dogwood Crafters in Dillsboro during the next week include beading by Nan Smith and punch needlework by Jeri Buek.
Guitar duo Jazz Mountain and the male choir Men Macon Music will perform at a double-bill concert starting at 4 p.m. Sept. 16 on Franklin’s Town Square Gazebo on the corner of Main and Iotla streets.
Guitarists Paul Savaiko and Ray Olson perform together as Jazz Mountain, playing material from The Great American Songbook through varied jazz mediums including swing, ballads, bossas and blues, with some contemporary and original tunes added to the mix.
The award-winning Men Macon Music all-male chorus, directed by Tom Fisher, boasts more than two dozen voices and renders selections representing a broad spectrum of music, from show tunes to Americana to humorous numbers.
Attendees should bring a lawn chair. This event is sponsored by the Arts Council of Macon County, with support from the Grassroots Arts Program of the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
www.ArtsCouncilofMacon.org or 828.524.7683.
16 acts have beat out the competition to go on to the finals of Haywood’s Got Talent at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Performing Arts Center.
The line up for the finals will include vocalist Holly Ann Harmon, harpist Samantha Mulholland, bluegrass folk group Productive Paranoia, vocalist Tracy Long, vocalist Lindsay Long, retro-vocalist Ben Tetreault, guitarist Helena Hunt, Raqshuraka Dance Company, “From Rock to Hip Hop” (featuring Forest, Meadow, River and Sky Byrd), singer/guitarist Matthew Curry, Broadway vocalist Ashlyn Combs, contemporary vocalist Tierney Leigh Cody, opera singer Heather Fergusen, classical vocalist Madison Garris, dancer Sara Kachensparger and country singer Ashley Wood.
Judges for the finals are Rod Leigh, Eric Martinez and Raymond Yarnutoski. The winner will take home $1,000.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students. The Performing Arts Center is located at 250 Pigeon St. in downtown Waynesville.
www.HartTheater.com or 828.456.6322.
Jackson County Library in Sylva begins its new Teen Advisory Group (TAG) from 6-7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 with a special steam punk jewelry and creations workshop.
Teens in grade six through 12 are invited to make suggestions for programs and activities, as well as new books, magazines, movies and audio books. TAG meetings also include socializing, arts and crafts, games and other activities. Many local schools count TAG meeting participation as volunteer time eligible for school credit. Jenifer Ross, a youth services staff member at the library, who makes jewelry and does fine metal work as a hobby, will lead the workshop.
828.586.2016.
For three days in September, the first-ever Dada Festival at Western Carolina University brings together music, dance, the visual arts in the spirit of the early 20th-century art movement known as Dadaism.
The Swain County Public Schools Foundation is looking for people to participate in its first-ever Scarecrow Festival.
Handmade scarecrows will be on display from Oct. 6-20. All businesses, organizations and homeowners are invited to take part. The winning entries will be displayed at the Chili Fest on Oct. 20 at the Bryson City Train Depot.
The entrance fee is $25 per scarecrow. All proceeds go directly into the Swain County Public Schools Foundation, which is responsible for rewarding scholarships for our Swain County students and grants for our teachers.
Entry forms can be picked up at the Swain County Chamber of Commerce or at the Swain County Public School Central Office. Attach a check made out to Swain County Public Schools Foundation and send it to: Laura Holden, Swain County School District, PO Box 2340, Bryson City, NC 28713 by Oct. 1.
770.315.8950.
Greater Haywood County Chamber of Commerce is currently accepting applications for nonprofits and agribusinesses for the 24th annual Haywood County Apple Harvest Festival, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 20 on Main Street in Waynesville.
The annual festival, which celebrates the harvest season in Haywood County, features handmade arts and crafts, apples and apple products for sale. In addition, the festival also includes food vendors of all types, educational and information booths, authentic mountain music and dance groups and a children’s fun area.
Nonprofit businesses with an annual operation budget of $200,000 or less and agribusinesses are encouraged to apply. Vendors will receive a 10x12 booth space at a reduced rate of $100. Limited space is available.
