As Ghost Town continues to struggle, many are finally coming to grips with the reality that the Old West theme park may never be the economic engine it once was.

Ghost Town has had ongoing financial problems since it re-opened two years ago. Its premier rides — the roller coaster and the incline railway that takes visitors to the park — have been idle since the park re-opened. These and other tribulations have compromised the visitor experience, a reality that investors will have to deal with as they try to increase admission numbers this year.

The park recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means it wants to re-organize its debt — $12.5 million, including more than $2.5 million in outstanding bills to everyone from suppliers to ride repair companies. The debtors include many local companies who were excited about Ghost Town’s potential to boost the local economy and who now are left hoping they can get the money owed to them as the company works through bankruptcy proceedings.

Ghost Town investors started the long road to re-opening with widespread support that reached all the way to Washington. Theme park owners secured a government backed low-interest loan with the help of then Congressman Charles Taylor. Economic development and tourism officials all heralded the opening as a shot in the arm for the region. Companies owed money have held past due bills in hopes all would turn around, banking on the long-term benefit of a viable — if dated — theme park.

Now, as the reality of bankruptcy settles in and a May 19 projected opening date looms amid the worst economic crisis since World War II, many are holding their breath. Maggie Valley in particular needs to continue re-positioning itself as a tourist destination separate from Ghost Town. That way its businesses can look toward the future with some optimism, and if Ghost Town does succeed it will be a boost to those businesses but not counted on as the savior.

That really is what it has come to: no one is counting on the park to provide a great boon during this year’s tourist season. Everyone wishes Ghost Town the best, but mounting debts and unfulfilled promises have strained relationships and eroded the all-out community support. Only time will tell what the future holds for this once important component of the region’s tourism industry.

Openly conservative Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, is blazing his own path in Congress. That characteristic is easy to admire, especially in these days of strident bickering and blind party allegiance.

Last week The Smoky Mountain News interviewed both Republicans and Democrats about Shuler and his position on the issues, and the results confirmed what many in the district already knew: most left-leaning Democrats are willing to forego Shuler’s conservative stance on social and fiscal issues as long as he continues to represent their views on foreign policy, the environment, and business policy. Many Republicans also support Shuler, agreeing with what former Macon County Republican Chairman Harold Corbin and Haywood County GOP County Commissioner Kevin Ensley told this newspaper: he represents the values of his mountain district.

Still, not all Democrats support Shuler’s record, which includes casting votes against the stimulus bill, supporting pro-life measures, supporting gun rights, and voting against stem cell research.

“I expected him to be more of a Democrat than he seems to be,” says Jane Allison, a Democrat from Swain County.

When it comes strictly to the issues, we also take exception to some of Shuler’s positions and think his district would be better served by different votes on several important issues.

Despite that truth, however, Shuler is one of those rare politicians able to vote his conscience instead of his party and do so without coming off as wishy-washy. The reason, by most accounts, is that he is sincere. His votes are who he is, and not molded by the Washington party elite and lobbyists.

“The most important thing is to be true to who you are, and what your beliefs are, and don’t change based upon influence,” Shuler told The Smoky Mountain News.

Observers call it a political tightrope that he’s walking. While Democrats are overwhelmingly in control of the House and Senate, his vote against some Democratic bills is not necessary for passage. If that balance tips and the votes are closer, some wonder if he can endure the wrath of his party and still survive.

“He has to be careful voting against a popular president,” said Western Carolina University political science professor Gibbs Knotts. “He also has to be careful that he does not upset the Democratic leadership too much. The leadership can withhold resources and make it more difficult for Shuler to advance his agenda.”

Right now, though, Shuler has carved out an enviable position most congressmen would covet: he can be himself. Here’s what he told an Asheville audience about the stimulus bill and getting money to WNC:

“I didn’t vote for it, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t support Western North Carolina getting its fair share. We’re prepared to fight for that.”

Too many politicians these days are all about ideology, which squelches debate and belittles opponents. Shuler’s ability to stray from his own party while staying true to its bedrock principles make him very different from your average politician. That’s a badge of honor in this day and age, one to wear proudly.

The following comment was provided by Steve Shiver, Ghost Town CEO and president, in response to questions about the challenges Ghost Town faces in its quest to reopen the park amid Chapter 11 proceedings.

“At this stage of the process there are too many details of our reorganization plan that we continue to formulate. It would be premature and inappropriate to comment on the details of that plan and unfair to those creditors we have involved in this process, without first making it available to them. It is our intent to do everything in our power to open the park for our third season and to maximize the return to our valued creditors as quickly as possible.”

Barrels of mussels being bred at the state’s fish hatcheries are awaiting release into the region’s rivers, helping to restore these dwindling but important species.

For decades, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has raised fish — some 8 million a year at a network of six hatcheries in the state — favored by recreational fisherman. But the foray into propagating mussels marks new ground.

Both the Marion and Table Rock hatcheries are propagating freshwater mussels. The Cheoah River near Robbinsville has already become the new home for some of the mussels bred in captivity.

The biologists involved in the effort are getting a chance to observe mussels up-close and in person, learning about mysterious elements of their life cycle. Determining how mussels reproduce — like where and what time of year they mate — brings biologists one step closer to saving them from extinction. Mussel larvae spend part of their life hanging out on a host fish, but which species serves as a host for various mussels isn’t always known either.

“This information is critical to saving some species from extinction,” said Steve Fraley, an aquatic biologist with the Commission who spearheads the program.

The hatchery set-up will also allow biologists to experiment with how much pollution is too much for mussels.

Mussels are like tiny lungs for the aquatic ecosystem. They are constantly filtering water through their bodies, straining out edible morsels and extracting oxygen. Mussels are also a food source for animals like beaver and otter.

Mussels have been in peril for a host of reasons. The top enemy of mussels is sediment, which clogs their siphons and smoothers them. Chemical pollution is bad for the mussels as well.

The ability of mussels to repopulate on their own is hampered by the promulgation of dams. Many mussel species hitchhike on fish as larvae, and if fish get blocked by a dam, so the mussels hitching a ride. Mussels can end up stuck in between two dams, unable to co-mingle and breed with neighboring colonies.

By Jim Janke

We moved here from Chicago, where there are only two seasons: winter and road-under-construction.*

By comparison, the extended spring in the mountains is wonderful. We have as many as 12 weeks of continuous bloom when redbuds, pears, cherries, crabapples, plums, dogwoods, serviceberries, and other flowering trees do their stuff. But not all of these trees should be planted here. Bradford pears, particularly, have major problems.

Bradford pears (Pyrus calleryana) are widely used in landscaping throughout the US. They grow well in a variety of soil types and conditions, including full sun and partial shade. The trees have a tear-drop shape, with the main trunks dividing into many branches at one point. They grow rapidly, in full bloom can be drop-dead gorgeous, and have great fall color. So what’s the problem?

Bradford pear trees tend to split when loaded with ice or snow. Large older trees split more frequently than younger trees. It seems that every second or third spring we get a snow or ice storm, and one or more mature Bradfords in our neighborhood disintegrate and have to be removed.

To correct this tendency to split, new hybrids were developed. Unlike the original hybrids, though, these new trees are not sterile, and their seeds have spread so extensively that Bradford pear is considered an invasive plant in much of the eastern United States. For this reason the National Park Service recommends that you do not plant Bradford pear.

Fortunately a lot of good alternatives exist. For white blooms in spring, consider ‘Spring Snow’ or ‘Madonna’ crabapples, ‘Texas White’ redbud, or ‘Autumn Brilliance’ serviceberry.

When searching for a tree, shrub or perennial, I often use the Monrovia website. The individual plant listings have a wealth of information. Monrovia does not sell to the public, but if you find it on their website a local nursery can often get it for you. www.monrovia.com/.

*Some Chicagoans insist that spring does exist there: it’s a Saturday afternoon in April between 2 and 4 p.m. After that it goes directly to summer or reverts to winter.

Jim Janke is a Master Gardener Volunteer in Haywood County. For more information call the Haywood County Extension Center at 828.456.3575.

To the Editor:

We appreciate The Smoky Mountain News coverage on the steep slope issues in Macon County and would like to clarify and expand on some of the comments attributed to me, the vice chair of the Macon County Planning Board.

First, the best way to reduce the wrong types of steep slope development is to education the public, the developer and the realtor. Very few developers, realtors or buyers of real property want to spend time in court defending the way they build, sell or buy property. Ignorance is the biggest perpetrator of failing slopes and damaged homes.

