It’s time for Waynesville to get going on its land use plan review, especially since the economic downturn has slowed development and provided a window of time where big projects just aren’t coming along.

Waynesville’s land use plan is about five years old. It is based on smart growth principles and requires commercial developers to build sidewalks, plant trees along the street and in their parking lots, and adhere to architectural standards. Signs are kept short and parking lots are kept small, or at least not oversized. Parking is placed to the side or rear so that building facades and not parking lots define the streetscape.

While the plan has won many awards, it is also the bane of some developers. They say it was not designed with some uses in mind — particularly large commercial projects — and therefore needs to be tweaked. Although we support the plan and most of its components, taking a second look is a smart idea. When the plan was passed it was often referred to as a work in progress, able to be updated as Waynesville changed and grew.

A committee was established seven months ago to begin this process. This review needs to begin with the same energy and zeal that accompanied the creation of the original plan. Waynesville’s adoption of this land use plan helped cement its reputation as a progressive town with the backbone to preserve its best attributes while welcoming growth, and a place willing to do so in the face of many critics. It should take pride in continuing to build on that reputation.

Swain gambling on inmates

We hope it works out for Swain County, but we’re fearful that it just isn’t going to happen and that taxpayers are going to be in for a rude awakening.

Swain leaders are hoping that inmates from out of county will defray costs at the new jail. Overhead for the new 109-inmate facility has increased $20,000 per year, and that doesn’t include extra staffing. In addition, the loan payment on the mortgage is $452,000 per year.

“We desperately need it to pay for itself,” says County Commission Chairman Glenn Jones.

So here’s the math: If Swain lands federal prisoners, it gets $75 per day. To pay for the extra overhead — $20,000 — it will need to house at least one federal inmate 267 days a year. That sounds reasonable because if some inmates do come to the facility, it’s likely to be more than one or two.

The loan on the new jail is $454,000 annually, which comes out to $37,833 per month. Again, if federal inmates stay in Swain, it gets $75 per day. The jail would need to house 504 for at least one night per month for that to add up to $37,833. That’s about 17 per day, which would be in addition to the 30 to 50 the jail already deals with each day to meet its own criminal problems.

That sounds like an awful ambitious plan. Swain was able to get a low-interest loan to build a jail much larger than needed for its own inmate population. We wish them the best, but we fear taxpayers are going to end up footing the bill for this project.

Macon leaders do well by constituents

Macon County commissioners took a step last week their constituents will appreciate.

They switched to a twice a month meeting schedule. The Smoky Mountain News reported a couple of weeks ago that the Macon commissioners have recessed a lot more meetings than any other elected body in the region. In the last 10 months they’ve recessed at least 17 meetings. During the same time period Jackson recessed three and Haywood just one.

The problem with recessing meetings is that no public notice is required to reconvene. It keeps the public guessing about when their business is being discussed and decreases the opportunity for voters to attend and offer comment on what’s going on.

If a public body has to recess a few meetings in order to finish dealing with a long agenda, that’s expected. For it to become common practice — as it had in Macon — is a sure-fire way to erode credibility.

The new meetings schedule has the board meeting on the second Monday at 6 p.m. and the fourth Monday at 2 p.m. We think the public will appreciate this new schedule.

This spring, the greens served in Haywood Community College’s cafeteria couldn’t have been more local — they were grown just outside on the college campus itself by horticulture students.

The buy-local movement has taken off at HCC. In addition to ramping up the horticulture capacity on campus to provide even more student-grown food in the cafeteria, the school has also launched initiatives to buy from local farmers.

When Jim Hill took the position as HCC’s food service manager, he learned of lettuce being grown by the horticulture students and approached instructor George Thomas about supplying the cafeteria with produce. Thomas’s students provided lettuce to top burgers and stocked the salad bar with fresh spring mix several times. Hill watched with pleasure as diners sought out the greens grown on site.

“There was really buy-in from the students who eat in the cafeteria,” Hill said. “I like that students in the classes are growing for a purpose.”

Haywood students are learning about alternative growing methods like hydroponics where plants grow in a nutrient rich liquid solution instead of soil, and aeroponics where plants get a fine mist of nutrients and water to the roots in lieu of soil.

What’s more, students are learning a practical skill: how to produce much-needed food.

The college’s current aeroponics system was made possible by a mini grant from the Haywood Community College Foundation. Hill and Thomas are seeking more support so they can expand their systems and expand the college’s food production. In addition to more lettuce, Hill wants to serve herbs, tomatoes, and mixed vegetables grown on campus.

Hill is also championing local farms by asking for it from their produce supplier, Christopher Produce of Haywood County. The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is in the process of certifying Christopher Produce as an Appalachian Grown distributor. Appalachian Grown branding identifies farm products grown or raised on family farms in Western North Carolina and the Southern Appalachian mountains.

Hill, in addition to participating in Farm to School programs offered by ASAP, will work with the organization to design a promotional campaign for local food in the cafeteria.

“Local food production is a vital part of any community. It provides jobs for growers and a sense of connection to food for the consumer,” Thomas says, looking at local food not only as a product for his students, but as a benefit for all.

By Chris Cooper

I guess it’s a kind of Christmas tradition. Every year around this time I go on the hunt for Christmas music that provides a bit of the prerequisite holiday spirit without making the listener want to smack themselves in the head with a can of cranberry sauce. Or even, worse, stuff it in their ears lest they hear one more version of “Jingle Bells” sung by an aging (or deceased) crooner or some new flavor of the minute pop “star.”

So this time we’ve got Bela Fleck and the Flecktones aiming their prodigious newgrass/jazz/fusion talents at a batch of holiday tunes, and some of the best of the newer batch of female singer-songwriters taking on this classic material with Hotel Café’s Winter Songs collection. Here we go ...

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: Jingle All The Way

As many times as “Jingle Bells” has been twisted around, mutated or otherwise creatively interpreted, the Flecktones have to be the first to toss the Tuvan throat singing of the Alash Ensemble into the mix. And that’s just the opening track. Fleck and Co. have no trouble fusing forward thinking harmonic ideas with traditional melodies, and throughout Jingle All The Way the chance taking yields wonderful, if sometimes quirky, results. They slip into a swinging, syncopated waltz on “Silent Night,” with bassist extraordinaire Victor Wooten sneaking finger busting lines and sly rhythmic ideas into every nook and cranny. Without warning, the band segues into “Sleigh Ride,” and continues the craziness, this time with Jeff Coffin doubling Fleck’s breakneck reading of the main melody, and humorous fills from all involved. Then Wooten goes off with a gorgeous reading of “The Christmas Song,” and fills it with his signature two-handed tapping, sparkling harmonics and that inimitable sense of daring and precision that’s all his own.

One of the most beautiful Christmas compositions, at least to me, has always been Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas Time Is Here,” and the Flecktones turn in yet another inspiring reading here, keeping the original’s haunting melody intact while playing around respectfully with the composition. That they couldn’t help but slide into the classic “Linus And Lucy” theme is typical of the group’s virtuosic sense of humor. From here they take on Tchaikovsky, Bach and Joni Mitchell with equal aplomb. This certainly isn’t an album you’ll find yourself listening to out of season, but it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll spin it each and every Christmas after hearing it once.

