A new bed and breakfast has opened in downtown Waynesville. Twin Maples Farm house is located two blocks off of downtown at 65 North Hill Street. Nestled on three acres of lush country land, yet located just two blocks off historic downtown Waynesville, Twin Maples features a 1908 Farmhouse and a separate renovated stable that is the perfect backdrop for any special event. Twin Maples is available for weddings, receptions, family reunions, luncheons, corporate meetings and retreats. 828.452.4228 or www.twinmaplesfarmhouse.com

Harrah’s Casino has partnered with Southwestern Community College to provide free GED training to Harrah’s employees.

Classes are taught at the casino from 2-9 p.m. Thursdays and from 3-8 p.m. Mondays at SCC’s Cherokee Center.

Travis Boisclair, a table games host, dropped out of high school in the 10th grade.

“At Harrah’s they give you the chance to move up with the corporation, but you can’t if you don’t have your GED,” he explained. He said that he is getting his GED to set an example for his son. “Mainly what I want him to learn is don’t give up,” said Boisclair.

“It’s not your traditional classroom,” said SCC Instructor Jean Bockstahler. “Here, everyone operates on their own strengths and weaknesses — and at their own pace.” 828.497.8886

The Mountain View Garden Club held its third biannual “A Celebration of Herbs” at the Laurel Ridge Country Club on June 20. Proceeds that were raised from the event will be donated to The Homestead, an inpatient hospice center currently under construction on property adjacent to the MedWest-Haywood hospital campus in Clyde. A total of about $7,000 was raised through the brunch and the auction. The money will be used to purchase plants, shrubs and trees for the gardens at The Homestead, which will allow residents to continue to experience nature by utilizing French doors to access an outdoor patio with perennial and annual flowers and plants as well as deciduous and evergreen shrubs and trees.

The Rye Holler Boys will perform a concert of bluegrass, old-time country and gospel music at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 17, at Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City. Immediately following the concert there will be a reception for 16 members of Blue Ridge Watermedia Society who have artwork on exhibit at the Center for the Arts. Both the concert and the reception free of charge.

The Rye Holler Boys is a group of four young men who have risen to local and regional fame. They will perform a concert of some of their favorite mountain music inspired by older bluegrass traditions, as well as newer sounds.

Following the concert, everyone is invited for light refreshments in the lobby of Swain County Center for the Arts provided by the 16 exhibiting members of Blue Ridge Watermedia Society.  The 47 works of art on exhibit includes watercolor, acrylic, oil and mixed media paintings, several baskets and graphite drawings.

The concert and exhibit are free and open to the public. 828.488.7843 or visit www.swain.k12.nc.us/cfta.

A cowgirl, a diva and a shameless hussy, a trio of performing songwriters, bring their combination of humor and original country, jazz, blues and pop to the Balsam Mountain Inn at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 21.

Many will recognize their singles, performed by country legends such as Garth Brooks and Alabama. These three ladies will inspire, empower and entertain with their music, wit and stories about men, love and dating, surviving cancer and the power of the spirit.

800.224.9498.

Beau Bristow, a singer-songwriter native to rural Alabama, will perform a free concert at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, at Western Carolina University. Bristow seeks to connect with members of the audience through candid, powerful lyrics and guitar performance. The show takes place on the lawn of A.K. Hinds University Center and is part of WCU’s 2011 Summer Concert Series.

828.227.3622 or visit events.wcu.edu.

Country music star Trace Adkins will perform at 9 p.m on Friday, July 22, at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

Adkins debuted in 1996 with the album “Dreamin’ Out Loud.” Since then, he has released seven more studio albums and two greatest hits compilations. In addition, he has charted more than 20 singles on the Billboard country music charts.

Adkins will perform tunes from his latest album, “Cowboy’s Back in Town,” as well as his well-known numbers.

Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or 800.745.3000. Must be 21 years of age or older to attend.

The second show of the Highlands Playhouse’s 73rd season is set to open on Thursday, July 17.

“Harvey,” a play about Elwood P. Dowd, who claims to have an unseen — and presumably imaginary — friend named Harvey, a six-foot-tall rabbit.  The play won a Pulitzer Prize for drama, and was made into a film starring James Stewart.

Frank Collison is starring as Elwood. Collison has been seen in recent films including “The Happening,” “The Village,” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou.”

Tickets are on sale now for this limited run, July 14 to 17 and July 19 to 24. 828.526.2695.

Come tour the Ogilvie Home, a multi-million dollar home with spectacular mountain vistas, in Highlands from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday to Sunday, July 15 to 17.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door and include a tour, raffle and door prizes.

Proceeds will benefit the Highlands Playhouse.

Jim Curry, performing the music of the late John Denver, will take the stage of the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 15.

“Take Me Home: The Music of John Denver Starring Jim Curry” is a tribute performance. Curry captures the essence of Denver’s music, featuring many former John Denver band members and back-up singers. He will perform many of Denver’s multi-platinum hits like “Rocky Mountain High,” “Annie’s Song” and “Country Roads.”

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

The Patton String Band is set to perform at 7 p.m. on July 14, at the Macon County Public Library. The group will play old-time traditional mountain tunes, as well as country and gospel songs.