The best approach toward protecting private property rights is to know what conditions are on your property before you disturb it. Some mountain lands contain soil conditions and slopes that are not stable and when disturbed, they alter the way rainwater flows thru the soils thereby making them even more unstable then before. Potential steep slope hazard maps are being generated in the western mountains that indicate caution when considering building on or disturbing them.

If county governments would create ordinances that require a builder, realtor and a future homeowner to attend a steep slope hazard program that would show the storm water runoff and sedimentation concerns that impact our drinking waters, along with the dangers of building on steep slopes before they can get a permit, then that would go a long way toward reducing the wrong types of development. No builder wants to be exposed to lawsuits due to shoddy ignorant work and no homeowner wants to invest in building a home that may be damaged by unstable soils.

In Macon County, we require land moving contractors to attend a work shop on grading roads, site pads and storm water runoff so they know what not to do.

The western mountain counties also need a full disclosure by real estate agents of property that has been identified that contains potential steep slope hazards so the potential buyer can make proper decisions and the realtor can be protected from potential lawsuits.

Education, education and education will go a long way toward preventing a bad developer from creating a poor development, a realtor from selling it and a buyer from investing in it. Personally, I find it hard to believe that a bad developer will want to come into a county on purpose that has a well-run mandated educational program which informs the buyers and sellers and developers what the issues are in steep slope development. Building and soil disturbance permits should not be issued unless builders and developers attend the program and sign off that they understand and will adhere to proper standards. Buyers should not buy a property unless they also were instructed on the pitfalls of steep slope development and realtors would certainly not want to sell a property without disclosing the potential of steep slope issues. They can’t knowingly sell a house with a leaky roof without disclosing it, so why would they want to sell a piece of land that may slide down a hill when maps are indicating that such a potential exists.

We need the cooperative efforts of all parties involved to protect, preserve and sustain the beauty of our mountains and the purity of the water in our springs, streams and rivers. Storm water runoff control and maintenance both during and after the development are key issues that require educational training. I have never found a well-informed developer or homebuyer making stupid mistakes when they understand the issues. If it turns out that people will still ignore common sense when building on steep slopes, then the county governments will have no choice but to impose rigid regulations. Before we do that I personally want to ask landowners, developers, realtors and potential homeowners for their help in controlling the wrong type of development and to set examples for others to follow.

The beauty of the mountain region is a joint asset owned by all and is entwined with personal property rights at all levels. If we don’t preserve the beauty and sustainability of the region then we all lose, because tourists will not want to stop, construction will not happen, jobs will decrease and the quality of life that brought everyone here will diminish.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify my comments on this issue.

Larry Stenger

Vice Chair, Macon County Planning Board

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After decades of paper mill pollution, the Pigeon River is coming back to life — literally.

Aquatic biologists embarked on a mission several years ago to restore species that had been wiped out by chemical discharges from the mill. After the paper mill retrofitted its operations to improve water quality, the river was once more capable of supporting many of the species that had been killed off.

It was unlikely the species would migrate back into the river on their own, however, and had to be released by biologists. In some cases, that meant trapping the fish and mollusks from other rivers and creeks. In the case of rarer species, such as the tangerine darter, the fish had to be bred in captivity and then released.

So far, signs are good that the fish released into the river are now reproducing on their own.

The biologists tag all the fish they release, using an injection of medical-grade silicone just under the skin that is visible to the naked eye. The biologists return to the same stretch of river the following year and capture fish.

Any without tags were born in the river, showing that particular species is reproducing. So far, those include the silver shiner, telescope shiner, gilt darter, stripetail darter and mountain brook lamprey.

The severe and persistent drought has complicated the mission, however. Last year, stream flows fell to historically low levels. Fish populations were stressed, and low numbers in spring collections led to postponement of some releases.

The Pigeon River Recovery Project is a partnership of state and federal agencies, industry and private organizations.Major partners include Evergreen paper mill (formerly Blue Ridge Paper), N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Haywood Community College, Haywood Waterways Association, Progress Energy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Conservation Fisheries, the N.C. Division of Water Quality, Western Carolina University.

By the numbers

21,000:    Fish released into Pigeon River

15:    Fish species released

9:    Number of sites where fish were released

221,000:    Native snails released

1,440:    Fish released in Haywood County stretch of Pigeon last year alone

By Josh Mitchell • Staff Writer

J.R. vanLienden grew up in a frame shop and used to promise himself he would never get into the field of photography.

Now he has purchased the old Whittier elementary school built in 1936 to operate as a retreat for photographers from around the country to learn about photography.

Vanlienden, clad in workshop overalls, speaks very fast and said his attention deficit disorder doesn’t allow him to have a favorite photographic subject.

After taking family portraits on the beach for 15 years in Sarasota, Fla., vanLienden decided it was time to try photography in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Located at the base of Smoky Mountains National Park and in the rustic railroad town of Whittier, the school is an ideal setting for photographers to get away from it all and improve their craft.

Workshop attendees spend part of their time getting hands on instruction from professional photographers and can also take off on their own to explore the nationalpark and take some pictures.

The school, Smoky Mountain Learning Center, hosts different workshops, ranging from three to five days, put on by him and other professional photographers. The goal is for the school to be the new “photography mecca” in the mountains.

It will become the largest photo gallery in the region, he said. The school offers a feeling of learning while being able to enjoy the surrounding mountains, he added. With full production and framing facilities the school provides a romantic setting to learn photography. The long hallways are lined with large photographs taken by vanLienden, and the former classrooms provide learning spaces.

The stage of the school’s auditorium is filled with pictures vanLienden has taken.

He has taken some stunning shots of the Smoky Mountains, including waterfalls and streams.

Nature photography is not all he does though. He does a lot of portraits, and particularly has a passion for pictures of babies and their mothers.

One eye-catching picture was of a large nude African American man with his baby sitting down on his back.

While he was in Florida he made a living taking pictures of families on the beach but said he had to give that up because his four children were growing up on him too fast.

So he decided he would move the family to the Smoky Mountains region. Gatlinburg was the first idea, but he couldn’t find the land he needed to open his studio.

On the way back home to Florida he picked up a real estate magazine and saw that the school and five acres were for sale for $500,000.

His wife didn’t think it was such a good idea after seeing the condition of the school, but vanLienden convinced her that it could be fixed up.

Now that the school has been rehabbed, the next step is to expand the photography school. Plans are in the works to bring 25 to 50 cabins to the property that workshop attendees can stay in them.

He also plans to open a daycare in a section of the school. And in the future there may be workshops for subjects other than photography including cooking, woodworking and arts, he said.

A collaborative effort between public and private entities was responsible for repair work on a section of the Appalachian Trail that was damaged by a landslide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The landslide was 10 miles from the nearest road near Pecks Corner in the GSMNP that fell more than 200 feet down the slope. The repair took six days in October to complete and illustrated the strength of the A.T.’s Cooperative Management System.

The groups involved in the repair included the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club, and the National Park Service’s Appalachian Trail Park Office (ATPO).

“The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and A.T. are extremely fortunate to have partners such as the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club and the National Park Service,” said Morgan Sommerville, regional director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

The landslide that damaged the A.T. was identified by the SMHC’s ridge runner, the project was coordinated by the ATC, the construction was completed by the professional trail staff of the National Park Service, and the project was paid for by the ATPO.  

The repair involved drilling directly into the rock face and cutting out a new “bench” for the A.T.’s treadway.

Fire managers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park plan to conduct a series of prescribed burns of fields in Cades Cove on Tuesday through Friday, Nov. 9-12, if weather conditions permit.  Park managers plan to burn several tracts totaling about 700 acres.

The selected fields are being burned as part of a cost-effective strategy to prevent the open fields from being reclaimed by forest. The Park contracts to mow about 950 acres of fields that are clearly visible from the Cades Cove Loop Road twice a year. Other fields that are less visible from the Loop Road, totaling around 1,500 acres, are kept open by burning or mowing on a three year rotation.

Park firefighters and a Park engine will be assigned each day to ignite the grass lands and to make sure the fire stays within its prescribed boundaries. Strips of grass surrounding each field slated for burning have been mowed short to provide containment lines.  

“At this point we do not expect to have to close the Cades Cove Loop Road, but will monitor the situation for smoke or other safety hazards,” said Park Fire Management Officer Mark Taylor. “The public, of course, will notice smoke in the valley but it will dissipate quickly and not unduly impact their visit.”

Haywood County landowners can apply for cost-share grants to install practices that improve water quality on agricultural operations.  

