Voices in the Laurel, Western North Carolina’s regional children’s choir, is holding its inaugural car and truck giveaway to raise funds. Tickets are on sale for $100 and each ticket will have the chance to go home with the winner’s choice of either a 2011 Ford F-150; a 2011 Ford Fiesta and $7,000; or $30,000.

Funds raised will help pay for the choir’s operations and performances, which have included concerts around the region, the nation and the globe. The group is comprised of young voices from around the region from grades one through 12 and they perform works from a variety of choral traditions, from gospel and hymns to jazz, classical and traditional folk music.

Money raised will also help pay for scholarships, which pay for tuition, sheet music, supplies and uniforms.

There will be a drawing for the winner at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 20, at the Gateway Club in downtown Waynesville. Tickets must be bought by May 14 and the winner need not be present to win.

For tickets and information, visit voicesinthelaurel.org.

A contra dance will be held from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 8, at the Bridge Park Pavilion in Bryson City.

There will also be a potluck dinner following the dance, starting at 5:30 p.m. The dance is free, though participants are encouraged to make a contribution toward the cost of renting the hall.

All dances will be taught and walked through before dancing and no partner is required.

Contra dancing is a form of English country dancing that has become very popular with people of all ages during the last twenty years. It uses many of the same figures as square dancing such as circles, stars and swings.

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The Blue Ridge Watermedia Society will meet at 6:45 p.m. on May 10 at Haywood Community College.

The meeting will feature Waynesville illustrator Dominck “Nick” DePaolo, who has been a freelance artist for over 40 years and will do a water-based oil demonstration.

DePaolo was an illustrator in the U.S. Navy, an art teacher at Prairie State College in Illinois and now teaches classes in oils, watercolors, acrylics and drawing. Currently, he has ongoing classes at Mountain Home Craft Collections in Waynesville.  

Visit www.longgroveartschool.com or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Haywood Community Band will start its ninth concert season with a free concert at 6:30 p.m. on May 15 at the pavilion next to the Maggie Valley Town Hall. The concert will feature conductor favorites from previous seasons’ concerts.

The band performs on the third Sunday of each month, May through October, in Maggie Valley at the town hall pavilion and concerts are always free. Picnics are welcome. For those interested in joining be band, call 828.452.5553 or visit www.haywoodcommunityband.org.

Sylva’s Guadalupe Café will host “Bigaroo” beginning at 6:30 p.m. on May 7, a tribute to the musicianship and spirit — and college graduation — of Adam Bigelow.

Standing 6 feet 4 inches with a distinctive baritone, Bigelow is one of Jackson County’s most recognizable local musicians. He may also be one of the busiest. He performs every Tuesday night at Guadalupe Café’s “Old Timey Music Jam” and is the bass player for local groups The Dan River Drifters, The Imperative and Cooking with Quanta. In the last two weeks alone Bigelow has played 11 gigs, with several more still to go.

But being a musician is only one of Bigelow’s interests. He might be just as quickly recognized for his work in several Jackson County community and conservation groups, including Sylva’s Community Garden and the Cullowhee Native Plants Conference. After Saturday, he will also be a 40-year-old college graduate after receiving a bachelor’s degree.

“Bigaroo’ will feature each of Bigelow’s current bands and is being touted by organizers as a chance for people to celebrate a night of original, local, live music. Festivities will run until the early hours of the morning.

— by Carrie Eidson

The Golden Dragon Acrobats will grace the stage of the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 6. Tickets are $15 to $20.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats feature performers who have been trained in acrobatics since early youth and have appeared around the globe in more than 65 countries since inception in 1985. They are the only Chinese acrobatic company touring year-round in the United States

They combine acrobatics, traditional dance, spectacular costumes, ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques to present a unique show for all ages.

866.273.4615 or visit greatmountainmusic.com.

Alex Kudera will read from his new satirical novel, Fight for Your Long Day, at 7 p.m. on May 6 at City Lights bookstore in Sylva.

The book is a day-in-the-life tragicomedy that follows the unraveling and misadventures of Cyrus Duffleman, a portly, down-and-out college instructor who teaches classes at four urban universities and also works the night shift as a security guard.

Fight for Your Long Day is a manifesto for adjunct faculty everywhere, but most all workers will see some of their own struggles in Duffy’s adventures.

Kudera is a native Philadelphian but now teaches literature and writing at Clemson University. Fight for Your Long Day is his first novel.

828.586.9499 or visit citylightsnc.com.

Hikers, hunters and others who enjoy North Carolina’s mountain landscapes will soon have access to 534 acres of gameland and a national historic trail that are accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Spruce Pine.

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina recently conveyed the Rose Creek property to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. The conservation trust purchased the property in 2008 from a developer based in Texas.