The Hotel Café Presents: Winter Songs

Some of these are voices you’ve heard in various commercials hawking anything from cell phones to music downloading services. Don’t hold that against them. Some are some of the most recognizable new artists in the singer-songwriter genre; Brandi Carlile, KT Tunstall and Nicole Atkins are certainly forces to be reckoned with. And then there’s Katy Perry, whose inclusion in this project is inexplicable beyond sheer popularity and name recognition. That, indeed, you can hold against whoever spearheaded this thing. At the very least, though, the whole project is for a good cause, with 50 cents of each CD sale going to the Susan G. Komen fund for breast cancer research, and with the artists waiving all royalties on each digital download of the medley track “Auld Lang Syne.”

KT Tunstall takes “Sleigh Ride” to an awfully fun and groovy place, taking chances with the classic’s arrangement with a thick backbeat and a playful toy piano throughout. Alice Smith brings her powerful voice and a certain feeling of world weary soul to “Silver Bells,” and Nicole Atkins spins a classy (and classic in a distinctly vintage sense) version of “Blue Christmas.” And Fiona Apple’s picture perfect “Frosty the Snowman” brings to mind Billie Holiday in its time warping feel and her quivering vibrato. Meiko talks about shooting Santa down in the middle of town (doubtful she’s talking about the gift bearing fat guy) and while this is a fine and unusually sexy original composition, having a female singer cooing about having been “a bad, bad girl...” right next to Fiona Apple’s track seems a little weird. Or fitting- your call. Katy Perry’s take on “White Christmas” is redeemed only by it’s noticeably UNDER-produced quality, quite a step for the MySpace maven.

Winter Songs delivers a pleasant collection of singers and songs for the tinsel and wrapping paper season, and while some tunes fare much better than others, fans of any of these artists will find plenty to like here. I still think Fiona Apple takes the prize here, though. Disagree if you like.

(Chris Cooper can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

By Danny Bernstein • Guest Columnist

Our national parks have been assaulted by new rulings in the closing days of the Bush Administration. Users and lovers of the national parks have to say no — no guns, no bikes, and no dogs.

Guns

The Bush Administration has finalized a decision to allow concealed, loaded firearms at 388 of 391 national park sites. That includes the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The administration did not listen to the vast majority of comments from people who said “no” to allowing guns in national parks. Nor did they listen to the professionals such as the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, the Association of National Park Rangers, the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, and the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association.

What upsets me is that these folks making these decisions have never spent a night sleeping cheek to jowl in a shelter or discussed and argued about where to put up a tent. I wonder when they last walked a backcountry trail in a national park. Professional park associations are concerned about opportunistic wildlife killings. Someone sees a bear, panics and shoots it. I’m just as concerned about a person in a shelter getting into an argument over personal space or noise and pulling out a gun. I’ve asked campers to pick up their trash on the trail and campsite and I often get ignored or even cursed out. What if this litterer now has a gun?

“If you’re allowed to carry a concealed weapon on Main Street, you’re allowed to carry that weapon in a national park and wildlife refuge,” an Interior Department spokesman said. This ruling even reached the British newspapers. It’s not going to sound good to international visitors who already think that all Americans carry guns down the street. Yet, national parks are one of the safest places to walk. They’re also the best place to see wildlife, because mountain bikes are not allowed on the trails. Until now.

Bikes

The National Park Service is considering a plan to relax their regulations governing bicycles on trails. This change potentially is being made without public notice or review and would allow Park Superintendents to designate trails for mountain biking. That means that you could be meeting a cyclist coming down the hill on the Alum Cave Trail in the Smokies as you huff and puff up to Mt. LeConte. That scenario in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is not too-far fetched.

Another unintended consequence. Mountain bikers are more prone to accidents and need more rescues than hikers. The Smokies doesn’t need the extra expense of pulling out people who crash on their bikes. Currently the Smokies doesn’t charge an entrance fee and it doesn’t charge for rescues, as several parks do. The park is so underfunded that it shouldn’t be asked to spend more money on rescues or law enforcement.

No one has yet talked about lifting the ban on dogs on backcountry trails, but I stand ready for that one also. There are good reasons why guns, bikes, and dogs are not allowed on the trails. The national parks are meant to preserve the environment and leave it unimpaired for future generations. You want to bike with your dog and gun, go to Pisgah or Nantahala National Forests where hiking is only one of many uses. There’s a big difference between a National Park and a National Forest. In Pisgah, the trails are rougher and less maintained so mountain bikes are not going to make much of a difference.

I have nothing against cyclists, hunters, or dog owners — well maybe dog owners if they can’t control their dogs. Just not in a national park.

Danny Bernstein, a hike leader and outdoor writer, is the author of Hiking the Carolina Mountains. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Mark W. Winchester (MW) and Milan Miller (MM) answer questions about the collaboration of “Songs From Haywood County.”

SMN: How was this project different for you from other CDs you have worked on?

MW: It was different in a lot of ways. Setting out with the intention to write it was exciting. Knowing we had these subjects to cover, reading the research, sitting down with a guitar hoping the songs would appear, and being amazed when they did, was wonderful. It was different for me in that I had to let go of my pre-conceived notions of what the final version of the songs I was making up would be. I would go over to Milan’s when I had one and just bang it down roughly as a guitar and vocal demo, and let Milan work his magic. A great example of that is “Maggie of the Valley” because I wrote the melody instrumentally on the guitar, then began to add the lyric, but I never even figured out what chords went with it, so the rough demo is just me singing it over those same notes being played on the guitar. Milan had a lot to do with how great that song turned out as he fleshed it out and built the tracks for it. When I went over one night to play bass on the track, I was blown away with his vocals and the whole backing track. So, the collaborative nature of it was different for me, and in this case wonderful.

MM: There were a couple of main differences. Here in Nashville, most of the recording is driven by hopes of hit records and broad commercial success. Secondly, it is almost a necessity to stay within a specific genre or format to allow for focused promotion and marketing.

With “Songs From Haywood County,” we knew from the conception of the project that outside of people from Haywood County, much of the material might not be of interest, or in some cases even make sense. When we were writing these songs, our main focus was to stick as close to the history books (and folklore) as possible. On the production side of things, we didn’t feel the need to commit to one specific type of music, which explains the blending of country, folk, bluegrass, and pop styles that make up the album.

Do you have a favorite song on the CD? Why?

MW: It is hard to pick a favorite. I know when I use to ride around listening to early rough mixes of the project, the next few days I always found myself humming or singing, “Henry Grooms was a Fiddler” or “The Government’s Taking our Homes” which has such an infectious chorus, I would bust out in that one a lot. What Milan did with “Big Gun” is amazing. That one makes me grin every time I listen to it, and hearing my children belt it out in the car fills me with pride and joy. Of all the songs that came through me, and I say that because as songwriters have always said, the good ones seem to just mysteriously appear, I was glad “Poor Child” came together like it did. That story affected me so the first time Buddy described it, that I knew I wanted to write about it and wanted it to be powerful. But it’s hard to pick a favorite.

