By Michael Beadle

So many of us have what Waynesville librarian Kathy Olsen calls “thing stories.”

By Kathleen Lamont

I loved Christmastime when I was growing up. I came from a blue-collar family where my father worked as a mechanic for the Los Angeles City School District. He repaired small engines in the grounds maintenance department. He could build, fix, machine, or repair anything; so of course he built my 10-year-old brother a go-cart powered with a Briggs & Stratton engine. My mother managed a dental office and a home and family. She had two full-time jobs and was the glue that held our family together. Although I say was, she is still with us. It is just that Bernice is now in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease and her happy delightful personality has vanished completely.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

When Wilbur Davis looked out his storefront in downtown Canton recently and saw three young moms pushing babies in strollers, he paused to watch. It’s not that women with babies are a particularly unusual sight in downtown Canton, but not too long ago it would have been.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

At speeds faster than 50 mph, drivers zoom down U.S. 441 into Cherokee’s business district, passing mostly billboards, a couple of gas stations and a few small businesses. The two-mile stretch of roadway is heavily used by locals and tourists, accommodating about 15,000 cars a day. Some use it to get to the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or the Blue Ridge Parkway, others make it their gateway to Harrah’s Casino and downtown Cherokee, while for many it’s just part of their daily driving route.

Haywood County consistently has some of the best water quality in North Carolina, according to stream samples collected by volunteers in an ongoing water quality monitoring project orchestrated by Haywood Waterways Association.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

When Paula McElroy is asked about the art scene in Haywood County when she moved here in 1966, she chuckles.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

It’s almost as though one can hear the creaking sighs of the old, hand-hammered barn boards in Craig Forrest’s paintings. His brush strokes evoke the weathered wood with its gentle warps, many knotholes, and varied colors.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Vandals have been wreaking havoc at Macon County Recreation Park and the Little Tennessee River Greenway by burning picnic tables, destroying park benches, and breaking into concession stands, according to county recreation leaders.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Jackson County residents will have the opportunity to voice their concerns about the county’s revisions to its animal control ordinance at a public hearing on Dec. 17.

A group of eco-conscious citizens and Ingles grocery store in Bryson City teamed up last month to encourage shoppers to use their own canvas bags when shopping, cutting down on wasteful plastic bags.

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead

I’m a little surprised that this gem of a movie is not getting more attention, but I was able to catch it last week at the Fine Arts theater in Asheville, and it is just superb. The cast is first rate, headed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, and Ethan Hawke, and if you haven’t already heard, the movie was directed by Sidney Lumet, who is 83-years-young and just won one of those Lifetime achievement awards a couple of years ago. The influence of some of the younger directors — especially Tarantino — on Lumet is apparent, but not really a distraction, and it could be argued that the last act of the movie, in which two brothers conspire to rob their parents’ jewelry store, takes a workable premise off the deep end. Even so, the performances alone are worth the price of admission, especially Hoffman’s. He may not get the press that the heartthrobs get — DiCaprio, Pitt, Cruise, Depp — but he is gradually establishing himself as the best actor of his generation.

Dexter

Please excuse another plug for this great show, now nearing the end of its second season on Showtime. With the majority of HBO’s signature shows now gone, “Dexter” is the only show that we actively look forward to and truly relish each week in my house. I was not all that confident that the writers could come up with an intriguing storyline after the first season’s tour de force, but somehow they have managed to equal, or perhaps even best, it. Michael C. Hall must get an Emmy nomination next year for his portrayal of the title character. He simply must.

Five Minute Poetry

We do this fairly regularly in my creative writing class, and it is so much fun that I thought I would share it here. The idea is that you get a small group together and everyone contributes one word of their own choosing. Then, each person has five minutes to compose a poem, with the only stipulation being that the poem must include all the words. The poem can rhyme, or not, be serious, or not, make sense, or not. Believe it or not, we get some pretty good poems out of the exercise sometimes, and it is always good for exercising the imagination — think of it as a little literary windsprint — and good for a few laughs as each person reads his or her poem after five minutes. Next time you’re in a small group with time on your hands, give it a try.

— By Chris Cox

By Chris Cooper

There are folks that get into full holiday mode, displaying their favorite snowman and fir tree embroidered sweater with aplomb while decorating the house with enough twinkling Christmas lights to make it visible from Venus.

A foundation started by a deceased Cherokee County native has provided a large boost to Sylva’s Bridge Park Project.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

A Sylva-based environmental organization may be sending its message out over the airwaves.