The Mitchell County property has well over a mile of frontage on the Blue Ridge Parkway between mileposts 326 and 328, and includes about 1.3 miles of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, which will be opened to the public once it is cleared and posted.

The Overmountain Victory Trail traces the route taken by colonial militiamen to the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain during the American Revolution. The trail, which passes through four states, is a unit of the National Park Service.

The property is home to a variety of native wildlife, and is recognized as a conservation priority in the state’s Wildlife Action Plan, a strategy developed to guide habitat protection efforts across North Carolina.

Kevin M. FitzGerald, deputy superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, recently was presented the U.S. Department of the Interior’s

Meritorious Award, the department’s second-highest honor.   

FitzGerald was recognized for his extraordinary performance of duties during the span of his 33-year National Park Service career and for his outstanding leadership that resulted in exceptional achievements at the Smokies.

One major accomplishment was spearheading a comprehensive $80 million facility rehabilitation program with federal stimulus money. Under extreme time constraints, he established a project team to review and prioritize eligible park projects and then worked collaboratively to streamline the required compliance, scoping, and design work to begin the numerous construction projects.

FitzGerald also crafted a partnership agreement with Great Smoky Mountains Association, the park’s cooperating association that fully funded the construction of the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

Celebrate Appalachian nature with the 39th-annual Spring Wildflower and Bird Pilgrimage April 29-May 1, with a line-up of 16 hikes, talks and guided tours on local flora and fauna. The program is sponsored by UNC Asheville’s Biology Department and is open to the public.

Events on Saturday, April 30, include morning and afternoon half-day adventures such as a birding trip through Craven Gap, beginner’s tree and wildflower identification trips and a nature walk to Ray Mine. Events on Sunday, May 1, include a birding trip to the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary, a trip to the Craggy Mountains to explore old growth sites, and a wildflower walk in the Shinn Gardens.

Botanist Tim Spira will kick off the weekend with a talk called “Wildflower Ecology of Rich Cove Forests: The Most Species-Rich Community in the Southern Appalachian Mountains,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, in UNC Asheville’s Robinson Hall Auditorium. The talk will explore the natural history of favorite wildflowers, including trillium, bloodroot, jewelweed, mayapple, jack-in-the-pulpit, foamflower, and yellow lady’s slipper, as well as some of the prominent trees and shrubs of rich cove forests.

At 7:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, learn why the Southern Appalachians have such astounding biodiversity from Jennifer Frick-Ruppert, professor of ecology and environmental science at Brevard College and author of Mountain Nature: A Seasonal Natural History of the Southern Appalachians.

Registration begins a at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, in the lobby of UNC Asheville’s Robinson Hall. The registration fee is $5 for adults and $1 for students and covers all events. 828.232.5151 or www.unca.edu/biology.

Coinciding with the Spring Wildflower and Bird Pilgrimage is the “A Day in the Gardens” festival. The two-day celebration includes plant and craft vendors, food and entertainment from 1-6 p.m. Friday, April 29, and from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 30, in the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, 151 W.T. Weaver Blvd., adjacent to campus.

The West Swain Fire Department is hosting its 18th annual Bass Tournament at Almond Boat Park on May 7.

The fire department auxiliary will dish up barbeque (lunch and dinner) with all the trimmings. A raffle will be held, with the biggest-ticket item to be given away a barbeque gas grill valued at more than $300.

828.736.2203.

The North Carolina Arboretum will host the annual show of the American Rhododendron Society’s Southeast Chapter from noon until 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1.

Hundreds of blooms will be featured at this yearly event. Spring and summer blooming rhododendrons and azaleas are always favorites of the weekend. Society members will be on hand to answer questions, and a guided tour of the Arboretum’s Azalea Repository will be offered each day.

Glenn Palmer, longtime volunteer for The North Carolina Arboretum, will lead a leisurely hour-long walking tour of the repository. The tour will depart from the Education Center at 1 p.m. on Saturday and again at 10 a.m. on Sunday. The walk will include information on the natural history of the arboretum’s azalea and rhododendron collections, techniques for identifying various species, and tips on growing and maintaining the plants. Pre-registration is not required, and there is no charge for the walk. The walk will be approximately two miles, so participants are encouraged to wear comfortable, sturdy shoes and carry water.

The rhododendron show is free for arboretum members or with the standard parking fee ($8 per personal motor vehicle).

Daniel Jones, a forest management and fisheries/wildlife management student at Haywood Community College from Hayesville, took home top honors in the Stihl Timbersports Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Qualifiers.

The event was held April 17 at Penn State Mont Alto.

Chopping and sawing through four professional lumberjack disciplines — the single buck, standing block chop, stock saw and underhand chop — Jones bested six other collegiate lumberjacks to take the Mid-Atlantic title, earning a $1,000 scholarship from Stihl for his school and advancing to the Collegiate Championship at the Oregon State Fair Aug. 26-28.