Thursdays at the Library is an eclectic mixture of programs by authors and musicians. For more information, call 828.524.3600 or visit www.fontanalib.org.

The Farewell Drifters will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, at the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center. The Farewell Drifters combine elements of bluegrass with classic folk and acoustic American music.

The concert is preceded by two dinner seatings at 5 and 6:15 p.m. served family style at the Stecoah Kitchen.

828.479.3364 or visit www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

The Haywood Community Band will present its third performance in the Maggie Valley Concert Series at 6:30 p.m. on July 17 in the pavilion adjacent to the Maggie Valley Town Hall.  

The concert is sponsored by the Maggie Valley Civic Association and the theme for this concert will be “Patriotic Tunes,” and will feature popular melodies such as America the Beautiful, Armed Forces Salute, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys, and God Bless America.

In addition, the band will play music written by band member Mike McDonald, Pickett’s Charge, commemorating a Confederate Infantry assault on Union forces at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Concerts are free. For more information, visit www.haywoodcommunityband.org or call Rhonda Wilson Kram at 828.456.4880 or Bob Hill at 828.452.7530.

Pete Friedman will bring his music to the Jackson County Public Library at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, with a program of jazz and blues tunes on electric and acoustic guitars.

Friedman has been playing guitars for 47 years and is a musician, composer and guitar teacher. For the past nine years he has been accompanying the choir and pianist at Whittier United Methodist Church. Prior to that, he played in many bands during the 60s, including underground groups and a psychedelic band called the Second Foundation in New York City. He has played lead guitar for singer/songwriter Kath Bloom and many others.

This program is free to the public and is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Main Library. 828.586.2016.

Everyone is invited to the Haywood Dancers Ballroom Dance from 8 to 10:30 p.m. on Friday, July 15, at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde. A free dance class will start at 7:30.

Dress is smart casual. Admission is $10, including refreshments and door prize drawing. 828.648.6136 or 828.734.8726.

The Smoky Mountain Community Theatre presents its summer production “My Son is Crazy - But Promising” by Tim Kelly. The show opens at 7:30 p.m. on July 15, and will be the first show using the theatre’s new lighting system. The production will run from July 15 to 17 and 22 to 25. All show times are 7:30 p.m.

“My Son is Crazy - But Promising” is about Bud, a low-budget Hollywood screenwriter who gives up his career to buy a ramshackle motel, The Ritz Apache Lodge. He is in search of the fabled lost Dutchman Mine that would make him a millionaire.

The show is suited for all ages. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children.

828.488.8227.

The grand opening of the Boomerang Brain Gym is slated for 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 14, at 81 Elmwood Way in Waynesville. Dr. Lisa Verges and Dr. Leigh Odom will be guest speakers.

The Boomerang Brain Gym is designed to do for the brain what physical exercise does for the body. Boomers and seniors who are interested in remaining cognitively fit and aging well are invited to attend the grand opening and give the Brain Gym a try.

Following the presentations, guests will be invited to enjoy refreshments and tour the gym. Staff and volunteers from the Geek Squad will be available to help attendees try out the equipment.

Historic Glenville churches, a one room school house and the Drake Cabin, parts of which are thought to be 150 years old, are three of nine stops on the Glenville Area Historical Tour set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 23.

The tour is a fund-raiser for the Glenville History Project. It will reveal some of the extensive history of the area uncovered by the research and studies conducted by members of the Glenville History Project Committee. All nine sites on the tour will be tended by a knowledgeable committee member and photo story boards will be displayed at each site.

The tour launches at the Glenville Community Development Clubhouse across from the Glenville Post Office. Following the complete tour is estimated to be around two hours.

Tour-goers will visit rarely open-to-the-public sites, including the Hamburg Baptist Church, which was moved from Hamburg Township, cemetery included; the Glenville Wesleyan Church, the Old Glenville Post Office, a present-day tree farm where growing cabbage began the area’s cash-crop agricultural history; a root cellar, springhouse and smokehouse compound all in continual use since before the 1940s.

Tickets for the tour are $10 and can be purchased on the day of the tour at the Glenville Community Development Clubhouse or in advance at 828.743.6744 or 828.743.1658.

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands continues its fine craft tradition July 21 to 24 in Asheville. More than 200 craftspeople will fill two levels of the Asheville Civic Center selling their works of clay, glass, leather, metal, fiber, mixed media, natural materials, paper, wood and jewelry.

All exhibitors are mountain artists who are masters of their craft and have been accepted into the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The Guild is a non-profit organization which has been supporting local and regional craftspeople since 1930. Crafts rooted in Appalachian customs are featured along with the work of contemporary artists.

Throughout the show, the guild will sponsor educational craft demonstrations, including natural dyeing and spinning, throwing, trimming and assembling clay, raku firing, and doll making.

The fair will also host live entertainment beginning on Friday. Local musicians will play on the arena stage, sharing old time music and bluegrass.