MM: I can honestly say that I like all of the songs included on the project, but for different reasons. For example, I remember very clearly the first time Mark (Winchester) played me the song about the Nance Dude story (“Poor Child”). I couldn’t believe how he had captured the horror and emotion of the story in a 3-minute song. If I listen closely to the words, I still get a little unnerved, even after hearing it many times through the recording process. “Papertown” is more of a sentimental favorite, while songs like “Interstate” and “For The Pigeon River” are fun from a musical standpoint because we really get to step on the gas.

What do you want folks to know the most about this CD?

MW: What I want people to know most about this CD is a hard question. For one thing, it is absolutely a ride that is worth the cost of admission. I heard a famous novelist say once in regards to historical fiction that the broad understanding of a time, or an event, or a place is best arrived at by looking at the details of the individual lives and circumstances involved — or something to that effect, and I feel that is what makes this CD so appealing. The stories are real and true. I gave one to a friend to listen to, a Canadian whose lived in America for many years and her comment was, “Great CD!, I’m right there. It really pulls you in.” So. I want people to know — if you’re from up around there, It’s gonna feel like home. And if you’re not from up around there, this record will make you wish you were.

The only other thing I would add is that it was such a satisfying experience to work with Milan and Buddy on this in such a collaborative way. It unfolded at a natural pace, over time, and to sit there and just start talking about all the unique things that happened in Haywood County and knock around the idea that if we made up songs about all of them we could have a CD — to start that process, and then find out halfway through that it was the county’s bicentennial, (and the songs were turning out great by then) made it seem like fate. In the music business, it is so rare to have a project go so smoothly, and not bog down in ego. It seemed like the roles that fell to us, we were each suited to, and we didn’t have to force anything. It wouldn’t have happened without Buddy’s research, writin’, fiddlin’ and beautiful voice, and Milan Miller’s talent as a writer, singer, musician and especially producer. He wouldn’t put it on the CD that way, but he produced this record. He has a real talent for it. Anyway. I’m proud to be a part of Haywood County’s history now, too.

MM: It was a lot of fun to make this record, and I certainly learned things about Haywood County that I didn’t previously know. Hopefully the listeners will have a similar experience and find it both entertaining and educational.

I hold Buddy and Mark in very high regard, both as friends and musicians, and it was great to get to work with them again. I also appreciate the overwhelming support that we have received from the community since we released this project in late November.

A brief synopsis of “Nance Dude,” which is one of three dramatic monologues in “Land’s End” written by Gary Carden:

In February of 1913, Nancy Kerley, more commonly known as Nance Dude, was told by her son-in-law, Will Putnam, to take her 2-year-old granddaughter, Roberta, and give her away.

The child was rumored to be born out of wedlock, and the family had more people living in the home than was allowed by the landlord.

For three days Dude walked the roads of Haywood County, and no one would take the child. She carried the little girl the majority of the time.

Finally, Dude risked going home, and the door was locked.

Dude got desperate as she ventured near Ad Tate Knob on Utah Mountain in Dellwood.

Upon returning to the Putnam home, she said she gave the little girl to a preacher in Tennessee.

Two weeks later, the little girl was found dead in a cave, and a lynch mob showed up to hang Dude.

She was 65 when she was sentenced to prison. She came home at age 80, and her daughter, Lizzy, wouldn’t let her stay.

She had a $10 bill in her shoe, which she slid under the door and then walked out of Jonathan’s Creek for good.

A grocer gave her a can of peaches and took her to Conley’s Creek where she lived in a utility shed which had a dirt floor and no running water or electricity. This was her home until she died.

Visitors could soon be toting loaded, concealed guns in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A long-standing ban on loaded guns in national parks has been lifted by the Bush Administration.

Of 140,000 public comments that came in on the issue, the vast majority opposed the proposal — including every former director of the National Park Service who is still living and several park ranger associations.

Park rangers have come out strongly against the move, fearing it will increase danger in remote areas without back-up law enforcement nearby. National parks are currently some of the safest places in the United States for crime, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.

“This regulation will put visitors, employees and precious resources of the National Park System at risk,” said Bill Wade, president of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. “We will do everything possible to overturn it and return to a common-sense approach to guns in national parks that has been working for decades.”

Wade said the Bush Administration buckled to the interests of the National Rifle Association over the concerns of every day Americans.

The new regulation would not only risk the safety of visitors and rangers but could increase shootings of wildlife, according to opponents.

Hunting is not allowed in national parks. Right now, it is easy to tell if someone is in the park trying to hunt illegally. But if guns were allowed, poachers could simply say they are out for a stroll with their guns in hand but not hunting. The Association of National Park Rangers believes that wildlife poaching will increase as a result.

The National Parks Conservation Association contends the government should have conducted a formal environmental review of the policy change since it has the potential to affect resources, namely wildlife. That argument could provided the basis for a court appeal.

Previously, visitors with guns in their vehicles that passed through national parks had to make sure the gun wasn’t loaded and was safely stowed. Hunters chasing their dogs or wounded game across the national park boundary had to hide their guns under rocks or bushes before crossing into the park.

The new specialty license plate for Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, sporting a black bear against a mountain ridge line, continues to show record support among drivers.

Friends of the Smokies brought in $338,280 from its special black bear license plate program in 2008, an increase of $95,520 or 39 percent over 2007.

“We are truly thankful to see such strong support for the tag program during these uncertain economic times,” said Elaine Stewart, manager of the North Carolina office of Friends of the Smokies. “It’s harder for people to give a lot these days, but when a lot of people give a little, it really adds up.”

Of the extra $30 cost for the specialty tag, $20 goes to Friends of the Smokies to support projects and programs on the North Carolina side of the park. Launched in 1999, the Smokies license plate has now raised nearly $1.5 million.

With these funds, Friends of the Smokies has supported a wide variety of projects and programs in 2008:

• Assisting with black bear conservation initiatives.

• Helping purchase two electric vehicles for use in Smokemont and Cataloochee.

• Providing educational programs for park visitors and local schoolchildren.

• Launching plans for new educational exhibits at Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

• Protecting the park’s hemlock forests from the deadly hemlock woolly adelgid.

• Supporting the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center in Haywood County.

• Improving backcountry safety and management programs.

• Supporting air quality research.

• Sustaining the country’s largest Student Conservation Association internship program.

• Providing support for the park’s Volunteer Visitor Assistance Program.

“Next year we will celebrate the park’s 75th anniversary,” said Stephen W. Woody, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Friends of the Smokies. “We have so much work to do then to support conservation, education, trail improvements, and more, and we hope people will continue to contribute to our efforts one plate at a time.”

By Christi Marsico • Staff Writer

Stoned by children, considered a witch by some and a complete outcast by others, the story of Nance Dude has left a legacy in Haywood County.

Local playwright and storyteller Gary Carden has written the play “Nance Dude,” which will be performed by Elizabeth Westall Dec. 12 and 13 at Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

In the winter of 1913, the 65-year-old woman, Nance Dude, was found guilty of causing the death of her 2-year-old granddaughter by burying her in a cave in Haywood County.

She was almost lynched and ended up serving 15 years of hard labor of her 30-year sentence as a convict at the women’s prison in Raleigh.

Paroled at the age of 80, she lived out the rest of her life on Conley’s Creek near Bryson City and died at the age of 104 in 1952.