Practices eligible for funding include watering tanks, fencing, streambank stabilization, pastureland improvement, sediment control on agriculture lands, agri-chemical buildings, forest stand improvement and many more. Cost share assistance for contracts will pay a percentage for actual costs of installation of projects.  

This program is offered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Bill programs. Interested farmers should stop by the USDA office located at 589 Racoon Road, Suite 203, Waynesville, NC, 28786 by Dec. 17.

Another incentive program called Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is for operations that provide good management, show little erosion and demonstrate positive land stewardship. This program has not been offered in the past but has the potential to provide qualified landowners annual incentive payments for up to five years. This includes trout hatcheries, nursery operations, cropland, pastureland, wildlife and forestry.

For more information, contact Kara M. Cassels, District Conservationist, at 828.452,2741, ext. 3, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Cataloochee Ski Area opened for the season on Saturday, Nov. 6, making it one of the first resorts in the east to start skiing for the fifth year in a row.

The resort will open on Saturday and Sundays only for now, with skiing from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (check the resort’s website at www.cataloochee.com for the most up-to-date information on hours and conditions)

Cataloochee — North Carolina’s first ski area which is now in its 49th season — spent more than $1.2 million in capital improvements this summer, including the purchase of two new Pisten Bully snow groomers and the installation of 13,000 feet of snowmaking pipeline.  The area has also replaced 24 snowmaking guns with new, more efficient, automatic fanguns and installed a new efficient six-stick automatic snowgun system on the Alley Cat Racing Trail.  

Additional improvements have been made to the area’s rental fleet with the replacement of all adult boots and 700 adult skis in their main rental shop. Cataloochee has also added a second terrain park on the mountain with four new snow guns.  

“We continue to expand our snowmaking system which allows us to utilize these early colder temperatures and allow us to open as early as we can,” said Chris Bates, Cataloochee’s vice president and general manager. “We remain committed to our customers in providing the most skiing and riding time we can each season and will continue to make snow and open early each year.”

The Environmental Educators of North Carolina are pleased to announce that Blair Ogburn, senior naturalist and education coordinator at the Balsam Mountain Trust at Balsam Preserve in Jackson County, is the winner of the 2010 Outstanding Newcomer Award from The Environmental Educators of North Carolina.

Ogburn serves on the EENC Board as the education chair and is being recognized for creating new outreach and education displays for EENC.

Each year EENC publically recognizes environmental educators, EENC members, organizations, and partners for their valuable contributions to environmental literacy, the field of environmental education, the EENC organization, and environmental well being of North Carolina.

Ogburn has been an active member of the organization and plans regional gatherings, which bring educators in WNC together for professional enrichment.

The Balsam Trust operates independently of Balsam Mountain Preserve — where it is located — and has continued its programming while the real estate development has changed ownership and experienced other problems. To contact the Balsam Mountain Trust executive director Michael Skinner call 828.631.1062 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Land Trust for Little Tennessee will hold its annual Fall Celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Mission Farm in the Hiawassee Basin.

The day includes live music, activities for kids, a hayride, a nature walk, native and mountain cultural demonstrations, and the annual conservation award presentation. All activities are free for the entire family, including a delicious cool-weather meal of cornbread, chili and dessert.         

The Mission Farm lies on the Hiwassee River in Cherokee County and is accessible off of U.S. 64, 0.6 miles west of the Clay County line. Macon County residents can reach the farm by traveling west on U.S. 64 through Hayesville.

For more information contact Phillip Moore at 828.361.7884 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Jill Wiggins at 828.524.2711, ext. 209 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

City Lights will host several authors this weekend for a diverse selection of book readings.

At 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, retired WCU English professor Marilyn Jody will read from her new memoir titled Letter to Emily.

The book, dedicated to Emily Dickinson in honor of her poem, “This Is My Letter to the World,” tells Jody’s story of a lifetime of love for another woman. While teaching a class on gay and lesbian writers, she found she needed to search her own soul and openly tell her own story for the first time.

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13, City Lights will host a joint reading celebrating the small farmer in America. The featured authors, who will each read from their books, are Jim Minick, author of The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family, and Dana Wildsmith, author of Back to Abnormal: Surviving on an Old Farm in the New South.

The Blueberry Years recounts Minick’s experiences as an organic blueberry farmer in southwest Virginia. The intertwined essays in Back to Abnormal spin out from author Wildsmith’s daily life on an old farm in the foothills of the north Georgia mountains, to the regional world of the ESL classes she teaches, to the national scope of her work as a writer and a teacher of creative writing.

For more information contact City Lights at 828.586.9499.

Kathryn Magendie will celebrate the release of her new novel, Sweetie, at Blue Ridge Books at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13. To add to the celebration, Kathryn’s husband, Roger, will be serving his home cooked jambalaya. The food is free, but if you wish to make a donation, all the money received will go to the Share the Warmth fund through Mountain Projects.

Sweetie is Kat Magendie’s third novel. Her first two books, Tender Graces and Secret Graces, tell the story of Virginia Kate Carey from West Virginia. A third book in this trilogy is planned. Magendie’s books have been praised by the Asheville Citizen-Times, the Baton Rouge Advocate, by bestselling author Wayne Caldwell, and by respected reviewers including Story Circle and the Midwest Book Review.

Blue Ridge Books is located at 152 S. Main St in Waynesville. 828.456.6000.

To the Editor:

I was surprised to see the letter from John Edwards of Wild South proposing the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, hunters, and his organization work together for wildlife habitat. Wild South is primarily responsible for the current lack of habitat. If you’re a hunter lamenting the loss of wildlife and habitat in our national forests, you can thank Wild South. They are proponents of forest preservation and have a “no cut” policy when it comes to our national forests.

Wild South has been a leader in stopping scientific forests management through procedural appeals and legal action. The science is conclusive that forest wildlife need a patchwork of different stages of forest growth to sustain and grow populations. Even the American Bird Conservancy lists loss of young forest growth as one of its Top 20 critical habitats. Still Wild South persists in opposing forest management for wildlife.

To the WRC and hunting groups, remember the old saying: Ii you lie down with dogs, you might get up with fleas. Wild South is no friend of wildlife or hunters.

Don Mallicoat

Asheville

To the Editor:

Veteran’s Day may just seem to be any other day to some, or maybe an extra day off work for others. However, as I think about Veteran’s Day, I feel an overwhelming sense of heartfelt gratitude for the thousands of men and women that have served and represented our country in so many wars, combat and humanitarian situations in various and different ways and times. The gratitude also goes out to the families and significant others of all of them.

I know that most people have limited knowledge of what all of the people I’ve just mentioned actually go through and experience throughout their military service time. I’m sure everyone tries to imagine what it has been like for these men and women and their families, good and bad included. Fortunately, through my work I have had the opportunity to know exactly what they have experienced, and have come to understand and appreciate the many parts of their lives they have sacrificed to keep the human rights and freedom we have.

Take a minute not only on this Veteran’s Day, but every day, to feel the pride, share the gratitude, and say “thank you” to all of these men and women and their families who have contributed so much in making so many lives better. Thank You!

Glenda Sawyer,

Behavioral Health Clinician, MedWest

To the Editor:

First, let me say that it has been an honor and privilege to meet, inform, and represent nearly half of the voting population in Haywood County.  

I would like to extend congratulations to Sheriff Bobby Suttles on his win and to those who have supported my campaign and me over the last 18 months.

Your efforts to vote have made a difference in Haywood County. Together, we have shown that the citizens are watching and are interested in how the sheriff’s department is managed, and that we will continue to do so.

William “Bill” Wilke

Haywood Sheriff’s candidate

To the Editor:

Thank you to the candidates, the many volunteers and the voters in the mid-term elections. Macon County voters turned out in record numbers and Republicans did well here and across Western North Carolina. Well done.

But, we still need major changes in Washington, D.C. The looming presidential election will not be easy. This is a time for all Americans to stand up for fiscal responsibility, for individual accountability and for a lessening of federal power and influence even when it impacts a project that you love and want to keep.  To control spending, to reduce federal government involvement in our lives, to keep taxes at the same level, we must eliminate and reduce federal programs — particularly welfare programs — even when they impact us personally!

Gary Dills

Chairman, Macon County GOP

To the Editor:

Sen. Snow, I am so sorry that people voted based on advertisements rather than on a candidate’s positions. I was appalled to learn of the very misleading mailing saying that you “wanted to give convicted rapists a second chance” right before the election. I was very glad that Scott McLeod of The Smoky Mountain News clearly explained the truth about your position.