What: The 64th Annual Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands

Where: Asheville Civic Center, 87 Haywood St. in downtown Asheville, NC

When: July 21 – 24, 2011; October 20 – 23, 2011

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday

Admission: Adults $8, children under 12 free. Group discounts available

More info: www.craftguild.org or 828.298.7928

City Lights in Sylva presents a reading featuring the poetry of Kathryn Byer and Susan Lefler at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 9.

Kathryn Byer, a featured reader at the recent Flannery O’ Conner Festival, will read from her new limited edition collection titled, Southern Fictions. She will also read from her forthcoming book, Descent, due out in the fall of 2012 from LSU press.  

Susan Lefler, whose work has been featured in numerous journals, including The Asheville Poetry Review, will read from her recent collection titled, Rendering of Bones.

828.586.9499 or visit www.citylightsnc.com.

Registration for a space-limited nature writers’ intensive workshop scheduled for this fall is now open.

The Wilderness Society, a national organization with offices in Sylva, will be hosting the three-day event with author Janisse Ray. It will take place at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center outside of Highlands from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2.   

The workshop is for writers committed to communicating the importance of place — where you live, where you hike, where your drinking water comes from — and what matters about both its present and future state.   

Participants will spend their time engaged in both dialogue and writing exercises.

Janisse Ray is the award-winning author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, of which “The New York Times” said, “the South has found its Rachel Carson.”   

Evenings will include special guests such as regional authors Thomas Rain Crowe, John Lane and Barbara Duncan.

Early registration fee for this workshop is $450 per person, and includes three nights of double-occupancy lodging, as well as all meals and workshop materials. mountaincenters.org.

The Plateau Fly Fishing Club will host a free casting clinic with the senior guide for Davidson River Outfitters at 7 p.m. Monday, July 11, in Cashiers.

Walker Parrott, general manager for Davidson River Outfitters, has been a guide in WNC for 12 years and is a top finisher of regional and national fly fishing competitions including the Masters Fly Fishing Championship.

The clinic will feature casting techniques for floating and sinking lines and cover characteristics of full flex, mid-flex and fast action rods. The clinic will offer all flyfishers an opportunity to determine the best rod for specific streams and species. Anyone is welcome to bring a rod for Parrott to analyze.

Held at the pond behind the Albert Carlton-Cashiers library. 828.885.7130.

As part of a new green curriculum, students from Oconaluftee Job Corps will be helping on a variety of projects in Western North Carolina.

This includes transplanting culturally significant rivercane with Western Carolina University in Cherokee; building an educational trail with the Watershed Association for the Tuckasegee River in Dillsboro; and trail revitalization on the Cheoah Ranger District in Robbinsville.

The Oconaluftee Job Corps currently serves 68 at-risk students who get a new lease on life through vocational training, education and life skills. The idea behind the new green curriculum is to expand employment opportunities for its graduates, help revitalize local economies in rural communities and enhance the mission of the agency, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said.

Job Corps students have fought forest fires, planted trees, improved wildlife habitat and built or maintained recreation facilities and miles of hiking trails.

Get up close and personal with wild things and wild places at the annual Mountain Wildlife Days held at Sapphire Valley Community Center July 15 and 16.

The weekend festivities are hosted by regional conservation group Wild South and are designed to introduce people to the wonders of nature and inspire a sense of responsibility to the natural world by directly connecting them with wildlife.

The speakers for Saturday’s line-up include:

• Freeman Owle, one of this year’s new presenters, who will share insights on the value the Cherokee place on wild lives and wild places — not only in the past, but in today’s society.

• Kate Marshall will share her experiences and award-winning DVDs featuring unique filming of black bears. Her video will show close-ups of bears and cubs in their natural habitat, and she’ll discuss some of the modern dilemmas bears face. She also will encourage participants to become “bear smart,” as part of an initiative currently under way that is sponsored by the Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance.  

• Rob Gudger, a very popular presenter at Mountain Wildlife Days, will be back with his wolves. Gudger will share a new program designed to promote a better understanding of wolves, and the need to be compassionate advocates in support of our most misunderstood animal.  

• Doris Mager, often called the “Eagle Lady,” will bring an assortment of her birds of prey to perform in a flying exhibition. During the up-close look at her birds, Doris will stress the importance of being advocates for raptors, and speak to their roles in our natural world.   

• Steve O’Neill, “Wildlife Warrior” from the Earthshine Lodge, will bring small mammals and reptiles for a program designed to build compassion and inspire the protection of these wild creatures. 

On Friday, experts will lead a moderate guided hike in Panthertown and a more challenging hike to the Devil’s Courthouse on Whiteside Mountain. Cynthia Strain of Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance and the local Audubon Society will lead a bird watching hike. To register for any of the hikes, call 828.743.7663.

Friday evening, “Creation Calls” will be presented at the Sapphire Valley Community Center with live music by the Judy Felts Trio. Bill Lea will accompany the music with photographic images of landscapes and wildlife, and a puppet team from Cashiers Baptist Church will perform.

Tickets for “Creation Calls” are $12 for adults. Saturday’s events are $7 for the entire day. Children accompanied by adults are admitted free to all events.

828.743.7663 or www.wildsouth.org.