“She dropped dead chopping wood to sell to tourists,” Carden said. “She made enough money to keep body and soul together.”

Carden remembers seeing Dude when he was a child riding in his grandfather’s oil truck as they passed her on the road.

“She was an incredibly old woman with all this wood tied on her back with a mob of dogs around her,” Carden said.

Carden based his play on the book “The Legend of Nance Dude,” by Maurice Stanley.

The playwright noted Stanley married a woman from Waynesville and while visiting Haywood County, Stanley spent time at the library and stumbled onto the history of Dude which prompted him to write his book.

Carden has asked Stanley to be involved with his play, sharing his perspective as a humanist scholar.

Carden has turned Dude’s story into a provocative piece believing she paid for being an unwed mother who was forced to make bargains and tradeoffs all her life.

“I dealt with the role of women in the mountain culture, and Dude is an indication of that,” Carden said.

Writing the piece over a decade ago, the playwright had thought of writing about Dude for years since he had known her story since childhood.

“Most local people know her story front-wards and backwards, and my goal is to give a voice to the people who were denied a voice,” said Carden

Carden’s play predicts what she might have said given the chance to speak. The most intriguing fact about Nance Dude is her silence. She never confessed to her crime, nor provided any information about the circumstances surrounding it, according to Carden.

“She was a victim of total circumstance,” Carden said.

During his research of Haywood County and Western North Carolina, certain aspects of that time period made an impression on Carden, and he wove them into the framework of what her life was like.

“She was alive during the Civil War and saw soldiers come home,” Carden said.

The playwright touches on other local folklore in hints and indications throughout Dude’s monologue, such as the fiddler, farmer and handicapped man who were shot in Jonathan’s Creek, as well as the man who laid down in his ashes and died laughing.

Carden wants the audience to take away an awareness that this woman “is an awful lot like you and me.”

“She’s a survivor and did what she had to do to stay alive,” Carden said.

Westall’s “Nance Dude”

Westall, 77, has performed “Nance Dude” hundreds of times for numerous events including museums, schools and libraries around the region, and Carden feels her portrayal of Dude is “exactly right.”

The actress has appeared in numerous productions in the Burnsville area since she retired from teaching drama and English at Mountain Heritage High School.

The story of Dude touches Westall’s heart now just as much as it did the first time she performed it.

“This is the best thing I’ll ever do,” Westall said. “There’s something about one heart, one soul, one miserable lost person who reaches out to others.”

Westall is legally blind, and the first thing she does when preparing to perform is locate the boundaries where she can move.

“Maybe the fact that I don’t see has made me more aware of the frailties of other people,” Westall said.

With a black book, chair, stump and hatchet, the actress portrays the Dude as a suffering person during the 55-minute performance, and she believes that on a whole the piece touches men more than women.

“Gary Carden does a miraculous job of seeing inside a woman’s mind and heart,” Westall said. “He has a way with words.”

The actress believes that since Carden didn’t condemn her, she shouldn’t either.

Though many people think Dude is guilty of abandoning her grandchild, Westall doesn’t rule out the possibility that the son-in-law had a hand in the actual crime and Dude took the blame.

“I think circumstances can drive people to do unthinkable things and put people in situations they never dreamed they‘d be in,” Westall said.

She hopes the audience will feel compassion toward her portrayal of Dude, acknowledging she is a somebody who loved and was loved and had a raw deal all her life, according to Westall.

The actress believes Dude lived to be 104 because of her tenacity and strength, and when she started rehearsing the play over 10 years ago, she wept.

Sensing the character reached out to her, Westall confessed she does feel selfish about the part — like it’s hers.

“I love doing this play, and this might be the last time I do it. I am getting old, and I have done this a long time. I’ll be 78 on Christmas Day, which is not quite as old as Nance Dude, but getting there,” Westall said.

By Linda McFarland • Guest Columnist

Here we are in the holidays, the most sacred and profane time of year. When we yearn for simple pleasures and traditions, for celebrations which affirm connection and presence, how do we find meaning in the frenzy of consumption and excess?

Each year, for me, the challenge is to distill the essence of this season to determine what is good and nurturing, what really feeds our spirits and gives us hope, what is the proper antidote to the spiritual junk food that rains down on us, relentless and unbidden.

What I hear, in the silence, is:

Be more, do less. Be quiet. Turn off everything that makes noise and claims your attention. Listen to the stillness that ensues. Savor the silence. This is the time of the solstice, the time of long nights and darkness and mystery and introspection. Allow yourself to rest.

Be grateful. Notice all your blessings: life and breath and health, clean water, fresh air, food, shelter, warm clothes, people you love who love you, even those you don’t like very much but you tolerate and learn from, the stars that shine up there all the time even when you can’t see them, the presence of the Holy.

Be restless, unwilling to settle for anyone else’s idea of what this time looks like and means.

Be generous. Act on every impulse to do good, especially if no one else will know who did it.

Be attentive. Notice what is really going on, this minute, not what you expect to happen. Be playful. Do something different, daily, something “unlike you.” Have fun!

Be honest. Consider what is important to you, really worth your time and attention. Live that.

Be open to wonder, innocent, seeing with the eyes of a child.

Be tender. Pray for an open heart, and allow that to happen.

Be gentle with yourself. If you are the main creator of festivities in your circle, ask for help. Share the work and play. Most everything is more fun with a buddy. Be reasonable and relaxed.

Be excited with anticipation, as when a baby is expected. Something new and special is coming. Welcome it. Be willing to be surprised.

Be aware. Hold within your consciousness the contradictions — beauty and gaudiness, violence and peace, grief and joy, exhaustion and energy, poverty and abundance, darkness and radiance, the divine and the ordinary, “no room” and infinite space.

Rejoice! You have reclaimed the holiday season, infused it with meaning. Let it come to you!

Linda McFarland lives at Lake Junaluska.

By David Curtis

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?

If a man is putting up Christmas lights and his wife is not there to supervise, is he still wrong?

There are no answers to the questions above, for they are philosophical in nature — not questions with good solid answers, but the type of questions that make you question life itself. Like, “Why am I out here in the cold and dark — did I say cold? — stringing lights on this bush.”

Several times this past week I saw a couple of dedicated employees from the town of Clyde faithfully stringing Christmas lights. The workers were using long poles to string the lights high in the 40-plus Bradford pear trees that run the length of Clyde’s main street. It was two men that were stringing the lights; probably veterans of many Christmas light details so no spousal supervision was needed as these two carried out the holiday ritual for which Clyde is well known.

I remember reading in the paper several years back the former mayor of Clyde, when asked what the town board has done for its residents (it must have been an election year question), said something to the effect that they were really proud of their Christmas lights. And they should be, the lights are simple white lights tastefully strung from tree to tree — not flashing obscenely, or multi colored, or surrounded by tacky inflatable Santas, reindeer or smiling Christmas trees. My daughter calls these contraptions “blowy-uppies.”

Growing up in Minnesota, I’m used to it getting dark early in the winter, around October. OK, we’re not quite that far north, but in December it is usually dark by 4:30 in the afternoon, so you would think having Christmas lights would be a popular activity to ward off seasonal depression disorder. Besides, ice fishing doesn’t really get going until after New Year’s.