I initially looked at such mailings early in the campaign, but when I realized that 90 percent of them were just “hate rhetoric,” I recycled the rest without looking at any of them. Obviously others did read them and were swayed by such rhetoric.

I thank you for your service and wish you the best. Perhaps we’ll see you back.

Marti Senterfit

Cashiers

To the Editor:

Jim Davis, who beat Sen. John Snow in the election, ran one of the filthiest campaigns I’ve ever witnessed in my 40 years of voting. He, or people and organizations working on his behalf, sent several deceptive and downright inflammatory mailers during the course of the campaign. The last one that went out, a takeoff on the infamous Willie Horton ads of the 1980s, was one of the most repulsive pieces of campaign literature I’ve ever seen.

I don’t own a television but I’m told that his TV ads were ubiquitous and annoying. I do have a home phone, so I was subjected to one of the sleaziest political tactics around — the push poll.

In push polling the caller indicates that they are doing a poll for informational purposes. The questions begin innocuously enough, asking which candidate you might favor in a particular race and perhaps what some of your general values might be. Once, however, you are tagged with support of the candidate opposing the one the poll is being conducted for, the questions begin to get a lot uglier. “Would you be more or less inclined to support John Snow if you knew he supported child molesters?” or “Would you be more or less likely to support John Snow if you knew he used state money to buy drugs?”

Notice, the questions don’t actually accuse the candidate of anything evil. What they do is insidiously implant impressions and suggestions.

These polls are hideous for several reasons. First, they obviously use what anyone should concede are questionable tactics and language to advance a candidate, or perhaps more appropriately, destroy an opposing candidate. Second, and perhaps more destructive, is that by masquerading as information gathering and innocuous they undermine honest attempts to survey people and also give some folks the sense that the information presented in the questions is neutral and honest.

They are a noxious tactic and any honest candidate should actively disavow them and anyone who conducts them on his behalf.

Regardless of the tactics that got him there, it appears that Jim Davis is going to Raleigh. As a Republican and someone who embraced Tea Party rhetoric, one would expect that Mr. Davis will seek to shrink government and taxes. Most of the Tea Party rhetoric I’ve heard seems to suffer from an over-abundance of anger and a distinct lack of concrete suggestion. Smaller government, if it’s effective, may be a good thing, but most of what I’ve heard seems to paint government in general as evil. Libertarianism, like most of the other “isms,” relies on a utopian view of society that lacks practicality and the pragmatic recognition that people and markets don’t always behave in predictable ways. Hopefully those taking their places in Raleigh will come to the realization sooner rather than later that government is necessary and that governing is significantly more complicated than a “Don’t Tread on Me” sign would lead us to believe.

Since Mr. Davis is a former county commissioner I hope he’ll remember that indiscriminate cuts at the state level often find their way to the local level in the form of unfunded mandates. There are things government does that he may philosophically disagree with, but those functions won’t be going away soon and dumping the burden on counties is not a solution.

One area Mr. Davis may want to look at — and it’s something that perhaps falls within his professed ideology — is amending a property tax and revaluation system that leads to perverse consequences in rural counties. We have a system that works against preserving land and works against keeping rural folks on the land.

Perhaps too Mr. Davis, in keeping with the philosophy of local decision-making, will find a way to support a move towards at least limited Home Rule. Currently local governments are dependent upon the legislature for anything they do. This limits local creativity and in some cases reduces local government to nothing more than administrators for the state. Rural counties don’t have much of a voice in the legislature, so consequently we are often subjected to policies that better fit the more populated areas of the state.

Mr. Davis takes his seat with dirty hands. Let us hope he finds a way to redeem himself by governing not by ideology or rhetorical prescription but by common sense and concern for the welfare of his constituents. Let us hope that the soul he sold to get elected has at least a bit of humanity left in it.

Mark Jamison

Webster

To the Editor:

In the early 20th century, the Waynesville Town Board purchased the Allens Creek Watershed to assure that the town would have a high quality drinking water supply for future growth and development. Unfortunately, the people considered the board a bunch of spendthrifts and fired them all at the next election. During the ensuing years, various boards allowed logging in the watershed, often with disastrous environmental results. Near the close of the century, the public did not support any kind of logging. Soon the watershed began a remarkable natural recovery from the past logging scars.

By the 1980s, the citizens of North Carolina, and their state government, were becoming alarmed at the loss of quality drinking water supplies throughout the State. Waynesville’s Allens Creek Watershed was given the state’s highest quality drinking water classification — a WS-1 — because of its own outstanding natural recovery and removal of man-made forestry impacts. The original spendthrift board members are now considered historic heroes.

Much to the surprise of many citizens, the 2004 board announced that it favored limited logging in the watershed. A large number of citizens did not agree, and presented to the board a 600-signature petition, protesting any type of tree removal from the area.

Regardless of the public’s feelings, the board moved forward — with taxpayers money — funding a Western Carolina University flawed “Healthy Forest Study Plan” to selectively log the area. Most of the 2004 town board members ran for the 2008 board, among other goals pursuing the “WCU Healthy Forest Plan” agenda.

Concerned about the future potential danger to the watershed, I ran as a 2008 town board candidate. Although I garnered more than 800 votes, I could not overcome board coalition to obtain a seat. This failure has only encouraged me to fight harder to protect our pure drinking water for future generations.

In the town’s October 2010 report, as I explained and predicted above, the mayor is now requesting public support for the board’s “Healthy Forest Watershed Management Plan.” Public comment will be accepted through Nov. 12.

The board’s present justification to log the decadent, old white pine plantation makes no sense nor has scientific validity. Every citizen, scientist, school child, and informed environmentalist should be speaking out against the proposed plan.

Tell the board to abolish its “Healthy Forest Management Plan” and leave the Watershed to its own ecology. If, however, they follow through with their present stubbornly, greedy plan, then follow the money trail. The Allens Creek Watershed is not a cash cow.

Charles Miller

Waynesville

Guided by tweets and freshly made maps, Western Carolina University students will race against the clock, and each other, in a Twitter-based scavenger hunt Thursday, Nov. 18, as part of Destination: Dillsboro!, an appreciation event hosted by town merchants.

The scavenger hunt is called the Dillsboro Cat-Dash, and it’s a way for students to find out what the town has to offer them while having fun and winning prizes.

Students will be led through participating Dillsboro shops to find the answers to clues as they are sent via the social networking site Twitter. They will then have to respond to the Twitter administrator with the correct clue to receive points during the competition. The teams that finish in the shortest amount of time and with the most correct tweets will receive prizes from Dillsboro merchants.

Winners will receive one of the following prizes: a 25-person Tuckaseigee River tubing trip from Dillsboro River Company; ice cream for 12 at Bradley’s General Store; gift certificates for the Jarrett House, Kostas and the Well House; a Japanese lantern from the Golden Carp; and an opportunity to make a glass Christmas ornament at the Green Energy Park.

In order to participate, students will have to come equipped with a smart phone featuring a Twitter application. Students must represent a WCU student organization. Teams will be given newly printed maps to help navigate the shops during the race.

The Dillsboro Cat-Dash will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the West Carolina Internet Café on Haywood Road.

For more information and to register for the Twitter scavenger hunt, contact Ashley Funderburk at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The town of Dillsboro will host Western Carolina University faculty, staff and students during a special event called “Destination: Dillsboro!” on Thursday, Nov. 18, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Designed to show Dillsboro’s appreciation for WCU, the event will feature merchants staying open late and offering free samples and discounts especially for the WCU community.

The evening will feature a raffle drawing for numerous prizes from Dillsboro merchants for faculty and staff and a scavenger hunt using the social network Twitter for students.

To be eligible for the prizes, faculty and staff will enter their registration forms into a basket at the Jarrett House, which is serving as headquarters for the event. Registration forms are being sent through the WCU e-mail system, and prizes will be drawn throughout the evening. Once visitors register at the Jarrett House, they will be given a new holiday shopping guide that provides an updated map of the town and ideas for holiday gift giving from Dillsboro.

Mayor Mike Fitzgerald will be greeting guests and making an official declaration of appreciation for WCU at the Jarrett House at 6 p.m.

“We’re looking forward to a great night,” Fitzgerald said. “The town will be decorated in purple and gold, but we’re rolling out the red carpet for the Catamounts. We hope WCU folks and their families will come down — if only for a little while — to check out the shops and eat at the restaurants. We’ve made a special effort to provide free child care and activities for the kids, so the whole family can enjoy the event.”