The Homestead, an inpatient hospice center, is being built on property adjacent to the MedWest-Haywood hospital campus in Clyde.

About $7,000 was raised by a recent brunch and auction to purchase plants, shrubs and trees for the gardens at The Homestead.

The keynote speaker for the event was Nancilee Wydra, who spoke about “Designing Garden Spaces.”

Wydra noted a garden can offer relaxation, empowerment, connections, healing, acknowledge life transitions and be a place of joy and play.

“The places we inhabit affect the way we act, interact and react,” Wydra said. “When sequestered, we are separated from nature and don’t feel as content or alive.”

The gardens at The Homestead are scheduled to open in November. They will allow people to continue to experience nature. The atmosphere of the six-room Homestead facility will be homelike, with provisions for family members and pet visitation.

A sophomore at Haywood Community College, Daniel Jones of Hayesville, will demonstrate his lumberjack skills on national television Friday, July 8, when ESPNU airs the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Qualifier.

Back in April, Jones bested six other top collegiate lumberjacks in four professional lumberjack disciplines to take the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Qualifier title. With this win, Jones earned a $1,000 scholarship from STIHL for his school and became one of four student lumberjacks in the nation to advance to the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate National Championship in Oregon in late August.

Catch the chopping action in replays of the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Qualifier scheduled to air at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

Additional re-runs will air:

n Friday, July 8, at 11:30 p.m. EDT

n Saturday, July 9, at 2 a.m. EDT

n Sunday, July 10, at 6 p.m. EDT

n Sunday, July 17, at 9:30 a.m. EDT

n Sunday, July 31, at 8:30 a.m. EDT

British Soccer Camp is coming back to Franklin the week of July 11 to 15, at the Macon County Industrial Park Fields.

Challenger’s British Soccer Camp is the most popular soccer camp in the USA and Canada. More than 110,000 boys and girls will attend some 2,500 British Soccer Camps this summer, which provide players of all ages and abilities high-level soccer coaching from a team of international experts.

The camp includes a free camp shirt and camp ball, a giant fold out soccer poster and a personal player evaluation.

Half and full day sessions are available and costs vary from $60 to $145 depending on age group and skill level.

Michael Fowler-Berken at 828.524.0476. Players can register now at www.maconsoccer.net or at www.challengersports.com.

You might not run faster, but you’ll probably feel better doing it by taking advantage of running screenings Thursday, July 7, at the Jackson County Recreation Park.

Thomas Burns, board certified specialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy with Carolina West Sports Medicine, will be on hand to look at aspects of strength and flexibility, balance, functional movements and running gait. The sessions are free, but to be evaluated you must make an appointment.

828.293.5174.

A program on “butterflying and dragonflying,” a twist on the outdoor pastime of birding, will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, at the Maggie Valley Pavilion by the Great Smoky Mountains Audubon Society.

The speaker is Jeff Pippen, who started birding and “butterflying” in 1985 by taking both field ornithology and field entomology courses simultaneously as part of his coursework for a masters in biology at the University of Michigan. Since then Pippen has birded in eight countries and has seen more than 1,600 bird species. He started serious butterflying in 1994, and has been conducting butterfly surveys in the Duke Forest and all over North Carolina for more than 15 years. When not birding and butterflying, Pippen works at Duke University. His research focuses on ecology and the effects of climate change on forest growth.  

The program will include cake and coffee. The GSMAS meets the second Tuesday of each month April through October.

828.550.5449.

High school students, recent graduates and their families can spend time in the field with a park ranger conducting scientific projects such as salamander monitoring, tree identification and mapping, and water quality assessments this summer in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The programs help park researchers perform important studies while providing young people opportunity to get involved in science and in their national park in a fun and interesting way. Held July 8 and July 23. Registration required. 865.436.1713.

A similar volunteer scientist field day for middle school students will be held August 13.

• Kids 10 years of age or older can learn about some of the tiny creatures that are part of the amazing biodiversity of the Smokies. A park ranger will set up microscopes and other scientific equipment for participants to collect and view microscopic invertebrates such as water bears, also known scientifically as tardigrades. These eight-legged creatures, the “other bears” of the Smokies, exist in mosses, liverworts, and lichens.

The program will be held at the Twin Creeks Science and Education Center, a facility supporting the park’s education programs, on the Tennessee-side of the park. Held July 13 and August 5.

Blue Ridge Parkway Interpretive Rangers at Waterrock Knob are presenting summer programs each Saturday afternoon for families with or without kids.  

The program series (entitled F.U.N., Families Understanding Nature) will be about the many natural and cultural resources found along the Parkway. The programs will take place each Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m., last approximately one hour, and will often include activities for children. There is no charge for these programs.

Waterrock Knob Visitor Center is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 451.2, between the Parkway entrances at Balsam and Maggie.

828.456.9530, ext 3., or 828.775.0975.

To carve Asheville out of the 11th Congressional District is completely irrational.

My campaign will work with all Western North Carolina Democrats to fight this gerrymandering. We’ll oppose it on every level. We look forward to supporting a united legal challenge. And, I urge Re. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, to join us in this.

