Dogwood Crafters to stay open through winter

For the first time in the 31 years that the Dogwood Craftersco-op has been in Dillsboro, the shop will be open during January and February. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, hours will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to accommodate local customers and winter visitors.

To inaugurate the new winter hours, Dogwood Crafters is having a storewide sale. Members of the cooperative have taken this opportunity to mark down many of their items for this special sale.

Sale items include Christmas ornaments, winter caps and scarves, children’s clothing and toys, hand-made soaps and candles, pillows and quilts, décor for second homes, framed pictures and original water-colors, crafts to dress up kitchen and dining areas, among many others.

Everything in Dogwood is hand-made by crafters who live within 150 miles of Dillsboro. Each item is submitted to a jury to maintain the high quality of crafts within the shop. Regular hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. begin March 2, when the sale will end.

Jackson GOP to meet on Jan. 21

The Jackson County Republican Organization’s January meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 a the headquarters at 482 Main St. in downtown Sylva.

The agenda includes general planning for 2008 and specific organizing support for an upcoming barbecue event sponsored by the campaign committee for Republican gubernatorial primary candidate North Carolina Sen. Fred Smith. The barbecue supper will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 31 at the Sylva Community Center.

The Republican Organization meets on the third Monday of every month in their headquarters at 482 West Main in Sylva. All members, registered Republicans and Jackson County voters are invited to join the organization and to attend the monthly meetings and events. More information is available at the organization’s website, jacksoncountygop.com, or by calling Republican Headquarters at 828.586.9895.

HCC acquires blue clay from Haywood County School System

The Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Clay Program recently received a big pile of very precious dirt. In December, about 200 tons of local stoneware clay was delivered to the campus. The clay, which is commonly called “blue clay,” “pipe clay,” or “wild clay,” is a material suitable for creating functional pottery. The amount is enough to last the Clay Program at Haywood for many years to come.

Stephen Lloyd, clay instructor in the Professional Crafts Program, coordinated the donation and delivery of this clay from a construction site at the Clyde Elementary school. Lloyd was contacted by Dale Burris, Construction Manager for the Haywood County Schools. He explained that they found some of the purest blue clay they had seen and needed a place to dump it.

“We ended up helping each other out,” Lloyd explains. “We provided them a close place to move this unwanted clay, and our students will have nearly unlimited clay for years and years. I will be working with the clay students on a research project this spring semester to develop a system for processing and making pottery from this clay.”

This bounty of clay is also another step towards a greener campus. Commercially produced clays use a large amount of energy to process and transport. This clay traveled just a couple miles, and can be processed in small batches with very little energy.

“By using local materials and firing kilns with renewable fuel sources such as wood and vegetable oil we can teach students how to make a living creating quality pottery in a sustainable way,” Lloyd said.

Spivey wins Realtor honor

Amy Spivey has been named the 2007 Realtor of the Year by the Haywood County Board of Realtors.

The Realtor of the Year is given to a real estate professional who exhibits high standards of professionalism, makes meaningful contributions to the community and participates in the Realtor community.

Spivey is a Haywood County native whose family has been in Western North Carolina prior to the Civil War. Spivey has lived in Valle Crucis, Panama City Beach and Vero Beach, Fla., before returning to Haywood County. She attended Western Carolina University, graduating with honors in 1997. After college Spivey worked as the 30th Judicial District Supervisor for Project Challenge, an organization dedicated to helping adjudicated youth become productive members of their community through volunteer service. She also was a Program Director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC.

She was the Haywood County Volunteer of the Year, Group Service 2001 and 2002. She received the North Carolina Governor’s Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service in 2001 and 2002 and the Elaine Kuhl Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2006.

Spivey is a Realtor with Sunburst Realty, which has had eight Realtor associates named Realtors of the Year during their careers at Sunburst Realty. Under Spivey’s leadership, the Haywood County Board of Realtors received the North Carolina Governor’s Award for Community Service for 2007.

Altrusa hosts Soup and Cornbread meal Jan. 22

It’s become a tradition noted for its simplicity.

Altrusa Club of Waynesville will be hosting its tenth annual Soup and Cornbread Benefit Scholarship Fundraiser on Tuesday, Jan.22, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. The lunch or dinner will include homemade soup (vegetable or potato), fresh cornbread, a beverage and your choice of homemade dessert. Advance or at the door tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under. The meals are available for take out or eat in at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville.

Bring your friends and co-workers to lunch or take home a hot dinner for your family. Tickets are sold at the door or available from Altrusa members. Advance tickets are available at BB&T Bank (Catherine Ryan or Linda Plott), Brock Insurance Agency (Kathy Sheppard), Wenzel & Wenzel Law Firm, Haywood Regional Medical Center (Jenny Williams at Home Care Services building), Advantage Insurance Solutions, Inc. (Michelle Haynes), The Gift Horse/Deeds & Décor (Mary Millar), Main Street Realty (Ann Eavenson or Marty Prevost), Realty World Heritage Realty (Christine Mallette). Major sponsors include Christopher Farms, Hometrust Bank and Old Town Bank. For more information visit www.waynesvillealtrusa.org.

Osondu presents a meeting with new mayor Gavin Brown Jan. 18

Osondu Booksellers announces a new series of monthly meetings to address community issues and public concerns. ”Community Conversations” will take place on the third Friday of each month with the first session, on Friday, January 18 at 7pm, featuring newly elected Waynesville Mayor Gavin Brown.

