Worley named new Recreation Specialist

Scot Worley has joined the Haywood County Recreation and Parks Department as Recreation Specialist.

Worley, who began his responsibilities in July, will be responsible for organizing and promoting a variety of recreation activities for all age groups. His responsibilities will include coordinating existing recreational programs, such as Adult Soccer, Youth Basketball, the Happy Wanderers Club and Senior Games; as well as to assist in developing new programs as needed.

“Scot’s active involvement and connections in various capacities in our county boosts new partnership opportunities and programming ideas for our department,” said Claire Stewart, Recreation and Parks director.

Worley comes to the Haywood County Recreation and Parks Dept. after seven years with Waynesville Parks and Recreation, where he served as Aquatics Program Supervisor, and Old Armory Recreation Center supervisor, among other things. Prior to that, Worley worked as night manager for the Waynesville Country Club Inn.

Canton Labor Day festivities announced

For the 69th year, the Canton Lions Club will sponsor Labor Day carnival rides at the town of Canton Recreation Park just past Pisgah Memorial Stadium.

The rides serve as a fundraiser for the organization and are distributed to charities, schools, and organizations in the area. With the community’s support, the Club is hoping to have as strong a turnout as they have in years past. The rides will run from Thursday, Aug. 28, through Monday, Sept. 1. The schedule is as follows:

• Thursday, Aug 28: 6-11 p.m.

• Friday, Aug 29: 6-11 p.m.

• Saturday, Aug 30: 1-5 p.m..; 6-11 p.m.

• Sunday, Aug 31: 1-5 p.m.; 6-11 p.m.

• Monday, Sept. 1: Rides begin after

the parade until 5 p.m.; 6-11 p.m.

Bracelets to ride the rides without tickets will be sold for $20 on Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon from 1-5 p.m. Bracelets will allow participants to ride as many rides as they wish.

The club invites families and all members of the Haywood community to come and enjoy the rides, food, and local camaraderie of the Labor Day rides and events. Proceeds from the rides go to supporting the mission of the Canton Lions Club.

No problems found with Franklin water

An unusual taste and smell of water in the town of Franklin is due to the Cartoogechaye Creek being warm, a news release issued by the town Wednesday (Aug. 20) states.

A water treatment plant consultant with the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources Public Water section visited Franklin last week to investigate the problem, the release states.

The water that the town draws from the creek is about 80 degrees, according to the consultant, Ray McCall.

When the water is treated with chlorine and distributed into the system it can have a “flat, musty or earthy taste,” McCall said.

McCall said there is nothing that can be done about the water and that it is not dangerous.

The problem is not a result of an algae bloom, he said.

Latin-flavored fundraiser is Aug. 30

A festive family fundraiser from will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, at the Haywood Fairgrounds to support the Institute of Human Development of Haywood County.

There will be live Latino music by Los Bandidos de la Sierra as well as homemade Mexican food available for purchase.

Family tickets are available for $15 and individual tickets for $10.

The institute operates in collaboration with the Pigeon Multicultural Development Center to improve lives, help with communication and to increase understanding for a stronger diverse community by offering ESL and computer classes, courses for stay-at-home-moms, informative workshops and referrals.

For more information call Brenda Arroyo at 828.593.8944.

Teen Challenge to open coffeehouse

Teen Challenge of the Smokies will host a grand opening of the Teen Challenge Christian Coffeehouse from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6. The coffeehouse is located at 8409 U.S. 441 South, just past High Country Tire. Free drinks, desserts and snacks will be served.

Teen Challenge is a national faith-based addiction intervention program founded in 1958. The program is voluntary and serves teenage boys, girls and adult men and women in a residential setting. There are more than 1,000 programs in 80 countries, using devotional study, work detail and recreation in a 12-month curriculum. Teen Challenge of the Smokies — the first WNC chapter — was established in April of this year. The group is working toward opening a residential center.