Asheville is, after all, the economic hub of this region with 40,000 daily commuters who follow the river valleys to work each morning. Asheville is the medical center for the region for the same reason: rapid transportation can be a matter of life and death. Asheville is the legal nexus as well, with its Federal Courthouse serving all of the western counties and is also the banking and business core of the region.

More compelling is the fact that fully one third of the residents of WNC live in Buncombe County!

The French Broad River inexorably links Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe and Madison counties. The economic ties of our region are all a function of our mountain watersheds. The Land of Sky Regional Council, which includes those four counties, is not an artificial consruct — it is a planning district dictated by geographic reality. Our railroads and highways follow the river valleys due to geographic necessity as well.

By jamming Asheville into the 10th Congressional District, and adding Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Mitchell and Wautauga counties to the 11th, the Raleigh Republicans have removed the region’s media center, the source for the news that lets people see what government is doing in order to cast intelligent votes.

For voters in those north-central counties, Winston-Salem and Charlotte are the major media sources, while Morganton and Hickory are the closest economic centers. Meanwhile, Asheville’s news media will suddenly be reporting on congressional news related to Gastonia, which is clearly a part of the greater Charlotte metropolitan area.

The GOP can pat itself on the back, believing that its cookie-cutter tomfoolery is long deserved payback for past Democratic sins, but what they’re doing is showing us that all they care about is power — not the people of our state. They don’t want the people of WNC to have a representative in Washington who stands up for our regional interests. That should be a matter of concern to Republicans and Democrats alike in these mountains. They don’t want us to have a champion in Congress who will fight for our jobs, our health and our lives.

Of course, their stated goal is to create another “safe” Republican seat in the 11th District. But contemplating that outcome should also be extremely unsettling to WNC voters.

Republicans have long been trying to scuttle Social Security and Medicare. They are the same people who brought us NAFTA, CAFTA and WTO deals with China — sending  our jobs out of the country. The Republicans’ apparent overarching goal is to divert American wealth to the wealthiest, while middle class workers in WNC lose their jobs, their homes and their health care.

This is the time for us to unite as Democrats — blue dog, yellow dog, middle of the road. We are share one common bond — we are Mountain Democrats!

Let’s show Raleigh Republicans that we may vary in our political opinions, but when our home turf is threatened we come together to defend our mountain homes.

I feel that challenging these maps constitutes an absolute obligation to my constituents, both as an Asheville City Council member and as a candidate in the 11th Congressional District. These western mountains are my home, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

(Cecil Bothwell is an Asheville city councilman and a Democratic candidate for the 11th Congressional District seat now held by Rep. Heath Shuler. The proposed redistricting map released last week  would take Asheville out of Shuler’s 11th District.)

To the Editor:

A question has been asked as to why I was not at the Cherokee County “Meet the Candidates” forum. I would like to make it clear my absence was not meant as a slight to the community.

I have kept to my commitments to visit within communities and homes. The date of this event was changed at the request of another candidate and this information was not given to me or another candidate. I do thank Barbara McNair, community club chair, for announcing at the event that the date change came as a result of the other candidate’s request.

To be in attendance at events like this in various communities has been a priority of my campaign. I feel it is very important for the voters to see, hear, and judge the candidates. However, fulfilling my commitments is also high on my campaign’s priority list. I had home visits and other events scheduled for the new date of the Cherokee County “Meet the Candidates” forum.  By the time I received the new date of the forum, it was impossible and unfair to shift my existing schedule.

I invite any voter to contact me at 828.736.0922; by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or at my website: www.juanita4chief.

Juanita Plummer Wilson

Candidate for EBCI Principal Chief

The second case of rabies in eastern Haywood County in less than a week has been confirmed, marking the fourth case so far this year in the same general area of the county.

Two cases were in skunks and two were in raccoons. Before this year, only five cases of rabies had been confirmed in Haywood County since 2006.

In the most recent incident, a Canton area resident discovered a skunk in their barn, exhibiting unusual behavior. According to the incident report, the skunk was off balance and falling down. The skunk was killed and sent to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services laboratory, where it tested positive.

Also last week, a group of hunting dogs got into a fight with the raccoon. The raccoon was killed and the owner of the dogs reported the incident. Tests on the raccoon came back positive.

Two vaccination clinics have been scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, July 6 and 7, at North Canton Elementary School. According to North Carolina law, all dogs and cats four months old and older must be vaccinated against rabies.

“There is really no better way to protect family members from rabies exposure and avoid the high expense associated with treatment and keeping pets quarantined than getting and keeping your pets vaccinated,” said Haywood County Health Director Carmine Rocco. “Even if you don’t live in the area where these incidents occurred, it’s a good idea to bring your pets over to be vaccinated.”

828.456.5538 or 828.452.6675. Information on rabies is also available on the web at www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/rabies or at www.cdc.gov.ncidod/dvrd/rabies.

Western Carolina University’s Academic Success Program (ASP) is working with associates from the Sylva Wal-Mart for a day of service from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, to help benefit several local community-based programs.

It will be held in the parking lot behind Wal-Mart’s garden center and will include a variety of fundraising events. A carnival with food, games and inflatable jump houses will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is open to children of all ages. Paws, the WCU mascot, will be there to greet the community as they enjoy the day’s festivities.  