At the Collegiate Championship, Jones will compete against four regional qualifier champions and one wildcard pick to determine the nation’s top collegiate lumberjack.

A Kids Indoor Triathlon and Aquathlon will be held May 6 for ages 15 and under, hosted by MedWest Health and Fitness Center in Haywood County.

The Asheville Triathlon Club will help coordinate this event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. The fitness center will close at 6 p.m. so participants will have uninterrupted use of the facility.

There will be two divisions for the aquathlon, which consists of swimming and running. Each division is limited to 20 participants. The junior division will be for boys and girls 8 years and younger, and will include a five-minute swim and a half-mile run. The intermediate division will be for youth 9 to 11 years of age, and will include a 10-minute swim and a one-mile run. A senior triathlon division will be for youth 12 to 15 years of age, and will include a 15-minute swim, a 20-minute spin bike and a two-mile run.

Participants will be divided into waves, based on age and experience.

Registration is on-line at www.ashevilletri.com, or 828.216.7661. Participation is free, compliments of MedWest Health & Fitness Center.

To the Editor:

What if you knew that your state senator or state representative knew there were proven ways to improve a broken public education system that is graduating less than two-thirds of our high school students and yet did nothing?

What if these elected officials knew that over a third of our children were dropping out and being relegated to menial jobs, direct infusion into the poverty cycle and even a possible term in prison?

What if they knew that several of the options delivered far better results at 50 to 60 percent of the cost?

What if it were apparent to all that 40 years of throwing money at the current system had produced no measurable improvements in the results obtained and has taken us from a ranking of No. 1 in the world in 1970 to 31st in the world in 2010?

What if all this were known and nobody did anything to fix it except demand more money to fund more bureaucrats and administrators?

What if those same state senators and state representatives not only failed to implement the solutions but also fought the passing of legislation to fix the problem with falsehoods, misrepresentations, ignorance of the issue, failure to read the legislation proposed or on direct orders from their political party?

What if we asked those elected officials one question: why?

Let’s see now, how many answers can there be?

I can think of none that do not reflect pure self-interest. Campaign contributions from the teachers’ unions keep these people in office. The enormous bureaucracy that has been developed by the government-education complex is totally self-serving and only makes it more and more difficult for our good teachers to teach.

No one represents the children. After all, they can’t vote anyway.

Bruce Gardner

Waynesville

To the Editor:

Here we go again. Our two state representatives, both of whom are Democrats, fail to see the reality of the primary cause of the state’s budget woes. They fail to grasp the reality that it is the businesses and employees of those businesses in the private sector that are the people who fund all of the public sector jobs.

Instead, they use strong and divisive rhetoric to scare the private sector into “coughing up” more tax dollars. Now, they are pulling out the big guns by using our children and education as pawns in their need for more spending.

Rep. Ray Rapp (D-Mars Hill) was quoted in the paper as saying, “That the cuts are ‘Draconian,’ and could set education back 25 years.” Frankly, I wish that were true, because a two-year degree today is not even the equivalent to a high school diploma from 25 years ago.

The Democrats have been in control of our state for more than100 years. They have managed to devalue education to the point that most public schools are nothing more than a “high cost babysitting service” to which we are mandated to send our children. They have done this by passing so many mandates, regulations and total “BS” that it is nearly impossible for any teacher to truly be effective in the classroom. Ask any teacher. It’s not the children that make their jobs hard; it’s the adults, aka bureaucrats.

As a former high school teacher, I witnessed firsthand for seven years the chaotic madness of public education. Most of my fellow teachers with school age children sent them to private schools; even they didn’t have faith in the public schools.

Rep. Phil Hare (D-Sylva) was quoted as saying, “It is a Tea Party mentality.” I guess asking our state legislators and governor to be more fiscally responsible and accountable is a bad thing, and cutting cost is not a realistic approach. As if tax and spend, then borrow and spend, was the correct approach!

They just don’t get it! WE ARE BROKE! It’s gone; you have received more than you should have. Please let me keep what I have left. I have worked too darn hard to allow you to squander what is left.

Michael Graham

Waynesville

To the Editor:

For almost 20 years I have found myself involved in the concern of child abuse either professionally or in some volunteer capacity. April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and though it’s almost over it provides an opportunity for each of us to consider our own role in preventing the mistreatment of children in our own community. There is an African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” I am convinced that in the same spirit it takes a community to prevent child abuse.

Years of research have shown that there is no one “cause” for child mistreatment. It would be so much easier to address if there were. Unfortunately, a variety of risk factors that affect the child, parent, family and community can all contribute to the likelihood of abuse. Providing support for families at risk is one strategy for prevention. This support can come from a formal program or from a caring family member, neighbor or friend.