For WCU personnel with children, volunteers will provide free child care services at the Jarrett Memorial Baptist Church on Church Street. There will be 20 spots available from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 20 spots from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Children ages 3 to 12 are eligible and advance reservations are required. Art activities, games and snacks will be provided. To RSVP for child care, contact Casey Hodges at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Destination: Dillsboro! is the latest event in a recent partnership forged the town and WCU. The overall goal of the partnership is economic revitalization. Numerous faculty, staff and students from across the university are working on a variety of projects including small business counseling, survey research, marketing, public relations, broadcasting, arts, entertainment and special events.

For more information about the Dillsboro/WCU partnership or any of the Nov. 18 activities, contact Betty Farmer, special assistant to the chancellor for Dillsboro, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.227.3804.

— By Matthew Hoagland, WCU

The Kids Advocacy Resource Effort (KARE) is holding its first Festival of Trees beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 22, at the Gateway Club in downtown Waynesville.

Festivities begin with a dinner buffet followed by a live auction of uniquely decorated Christmas trees designed by local merchants Blue Ridge Books, Chocolate Bear, Connie Buchanan Plemmons H&R Block, High Country Furniture, Jackson/Haywood Psychological Services, Main Street Artists Co-Op, Mast General Store, The Smoky Mountain News, Vertigo and The Waynesville Kiwanis Club. In addition, pottery, jewelry and much more will be available from local artists. Tickets are $75 per person and attire is festive.

For ticket information call 828.456.8995.

Prospective college students can get a taste of what campus life is all about as Western Carolina University holds Open House on Saturday, Nov. 20.

Hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Open House gives students and their families a chance to tour the campus, including classrooms, residence halls, the library and WCU’s new Campus Recreation Center. Faculty members will be on hand during an information fair to discuss academic opportunities and career interests, and representatives of student groups will be available to talk about extracurricular activities on campus.

Registration and check-in will be held from 8 to 9 a.m. at WCU’s Fine and Performing Arts Center. After a welcome session from 9 to 9:30 a.m., campus tours will be given from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The information fair will be held from 10 a.m. until noon in and around A.K. Hinds University Center.

Prospective students will be able to use their meal tickets for a free lunch at the new Courtyard Dining Hall or University Food Court, and all guests may purchase lunch at any university dining location.

For prospective students unable to come to campus on Nov. 20, other Open House events are scheduled for Feb. 19 and March 19.

More information about Open House events and registration for all dates is available by clicking on  or by calling the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at 828.227.7317 or toll-free 877.WCU4YOU

Haywood County High School students can compete in the a oratorical scholarship program, sponsored by Waynesville American Legion Post 47.  

All students, grades 9-12, are eligible to participate. This includes public, parochial, military, private or homeschool students.

The American Legion has sponsored this contest since 1938. It is designed to instill a greater knowledge and appreciation of the U.S. Constitution. Other objectives include the development of leadership skills, ability to think and speak clearly, and the preparation for acceptance of duties, responsibilities, rights and privileges of American citizenship.

Each contestant must give a prepared oration on some phase of the U.S. Constitution, giving emphasis to the duties and obligations of a citizen to the government. Additionally, the contestant must give a short extemporaneous oration on an assigned topic.

On or before Dec. 17, each participating school must have conducted a contest, if necessary, to ensure only one contestant will represent their school.

American Legion Post 47 can sponsor only one candidate to represent Haywood County. Therefore, if more than one school has a candidate, Post 47 will conduct a contest to select one candidate to represent Haywood County. The winner will compete at district. The district winner will  compete at division, and the division winner will compete at state. The state winner will compete nationally in Indianapolis. Winners qualify for college scholarships.

Interested students at Tuscola or Pisgah high schools should contact their counselor for details. All other students should contact American Legion Post 47 Service Officer, Ron Rookstool, at 926.6090.

Wit Tuttell, director of Tourism Marketing for the N.C. Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development will discuss projected travel trends and visitor profiles at the annual meeting of Smoky Mountain Host on Nov. 19 in Maggie Valley.

Tuttell will be joined on the program by Sutton Bacon, president and CEO of the Nantahala Outdoor Center, who will provide a summary of opportunities to grow the region’s tourism economy through the World Freelance Kayaking Championship, an international sporting event which will be held in 2013 in the Nantahala Gorge. The event is expected to attract over 400 athletes from 40 or more countries to the region and more than 100,000 spectators.

The presentations are part of this year’s annual membership meeting of Smoky Mountain Host, Southwestern North Carolina’s regional destination marketing organization for tourism. Also being presented will be the Host’s 2011 tourism marketing plan for the region.

The meeting will be held at the Maggie Valley Club starting at 10:45 a.m. and concluding by 1:30 p.m. Lunch is being sponsored by Smoky Mountain Living Magazine, Blue Ridge Country Magazine and Our State Magazine. It is open to both members and non-members of Smoky Mountain Host.

For meeting registration or further information, contact David Huskins, SMH Managing Director for Operations at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 828.691.3300.

Haywood Community College’s JobsNOW program will hold a Reverse Job Fair from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18, in the Student Services building.

Employers for the Automotive, Green Building Construction and Health Care Professions are invited to meet and conduct mini-interviews with 20 accomplished students who have earned their certifications as Certified Green Building Specialists, Automotive Technicians, Nursing Assistants, Phlebotomists, and Medical Office Administrators.

Reverse Job Fair is a new way to match job-seekers to employers. These eager job-seekers will sit at individual tables displaying resumes, certifications, and letters of recommendation. Employers will then sit and talk with the job-seekers (in “reverse” from the traditional job fair format).

For more informationcall Rinda Green, HCC Director of Corporate and Community Education, at 828.627-4243 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Haywoood Community Connections, an advocacy organization for senior citizens in Haywood County, has updated its website. Visit  and check out the following:

• Resource directory for seniors, caregivers, and persons with disablities. The directory can be accessed in two different formats. Clicking on “Senior Resource Directory” in the upper left hand corner will take the user to a directory that can be searched by categories. This information has been updated. In the center section of the page, under “Finding the Help you Need” is an underlined section that reads “” Clicking on this will take you to the entire pdf version of the Directory that can be printed, placed in a notebook and used as a desk reference.

• A video depicting a Candlelight Reflection is available by clicking on the “News” section.  Candlelight Reflections are held during the month of November in recognition of National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month.  To find out how to host a Candlelight Reflection, contact Area Agency on Aging at 828.586.1962, ext. 218.   

Information regarding the Senior Friendly Business Program is also available by browsing through the “News” section.  This project was a collaboration between Haywood Community Connections and Western Carolina Univerity’s School of Design.

Haywood County Meals on Wheels needs help — there is a shortage of volunteers.

People are needed to deliver hot, nutritious meals to qualifying elderly, homebound and/or disabled adults who cannot prepare their own meals, or do not have someone that can prepare the meals for themselves.

Meals on Wheels has 24 routes with just more than 200 clients.  There are two vans that distribute prepared meals each morning to drop off points throughout the county so that the volunteers will not have to leave their respective communities to deliver the meals.

A volunteer for Meals on Wheels should expect to dedicate two hours, one day per week to deliver meals.  

828.356.2442 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Haywood Community College’s Continuing Education Department is offering a Basic Parliamentary Procedures seminar on Wednesday, November 17 with UNC School of Government faculty member A. Fleming Bell, II.

The seminar will be held from 5 until 8 p.m. in the Student Services Building on campus.

Topics include types of meetings, agendas, motions, action by the board, voting, debate, ratification of actions, quorums and closed sessions. Participants will also discuss common practices and legal standards for comment at public meetings. Government officials, leaders of community groups, corporations, non profits, and cultural religious, social, educational, and professional organizations can all benefit from this seminar.

This workshop is co-sponsored by HCC and the Local Government Training Program in the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs at Western Carolina University. Cost is $30 and includes refreshments, materials, and Bell’s book, Suggested Rules of Procedure for Small Local Government Boards.

828.565.4008.

The Mirari Brass Quintet will present a concert at Western Carolina University on Friday, Nov. 12, as part of the group’s tour of the Southeast.

The quintet will perform at 8 p.m. in the recital hall of WCU’s Coulter Building. Admission is free.

The program will feature music ranging from the Renaissance and Baroque periods to contemporary, jazz and Latin, and will include new compositions written by and commissioned for the quintet.

The concert is sponsored by WCU’s School of Music and the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity. For more information, contact the School of Music at 828.227-7242.

The Haywood Community Chorus will hold its fall concert at 4 p.m. on Nov. 14, at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville.