I don’t recall many neighbors in my hometown that put up Christmas lights, but those that did used the only lights available — red, blue, green and yellow colored lights with large bulbs that sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. As fancy as we got was to outline the front window and door, then if there was any lights extra maybe circle them a few times around whatever was growing by the front steps.

My wife likes Christmas lights, but they don’t like me. For several years when the girls were little we would put what seemed like miles of small colored lights around a fat blue spruce in the front yard. I would use a long forked stick to place the lights on the high branches. The first couple nights the light would look festive, then the Christmas light gremlins would arrive.

You know the routine; several days of Christmas light bliss and then without warning your holiday light display goes to hell in a hand basket. You plug in the lights and the top of the tree is dark, or the lights in the middle of the tree flash, then the dog chews the extension cord in half. You remove the top strand and go through 30 feet of lights bulb by bulb only to discover it was just the fuse, something your wife suggested you check first. You replace the strand and a day later another goes out.

The spruce is now too large to decorate — boy were those needles sharp — so now instead of lighting up one large tree we do several smaller evergreens, with more forgiving foliage, and several boxwood. The colored lights are also gone. We’ve upgraded to the newest technology in Christmas lighting — LED (light emitting diode) lights.

The new LED lights emit a very bright light that is whitish blue in color. The selling point of the new lights is that LEDs use one-tenth the electricity of the super bright mini-lights that they are replacing. As a comparison the new LED lights burn one-hundredth the energy that the incandescent lights of my youth. The new lights are reported to last up to 11 holiday seasons and rarely burn out.

The LEDs are more expensive than the traditional super bright lights — we got a $3 rebate for each strand of old lights we bought, so that helped out — but the savings in lowered energy costs can quickly offset the extra cost of the lights. I did notice the LED lights were shorter than the old strand of lights, so it will take a few extra strands.

Will the LEDs be more reliable than my old colored lights? I sure hope so, but I cringed when I saw there was a fuse and replacement bulbs in each of the light boxes. I may need the help of the guys from Clyde if I have any trouble.

(David Curtis teaches school in Haywood County. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

By Chris Cooper

My participation in the Play For Peace project has been, honestly, primarily for purely selfish reasons. The opportunity to play music live is one I’ll rarely pass up, especially when the lineup includes an abundance of fine players involved in our little community. The first PFP was mostly inspired by a pointless and tragic act of violence in 2007, which functioned as a platform to unite some of these musicians to simply make some noise and, at the very least, make people think about the things that are happening around us; good and bad. The “peace” thing brings with it some connotations, indeed: visions of well meaning but motivationally challenged hippies spring to mind. The peace symbol itself is a bit of a cliché, sadly. And up until a point- how in the heck does all this “playing” result in any more “peace” for anybody? Interesting.

Here’s the catch, though. The first PFP actually worked. So did the second. The event grew and grew, not without the prerequisite amount of missteps and scheduling blunders, but people knew about it, and began to anticipate the next happening. Musicians wanted to be involved, and- suddenly might not be the best word, if you asked the sometimes overwhelmed but always high-spirited event coordinator Eli Hashemi- it was a full blown festival, with music in nearly every genre represented with all day shows that often last from 2 pm to 2 am. The purpose grew as well, with hand made t-shirts being sold and donations accepted to move beyond simply “raising awareness” to actually assisting returning soldiers from Iraq that, time and again, are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and find themselves lost and without the necessary means to cope with life outside of the military.

Pretty heavy stuff, indeed. But it also demonstrates how a simple idea, in the hands of a motivated person, can take on a life of its own and in many ways grow well beyond the initial expectations. As well, it shows that, under the right circumstances, a bunch of slacker musicians will actually get off their collective butts and put some energy into something beyond themselves. In my case, this meant taking the invitation of bassist Adam Bigelow to participate in a little musical endeavor (which at the last minute was bestowed the moniker Fungus Head- don’t ask...) that was to perform Saturday, December 6th at Guadalupe Café. The band consisted of Bigelow, drummer Nick Demos, guitarist Tommy Dennison and me. I was in a band with Demos and Bigelow called Triggerfish for a while, and Dennison has been a staple of the regional music scene for many years now. The guy’s also one helluva guitarist, a melodic player with fantastic technique that always makes me look at my fingers and wonder what the heck a goof like me is doing on stage with him.

But we were just a small part of an all day music affair; the bill included former Commonfolkers turned Freight Hoppers Issac Deal and Bradley Adams backing up mountain music expert Frank Lee, former Ali Baba’s Tahini and Mother Vinegar frontman Karl Engelmann going solo with and acoustic set, the punk jazz antics of Solito and a kind of impromptu set from a few of the members of local faves CIA, who as well sat in on our set with wonderful results. Though I was unable to catch all of the performances, what I did hear (and see) was great stuff, and the feedback from those lucky enough to catch the majority of the performances was nothing but positive.

As for our performance goes, well, it’s tough for me to say exactly, because I’m usually too busy trying to make it through the songs without falling on my face. But the audience’s reaction, let alone the sheer amount of people that came out in support of the event, was nothing short of inspiring. Whoops and hollers erupted from the crowd for all the players involved, every time any of us did something “cool” we got a reaction, which means- my goodness- people were actually listening. The tunes ranged from originals that Dennison and I put together over two rehearsals, and older Triggerfish tune, some Meters and, of course, an extended reading of Hendrix’s “Third Stone From The Sun,” which stands out as one of my favorite moments of the evening. It’s rare to get onstage with another guitarist and actually “go for it” together, as opposed to trying to outdo each other. In this case, the energy was positive and the results, though occasionally sloppy (my fault) were pure and unadulterated fun.

But let’s not forget that, though the music was happening and the booty shaking abounded, this was an event with an ever growing purpose, one that will certainly take on more power and importance with each continuing installment of the Play For Peace concept. At the same time that I left the stage feeling the rush of adrenalin and appreciated the compliments for the band’s performance, I hoped that in the back of everyone’s mind was the underlying awareness of why it all happened in the first place. If nothing else, maybe those in attendance were able to shake off some of the weariness we’re all experiencing this season, and find a bit of much needed peace within themselves.

(Chris Cooper can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

By Dr. Allan Zacher, M.D.

Flu season is here. You and your family and friends have not gotten it yet, but if you look at Google Flu Trends (http://www.google.org/flutrends/) you will see that we are on the early part of a significant upswing in cases that happens every year.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a branch of the U.S. government, about 36,000 people die per year and 200,000 are hospitalized with flu. This does not include the perhaps 1 million people who will be incapacitated for days to weeks but aren’t sick enough to go to the hospital.

About 36,000 people actually die of the flu each year, almost the number of people in the United States who die in automobile accidents. And like automobile accidents, the flu is largely preventable.

First, let’s identify what “Flu” really is (and is not). There are many diseases caused (usually) by viruses that people call the flu, but many are not actually THE flu. The medical definition is a disease which is caused by the influenza virus. This has a set of typical symptoms which generally start with a sore throat, body aches, fever and a “bad” feeling which is called malaises by your doctor. The symptoms which start in the throat may progress down the airway to the lungs resulting in wheezing, cough, “heaviness” in the chest. It is the effects on the lungs which can lead to very serious medical complications, hospitalization and even death.