Unfortunately, there are times when the only option to protect the child is for an agency to intervene. This can come from the Department of Social Services or one of our local law enforcement agencies. The priority always remains on the safety and care of the child.

We are fortunate to have so many professionals in our community who work to protect and help children. I’d like to say “Thank You” to social service workers, guardian ad litems, law enforcement officers and those who work in our court system; teachers, school counselors and social workers and all other employees of the school system and private schools; child care providers, preschool and Head Start teachers; mental health professionals, doctors, nurses and other members of the medical community; professionals in non-profits such as KARE and REACH, along with those who contribute to the funding of these agencies. I don’t want to leave out all the volunteers who reach out to children and youth through faith communities, extracurricular activities, sports programs and clubs; and the grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and other extended family members who care about children.  

Every child deserves a happy childhood and we must work together as a community to reach that goal.

Allison Best-Teague, chairperson

Haywood County Community Child Protection Team

To the Editor:

With all due respect to Mr. Ellison — who wrote in his “Back Then” column a few issues back about the inevitable demise of the hemlock — I would have to enjoin him and other like minds not to give up hope.

A little over seven years ago, the 11 hemlocks on my property were all infected, as were those on adjoining properties.

Not about to pay tree servicers hundreds of dollars to “cure” each one, I went to Wal-Mart where I bought a bottle of concentrated systemic insecticide (pour around the roots, water in and it’s drawn into the tree via its roots) that was enough to treat about six trees, depending on size. Result: complete eradication of the hemlock wooly adelgid. Next year I did the same, although it might not have been necessary.

Five years later, with no additional treatments, they remain adelgid free, as does a neighbor’s 40-footer, which was in the final stage before dying prior to treatment.

Furthermore, another neighbor’s badly infected trees, which received no treatment, not only survived but flourished adelgid-free. I don’t know why. The trees were spaced about 30 feet from my bordering, treated tree, so soil penetration from tree to tree-to-tree is unlikely. Perhaps the insecticide spread through the insects themselves. Who knows?

In any event, these are tough trees. Sure, there will be a terrible cost to our woodlands and streams from those we lose, but some, just some, will survive and likely will flourish once again.

Ed Myers

Bryson City

Dr. C.L Gray, who is well known for his activities promoting healthcare reform, will speak on May 3 at the Mountain High Republican Women’s Club luncheon at the High Hampton Inn and Country Club.

Gray founded Physicians for Reform in December 2006 to find solutions for American healthcare. The organization’s position is that working together, physicians, patients, and the business community can recapture the heart of medicine and secure a political platform to reform American healthcare.

Dr. Gray, a practicing internal medicine physician in North Carolina, previously served as chief medical resident at Bassett Healthcare, an affiliate of Columbia University.

All interested parties are invited to attend the luncheon.

828.743.9005 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Western Carolina University’s spring graduating class will be honored as the university holds a trio of commencement ceremonies over a two-day period, May 6 and 7.

Commencement for WCU’s Graduate School will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, May 6. Commencement for the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Allied Professions, and Fine and Performing Arts will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, and that event will be followed the same day by a 3:30 p.m. ceremony for the College of Business, College of Health and Human Sciences, and Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology.

WCU’s ceremonies are open to everyone, with no limit on the number of family members and friends who can attend.

The events will include recognition of the service of outgoing WCU Chancellor John W. Bardo, who will be stepping down from his position July 1.

828.227.7216.

A 40-hour training program for professionals who have encounters with mentally ill people will be held May 16 through 20 at Haywood Community College.

CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) specializes in teaching the best methods to defuse and stabilize encounters with mentally ill persons. This program is designed for law enforcement officers and emergency personnel. Officers from local hospitals and universities are also eligible for the training.

CIT is a pre-booking jail diversion program designed to improve the outcomes of police interactions with people with mental illnesses and brain disorders.

828.452.6675 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Macon County Health Department implemented a new open-access appointment system in February that has cleared a four-week backlog of appointments.

The open-access system replaced the previous system of clinic days. Now, most services are available every weekday, allowing patients to be seen in the first available appointment slot, no matter what service they need. Most appointments can be scheduled within 72 hours of contacting the public health department.

Only Franklin area services are affected by the system. Highlands and Nantahala clinic days will not change. Macon County Public Health will file Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Tricare,

Crescent, and certain Medicare replacements for its patients.  

828.349.2081 or visit www.maconnc.org.

Mountain Mediation Services will hold a three-day community mediation training from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,  May 24 through 26 in the Bryson City United Methodist Church at 76 Main Street.

The training is recommended for those who want to learn neutral ways to mediate conflict in workplaces, families, churches, community organizations and neighborhoods.  