For 60 days the Federal Communications Commission opened a window to allow organizations across the county to submit an application for a full-powered noncommercial radio license. More than 36,000 organizations applied, which has FCC officials expediting the application process, said Mary Diamond, FCC press aide.

After months of keeping his fellow Western North Carolina Republicans guessing, former U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) has decided not to run for the seat he lost to Democratic rookie Heath Shuler in the 2006 elections.

Taylor made the announcement to 1,000 guests at his annual holiday dinner at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, where presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was the featured speaker.

Taylor’s reluctance to announce his decision in the last months sparked frustration among his party and prompted the Henderson County Republican Men’s Club to ask Taylor to make up his mind. Efforts at pushing Taylor toward a decision failed, and an anticipated Labor Day announcement never materialized.

Three other Republicans have already announced their intentions to seek their party’s nomination to run against Shuler in 2008: Macon County attorney John Armor, Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower, and former Henderson County GOP Chair Spence Campbell.

Profiles of those candidates are available online in the Smoky Mountain News archives here.

— By Julia Merchant

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Macon County business leaders are devising a plan to ensure that the county’s lodging tax will promote tourism and travel throughout the county.

We’re rapidly approaching that part of the year referred to endearingly as “Grammy Season.” This is the time when we all gather round our televisions, going through post-Christmas/New Year’s holiday withdrawal, ready for another up close and personal reminder that, yes, pop music is in deep, deep trouble.

Into Great Silence

The Carthusian monks of Grande Chartreuse, regarded as one of the most austere monasteries in the world, considered German director Philip Groning’s request to film their lives for nearly 16 years before granting permission. The result of that delayed filming is this near-silent, visually stunning masterpiece.

By David Rice • Guest Columnist

The results of a survey of nearly 5,000 hospitals nationwide indicate Haywood Regional Medical Center provides better care in several procedures than most hospitals. The hospital received 25 five-star ratings in addition to being ranked best in North Carolina for overall critical care and best in the state for gastrointestinal services.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

In the 10 years since the opening of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in November 1997, a remarkable transformation has occurred among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The casino has brought a surge of unprecedented economic growth to this once-depressed community.

The Christmas Curmudgeon is available at: Barnes &Noble.com, the Western Carolina Internet Café in Dillsboro, or directly from the author at James Cox, P. O. Box 272, Whittier, NC, 28789. Send check ($14.95 plus postage) and your name and address.

Hark! Do you hear it? It is the faint drum rolls of “The Little Drummer Boy.” Rumma-Tum-Tum, and it is growing nearer every day. Yes, the “Holiday Season” is coming. In another week, the malls will be packed, the traffic will gridlock and our TVs will resound with hearty enticements to max out our credit cards.

Things are changing in Canton. That in itself is somewhat newsworthy.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

With a new town board, a new town manager, and a growing influx of young Asheville commuters looking for affordable housing, the town of Canton is setting itself up for some major changes — and students from Western Carolina University want to help.

By Adam Bigelow • Guest Columnist

The morning chill had lifted, mist had risen into the air, and as I walked towards the waiting group I had no idea what to expect from this day. We were all here for the same purpose, and my apprehension had not dissolved with the mist. I was running late this morning and afraid that I had missed the event, but out of the corner of my eye I saw the guest of honor. Tied to a swing set. Awaiting his fate.

By Michael Beadle

Terry Painter and his wife Anita love collecting ornaments for their Christmas tree each year, but they found that fewer and fewer ornaments bore any connection to the actual holiday.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Up in the mountains along Caney Fork Road in Jackson County lies an important prehistoric artifact to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Judaculla Rock, a large soapstone boulder located approximately three miles off of U.S. 107, is covered with numerous petroglyphs that some say contain the secrets to the universe.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Developers in Swain County eyeing a quick, easy connection to Bryson City’s sewer system for their newly built properties are out of luck — at least for now. Bryson’s town board is currently denying sewer services to anyone that lives outside of the immediate town limits.

By David Curtis

Trees are making the news again in Haywood County as two commissioners are debating the sugar maples in front of the historical courthouse. To cut or not to cut is the question, but, as usual, the answer is not always black or white, chainsaw or shovel, tree hugger or developer.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Dealing with stray dogs and cats has been a problem for Macon County officials for some time now, Sheriff Robbie Holland said.

An ornately decorated tree in the foyer of the Women’s Care Center at Haywood Regional Medical Center will help families who have lost children at, or shortly after, birth because of birth defects.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Tommy Calhoun of Whittier stares at a web page on his white Mac notebook’s screen. He is checking his email at Bubacz’s Underground, a coffee shop in downtown Sylva. Connecting to the Underground’s wireless Internet service is much more convenient for Calhoun than connecting to the Internet at his mountain home, where he has dial-up service.