Unfortunately, complicating the picture are perhaps dozens of viruses which cause “flu like symptoms” of sore throat, runny nose, headache. Many of these are “cold viruses” (unfortunately another complicated disease, because “colds” may actually be caused by any one of about a half dozen viruses). There is also the “stomach flu” which is not flu at all, but rather a gastro-intestinal upse, caused by yet other viruses or bacteria or even food poisoning.

What can you do to prevent flu? There are actually a number of things which are helpful. Try to stay away from people who are sick and appear to be sick. Wash your hands frequently and especially if you have your hands near your face (the influenza virus really likes the soft wet tissue at the back of the nose and mouth — this is where it usually gets its start). If you are sick, either stay home or wear a mask when out. As funny as this looks, it will help prevent the spread of the virus. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.

The flu vaccine (flu shot) is very helpful. There is what I call an old wives tale of people getting the flu because of the vaccine. This is not possible and not what happened. First, the vaccine takes about two weeks to build up your immunity. So if you had been exposed to flu and it was starting to grow but you did not have symptoms yet, you could come down with the disease immediately after bring vaccinated. Also, the flu vaccine covers only three strains of flu virus, two “A” strains and one “B” strain. The specific strains are selected early in the year as those thought to be the most prevalent. If you get the vaccination and are unlucky enough to get a strain not covered by this year’s vaccination you will still get flu.

The vaccine (shot or nasal spray) will not protect you from other diseases — and here’s why the old wives tale is so prevalent — like colds and other flu like illnesses. There will be no protection from these other illnesses. This is probably what you or your friend got when they said they got “the worst case of flu after the flu shot”.

But importantly it will protect you from the most prevalent and dangerous true flu illnesses. The CDC estimates that many of the thousands of deaths and hospitalizations would be eliminated if everyone for whom it is recommended got the flu vaccination (or nasal spray).

To find out more information, please see the CDC Web site which is an excellent source of information (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/index.htm). Get the flu vaccine, wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your face if your hands may have been contaminated, and stay home if you get sick.

(Dr. Allan Zacher, MD, is the medical director and owner of Interventional Pain Services of Western North Carolina, located in Clyde.)

By Jim Janke

Editor’s note: This is a regular feature on gardening by the Haywood County master gardeners. Look for it every other week.

Does cold weather cause gardening catalogs to stuff my mailbox? Or does the arrival of so much recyclable paper cause the cold weather?

Whatever the cause, gardeners pore through these publications, looking for new flowers and vegetables, and confirming that old favorites are still available. I enjoy the planning process for next year’s garden almost as much as putting the plants in the ground, so these catalogs add to the joy of my holiday season. But I’m an engineer, so that figures.

If your mailbox doesn’t get filled automatically, here are my favorite seed and plant sources, arranged alphabetically. Use these websites to order directly, or to request a catalog via snail-mail. Other gardening friends use many other vendors and are quite happy with them, so this list is far from exhaustive.

Seeds

Burpee www.burpee.com

Cooks www.cooksgarden.com

Jung www.jungseed.com

Park www.parkseed.com

Stokes www.stokeseeds.com

Territorial www.territorialseed.com

Vermont Bean www.vermontbean.com

Plants

(I buy most of my perennials,

shrubs and trees locally):

Bluestone Perennials www.bluestoneperennials.com

Jackson Perkins www.jacksonandperkins.com

Musser Forests www.musserforests.com

While you are in a planning frame of mind, do a couple of things now to make next year’s garden the best it can be. Develop a system of recording what was good, and what wasn’t so good each year. Note the seed type and variety; where and when purchased; seed starting conditions and germination rate; and a summary of its performance. Likewise record how your purchased annual and vegetable plants performed.

These notes will help you improve your garden each year. The note-taking system might as simple as a couple of written pages, or as complex as a full blown relational database on your computer. Or use one of the excellent multi-year garden journals that are available. The key is to record what you did, how well you liked the result, and be able to refer to those notes.

Then make scale diagrams of each of your annual and vegetable beds, and photocopy these original diagrams for use in planning where each plant will go. This is essential for intensive gardening, and to best use the available garden space throughout the season. These diagrams help you to avoid over-ordering either seeds or plants, because you can quickly see how much will fit in each garden area. Keep these diagrams with each year’s notes as a record of what was planted in each area.

Diagrams of the other areas of your landscape are also useful, showing the perennials, shrubs, and trees you’ve planted, and how long they’ve been in the ground. Looking at each landscaped area with the diagram in hand gives you a feel for what is working or not; the diagram is also a good place for notes.

For me the jury is still out: do I enjoy PLANNING or PLANTING more? I’m not sure.

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

By Chris Cooper

It’s in the phrasing; the careful sculpting of each and every note. It’s something about the intent, the message conveyed with each musical statement. The way Jeff Beck grabs a guitar string and twists, bends, swoops and otherwise manipulates it with the sheer force of his will is one of the most magical things in music, and has been for the last forty odd years.

While the names Hendrix, Clapton, Page and Santana easily conjure up visions of six-string greatness in almost anyone’s mind, Beck belongs at the top of that heap while inexplicably remaining woefully unrecognized and underappreciated outside of musician’s circles. Here’s a guy that slipped tasty and forward thinking raga inspired ideas and radically fuzzed out tones into his work with the Yardbirds in the 60’s, fused the complexities of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s work with his “from the hip” guitar style in the 70’s (and with a broader sense of melody and accessibility) with the classic albums Wired and Blow By Blow, and appeared on pop tunes in the 80’s that everybody heard. And still, even still, most people couldn’t name one of his songs. I mean, Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel was largely based on Jeff Beck, right down to the scene where he’s thumbing through a hot rod magazine in the airport. It’s a mystery for the ages, I tell you.

With the release of Live At Ronnie Scott’s, the most fascinating things about Beck are fully and beautifully displayed. The set is culled from a five-night stand that touches on the best of his catalog, and I shouldn’t even try to point out the highlights. Not only is the guitarist fearless and in the finest of form, his band is completely up to the task as well. When your drummer has the last name Colaiuta, things can’t really go wrong. Twenty-one-year-old bass phenom Tal Wilkenfeld is nearly as bold as the bandleader himself; her solo early in the set on Stevie Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers,” let alone her relentless pocket throughout the album is the glue that makes these musical conversations work. Listen to a track like “Angel (Footsteps)” and try to think of a bassist that can make a groove like this move in such a sensual way. Only a few should come to mind, and those would likely be some of the best in the business. And Beck’s exploration of the world of melodic possibilities contained within such a groove is the reason I’m writing this — the man has a set of golden ears, a sense of harmony that did not come from this planet.

People talk about how certain musicians have reached the point of having their chosen instrument become almost another limb, a part of their body. With Beck, this is painfully true. Not to get too technical, but his use of the whammy (or tremolo) bar on the Fender Stratocaster is the epitome of taste and control. His sense of pitch and control, his ability to scoop one note into another is simply beyond compare. The guitarist’s sense of timing and phrasing has been compared to the best of vocalists, whether it’s Billy Holiday or the Bulgarian choir singers that have inspired him over the years. And while he can interpret songs by almost anyone with equal aplomb (be it Mingus or McCartney), his irrepressible personality always shines through. If you’ve heard Beck once, you’ll know him every single time, and eventually you’ll recognize his influence on just about every reigning “guitar god” worth mentioning over the last — well, ever since there was such a term as “guitar god,” to be completely honest.

