Lake Junaluska Executive Director Jack Ewing announced today that he will retire on Dec. 31, 2017.

It gets to the point without distraction.

Folk music — the intersection of the human heart and the greater world — lies at the foundation of American culture. From the folk traditions and musicians of the British Isles that eventually made their way to the high peaks and low valleys of Southern Appalachia centuries ago, folk music is a timeless sound nurturing urgent lyrics.

Mark Woods will retire as superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway on July 3, but on July 4 he’ll don the flathat one last time as grand marshal of the Lake Junaluska Fourth of July Parade. 

“That was a surprise, to get that call,” Woods said. “We have family here, and every year there’s a family reunion that’s been going on for years at Lake Junaluska, so I’ve been coming here for as long as I’ve been married. To me this area is so special.”

It’s not noteworthy to hear someone ‘round these parts say, “This will be the fourth generation of my family participating in a Fourth of July event at Lake Junaluska.” 

But it is when it’s being said by the leader of the Lake Junaluska Singers.

Lake Junaluska residents opposed to a new Waynesville Fire District in their neighborhood will get one anyway, after a 2-1 vote by the Haywood County Board of Commissioners May 1.

Ron and Chrissy Hill were all set for their retirement in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, having bought a house and moved themselves north from their longtime home in Macon, Georgia. Then they took a quick visit to Haywood County, and things changed pretty quickly. 

“We came over here for the weekend, and I said, ‘OK, this is it,” said Chrissy Hill, 57.

The recent addition of eight full-time firefighters to the town of Waynesville — at a cost of $530,000 per year — required a 4.75 cents per $100 property valuation tax increase last June.

Think your honey-do list is long? Wait until you meet Jack Carlisle.

After five years of trying to merge with the town of Waynesville, the Lake Junaluska community has given up and charted a new course for its future.

Verizon Wireless has approached Haywood County commissioners once again about installing a new cell tower near Lake Junaluska to improve service for customers, but this time they feel certain it will be built.