The deadline for applications is Sept. 21. Booth space assignments for the festival will be announced after Oct. 5.
Greater Haywood County Chamber of Commerce, Haywood County Extension Service, and Haywood County Apple Growers present the Haywood County Apple Harvest Festival.
Applications are available at www.HaywoodAppleFest.com or 828.456.3021.
Actress Barbara Bates Smith will perform the play “Go, Granny, Go”, the inspiring story of Doris “Granny D” Haddock, at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University, with musical accompaniment from Jeff Sebens.
A reception will be held before the performance at 6:30 p.m. Joe Sam Queen, Young Democrats and College Democrats are sponsoring the event. Tickets are $15.
“Granny D,” a 90-year-old in 2000, was considered a national heroine as she completed a walk from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. to bring attention to campaign finance reform.
Smith, noted for her Off-Broadway adaptation and performance of “Ivy Rowe” from Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies, has toured for 20 years with the works of Lee Smith.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park will celebrate Appalachian folkways at its annual Mountain Life Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Mountain Farm Museum.
An $11.7 million expansion by Sonoco Plastics in Waynesville is now underway, landed in part thanks to $828,000 worth of economic incentives from the state, Haywood county and the town.
Sonoco is currently in the process of expanding its facility on Howell Mill Road off Russ Avenue by 17,000 square feet and transforming it into a 24-hour operation.
The company, which manufactures plastic packaging such as the trays used in frozen dinners, has already spent nearly $1 million on the expansion, said Mark Clasby, executive director of the Economic Development Commission, at a Haywood County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday. The new capital investment on the building expansion and equipment is estimated at $11.7 million.
Sonoco Plastics has operations in other locations, which were considered along with Waynesville for the expansion. Tax credits and grants sweetened the pot, in return for the funding, the company, formerly known as Associated Packaging, needed to add 35 jobs.
Last year, Sonoco Plastics employed 97 people. Now, the company has 132 full-time and 30 part-time employees.
The plant has received $175,000 in job creation grants from the North Carolina Rural Center so far. All funding from the Rural Center must pass through the county, which then disburses it.
Late fees for overdue books and CDs have increased at libraries in Haywood County.
Habitually late bibliophiles previously paid 10 cents per day for every late book or CD, with the maximum charge being $10 per item. However, the Haywood County Board of Commissioners voted this week to up the daily fee to 25 cents per book and CD. Though, the maximum fine will remain at $10, and DVD late fees will remain at $1 a day.
The change puts the Haywood County libraries in line with the other libraries in the state.
The Macon Aero Modelers Club is hosting a charity Fly-In at 9 a.m. Sept. 22 and 10 a.m. Sept. 23 at its flying field in Otto.
The proceeds will go to CareNet, a nonprofit organization that collects food for those in need. Visitors are asked to bring 10 cans of non-perishable food or donate $5 per car for parking.
The Fly-In is open to the public and will feature all types of radio-controlled airplanes and helicopters flying, and on display. The club’s airfield is located about eight miles south of Franklin on Tessentee Road. Hotdogs and barbecue will be available for lunch.
By Chris Cooper
For your consideration this week: some engaging new sounds from Canyon Records, and a frantic but exhilarating tribute to one of Britain’s most brilliant and under-appreciated guitar heroes, Jeff Beck.
“Picket Fences,” and “Northern Exposure”
Is it possible to be nostalgic for the 1990s already? Or maybe it is the relative lack of excellent, quirky, hour-long “dramadies,” especially on network television. Before HBO blew the networks away with “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” “Deadwood,” and the like, these shows were two of the best television had to offer. “Picket Fences” was created by David Kelley, who also created “LA Law,” “Ally McBeal,” and “Boston Legal,” among other shows, but I thought “Picket Fences” might be the best of the bunch, and after a long delay, the first season is finally available on DVD. Since Kelley’s shows are often topical, some of the episodes seem a bit dated now, and the edginess of the show is not nearly as edgy now in the wake of “The Sopranos,” et al. Still, it is well worth seeking out. “Northern Exposure,” on the other hand, has not dated at all, remaining as fresh and inventive as the day it aired. Instead of watching another stupid reality show, give these a try, or if you know and love them already, go ahead and wallow in some ‘90s nostalgia.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
Increasing congestion coupled with pressure from candidates in the upcoming election is forcing the town of Waynesville to confront growing traffic problems along Russ Avenue.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
Swain County commissioners have approved a measure that will carve out up to one third of the Tourism Development Authority’s total budget to pay for the purchase of a new downtown visitor’s center.