For the major choral selection, the 60-voice chorus has prepared the much-acclaimed “Messa di Gloria” by Giacomo Puccini. Soloists are tenor Herbert Kraus and baritone Ed Davis. Also on the program is Randall Thompson’s Testament of Freedom, a perennial patriotic favorite.

The choral Director is J. William Stephenson, with Kathryn Stephenson as accompanist.  An orchestra will provide additional accompaniment.

The leftover Halloween goodies might be still sitting in the candy bowl, but at Western Carolina University it’s already beginning to sound a lot like Christmas.

That’s because WCU’s music students and faculty are getting ready for their annual “Sounds of the Season” holiday concert, and tickets are on sale now.

The popular holiday event will be presented by Western Carolina’s School of Music at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, in the concert hall of the Fine and Performing Arts Center.

The concert will feature performances by WCU’s Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Concert Choir, Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet, Flute Ensemble, Early Music Ensemble, Saxophonic Quartet, Clarinet Ensemble, Faculty Woodwind Quintet and Angklung Ensemble.

Ticket prices are $15 for adults; $5 for children and students; and $10 for senior citizens (ages 60 and over) and WCU faculty and staff.

828.227.2479 or visit www.wcu.edu/fapac.

The Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources is presenting a symposium Nov. 12-14, called “Gathering Places: Traditional Basketmaking and the Environment.”

Gathering Places seeks to bring together basketmakers from diverse tribal and traditional origins to discuss ways of maintaining access to the native materials used in basketry through ecological restoration, propagation of plants, access through public and private lands, education, tree improvement, sustainable harvesting, etc.

Conversations between RTCAR and Joyce V. Coakley, a sweetgrass basketweaver from South Carolina’s low country, about the shortages facing both communities led to the idea of a having a national conference to share strategies.

An important element of the continuation of tradition is teaching the next generation of artisans. A panel discussion of success stories including the basketry class at Cherokee High School will be offered.

The conference will be held at the Great Smokies Conference Center in Cherokee and participants must register ahead of time. More information and registration forms are on the RTCAR website at www.rtcar.org. For more information call RTCAR at 828.554.6925.

The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University will host a number of events in November.

The museum is in the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the WCU campus. All events are free and the public is invited to attend.

• Family Day, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, Nov. 13 — Parents and children are invited to participate in a scavenger hunt and other activities that encourage children’s interest in art. Enjoy popcorn and prizes at the event, which is sponsored in part by the WCU School of Art and Design’s art education program and the Jackson County Arts Council through support from the N.C. Arts Council.

• Handmade Holiday Trunk Show, 2:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18 — As part of its 3rd Thursdays at the FAM series, the Fine Art Museum will host the Handmade Holiday Trunk Show, an opportunity to buy directly from artists including WCU students and staff and community members. All items are priced at less than $100 and include silk scarves, jewelry, knitted wear, soaps, note cards and more. Coffee and tea will be available, with wine and cheese served from 5-6 p.m.

• Reception for exhibit by graduating students, 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 29 — Titled “Oh Sweet Pestilence,” the exhibition will include a mix of ceramics, drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture by 12 students who are part of a class taught by Marya Roland, associate professor of art, that prepares students for entry into the professional art world. Participating students, all earning bachelors of fine arts, are Christine Cady, sculpture; Michael Dodson, sculpture; Lisa Erato, painting; Allyson Greer, printmaking;  Rachael Griffin, painting; Lauren Hill, printmaking; Alexandra Kirtley, printmaking; Sarah Lovell, painting; Michelle McAfee, sculpture; Constance McCormick, ceramics; Janine Paris, drawing; and Traci Pierce, ceramics. The exhibit will run through Friday, Dec. 3.

The Fine Art Museum’s hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. The museum also is open one hour before Fine and Performing Arts Center Galaxy of Stars performances.

For more information about these events, contact Denise Drury, the WCU Fine Art Museum curatorial specialist, at 828.227.3591 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit the museum online at fineartmuseum.wcu.edu.

The Second Sunday Contra Dance will be held from 2:30-5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14, at the new Senior Center in Sylva.

This dance will be a fundraiser for the Community Table. Dancers are encouraged to get sponsors to pledge a donation for each dance they will do during the afternoon. Sponsor pledge forms are available from Ron Arps at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. There will be a silent auction and raffle of locally-made handcrafts. Donations will be used for the renovation of the former Golden Age Club in Sylva, which will soon be the new home of the Community Table.

No previous experience with contra dancing is required and all dances will be taught and walked through before dancing. There will also be a short beginners’ workshop at the start of the dance. Some dances for children as well as a waltz or two will also be included in the program. No partner is required.

Local musicians will play music for all the dances. Local musicians are invited to sit in with the band, to jam and learn how to play music for dancing.

There will be a potluck dinner following the contra dance, starting at 5:30 p.m. Bring a covered dish, plate, cup and cutlery and a water bottle.

Contra dancing is a form of English country dancing that has become very popular with people of all ages during the last 20 years. It uses many of the same figures as square dancing such as circles, stars and swings.

Information about the dance and the fundraiser is available from Arps at 828.586.5478.

Haywood Community College recently hosted a regional cosmetology competition on the Clyde campus. In addition to HCC, Blue Ridge Community College and Tri-County Community College also participated. HCC student Haley Walls was the overall student winner.

Following are the top results of each event:  

Salon cut and color

First place, Jalissa Hollis, HCC; second place, Ashley Thomas, Tri-County; third place, Laura Satterfield, Tri-County

Long hair design mannequin

First place, Haley Walls, HCC; second place, Barbara Williams, Tri-County; third place, Mary Ann Hooper, Tri-County

Nail art-mannequin

First place, Nikki Snyder, HCC; second place, Haley Walls, HCC; third place, Kym Whyte, HCC

Evening makeup

First place, Leslie Waldrup, HCC; second place, Holly Lafflin, HCC; third place, Nikki Sims, Blue Ridge

Total trend-team

First place, LeAnn Lewis, Alicia McCurry, Haley Walls, HCC; second place — Christy Bair, Carly Lovinggood, Mary Ann Hooper, Tri-County; third place — Breanna Williams, Holly Lafflin, Elizabeth Caballero, HCC

The November art display at Southwestern Community College’s Balsam Lobby on the Jackson Campus celebrates Native American Month. 

Students from SCC’s Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts will display their recent work through Dec. 1. The work includes examples from the Drawing I, Design I and Printmaking I classes

OICA director Jeff Marley said the prints are significant since they are the first work from the new printing press that was delivered in August. In addition to Bark, students exhibiting work include Carrie Atkinson, Jon Alderman, Deana Burchett, Sheila Creed, Amelia Haynes and Samantha Newhouse. For more information contact Marley at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.497.3945.

The Macon County Art Association will hold a collage workshop for children from 9:30 a.m. until noon on Nov. 13 at the Upton Gallery in Franklin.

Materials will be furnished by the Macon County Art Association and a Community Foundation grant. Children must be at least 8 years old. Preregistration required.  For more information on classes and activities at the gallery, call 828.349.4607 or visit This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“Lilly Oncology On Canvas,” an art exhibition honoring the physical and emotional journey people face when confronted by a cancer diagnosis, will be on display at Carolina Cancer Specialists Nov. 15 through 30.

This free public exhibit, which is touring communities nationwide, will showcase select 25 pieces of art from the 2008 Oncology On Canvas competition.

The exhibition can be viewed during normal office hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Friday at Carolina Cancer Specialists, Mountain Medical Center Suite 2 on Hospital Drive in Clyde.

For more information about the exhibit call Carolina Cancer Specialists at 828.454.0181.

The Rickman Store in the Cullasaja community of Macon County will host two upcoming arts events.

Sylva writer Gary Carden’s play “Bright Forever” will be performed at 7 p.m. on Nov. 19. Carden will attend the show to share and chat with the audience before an after the play. Tickets are $15 and they can be purchase at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce or by calling 828.369.5595.

The annual ARTSaturday with the Suminksy Family will take place on Nov. 20. This is the third year that the Friends of the Rickman Store and the Macon County Arts Council will start the holiday celebrations with music, art and entertainment. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the public is invited.

Haywood County art teachers gained a boost to their teaching wish lists when members of the QuickDraw Committee met to award mini-grants to elementary, middle school, and senior high art teachers.

The grants were given at the Haywood County School Board meeting in October to fund original creative teaching ideas in school art programs. The grants enable art teachers to brainstorm and design school-specific projects to enhance their teaching curriculum, and often tie in with academic coursework. The art grants are funded through QuickDraw, an annual art fundraiser, reknowned for its lively atmosphere of creation and the chance to meet prominent artists and buy their works.