The fee of $195 for the three-day training covers all materials, the training and the snacks and beverages provided throughout the day (lunch is on your own).

828.349.2561, 800.789.4675 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The 2011 FUNd Party Series will kick off with Cinco de Mayo in the Garden from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, at the home of David and Rosemarie Harrington at 225 Seasons Drive in Clyde.

The series benefits the Haywood County Arts Council and will feature three parties in May, offering food, entertainment and unique experiences.

The first late-afternoon party invites gardeners of all levels to join in celebrating Cinco De Mayo on the porch and in the garden with appetizers and drinks and sharing and trading plants from your own personal gardens.

All attending will have the opportunity to bring some of the results of early spring digging and thinning. Ideas and plant-growing wisdom will also be shared. Participants may bring as many plants as they want. Tickets are $35 and seating is limited to thirty partygoers.

The second party in the series is Birding for the Arts, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 7. Birders will meet at the Performing Arts Center at 8 a.m. to set out on a day-long stroll through the area in search of regional nesting birds with sponsors Joe Sam and Kate Queen and naturalist Don Hendershot. A gourmet boxed lunch will be provided.

Tickets are $25 per person and participation is limited to 35 partygoers.

828.452.0593 or visit www.haywoodarts.org.

The Mother’s Day Gemboree will open its doors from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 6 and 7 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m on May 8 at the Macon County Community Building in Franklin.

Gem and mineral dealers will display and sell everything from fine jewelry to rough and cut gems and minerals. This show complements two other gem and mineral shows held in July and October. Door prizes will also be given. Admission is $1 for adults and children under 12 are free.  

800.336.7829 or 828.524.3161.

Airing of the Quilts, a new event showcasing quilt artistry, will be held on Saturday, May 7, in downtown Franklin.

Businesses and homeowners will hang quilts from their storefronts and porches to create a burst of spring color throughout the town.  

While the downtown area will be the focus of the event, everyone is invited to join in to create a county-wide display of quilts. Residents can call to have their location added to a list that will be handed out during the event.

The Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild, Macon County Quilt Trail project and Macon County Art Association will also have displays on the square in downtown, while the Cowee Quilters will be demonstrating at Pleasant Hill AME Church in the West’s Mill District.

828.524.2516.

The first Art After Dark of the season will kick off from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, May 6, in downtown Waynesville.

Presented by the Waynesville Gallery Association, Art After Dark takes place the first Friday of each month May through December. Enjoy a stroll through working studios and galleries on Main Street, Depot Street and in Historic Frog Level. Flags denote participating galleries and pianist Steve Whiddon is musician on the street for the evening.

Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86 is hosting an artist reception during Art After Dark for its new exhibition, “310 ART Contemporary Works from the Rivers Arts District,” with work from Waynesville, Asheville, and Hendersonville artists.

Gallery Two Six Two’s featured artists for May are watercolorists Pamela Haddock and Margaret Roberts.

Textures will feature new work by painters Joe Parrot and Sarah Faulkner, and potter John Nickerson, along with live blues music by Karen “Sugar” Barnes. At T. Pennington Art Gallery, come see a recently completed Biltmore Estate drawing and a 2011 St. Nicholas that Teresa Pennington will be working on during Art After Dark.

Twigs and Leaves Gallery will feature jewelry fashioned by Carolyn Brigman.

828.452.9284 or visit www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.

An introductory photography class will begin Tuesday, May 3, at First Baptist Church in Waynesville.

The class is offered by Lori Johnson and will teach students to work with buttons and menus, as well as how to start making better photos. Students will work on a variety of subjects such as landscape, portrait, architecture and storytelling to get used to the controls. 

Lori will also be teaching children’s art classes, which include a variety of activities, from painting to cookie decorating.

828.627.6214 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for class times or to register.

Macon County youth will take the stage at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, at the Franklin High School Fine Arts Center in Showcase of Talent 2011.

The showcase is a non-competitive talent show for third- to 12th-graders, featuring students chosen from the county’s public, private, and home schools, performing a variety of acts, from vocal and instrumental numbers to dance, gymnastics, and comedy routines.

This year’s show will include a special segment of African Dance with Franklin dance teacher Jada Bryson.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for youth 16 and under. Proceeds support the Arts Council’s Artists-in-the-Schools Program, which brings arts programs to Macon County Public Schools.

828.524.7683, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.artscouncilofmacon.org.

A poetry slam will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City as part of National Poetry Month. The event will feature fifth-graders from the Mountain Discovery Charter School, whose poetry is already on display at the library.

828.488.3030 or visit www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

A stained glass course will be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, May 5 through June 9, at the Cordelia Camp Building at Western Carolina University. Courses are run by the school’s Division of Educational Outreach.