“The coffeehouse is a gathering place. It’s the first step in creating an environment for those involved in Teen Challenge to come together to discuss the principles provided by the program and how those principles can help them change their lives,” said Terry Teppert, executive director of Teen Challenge of the Smokies.

The coffeehouse will be open to the public, offering small group support, testimony nights and praise and worship evenings. Coffee and food will be provided on a donation basis.

For more information email Terry Teppert at ttteppert@msn.com or call 828.586.9966.

Opening reception at Summit One Gallery in Highlands

Summit One Gallery will host an opening reception for “Two Realities: Paintings by Edward Rice and Philip Morsberger” from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, at Summit One Gallery on South Second Street in Highlands.

Morsberger has worked and held professorships in America and Britain sine the late 1950s. He was Master of the Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford, from 1971-1984, which is the sixth Master in the school’s history and the only American to hold that chair.

Morsberger’s work has evolved through many distinct phases: realism, abstraction and the American comic strip tradition. His life and work has recently been the subject of a book by Christopher Lloyd, Surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures (Merrill Press, N.Y., 2007). His work is included in many museum collections here and abroad.

Rice has exhibited with the Babcock Galleries in New York and the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe.

His work is included in the permanent collections of the Gibbs Museum of Art in Charleston, the South Carolina Museum of Art, the Georgia Museum of Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Ga., and others, as well as numerous private collections in the U.S. and Europe.

The show will be on display through Oct. 1. For more information call 828.526.2673 or visit www.summitonegallery.com.

Sylva Fire dept. plans $1.88 million expansion

The Sylva Fire Department is planning a $1.88 million expansion that will add four fire truck bays, according to Town Manager Jay Denton

The 8,200-square-foot expansion will also include a training room, offices and sleeping quarters, according to Denton.

Denton said the project is scheduled to begin in January or February.

He said the fire department was built in the 1970s and has “done well to now.”

He said the sleeping quarters that will be added in the expansion would be helpful if the department ever goes from a volunteer to paid department.

The Sylva Town Commission on Thursday (Aug. 21) approved paying Sylva architect Odell Thompson $68,000 to do the architectural plans for the expansion and paying Lofquist & Associates of Sylva $15,700 for engineering review, according to Denton.

Shady Ladies present quilting exhibit

The Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86 presents “Playing the Numbers,” a Shady Ladies quilting exhibit opening Aug. 27 and on display through Sept. 13.

An opening reception to meet the artists from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, will be held at Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86 located at 86 North Main Street in Waynesville.

The title of this exhibit is derived from the Shady Ladies’ annual quilting challenge, in which thirty-five of the Shady Ladies drew a number ranging from 1 to 35 at one of their weekly meetings.

This number determines the number of fabrics that each quilter was to use in her wall hanging. The quilter must use the exact number of fabrics of the number drawn, plus either black or white, or a piece incorporating both black and white. The finished pieces must be a rectangle with a minimum measure of 20 inches on one side, and no more than 30 inches.

The Shady Ladies quilting group contains a total of 45 members of varying ages and backgrounds. Some of the ladies are western North Carolina natives; however, some originate as far away as Australia and Germany.

Members participating in the Arts Council exhibit are: Elizabeth Allen, Christel Arnsberger, Jane Bird, Michelle Blatt, Norma Boate, Wendy Bowen, Dot Burford, Jane Cole, Anne Crook, Janet Gray, Carrie Hedstrom, Linda Hoffmeister, Patsy Kells, Christa Malone, Mimi Munroe, Kate Pittman, Sally Pollock, Christine Regina, Gail Baker Rowe, Lizzard Shafer, Jeanie Sims, Marilyn Sullivan, Veronica Von Zwehl, Dee Werner, and Terry Williams.

The quilts created by the Shady Ladies vary in both design and technique, as the group employs both hand and machine stitching as well as contemporary and traditional quilt patterns.

Admission is free and open to the public. For more information visit www.haywoodarts.org or call 828.452.0593.