A benefit concert, featuring The Mixx, will be held after the carnival from 5 to 8 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the Community Table and REACH of Jackson County as well as Full Spectrum Farms, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Skyland Care Center and CuRvE. People who come to this year’s Day of Service will have the opportunity to shop for a wish list provided by the Community Table and REACH. Wal-Mart will provide a matching grant of up to $1,000 for each agency in addition to helping offset the cost of the event.

828.227.7184 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.227.2217 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Haywood County Volunteer Center awarded Judy Smith of the Fines Creek Community Association’s MANNA food bank program as the outstanding Volunteer of the Year. Also recognized were:

• Patricia Stevenson with the Good Samaritan Clinic and John Hawkins with Haywood Regional Medical Center Hospice and Palliative Care.

• In the youth category, Susan Nations won through her work at the Kids at Work! Program.

• In the faith-based category, Alice Fisher received the award with her work with the Community Kitchen.

• The group award was given to Haywood Middle Academy and Donna McCullough for their work with Meals on Wheels.

• The Director of Volunteers award was given to Jeanne Naber for coordinating over 200 volunteers for Meals on Wheels.

A cooking program called “Fresh Ways with Local, Seasonal Food” will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21, as part of the Good Cooks series in Sylva. Chef Lindsay Kent with Rosebud Cottage in Franklin and will focus on fresh and local ingredients used in quick and easy meal preparation. She will also offer tips on short cuts, knife skills and easy ways to make meals more flavorful without adding lots of sugar, salt or fat. Participants will get to sample four dishes she will prepare.

To attend, call 828.586.4009 by July 18. Held at in the Community Service Center.

MedWest Health System is breaking ground on a new outpatient services center  at 4 p.m. on Monday, July 11, on the MedWest-Haywood campus.

The new outpatient services center will include imaging services, lab services, endoscopy, two outpatient surgery rooms and two procedure rooms, as well as rehabilitation services. Women’s diagnostic services also will be located in the new building, including digital mammography, breast MRI, ultrasound, stereotactic breast imaging, the Nurse Navigator service and bone density testing.

Patients previously had to go to the hospital to receive these services. The outpatients center will provide for a quicker, smoother and easier patient experience.

There also will be space for two physician practices.

MedWest is also opening an urgent care center in Sylva on August 1, and an urgent care center in Canton in December. An inpatient hospice unit at MedWest-Haywood scheduled for completion in November.

Democrats are crying foul over new Congressional district lines that with seemingly surgical precision slice the City of Asheville, a liberal stronghold, out of the 11th Congressional District.

The maps, drawn by state Republican leaders in the the GOP-dominated General Assembly, are no doubt a political move, according to Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.

“This is the game that both parties play,” Cooper said. “They know exactly what they are doing.”

The new 11th Congressional District would include Mitchell, Avery, Caldwell and Burke counties. In exchange, the district divests itself of Asheville and eastern Buncombe, as well as Polk County. The mountain district will shift from 43 percent of the voters being registered Democrats to 36 percent.

The result: a far more conservative voting base, and much more difficult re-election campaing next year for three-term Democrat Congressman Heath Shuler of Waynesville.

Shuler seized the district in 2006 over eight-term incumbent Charles Taylor, R-Transylvania County, and has easily won back his seat every election since. His opponent last fall was considered an admirable opponent, and the year was a watershed for Republicans, but even then Shuler handily kept his seat with more than 54 percent of the vote.

That may not be the case in 2012 given the new district lines, however. Shuler is one of several previously Democratic-leaning districts that has been infused with just enough GOP voters to tip the balance.

As for what to do with all those Democratic voters? The best bet is to lump as many as possible into as few districts as possible. In otherwords, pick a few Democratic-leaning districts to be sacrifical lambs. Stack them heavily with Democrats, while spreading Republican voters around to have just enough of an edge in as many districts as possible.

“Any vote after 50 plus one is a wasted vote,” Cooper said. “The reason you do that is not to dominate a few districts but to win a lot of districts by a little bit.”

All the while, however, the districts must make geographic sense or else risk being overturned in a court battle. If the other party can prove gerrymandering and show that districts are not geographically “compact,” a lawsuit over the district lines is likely.

In this instance, Cooper doesn’t think the new mountain districts cross that line. He sees the districts being geographically close enough to be bullet proof in court, yet still achieving their purpose of favoring Republicans.

“They did a great job of it. The more I look at the more impressed I am,” Cooper said.

Mike Clampitt of the Swain County Republican Party said the redrawing wasn’t tit-for-tat as it might appear — Democrats have a long history of gerrymandering districts in North Carolina — but a case of putting likes with likes.

“This balances the playing field,” Clampitt said. “Asheville is more like the Greensboro and Charlotte area.”

That metropolitan, urban mindset is at odds with the rural understandings and needs of the bulk of the 11th Congressional District, Clampitt said.

Members of the opposing party see the situation differently, however: “Democrats will not take this lying down,” promised Janie Benson of the Haywood County Democratic Party.