But if you absolutely need me to do a “song by song” thing, here we go: “Scatterbrain” is a furious reading that at least doubles the tempo of the original version- and if you know that version at all, this is a fairly scary proposition. “Nadia” shows off Beck’s otherworldly phrasing in an almost drum’n’bass context, and the seamless fusing of “Blast From The East” into “Led Boots” lets drummer Vinnie Colaiuta stretch his legs (and arms, and everything else) to great effect. That Beck’s guitar one moment resembles the tonality of a harmonica, a bagpipe, then a penny whistle, then some kind of tortured violin, then an “air raid siren dipped in honey” (not mine, but a most fitting description) is merely icing on the proverbial cake. Once the band hits the Beatles’ “A Day In The Life,” at least one thing’s clear; this isn’t just another instrumental guitar album from “just another” instrumental guitar guy — it’s a courageous musical statement from one of the finest musicians on the planet.

Live At Ronnie Scott’s is one of the rarest of listening opportunities. There have been plenty of fantastic guitar-oriented, mostly instrumental releases over the years, but this one in particular will likely be held in the highest regard. Why is that? Because for the longest time, Jeff Beck has been able to transcend his instrument to the point of purely and simply making music- yes, he can blow you away with sheer technique, his tone is impeccable, and it seems he can play anything in the world and make it sound magical. But what stands out over all of that is that he colors every musical moment with a different, often unexpected hue. He’s not afraid to be ugly and abrasive, because the next note will be as smooth and sexy as can be. He’ll slap you in the face and turn around and whisper in your ear, and accomplish it all with something as inherently barbaric as a plank of wood with some wires strapped to it. This is one of those “must have” recordings. That’s all I really have to say.

(Chris Cooper can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

By Christi Marsico • Staff Writer

Wearing white sneakers with a buzz haircut, Tighe Wachacha enters the Burger King in Waynesville followed by his cardigan-clad cohort Matthew Yates.

Wachacha, 28, is married with one child and Yates, 27, is engaged.

The friendship these two men found in making films has set ablaze their ambitions as they launch their video production company, Twin Paths Productions, LLC.

Yates, who grew up in Kernersville, N.C., always knew he wanted to make films.

After living in Colorado and attending a few schools, Yates moved back to North Carolina determined to go to film school. Specifically looking for a two-year program, he came across Haywood Community College’s Film and Video Production courses online and applied.

Wachacha grew up in Cherokee and began his college pursuits in media arts at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan. When Wachacha moved back to his home state, he began looking for a film program as well. Upon picking up an application at HCC, Wachacha felt he had found the right place.

Wachacha met Yates the first day of class, and they became fast friends as they both progressed in their film studies.

“We got to do everything from day one like handling the camera,” Wachacha said.

“HCC saved me. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

They gained real world experience during the making of biotechnology training films where they were expected to take on the producer roles during the project.

The film series focused on “everything from bio-fuels to genetically modified foods,” according to Yates.

Yates and Wachacha are still in touch with their professors from HCC, referring to them as “more like friends than professors.”

Wheels

Through Time

Since graduating HCC in 2007, the film fellows have been working at the Wheels Through Time, a motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley. The duo has produced about 75 percent of the videos on the Wheels Through Time’s Web site.

Wachacha and Yates work 35 to 40 hours a week at the museum on a variety of projects from filming human-interest pieces, technology shows, to traveling for the museum filming various events.

The work has allowed the filmmakers to cut their teeth on multiple tasks while taking away valuable lessons.

“We’ve learned how to adapt ourselves in different situations and think on our feet,” Yates said.

“In school, it was a controlled environment, and at Wheels we push ourselves to see how much we can get out of ourselves with little preparation,” Wachacha added.

Feeling grateful from all they have learned and continue to learn at the museum, the filmmakers are preparing for future endeavors.

Their own biz

The film friends began serious discussions about a production company their second year at HCC.

“The name of our company reflects those paths from the first day we met,” Wachacha said. “We came the long way around on getting on track to what we needed to do.”

Yates describes Wachacha as a “go getter” and more “vocal” than he is, pushing him out of his comfort zones.

“Tighe’s good at everything that I’m not,” Yates said.

Wachacha feels his partner can be summed up on one word — “planner.”

“Matt uses his head more than I do,” Wachacha said.

The Web site for Twin Path Productions is not the only project in the works as the film partners are writing a screenplay, editing a music video for the Asheville band The Davids, and researching a documentary.

“The documentary is our baby,” Wachacha said.

The film will document five Cherokee “beloved women” while exploring the roles of women in Cherokee and European culture.

“It will recognize efforts of a lot of women and what they’ve done for the tribe throughout its history from education to preserving language,” Wachacha said.

Since June, their company has been crafting videos for the Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

“We have been shooting and gathering footage explaining what the Preservation Foundation does for the tribe,” Yates said.

Looking into the future with so much on their plates in the present, the filmmakers have two ultimate goals for their production company: pay their bills and make a feature film. They are also determined that Twin Path Productions will succeed in the film business and remain based in Western North Carolina.

“You don’t have to live in Wilmington or Hollywood to make movies,” Yates said.

“You could put us into any situation, and we’ll make it work,” Wachacha said.

“I am 100 percent confident we could shoot anything anybody asked us to.”

Preserving stories one project at time as well as loving what they do is what has given Twin Path Productions the confidence to strive for more.

“We’ve come this far and at the start it was determination, and now we have the equipment and the skills,” Wachacha said.

For more information on Twin Path Productions, call 828.399.1385 or 828.582.2406 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

It wasn’t until the late 1970s that my wife, Elizabeth, and I first started birding in a systematic fashion. That is, we began learning to distinguish species by their calls and songs as well as by their distinctive markings. For a while, it seemed to be an almost impossible task.

Little by little, however, we began to sort out the easier visual and auditory cues. We already knew some of the more common resident birds — cardinals, tufted titmice, pileated woodpeckers, robins, blue jays, white-breasted nuthatches, song sparrows, phoebes, etc. — by sight and sound. To these we quickly added indigo buntings, Arcadian flycatchers, blue-gray gnatcatchers, red-eyed and white-eyed vireos, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and other distinctive species that migrate north from the Gulf Coast or Central and South America into the southern Appalachians to breed.

After several seasons, we’d reached the point where we felt comfortable with identifying most of the species that appear in Western North Carolina on a permanent, summer breeding, or winter resident basis, as well as (to a lesser extent) those that only migrate through in the spring and fall.

But well into the 1980s, we remained somewhat intimidated by the wood warblers. To be truthful, we still have problems with warbler identification during the fall season when almost all of them have ceased singing and have assumed similar drab colorations.

Thirty-seven of the 40 or so warbler species listed in the field guide for the eastern United States have been reported from our region; and, of these, more than 30 can be expected on a regular basis.

Warblers are often described as “the butterflies of the bird world.” They don’t hold still. All you usually get is a fleeting second to try to catch their vocalizations and markings before they’re long gone. And they’re all pretty much the same size with songs and field marks that can be similar.