Since QuickDraw’s inception, $32,000 in teacher grants and $13,000 in scholarships have been donated to benefit art education.

According to Steve Brown, executive director of the Haywood County Schools Foundation, this is the ninth year that teachers have applied for and received funds through the Foundation from QuickDraw donations. QuickDraw’s art scholarships will be awarded in May at the annual Schools Foundation function honoring scholars and athletes receiving scholarship assistance through the Foundation.

QuickDraw is held the last Saturday of April each year. QuickDraw 2011 is slated for Saturday, April 30, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. Over 30 professional artists will work live at the event.

828.456.6584 or  www.wncquickdraw.com.

Waynesville will dedicate its third public art project during a dedication ceremony at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 19 at Gallery 86.

The project — an artistic railing representing Waynesville’s connection with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — will be installed at the mini-park at the intersection of Main and Depot streets. Ben Kastner and Richard Coley of Wilmington will install their piece the week of Nov. 15.

The theme for the railing is “Art Connects the Parks.” This Waynesville intersection was once the location of a large arched sign indicating the direction of travel, down Depot Street, to the eastern entrance of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The railing design contains layered mountains, handcrafted trees, a recognizable Waynesville church steeple, and in honor of the designation of the Great Smoky Mountains as the “Salamander Capital of the World,” three salamanders.

Salamander Splash, a very successful fundraising event was held June 24 at HART Theater, and the “Salamander Capital of the World” theme continued with an art auction of more than 48 custom works of art — paintings, jewelry, pottery, quilted wall art and metal made by the artists of Haywood County. The artists contributed their talent and energy to the effort to raise the $20,000 commission for the railing.

All of the $20,000 commission was raised from private individuals, area businesses and a grant from the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority.

This is the third major public art installation in Downtown Waynesville. “Old Time Music,” at the corner of Main and Miller streets, and “Celebrating Folkmoot,” in front of the police station and development ofice, were dedicated in 2008 and 2009 respectively. All money for the artworks come from private donations.

There are few places where scientists probing the mysteries of the natural world would rather be.

The sweeping vistas of the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center, a remote outpost straddling the Cataloochee Divide, has lured researchers from across the globe to explore the Great Smoky Mountains National Park just outside the station’s door.

Since its addition to the park in 2000, the site at Purchase Knob has become a crown jewel of the national park. The outpost is not only a conduit for research in the park, but provides children in neighboring communities with a window on the natural world. The research station provides an intersection for scientists and students to come together, fulfilling one of its missions of citizen science.

Nearly 5,000 middle and high school students funnel through Purchase Knob on field trips and internships every year, contributing in real ways to scientific research. The researchers themselves often don’t have the financial staying power to gather data year after year.

“A lot only have funding for only one season,” said Park Ranger Susan Sachs, the education coordinator for Purchase Knob.

But sixth-graders visiting Purchase Knob for science fieldtrips have been testing the acidity of soil for seven years now. When they started, the soil averaged a pH of 5.5. Today it hovers between 5 and 4.5 — a trend likely due to acid rain from air pollution.

“We have seen a steady slow decline in our soil pH,” Sachs said.

Students also probe the decomposing leaf litter for insects in the woods surrounding Purchase Knob, counting their finds, examining them under a microscope and then releasing them unharmed back into the forest. With several dozen classes conducting the hunt year in and year out, the data piling up could be a harbinger of environmental changes.

“Over time, especially with climate change, some of these things are going to start changing. We might realize one day ‘When’s the last time you saw a wood roach?’” Sachs said. “We are kind of like a watchdog.”

Not to mention the free labor.

“Sometimes we might have a request from a researcher that says ‘Can you take a group out and do this?’” Sachs said.

Such was the case when scientists were looking for a new species of springtail, a type of insect with a spring board jumping mechanism in its tail. Students working with Sachs found a specimen that appeared to be a new species, but scientists never found another, leaving them to wonder if it was truly a new species or a genetic mutation.

“It was considered a discovered but lost species,” Sachs said. At the request of researchers, Sachs unleashed students to search the woods where the lone specimen had been found and told them to hit up all the springtails they could find.

“They found several to the delight of the researcher,” Sachs said. “It turns out the springtail was a ‘lost’ species that had only been found once before in 1954 in New York state. It’s rediscovery allowed it to finally become a legitimate species.”

High school interns play a vital role in air pollution research at Purchase Knob that measures the impact of ozone on vegetation. The students make daily forays into rows and rows of cut-leaf coneflower and crownbeard — dubbed the ozone garden — to chart the appearance of leaves. As the summer progresses, the sensitive leaves develop purplish spots, wither and die prematurely.

“The researchers are only here one to two weeks during the summer but they want to know ‘When did you first start to see the spots, and once you saw them how quickly did they progress,’” Sachs said. The students record their scientific observations.

Several teachers in the region have jumped on board, planting ozone gardens at their schools. At these lower elevations where ozone pollution is not as bad, the plants don’t suffer the same ailments. Students log their observations into an on-line database, allowing them to compare their gardens to those at Purchase Knob and of those at other schools.

The students learn the scientific method while doing research, as well as gain an appreciation for the ecosystem and its vulnerabilities.

“It gives what they have to learn in the classroom a real world application, a picture in their mind they can refer back to,” Sachs said. “It will answer the ‘so why should I care about this?’ question. They have a connection to something they really do care about.”

The gift of a lifetime

The reality of a research outpost like Purchase Knob could never have been realized without the initial benefactors, Kathryn McNeil and Voit Gilmore.

The two first came into the property by sheer happenstance back in 1964. Gilmore, a prominent businessman and statesman from Southern Pines, N.C., was hunting for commercial property to start an RV park in Maggie Valley when his real estate agent insisted on showing him the Purchase. Gilmore humored the agent and ventured up the mountain for a gander, but was hardly in the market for 500-some acres. He was so taken by the beauty and views, he immediately flew back to Southern Pines to fetch McNeil, who had just given birth to their fifth child. McNeil, too, fell in love.

“We both agreed we had to buy it,” McNeil said.

They built a vacation house on it the following year and it became a family retreat. As the children grew up, however, family visits became less frequent. McNeil summered there, but by the 1990s had tired of spending long weeks alone on the top of a mountain.

“I really thought it was time to give it away,” said McNeil, who’s now 88. “My husband and I knew what would happen if we sold it. It would become a country club or something and we didn’t want that to happen. It was too special.”

Since the property abutted the national park, McNeil called the superintendent of the Smokies at the time, Randy Pope, and invited him for a visit.

“He came and looked at it and said ‘We’ll take it.’ There was no doubt,” McNeil said. “They were so thrilled. They really didn’t know what they were going to do with it, but they knew they needed it. It was just a matter of details.”

Those details took another eight years to accomplish, however. Despite best intentions, the park service — like any federal agency — can become ensnared in its own unwieldy bureaucracy.

And there was still the looming question of what to do with the magnificent property. Along the way, a new superintendent, Karen Wade, arrived in the Smokies. Wade is credited with the idea of a research station where scientists and school children could converge. She developed a brochure outlining the vision, primarily to garner support in surrounding communities.

By happenstance, park officials visiting from Washington, D.C., saw the brochure. They liked the idea so much they began laying plans for a network of research and education centers in national parks across the country. The Smokies suddenly found itself competing against other parks for money to implement its vision at Purchase Knob, but was ultimately chosen as one of five pilot parks to test the idea.

“The Smokies has always had strong connections with research. It is typically the park that has the most research permits in the entire country. We are always in the top three,” Sachs said. The Smokies was also surrounded by public schools, unlike parks out West where neighboring communities are few and far between.

Sachs came on board with the Smokies in 1999 to help develop the education programming for the new Purchase Knob. Sachs tailored programs at the Purchase for middle and high school students and assembled a task force of teachers from the region to help develop a program that would meet their curriculum mandates.

The Purchase continues to be heralded throughout the park service as a model to replicate. Sometimes it seems Sachs spends more time on the speaking circuit than at her own park, leading seminars on how to integrate research and education. There are now 17 research learning centers across the national park system, from Acadia National Park to Point Reyes National Seashore.

Purchase Knob encompasses 530 acres of high-elevation rolling meadows and woodlands, surprisingly gentle terrain for its 4,900-foot altitude. The home built by McNeil and her husband serves as quarters for visiting researchers. When scientists lining up their visit hear the words “park quarters,” they expect little more than a bunk house or cabin, but instead find a mountain top lodge with wrap around decks, sweeping vistas, expansive windows, a giant dining room table and elegant living room.