“I’m stunned, because the distance between Caldwell county and Cherokee county is so great,” Benson said, adding that the redistricting proposed by Republicans is a “blatant” attempt to wrest the district from Democrats.

“Frankly the redistricting maps that I’ve seen just look unfair,” she said. “The Democrats, to my knowledge, have never been so obvious in whatever they were doing. This just seems almost like a punishment, and it feels that way somewhat.”

In addition to threatening Democrats hold on the 11th Congressional District, Democrats could also lose control of the 7th, 8th and 13th districts.

But Kirk Callahan of Haywood County, a self-described conservative, believes Republicans might be missing the mark some. While cautioning he hasn’t had time to fully assess the potential voter fallout, Callahan thinks the growing bloc of unaffiliated voters could actually dictate who wins and who loses.

“They are key,” Callahan said. “A candidate has to earn the votes, because they are not going to be swayed by party labels or an appeal to party loyalty.”

Callahan, by way of example, pointed to Taylor’s defeat, saying he was dismayed by the longtime congressman’s unabashed support of earmarks.

“That didn’t sit well with me, because (earmarks) really corrupted the budgeting process,” he said.

Lawmakers will vote on the redistricting plan in a special session that starts July 25.

Across the state, there were five districts that posted major geographical shifts. Four are seats currently held by vulnerable Democrats that have now seen the scales tip in their district to favor Republicans — as is the case with Shuler’s district. The fifth that showed the biggest changes was held by a vulnerable Republican, but is now more solidly Republican.

“It is really clear they targeted these vulnerable Democrats,” Cooper said.

Shuler’s new district would be the most Republican-leaning district in the state when judging by those who voted for McCain over Obama in 2008.

Shuler is a conservative Democratic at best — others considered him a DINO, or Democrat In Name Only — and plays well with conservative Southern Democrats and even many Republicans.

But under the new district lines, even that may not be enough, Cooper said.

“For Shuler to win he would have to practicaly completely separate himself from the Democratic party,” Cooper said. “This is going to be a really intersting race.”

Why the new voting maps?

Every 10 years, along with the census, state legislative and Congressional districts are redrawn to reflect the population change. As the population grows, so does the number of people each elected leader represents.

The state’s Congressional District will need to grow from the current 619,177 people to the 733,499 each, plus or minus 5 percent.

Since growth was more robust in urban areas, districts in rural regions like Western North Carolina will have to expand geographically to take in the required number of people.

Under the proposed new maps, which sever Asheville from the district, it would lose 9,000 Democrats and gain 26,000 Republicans.

The Department of Justice issues guidelines governing how states can and can’t be carved up, and they must approve a map before it can be put into action.

Currently, redistricting is done by legislators and is a highly partisan affair. With every redistricting comes a court challenge from one side or the other, claiming that the lines are unfair.

But under new legislation recently passed by the state House, the process would become staff-driven, with a simple up-or-down vote by legislators. It’s based on a system long used by Iowa, where no redistricting has been to court in the four decades since the system was put into place.

The measure is now headed to the Senate.

Speak up

Weigh in on new Congressional districts

A public hearing on the new Congressional district maps will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, at  Western Carolina University in the Cordelia Camp Building.

It is one of nine across the state on the same day and time. There is also one in the Ferguson Auditorium at A-B Tech.

The hearings are sponsored by the Joint House and Senate Redistricting Committee, and anyone wishing to comment can sign up online at www.ncga.state.nc.us or in person the day of the hearing.  Written comments can also be submitted on the North Carolina General Assembly’s Website.

Blue Ridge Books will host Rick McDaniel, the author of An Irresistible History of Southern Food: Four Centuries of Black-Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, & Whole Hog Barbeque, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 9.

McDaniel has been a working journalist for 30 years and a full-time food writer for more than a decade. Coconut cakes, vegetables fresh from the garden and abundant Sunday dinners flavored his upbringing in a small North Carolina town in the 1960s. A member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, he is dedicated to preserving Southern culinary heritage by collecting and publishing historical recipes.

He has been a consultant to the producers of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network and Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations on the Travel Channel, as well as a Southern Regional panelist for the James Beard Foundation’s chef and restaurant awards.

McDaniel explores the history of over 150 recipes, from Maryland stuffed ham to South Carolina chicken bog to New Orleans shrimp Creole.

828.456.6000.

The Mountains in Bloom Garden Festival will be held July 7 through 10 in Highlands.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, author and interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein, will speak at The Farm at Old Edwards. Tickets for the lectures are $65 per person.

From 6 to 8 p.m. that evening there will be a flower show preview and Frank Stella: American Master opening reception at The Bascom. This is a first peek at the floral, horticultural and photography exhibitions that comprise the flower show. Tickets are $50 per person and will include cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres.

On July 8 and 9, five gardens in the Highlands Country Club area will be featured on a garden tour. Parking for the tours will be at the Highlands Civic Center, where participants will be shuttled to houses. Tickets are $80.

The admission-free flower show will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 9 and 10, at The Bascom.