Mayor Brown has graciously accepted Osondu’s invitation to gather with citizens in Margaret’s Café to talk about what he sees as pressing needs within the community as well as what he envisions to be the means of addressing those needs. Brown has expressed a keen interest in hearing from others on those and other issues of interest and plans an extended Q&A period following his remarks.

After his campaign upset of longtime mayor Henry Foy, Brown said, “I don’t see myself as mayor. I see myself as a sort of director of a symphony or an orchestra. I’m not out front. Back as alderman, I was a different person. As mayor, my job is to coordinate and bring together four votes and get things going in a direction that everybody agrees with,” Brown said.

In anticipation of that role, Mayor Brown is anxious for input from any and all interested in Waynesville’s future. Brown said he was “...delighted to receive an invitation to ‘meet and greet’ as well as to engage in a ‘community conversation’ with local residents and patrons of Osondu’s.”

Economic injury loans available from SBA

Jan. 24 is the deadline for small business owners who suffered losses in the Easter freeze to file for economic injury loans with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The deadline, according to Rep. Health Shuler’s office, applies to those in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, and Transylvania counties.

Shuler, D-Waynesville, is chairman of the Subcommittee on Rural and Urban Entrepreneurship, and he promised to continue working to make sure that small businesses have the resources they need to remain “open and competitive.”

The SBA disaster loans are available to farm-related and nonfarm-related small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives that suffered a financial loss as a direct result of the Easter freeze. Eligible small businesses may qualify for loans up to $1.5 million. The loans are available at a 4 percent interest rate with terms up to 30 years.

Interested business owners should contact the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800.659.2955 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Loan applications can also be downloaded at www.sba.gov.

Bicentennial Kickoff Concert to feature Balsam Range

Balsam Range, the five-man bluegrass band, will be the featured performers at the Haywood County Bicentennial Celebration Kickoff at 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Charles Beall Auditorium at Haywood Community College.

The five members of Balsam Range — Marc Pruett on banjo, Caleb Smith, guitar, Darren Nicholson, mandolin, Tim Surrett, bass, and Buddy Melton, fiddle — all grew up in Haywood County. In addition to bluegrass, their music incorporates gospel and country elements found in the musical heritage of the Appalachian South, as well as the influences of Scotch-Irish settlers, English ballads and Western songs.

Either as a group, or as individual performers, the members of Balsam Range have performed with such renowned acoustic artists as Rhonda Vincent, James Monroe, Bill Monroe and Jerry Douglas, among others. Pruett performed with Ricky Skaggs on his Grammy-award winning album Bluegrass Rules.

“I can’t think of a better way get this year-long celebration going than to have Balsam Range performing at the kickoff concert,” said Commissioner Mary Ann Enloe, chairman of the Bicentennial Celebration.

Tickets to the concert are free and available at the Haywood County Office Building at 81 Elmwood Way in Waynesville from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. A special commemorative Bicentennial T-shirt is also available for purchase at the Haywood County Office Building and the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce. The cost of the T-shirts is $16 and proceeds go to Haywood Community Connections.

Community Pride winners announced

The Commission for a Clean County (C.C.C) — a Haywood County organization dedicated environmental stewardship — has announced the winners of its seventh annual Community Pride awards program. The Community Pride program honors businesses, community groups, civic clubs, schools and individuals, both adults and children of school age.

The awards are given to winners for over-the-top efforts in the categories of litter pick-up and control, recycling of wastes, and beautification of county areas above and beyond individual homes and gardens.

New this year is the globally important category of “Environmental Stewardship.” This includes cleaning of air pollution, use of biofuels in business fleets and “green” building, both individual and commercial.

Five First Place winners were selected:

• Bethel Elementary School, for unique environmental conservation efforts, both inside the school and out.

• Carla Billups of Jonathan Valley Elementary School for her extraordinary construction of a complete outdoor environmental center on school grounds.

• Giles Chemical Corp., for exceptional industrial recycling efforts.

• Rare Earth Builders of Canton for an astonishingly energy efficient “green house.”

• Dr. Joseph Shook Hall, for the total restoration of the Shook-Smathers house in Clyde, preserving it as the Shook Museum.

Four Honorable Mention winners were also chosen:

• Hazelwood Elementary School, for its beautiful new rain garden.

• Waynesville Middle School, for recycling efforts.

• James Blyth of Maggie Valley for artistically beautifying a section of Maggie Valley with a small park-like setting featuring a statue of a bronze elk.

• Haywood Community College for using electric vehicles for campus security patrols.

A Certification of Appreciation also is being awarded Jonathan Valley Elementary School, which supported Billups in all environmental endeavors.

The Awards luncheon honoring these groups is being held at the Waynesville Country Club on Wednesday, Feb. 20.

“It’s important for all of us to join in, in order to make a difference. The CCC provides an opportunity to do so,” said Dave Dudek, a natural resources Instructor at Haywood Community College and President of Haywood Waterways Association.

In existence as a Board since the year 2000, the CCC believes that a litter-free, environmentally conscious clean county is highly beneficial for the financial and physical health of its residents. Property values rise and the county will attract more businesses.

“This, in turn, benefits all residents. It’s certainly important for the tourist industry, as most families want to visit areas not littered with trash, rusted out cars and other assorted eyesores,” said CCC board member and founder JoAnna Swanson.

During the spring, summer and autumn, CCC members personally set an example by doing “hands-on” clean-ups in each of the four townships and a county roadway. County residents always are invited to participate

For information about the work of the CCC call Chairman Bill Skelton at 828.456.3575 or Vice Chairman Tim Garrett at 828.452.2519.