The course, suitable for both beginners and advanced students, will follow the Tiffany method of stained glass, where each piece of glass is wrapped in copper foil and soldered. Students will complete a project in plain glass and a small panel in colored glass while learning about safety, cutting techniques, foiling and soldering, and simple metal framing, as well as types of glass, solders and copper foils.

The instructor, Moya O’Neal, has been working in stained glass for more than 20 years.

Cost is $85. Pre-registration is required. 828.227.7397, 800.928.4968 or visit learn.wcu.edu.

The first of this season’s Sylva After Dark events is coming to downtown from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, May 6. The evening is an opportunity to stroll through downtown Sylva and enjoy arts, dining, music, shopping and more.

Sylva After Dark is a seasonal celebration of local art, held every Friday, May through December, in downtown Sylva.

828.586.1577 or visit downtownsylva.org.

The 12th annual Taste of Chocolate competition will run from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 at the Maggie Valley Country Club.

Tickets are $12 each and can be purchased at Fun Things, Etc. or Blue Ridge Books and News.

Around 30 chocolatiers will compete in three categories: professional, amateur and B&B. Judges from the community will choose the winners. Guests will enjoy sampling the chocolate along with coffee, a wine bar and milk fountain. A silent auction with selections from local businesses will also be on offer.

Proceeds will support the Haywood-Jackson Volunteer Center.

Needtobreathe will play at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. The 4-piece rock band will perform songs from their current album “The Outsiders,” which debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard Top 200.

With non-stop touring and performances at festivals such as Bonnaroo, the band’s live show has helped build a dedicated fan base.

Tickets are $20. 866.273.4615 or visit greatmountainmusic.com.

Animal lovers and those in the mood for a laugh will find plenty of entertainment when Popovich Comedy Pet Theater comes to Western Carolina University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 1.

Comedian Gregory Popovich leads the family-friendly show along with a cast of professional clowns and jugglers and trained animal performers, including cats, dogs, geese and parrots, all originally rescued from animal shelters.

As the son of Russian circus performers and dog trainers, Popovich discovered his passion for animals and onstage entertainment at an early age, joining the Moscow Circus at age 17.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for senior citizens and $5 for students and children.

828.227.2479 or visit fapac.wcu.edu.

The Great Smoky Mountains chapter of the Audubon Society, based in Maggie Valley and Waynesville, has been officially recognized and accepted by The National Audubon Society after initially forming a year ago.

The mission of the chapter is to promote an awareness and appreciation of nature and to encourage responsible environmental stewardship through education, protection, conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.

The Great Smoky Mountains Audubon Society meets at 6:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month, April through October, at the Maggie Valley Pavilion beside town hall. It also has a full line-up of programs and outings planned for the spring.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.gsmas.com.

• “Wolf Tales”, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 26.

Rob Gudger, a wildlife biologist who works with wolves, and animal handler Robert Edwards will introduce Wayah, Amaroc, & Mohican for a multifaceted “hands-on” program on the life of a wolf. Held at Maggie Pavilion.

• “Spring Migrants”, Saturday, April 30. Birding Field Trip led by Don Hendershot, a naturalist, biological consultant and freelance writer. His column “The Naturalist’s Corner” has appeared in The Smoky Mountain News for more than a decade. Meet at 7:30 a.m. in the Super Wal-Mart parking lot on the side closest to Verizon.

• “Return of the Songbirds”, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10. Program Curtis Smalling is the Important Bird Areas Coordinator and Mountain Program Manager of Audubon North Carolina. Held at Maggie Pavilion.

A pesticide disposal collection day has been scheduled in Haywood County from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, at the N.C. Cooperative Extension Center at 589 Raccoon Road.

The primary objective is to assist farmers and homeowners in properly disposing of any unwanted pesticides. There is no charge for this service. Bring any pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc.) that are in their original containers and are clearly labeled. Materials of unknown identity, paints, or other hazardous waste will not be accepted. 828.456.3575.

Help protect the creeks in the Tuckasegee River Watershed by learning to collect and identify aquatic insects, considered key indicators of how polluted a creek is.

The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River (WATR) will hold a one-day training on from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, at the Whittier Community Center. Participants will learn how to report water quality problems, identify aquatic insects and collect valid field samplings. Volunteers work in small groups to take samples on at least twice a year, usually spring and fall, for a total of about eight to 10 hours per year. Agencies use this information to identify waterways in need of additional attention.

For those oriented to environmental education, it is an opportunity to build your resume and earn credits. Anyone, age 17 and up, and all levels of experience are welcome. For ages 15 and 16, call ahead to the WATR office to discuss participation. A $5 donation or more is requested to help cover costs for materials. Participants should either bring a lunch, or purchase a lunch for $5.  

828.488.8418 or www.WATRnc.org.

Western North Carolina has one of the highest concentrations of summer camps in America, and an economic-impact study completed in January by a team of researchers from N. C. State University found it amounts to about $365 million.