Mountains in Bloom benefactors will also tour the Southern Highlands Reserve at Lake Toxaway from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 10. The Southern Highlands Reserve is a private native plant garden and research center dedicated to the preservation, cultivation and display of plants native to the Southern Appalachian Highlands.

Benefactors are also invited to a “Some Enchanted Evening” Benefactor Party on Sunday, July 10, featuring music by Jim Gibson of Hickory Cove Music. A seated dinner will follow.

828.526.4949 or visit www.thebascom.org.

Musicians Larry and Elaine Conger will host the 12th annual Mountain Dulcimer Week, to be held Sunday, July 17, through Friday, July 22, on the campus of Western Carolina University.

This week-long residential program draws dulcimer enthusiasts from around the country for a week of dulcimer music, training, fun and fellowship.

Attendees spend mornings developing their playing skills and afternoons choosing from electives that allow them to explore different facets of the versatile mountain dulcimer.

Larry Conger is the author of eight books of dulcimer arrangements and has been featured on numerous recordings, including “Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer II,” “National Champions” and “Great Players of the Mountain Dulcimer.” He presents dulcimer programs in the public schools as a participating artist for the Tennessee Arts Commission and Kentucky Arts Council.

Elaine Conger’s musical career includes playing keyboards and singing backup for country music artist Faith Hill. With her husband, Conger now owns and operates a music studio that offers instruction in piano, guitar, drums, voice and mountain dulcimer.

828.227.7397 or visit dulcimer.wcu.edu.

Al Jardine and his Endless Summer Band will fill the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts with summer music at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 9.

The band is led by Al Jardine of Beach Boys fame and features a number of stage musicians who toured with the Beach Boys.

Jardine is a founding member of the Beach Boys, of which he was a part for 35 years. Jardine was the band’s rhythm guitarist and harmony vocalist and sang lead on Beach Boys favorites “Help Me Rhonda” and “Then I Kissed Her.”

Jardine released his first full-length solo studio album, “A Postcard from California,” in June 2010. The album contains contributions from fellow Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, and Mike Love, along with guest appearances from Neil Young, Steve Miller and others.

Tickets are $35. 866.273.4615 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com.

On Saturday, July 9, Grammy-award winner Laurie Lewis will give an after-dinner performance at Cataloochee Ranch.

Lewis is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and fiddle player from California. Her performing companion is ace mandolinist-singer Tom Rozum. Their 1996 CD, “The Oak and the Laurel,” was nominated for a Grammy and Lewis’ stage shows are known for their musical virtuosity and front-porch friendliness.

Her songs helped shape the template for the modern bluegrass-pop style.

The cost of the evening event, which includes dinner, will be $40 per person or $20 per person without dinner.

For reservations call 828.926.1401.

Pete Friedman will bring his music to the Jackson County Public Library at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, with a program of jazz and blues tunes on electric and acoustic guitars.

Friedman has been playing guitars for 47 years and is a musician, composer and guitar teacher. For the past nine years he has been accompanying the choir and pianist at Whittier United Methodist Church. Prior to that, he played in many bands during the 60s, including underground groups and a psychedelic band called the Second Foundation in New York City. He has played lead guitar for singer/songwriter Kath Bloom and many others.

This program is free to the public and is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Main Library. 828.586.2016.

Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center will host and sponsor a free performance of The Liars Bench, a Southern Appalachian variety show, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 7.

The Liars Bench was founded by Sylva writer and storyteller Gary Carden in June 2010, and the show’s cast has been presenting monthly programs at City Lights bookstore in Sylva for the past year.

The upcoming performance at the museum, titled “On the Wings of a Snow-White Dove,” will have old-time religion as the theme. Carden, artistic director and host for the shows, will perform “Go Down Death” with musician Steve Brady. The White Sisters of Franklin will present gospel music favorites and Will Peebles, director of WCU’s School of Music, will demonstrate shape-note singing, with audience participation.

The show also will feature Mary Fowler, a spiritual singer from Liberty Baptist Church, and Paul Iarussi, a claw-hammer guitar player recently featured on the History Channel.

The Mountain Heritage Center will host another Liars Bench performance on at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4, with the theme “Cherokee in a Changing World: Traditional and Contemporary Legends and Lore.”

828.227.7129.

The World Massage Festival will hold its 6th annual festival from July 14 to 17 at Western Carolina University.

The festival allows the local community to experience various types of massage, learn about massage therapy as a profession, speak with massage schools and network with the industry’s world class instructors and therapists from around the country.

It is open to the public, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Hundreds of health and massage-related products will be on displayed, demonstrated and offered for sale.

Sweet Serenity will be offering a wide variety of massage techniques at $1 per minute.  All proceeds will be donated to the Shriner Children’s Burn Hospital in Greenville, S.C.

336.957.8997 or visit www.worldmassagefestival.com.

The Groovy Movie Club will show the film “Amish Grace” at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 8. A mostly organic potluck dinner will precede the screening at 6:15 p.m. This event is free and open to the public and it meets at Buffy Queen’s home in Dellwood.

The mission of the Groovy Movie Club is to show excellent films, both feature and documentary, with a message. A discussion will follow for all who wish to participate.

828.926.3508 or 828.454.5949 to make reservations and get directions or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..