Flight Of The Conchords on DVD

Two discs of complete silliness from Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, New Zealand’s “not quite best but pretty good” digi-folk satire band, Flight Of The Conchords. It’s an oddball blend of sitcom and musical theater, with whole sections of dialogue morphing into twisted tunes that deal with subjects like the relative hotness of one’s girlfriend in relation to any other women within the general vicinity of room, street or block.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Nearly 200 people packed a Swain County public hearing on Dec. 10 to voice their opposition to the county’s first-ever development regulations — a subdivision ordinance dictating road widths and grades.

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino quietly marked its 10th anniversary in November, but it’s impossible to ignore exactly what it has meant to the Eastern Band of Cherokee and its members. It has been the catalyst for a proud people to turn around their economic plight, and in doing so use the gaming revenues to preserve a culture and history that is part of the story of all the Americas and this county.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

This Christmas season, Laura Ammons has scoured for presents for her loved ones, checking off her list as she scoops up the perfect item. Rather than encountering a mad frenzy of crowds, however, Ammons sits quietly and peacefully (to the envy of many harried shoppers) while she does her Christmas shopping — online.

By Brent Martin

We see it everywhere we look in Western North Carolina — land advertised and marketed for its proximity to the national forests. One advertisement that I saw recently for such land perhaps said it best: going, going, gone. A recent report by the U.S. Forest Service titled National Forests On The Edge (October, 2007) listed North Carolina’s National Forests fourth in the nation for the most threatened due to development pressure around their boundaries.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

As mayor of Canton, Pat Smathers has overcome his fair share of obstacles — most notably the floods that devastated this Haywood County community in 2004. Now, Smathers is gearing up to face perhaps the biggest challenge of his career — attempting to become the first Western North Carolinian in more than three decades to win a high-level state office.

By Chris Cooper

Before getting started, let me say that I completely missed Grace Potter’s performance at the Christmas Jam. Heard she was fantastic. Didn’t see Jackson Browne either — heard he was a little depressing. In fact, once I arrived at the Asheville Civic Center (and by the time we’d succumbed to defeat in finding anything resembling “convenient” parking, found a lot at street level and climbed that massive hill to the front entrance) my nose was frozen, my fingers were numb and Bruce Hornsby was finishing up “End Of The Innocence.”

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

As captain of the Maggie Valley police department, Jason Moody normally keeps his emotions in check. Today, though, as he leads a tour around the police department’s new building, he’s beaming.

Looking for a Christmas present? Western North Carolina is home to many outdoors organizations, conservation groups, outing clubs, nature societies and environmental non-profits in need of charitable contributions.

After a successful five-month run at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the “Emissaries of Peace: The 1762 Cherokee and British Delegations,” will return to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and reopen on Jan. 3.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Officials at Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority are waiting for the go-ahead from the state to increase sewer treatment plant capacity, which could end the current moratorium on sewer hook-ups.

It marked the end of an era for North Shore Road supporters and Blue Ridge Paper Products, and ushered a new wave of progressives into office. Counties tackled tough development questions, voters said no to taxes that would have funded schools, and whispers of election fraud were heard in Swain County and Cherokee. All in all, 2007 was one for the books.

For those of us who have been beating the drum about the need for mountain communities to get serious about land-use planning, it’s been an eventful year. Not only was a lot of real progress made in 2007, but signs point to an even brighter future as many progressive candidates won seats on county and town boards throughout the region.

By Chris Cooper

Years ago I read an article in one of the many music and entertainment publications out there in which Elvis Costello laid out his ideal playlist for a 12-hour day. It was enlightening; reading the list of musical selections the bespectacled one chose for the time allotted — much of which not being what one would expect.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Sylva Town Board members are brainstorming for ways to manage Pinnacle Park, 1,100 acres of land located at the northern part of town that is widely used by locals for hiking and camping.

By David Curtis

“Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the new born King.”

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

After 64 years, it looks like the battle over the North Shore Road in Swain County may have finally reached a resolution.

There are two ways to hike to Pinnacle Peak, which is renowned for its 360-degree views from the Plott Balsams.

By John Armour

We have two cats: Weasel, a grey female calico, and Orion, a male orange and white tabby. Orion is a big, lump of a cat, twenty pounds if he’s an ounce. He’s taught me a lesson for years that I finally realized today. He teaches by example.