The researchers looked at residential summer youth camps in four counties: Buncombe, Henderson, Jackson and Transylvania. The study also estimated a direct economic impact of $218 million; more than 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs created in addition to camp staff; $260 million in increased resident income and $33 million in tax revenue during the summer of 2010.

Seasonal staff, who traveled specifically to WNC because of the residential camps, were shown to spend an average of $2,402 during their stay (before, during, and after camp) in WNC.

Incremental visitors, who traveled specifically to WNC because of residential camps and did not live in the four-county WNC region, each spent an average of $2,096 during multiple stays in WNC.

The study also examined families’ perceptions of the benefits of summer camps. More than 93 percent of camp families felt camps made a positive difference in their children’s lives, and 95 percent would not only recommend a camp experience, but would send their child back to camp.

The two Jackson County camps included in the study had an $11.5 million total economic impact, $7 million direct economic impact, and $800,000 in tax revenue.

Families can discover how the great outdoors exists in their own backyards during “Outdoor Adventure Day,” from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, in Asheville. The event is being put on by the N.C. Arboretum but will be held at the Asheville Outdoor Center on Amboy Road in West Asheville.  

The event is designed to introduce families to fun and low-cost outdoor entertainment and activities offered by the Arboretum and Asheville Outdoor Center. Children and adults will learn about local wildlife through live animal presentations. Arboretum staff will lead nature walks, as well as geocaching activities and make-and-take crafts. Visitors can enjoy some friendly competition through nature-centered field games, complete with prizes.

www.ncarboretum.org or 828.665.2492.

Several plant sales are coming up for gardeners and flower lovers.

• Haywood Community College will hold a Spring Plant and Craft Sale from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Friday, April 29. The sale will be held on campus at HCC’s horticulture parking lot. All plants for sale were raised by students in the Horticulture Program and all crafts were made by students in the professional crafts programs.

828.627.4672 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

• The ninth-annual plant sale of the Macon County Master Gardener Association will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at the Environmental Resource Center next to the landfill in Franklin. There will be a wide selection of plants – perennials, woody ornamentals, annuals, vegetables, herbs – at reasonable prices. New this year will be the raffle of a quilt, handmade by two of the gardeners. All proceeds of the sale go to the further development and maintenance of the demonstration gardens.  

• The Whole Bloomin’ Thing festival from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 7, in the Frog Level district of downtown Waynesville will feature locally-grown garden starter plants, including annuals, vegetables and herbs, as well as perennials. 828.734.5819.

• And, finally, the Corneille Bryan Native Garden, at Lake Junaluska in Haywood County, will hold a plant sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m Saturday, May 14. The sale will be held at the top of the garden, at the junction of County Road and Ivey Lane. Plants will include native perennials grown from seed collected in the garden.  

828.778.5938.

The grand opening of a 14.5-mile trail system near Hayesville in Clay County is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, April 30.

The Southern Appalachian Bicycle Association, Clay County Communities Revitalization Association and Tusquitee District of the Nantahala National Forest will host the celebration of the Jackrabbit Mountain Bike and Hiking Trail.

Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Southern Appalachian Bicycle Association will lead group rides, the Young Harris College cross country team will lead group trail runs, and the Mountain High Hikers will lead hikes. There will be music, food and other presentations as well.

Construction on the trail started five years ago, and a practice trail and restroom were recently constructed at the trailhead to provide users with additional facilities. The trail system skirts the edge of peninsulas along the lakeshore. The layout allows riders to pick from multiple loops with various lengths and difficulties. The system is not open to horses. Mountain bikers reviewing the trail system in online forums have given it five-out-of-five-stars.

Jackrabbit Recreation Area has a large campground with several loops, a swimming area with a sandy beach and boat put-ins. www.sabacycling.com or 828.837.5152.

Nantahala Outdoor Center and The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa have unveiled plans for NOC’s Basecamp Asheville, solidifying a strategic relationship between two classic Southern travel destinations.

NOC will operate an experiential retail and outdoor activity concept shop within the luxury resort, serving as an on-site

activity concierge for hotel guests. The outfitter will offer outdoor trip planning and provide expert advice for exploring the mountains, from rafting to mountain

biking to canopy tours. NOC will also have a retail shop including men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, footwear and

accessories from leading outdoor brands such as Patagonia, The North Face and Keen.   

NOC’s Basecamp Asheville will be located immediately off The Grove Park Inn’s Great Hall. It will be the first LEED- certified retail project in downtown Asheville and one of the first nationally within a historic hotel. NOC’s Basecamp Asheville is expected to celebrate its grand opening in early summer.