“It is a beautiful place and inspirational setting coupled with comfortable meeting space and great natural resources,” Sachs said.

The allure of the Purchase could be the tipping point for scientists deciding where to do their research, which in turn benefits understanding of the park over time. “The park has tremendous natural resources they don’t always understand because natural systems are complicated,” said George Ivey, a grant writer for Friends of the Smokies.

One such experiment is a joint venture between NASA and Duke University that required launching weather balloons every three hours around the clock from the meadows at Purchase Knob. The goal: to better understand the microstructure of rainfall in the upper atmosphere and ultimately improve storm predictions.

“It was a very intensive experiment,” said Olivier Prat, one of nine researchers who descended on the Purchase for the project for a week last summer. “It’s important to have a facility like this where we could rest and work.”

As for McNeil, she lives in her hometown of San Francisco now, but flies back to Haywood County every year to visit the Purchase.

“I always have a little picnic lunch with the rangers and see what’s new and different that they’ve added,” McNeil said. “The Purchase is really still part of me. It has had a tremendous effect on my life like nothing else has.

By Dawn Gilchrist-Young

This is an Appalachian story because it is about resourceful people taking care of their own with little trust in institutions or reference to societal expectations. It is also an Appalachian story because it is about people with no money circumventing the status quo and experiencing equal measures of grace and awkwardness. But it is a universal story because it is about preparing a dead human body that you have loved, in this case the body of my aunt, Frances Barbery, in this case at home and with our own hands.

What we did was at Aunt Fran’s request, made possible through the help of a family friend, Julia Hunt, who was Fran’s hospice volunteer and home funeral guide. What we did was the difference, for my family, in incurring debt and remaining solvent, and in saying an intimate good-bye in a language we all understand, as opposed to saying good-bye in the mortuary chapel of kind professionals.

Other than my maternal grandmother, Aunt Fran was the poorest person I have ever loved. Her years of managing convenience stores, traveling with a carnival, selling plants in flea markets, and working in a resort laundry left her with no income in old age other than a social security check of $600 and change. She had cancers, and as they multiplied, she bought an insurance policy that would pay towards her funeral, but the primary expenses, she knew, would fall on my parents, who had taken care of her since she had become bedridden.

Because she had just buried her second husband a few months before, Aunt Fran was aware of the cost. She was congenitally independent, and so she was as delighted as a dying woman can be when Julia offered to guide my mother and Fran in the time leading to Fran’s dying and the death itself. Aunt Fran, my mother, my sisters, Julia, and I all agreed that we would prepare Aunt Fran’s corpse for cremation in the small bedroom where she spent her last months. Julia told us what to expect and that she would lead us through it, and my youngest sister, Camille, who rehabilitates wild animals and has a gift for treating the injured, agreed to be her right hand.

My part was to drive her body to the crematory. So that is how, on Jan. 15, 2009, I came to be driving Aunt Fran’s body from Euchella cove to a crematory in Asheville in my tiny car as part of a small convoy, a convoy that would fit seamlessly in a Flannery O’Connor story or a Jonathan Dayton film, a convoy that Fran would have enjoyed, maybe did enjoy, if any form of consciousness continues. Even though Aunt Fran was in a large cardboard box crowded in the back of a Prius, the box did offer her the dignity of plenty of room for her five foot frame, and she was wearing her favorite peach colored satin pajamas, a gift from one of my brothers.

Aunt Fran, her sense of humor developed from a lifetime’s practice of turning pain into laughter, would have certainly laughed at the absurdity of this journey, at my seat pushed all the way forward and my knees jacked up gracelessly on either side of the steering wheel. She would have laughed at my back seats folded down to slide in her last conveyance, at Camille in a contortionist’s position in the passenger seat, her cheek almost against the windshield in order to allow the hatch to shut. She would have laughed for joy that my mother’s back could begin to heal from long months of lifting and turning her to avoid bedsores. She would have laughed, too, when the entire parade — my mother, two of her siblings, four of her five children, a daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, and the amazing Julia — had to stop at the rest area on Balsam for a bathroom break for the grandchildren and to try to adjust the placement of Fran’s box to prevent permanent neck injury to Camille, already worn from helping to handle Aunt Fran’s increasingly incapacitated form that trapped her still lucid mind.

It was our knowledge of Fran’s mind that allowed us to do what we were doing on that frigid January morning, and that had allowed us to do what we had done since her death two mornings before. Julia’s instructions to my mother and Camille had been to call her as soon as Fran died. To properly begin the in-home process of preparing the body, certain protocols had to be followed. My sister, Regina, and I were also on hand to begin, although we mostly watched as the beautiful as well as unpleasant aspects of preparation ensued. The reality, and the reason this will not be chosen as a last ritual by many, is the obvious: the body is organic matter. Its bowels have to be emptied, its crevices cleaned, and its limbs arranged decently before rigor mortis sets in. The cold weather was a blessing. With the bedroom windows open and frigid air helping to slow the decomposition that begins when cells are no longer replaced, Camille and Julia, with Mom, Regina and I attending, proceeded to wash Aunt Fran with her favorite soap, shampoo her thinned strands of white hair, and powder her quiet body.

Fran’s humor had always leaned towards the earthy, and the washing and powdering recalled her stories and jokes. Bathing her arms and legs showed us her tan lines, retained even in January from a lifetime of gardening, and recalled for us her loves and passions. Bathing her ears showed us her many piercings, and reminded us, for her generation, of her unconventional approach to beauty. Bathing her contorted hands reminded us of the terrible pain of her rheumatoid arthritis, the perseverance and determination she exhibited in doing for herself until she could no longer do. Bathing her feet and applying her scant makeup recalled her concern, until the very last moment, that she always be presentable, if not pretty. And when it was finished, when she was wearing those satin pajamas and her hands were folded in the classic pose of repose, she was pretty.

When friends and family came the following day to pay respects, no one exclaimed with surprise that Fran “looked so natural” because she was in the bed where she had slept when they visited her over the past weeks, because she looked as she had when they last spoke with her. This was the Fran who taught us in those hours we prepared and transported her body that there is no better way to recognize the sacred in life than to love the body even after it dies.

And so this is an Appalachian story about pride, about my aunt’s pride, in life and death, that prevented her from asking for help from institutions or welfare. But it is also a universal story, and it is about humility. Because one individual was willing to ask friends and family for help, her humility taught all those involved about the sanctity and dignity that are possible even in death.

(Julia Hunt’s experience with her own mother’s home funeral moved her to seek further training with Center for End of Life Transitions, a non-profit project that offers assistance, comfort, and support to all faiths with home funeral education and guidance as well as end of life documentation workshops. For more information, contact Caroline Yongue at 828.676.9806 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Further, a Web site, now currently under construction, may be found at www.centerforendoflifetransitions.org.)

A new hiking book on Western North Carolina puts the regions trails in a new perspective. It weaves together the classic nuts-and-bolts trail instructions with history, stories and anecdotes of the trail and its surrounds.

Hiking North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Heritage was written by Asheville outdoor writer and hiking aficionado Danny Bernstein. The guide packs all the requisite how-to info into the trail write-ups: maps, trail descriptions and driving directions to the trail head. But Hiking North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Heritage brings the trail to life by giving hikers a colorful story about the place they are venturing.

“It gives you something extra: an inside look at the heritage behind the trails that even long-time residents and experienced hikers may not know,” said Penn Dameron, executive director of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. “Your hike will be more than just a walk in the woods. You’ll develop an even greater appreciation for these wonderful mountains.”

George Ellison, outdoor writer and naturalist in Bryson City, said the flourishing number of trail guides over the past half century half become “progressively more informative and accurate as to logistics regarding access, length, difficulty, water sources, shelters, regulations, and so on.” Bernstein’s book, however, is a “trail compendium,” Ellison said, that “deftly assimilates” not only the flora and fauna into trail descriptions but even the literary and cinematic heritage of some sites.

At 384 pages, the guide recommends 66 day hikes ranging in length from 1.3 to 13.1 miles and spanning the mountains of Western North Carolina. The book was published by Milestone Press, based in Bryson City. Bernstein’s first hiking book, published in 2007, is Hiking the Carolina Mountains.

“Bernstein sends us out to explore not only the well-known hiking destinations, but also the places...that have been neglected by other guides,” Leonard Adkins, author of Walking the Blue Ridge, wrote in a review of the book.

The book also includes a few hidden gems off-the-beaten path of other trail guides, like the new Gorges State Park and Hickory Nut Gorge area around Chimney Rock.