The ordinance — adopted at the commissioners’ July 10 meeting after being approved by the state — also gives commissioners the authority to either increase or decrease the county’s 3 cent occupancy tax. The occupancy tax is generated by those paying to stay overnight in hotels and motels in Swain County.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
Vidalia onions. Georgia peaches. Washington apples. Haywood County tomatoes?
The formal name is still up in the air, but local officials are aiming to make Haywood County known for a variety of tomato unique to the area.
The idea for a product that would distinguish Haywood County came out of the Buy Haywood program, a campaign established through a $60,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation to help market local produce. The Golden Leaf Foundation provides funding to assist farmers in making the transition away from a tobacco-based economy.
By Kathleen Lamont
One doesn’t usually give their septic system a second thought — until the day that you walk into the bathroom and see the bathtub filling up with sewage. It’s Saturday and you’ve never had a problem with your septic tank before. As Carl Malden used to say, what would you do?
It used to be the “revenooers” who were considered the most vile characters in the mountains, but now we have a new villain — the evil developer who swoops in with wads of cash and turns beautiful mountaintops and river valleys into gated developments or golf courses. For that description to hold up, though, local leaders and landowners have to play the part of ignorant country bumpkins who don’t realize they’re being taken advantage of.
By Michael Beadle
Ron Davis is tracking a very special timber rattlesnake along a road at Balsam Mountain Preserve in Jackson County.
In late July, the snake was released back into its habitat after undergoing surgery to have a transmitter placed inside its body. That way, Davis, a natural resources management professor at Western Carolina University, can track the snake with a radio transmitter to learn more about its behavior, habitat and where it will den this fall. This, in turn, should reveal important clues about how timber rattlers survive despite increasing human development carving roads and homes through the very places snakes have long held as a refuge.
By Sami Felmet • Guest Columnist
The birds and the bees. We’re losing them, you know. How will we explain reproduction without them? Maybe it’s easier now with so much sex on TV and in the movies. Is it any wonder the little darlings are having sex younger and have no respect for fidelity? The word is still in Webster’s, but that page is spanking clean at the library.
Editor’s note: Margaret Osondu, owner of Osondu Booksellers in Waynesville, recently conducted an email interview with Masha Hamilton, one of the writers headlining the upcoming Book Mania event Aug. 4 at the Haywood County Justice Center. Masha Hamilton is the author of three novels — Staircase of a Thousand Steps (2001), a Booksense pick by Independent booksellers and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection; The Distance Between Us (2004), chosen as one of the best books of the year by the Library Journal; and The Camel Bookmobile (2007), a Booksense pick. Hamilton was an Associated Press foreign correspondent for five years in the Middle East and spent another five years in Moscow as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. With her extensive background covering Kremlin politics, Israel, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Kenya, Hamilton has been able to draw on experiences in war-torn areas to shed light on the families and individuals in parts of the world that few get to see first-hand. She teaches writing workshops throughout the country and has been awarded several fiction fellowships. She lives with her husband and three children in Brooklyn, N.Y.
How old were you when you started writing?
I wrote from early childhood. I always wanted to be a writer.
Who encouraged you?
I was lucky enough to get lots of encouragement from my parents and teachers early on, and from colleagues as a journalist and an author. I am so moved by the support I got that I try to pass that on whenever possible.
Is there anyone in your educational background who inspired your writing?