Other elements of the alliance include convenient buttons on all in-room telephones, multi-day adventure packages and numerous on-premise experiences such as workshops, clinics and outdoor activities.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is seeking volunteers to help remove the invasive weed garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) from the trail’s corridor at Max Patch in northern Haywood County this Saturday, April 23.

Teams will competing to pull the largest amount of the weed. Garlic mustard escaped cultivation and has spread aggressively in North American natural areas because of a lack of natural controls, and its release of allelopathic chemicals that inhibit seed germination of other species.

The Great Garlic Mustard Gathering will also teach people about the threats of invasive exotic plants, how to identify them and what techniques are used to monitor and remove these infestations.

After a morning of garlic mustard removal, the group will gather on nearby Max Patch for an optional potluck and picnic.

Meet at 9 a.m. Work gloves and all other materials needed for the garlic mustard removal will be provided. In case of rain, the event will be rescheduled for the following Saturday, April 30.  

828.254.3708 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

A meteor shower with up to 20 meteors per hour will happen Friday night, April 22.

The most meteors are expected Friday night and early Saturday morning, but might be as good Thursday night as well. Unfortunately, the light of the moon will interfere with optimal viewing.

The spring meteor shower, which happens every year about this time as the Earth intersects with a trail of particles left behind by a comet, had its first recorded observation in 687 B.C.

Wildflowers, Waterfalls and Vistas will be featured in an upcoming Field Photo Program by Bob Grytten beginning May 17 to June 14. Participants will meet at the Waynesville Armory Recreation Center Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., and carpool to the shooting location, returning about noon. Then, on every other Tuesday evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the group will meet to discuss and review the shoots. The program will be centered on helping participants with composition, light and what to shoot when. Field shoots are $40 per session, Tuesday meetings are $10 each, with a 20 percent discount for taking all sessions for a more comprehensive program. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.627.0245. Bob Grytten photo.

Asheville writer and poet Holly Iglesias will read from her new collection, Angles of Approach, at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 22, at City Lights bookstore in Sylva.

Iglesias, who teaches at UNC Asheville, is a recent recipient of a major fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Iglesias is also the author of Souvenirs of a Shrunken World, a collection of poems focused on the 1904 World’s Fair, and a critical work, Boxing Inside the Box: Women’s Prose Poetry.

An autograph session will follow.

828.586.9499.

Cyrano’s Book Club will meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, in the Senior Citizen’s Center in Sylva.

The current book discussion will deal with Tom Franklin’s new novel, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. New members are welcome.

Additonal information about this meeting and future meetings can be obtained by contacting Gary Carden at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To the Editor:

The Republican design on Medicare comes straight from that dubious chapter of the Vietnam War in which “it became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”

Rep. Paul Ryan’s voucher scheme would destroy Medicare as surely, if not as fast, as repealing it. It is wrong in so many ways as to be diabolical:

• By making it easier for Congress to freeze payments and then slash them. For all their presumed influence, seniors have less lobbying clout than the doctors and hospitals Medicare presently pays directly.

• By putting America’s elderly on the hook for ever-increasing costs, captives once again to the health insurance racket and the vagaries of charity care.

• By pitting those who are already seniors against those who hope to live to be. Nothing could be more cynical than to say to some of us, “You can keep your Medicare. We’re throwing only younger folk under the bus.”

We have already tried “consumer choice” and “competition.” The notion that patients can spend more wisely out of pocket is woefully unrealistic. What are your options when you’re felled with a stroke or heart attack? Only to go where they take you, or lie there and die.

If the commercial market were as efficient as the Republicans pretend, health care would not be costing America nearly half as much again as the average of all 30 nations that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Health consumes 16 percent of our gross domestic product, compared to 10.3 in Canada, 11.2 in France, and 10.5 in Germany, to name only a few of the nations that provide universal coverage without socializing doctors. The excuse here is that we have the best health care in the world, but do we really? Our life expectancy of 77.9 is nearly two years less than the OECD average.

As a citizen on Medicare, I’m willing to do my part for our country’s future. For starters, I could pay more for the prescription drug plan that a Republican president failed to finance. I could also pay higher taxes. But the Republicans don’t want to share the burdens fairly — not when they refuse even to consider tax increases for people like Donald Trump.

Martin A. Dyckman

Waynesville

To the Editor:

Circumstances have prevented the organization of the annual county-wide litter pick-up/recycling event to celebrate Earth Day here in Macon County.  

Because there has been no one able to fill this breach for a spring-time effort, let me personally urge all Macon County residents to please go outside, pick up and appropriately recycle the glaringly evident roadside trash, the plastic bags blown into the fields, brush and trees, and the various junk decorating our streams and mountain vistas.

It is my hope we can organize a county-wide litter pick-up later in the year, on Saturday, Sept. 24, to coincide with an international earth effort taking place at that time.

Shirley Ches

Franklin