I have been inspired by the individuals I met and got to know who lived under conditions of duress in the Middle East, Afghanistan, the Soviet Union. Fellow journalists and authors have also inspired me. Each of my three novels is also dedicated to people, living and dead, who I admire and who had a direct impact on my work.
I notice that many of your stories are about courageous individuals who live in countries riddled with strife and adversity. I imagine there have been many who have inspired you or touched a place deep in your heart. Would you tell me about one of those experiences?
My second novel is dedicated to Kevin Carter, a photojournalist and a member of “The Bang Bang Club” in South Africa who won the Pulitzer for one of his photos showing a child, a famine victim in southern Sudan, with a vulture behind her. Even as he was given enormous recognition for the work, he also was criticized for not stopping to help that girl. Two weeks after he was awarded the Pulitzer in New York City, back home in Johannesburg now, he committed suicide. His suicide note read, in part: “I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners....” I thought of Kevin often while working on my second novel which is, in part, about the price journalists pay to bring us vital stories from around the world.
Did you go to Kenya to research for your book The Camel Bookmobile? I understand there really is a camel bookmobile. How true to reality is the one in your book?
Yes, I had the wonderful opportunity to go out with the real camel library. Initially I did my research by phone calls and emails, though. I waited to travel to Garissa and walk out into the bush with the real camel library, in part because of my journalist background. I didn’t want reporting skills to kick in before the story itself was fully formed, and each character impacted by the camel library in diverse ways. I found the area and people much as I’d imagined them from my research, and the issues they struggle with in this isolated region in transition are many of the same issues the characters in the novel face.
We are planning a book drive at our Haywood County Book Mania event on August 4th. Is there any one genre that is most needed for the people in Kenya?
The librarians in the Northeast Province who travel with the camel bookmobile told me children’s storybooks are most popular, general fiction for kids and adults is also high on the list, and much interest is shown in nonfiction books covering topics ranging from astronomy to geography to history. We also like to send books by African authors. The librarians also said, by the way, that patrons especially love it when a book is inscribed with a note from the sender. It helps them feel connected to places only barely imagined.
What are you reading now?
I just finished The Gate by Francois Bizot. Loved it.
What’s next?
I’m working on a novel manuscript called Thirty-One Hours that takes place over that time period in New York City. I’m dreaming of going to Pakistan and returning to Afghanistan.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
Contractors, Realtors and graders in Swain County claim they need more time to comment on an ordinance that would regulate the slope and width of mountainside roads.
County commissioners, who have already held two public hearings on the ordinance, agreed last week to hold a third one.
N.C. Gov. Mike Easley signed a $20.7 billion budget bill Tuesday, July 31, that includes $46.2 million in funding for a new health and gerontological sciences building at Western Carolina University. The 145,000 square-foot facility that will house WCU’s educational and outreach programs in the College of Health and Human Sciences will be the first construction project on the university’s Millennial Initiative property, 344 acres of land located across N.C. Highway 107 from Western’s main campus.
There are serious problems with the energy legislation passed this session in the North Carolina General Assembly, but the bill also marks a watershed moment for North Carolina and the Southeast — this state is now the first in the region to mandate that a percentage of its electricity needs be met with clean energy sources.
What’s in a name? What about Scat?
Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Maybe. Shakespeare seemed to think so at least. But what about, um, fecal matter? Would it too retain its aromatic qualities under other names?
By Katie Polonsky
I’m a firm believer that when reading a novel, you bring to it the whole of your perspective on the world. You bring hopes, beliefs, experiences, biases.
Speaking of biases, I should warn you: I’m a diehard Harry Potter fan. On July 20th , I lined up to happily endure the claustrophobia-inducing madness that was the Tunnel Road Barnes and Noble to procure my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as close to midnight as possible. I spent the hours counting down to the big moment sprawled on the floor as I worked with little concentration on a crossword puzzle, my iPod crammed securely in my ears to insure no unwanted spoilers invaded my carefully guarded anticipation. I had avoided the Internet for days, refused to watch the news, and acted as though I’d been struck with a severe case of agoraphobia.