The first warbler we got a firm handle on was the yellow-rumped. One December morning we spotted a flock of them feeding in the river birches that line the Tuckasegee River here in Bryson City. We knew they were warblers. And we knew that only a few warbler species over-winter in WNC. And then — bingo! — we spotted their bright yellow rumps.

Few warblers winter in the Smokies region. The yellow-rumped is by far the most common one that does so.

Formerly considered two species — the myrtle warbler in the East (which displays a white throat) and the Audubon’s warbler in West (which displays a yellow throat) — the yellow-rumped warbler was reclassified as a single species when it was established that the myrtle and Audubon’s sub-types hybridized where their ranges overlap. It is one of the most common warblers in all of North America, with a breeding range that extends from Alaska south to Guatemala and east to the northeastern United States.

As might be anticipated, this species is one of the most ecologically generalized. Individuals forage in a broad range of microhabitats and employ a variety of foraging techniques, from fly-catching to foliage-gleaning for insects. During the winter, it can be observed in almost any habitat, expanding its diet to include a substantial amount of fruit. Its ability to digest the waxes in bayberries allows some yellow-rumped populations to winter in coastal areas as far north as Nova Scotia.

The designation “yellow-rumped” is apt because this warbler displays that signature rump color even in non-breeding plumage.

Back in the early 1990s, I was birding with ornithologist Paul Kerlinger on Horn Island in the Gulf Islands off the Mississippi coast. Scanning some nearby shrubs through his binoculars, Paul sighed and said, ‘It’s just another damned ‘butter-butt.’”

Not knowing what he was talking about I took a look through my binoculars. It was a yellow-rumped warbler. Paul’s description was perfect.

See for yourself. The “butter-butts” are just now arriving back in the Smokies region from their northern breeding grounds.

George Ellison wrote the biographical introductions for the reissues of two Appalachian classics: Horace Kephart’s Our Southern Highlanders and James Mooney’s History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. In June 2005, a selection of his Back Then columns was published by The History Press in Charleston as Mountain Passages: Natural and Cultural History of Western North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains. Readers can contact him at P.O. Box 1262, Bryson City, N.C., 28713, or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“’Official meeting’ means a meeting, assembly, or gathering together at any time or place ... of a majority of the members of a public body for the purpose of conducting hearings, participating in deliberations, or voting upon or otherwise transacting the public business within the jurisdiction, real or apparent, of the public body. However, a social meeting or other informal assembly or gathering together of the members of a public body does not constitute an official meeting unless called or held to evade the spirit and purposes of this Article.”

GS 143-318.10-d

Newspapers make a big deal out of open meetings and open government. We believe it is our duty to make waves when some entity is either purposely or out of ignorance not taking the right steps to make sure the public’s business is done in the open. Open government is each American’s birthright, so we speak up when we think there’s a problem.

Last week we wrote two stories about the state’s Open Meetings Law (quoted above) and potential problems in two communities here in Western North Carolina. Here’s what’s going on.

In Macon County, commissioners have gotten into the troubling habit of recessing their meetings instead of ending them and then holding a new meeting. If a meeting is recessed, the public body is under no obligation to re-publicize the continued meeting. That makes it too easy to exclude the public, whether that’s the intent ornot.

Recessing some meetings makes life for commissioners a lot easier, and we certainly understand that it is sometimes necessary. However, in Macon County 15 were recessed in the first nine months of the year. In Jackson County the number was three and in Haywood the number is one.

As Commissioner Jim Davis told this newspaper, “... we’re not doing anything illegal.”

He’s right, and we’re not suggesting they are.

However, it’s just not a good way to do the public’s business. Commissioners should go out of their way to keep their bosses — the taxpayers — informed of what they are doing and how they can participate. It’s called good government. As an attorney for the N.C. Press Association said, “Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right.”

If they have so much business to cover, then hold two regularly scheduled meetings a month. Most similar-sized counties do. But don’t take steps that by their very nature confuse the public.

Over in Jackson County, the state Department of Transportation official probably thought they were just being polite by inviting elected officials to a private meeting to discuss a road project. Unfortunately, the state officials conducting the meeting are putting county commissioners and other elected officials in a precarious place.

The DOT plans to meet with elected officials from 2 to 3 p.m. on Dec. 4, and then hold a public meeting from 4 to 7 p.m. The meetings are to discuss the controversial Southern Loop, a proposed highway that could bisect Jackson County and has been the subject of heated discussion over the past few years.

Again, the DOT may not be intentionally trying to abuse the state’s open meeting laws. However, getting a majority of any elected board together to discuss anything that’s that elected entity’s business is a clear violation of the law.

In truth, even getting less than a majority together with the clear intent to avoid the majority mandate is a violation of the spirit of the state Open Meetings Law.

This one is also easy to fix. Meet with town and county administrators and board chairmen, and have them update their colleagues. Or just hold the meeting and invite the public.

By Avram Friedman • Executive Director, Canary Coalition

Getting “off the grid” is more and more appealing to many of us as the cost of energy goes up and our awareness about the health and environmental impacts of coal and nuclear power grows. Expense is the major obstacle to taking your home off the grid, though it always makes economic sense in the long run.

Going 100 percent solar wind, geothermal or micro-hydro can seem impossible when considering the up-front costs of these systems. However, by approaching the problem in reasonable stages, establishing priorities, and figuring costs, you can take a simplified approach to being more energy-independent — the only personal investment you’ll make with a guaranteed payback.

Most often in residential applications, the first step is to install solar water heaters. Electric or gas water heaters account for up to 60 percent of residential energy use in the Southeast — installing a solar water heater can reduce your energy bill by nearly $25 per month. A handy person can build an adequate, functional solar water heater for a few hundred dollars, or one can purchase a pre-manufactured system for a little more. I recommend the “batch-type” heaters for simplicity and reliability; ground mounting, rather than roof mounting, is preferable if possible. For good instructions on how to build or install a solar hot water heater, visit www.builditsolar.com.

The next priority might be to provide electrical power for water pumping, refrigeration, lighting, computers, or sound system. Decide what your priorities are and what’s most important to you and begin to build a modular generating system that can be expanded at your pace. You can use solar, micro-hydro, or wind, depending on the availability of your resources. For micro-hydro, you’ll need a year-round creek on your property within a few hundred feet of your house. Wind is generally feasible only at elevations above 3,000 feet with a 500-foot radius unobstructed by tall trees or buildings.

The solar option, however, is almost universally available. While photovoltaic systems can be expensive, the cost can be minimized by investing in highly efficient electrical appliances like slow pumps for your well, LED lighting, solid-state refrigeration, or a laptop computer. This reduces the size and cost of your solar array and battery storage systems. Start with one 12-volt circuit in your house, and add on to the system as your budget allows. You can even check online for surplus or used solar electric panels — there are many available to save you money.

Lastly, in many states, homeowners can take advantage of net-metering laws that allow easy use of utility-company energy as a back-up for home-based systems. This removes the need for battery storage and makes it easier to become energy-independent. You can let your legislators know of your interest in home-based renewable energy systems and advocate to them for a more inclusive net-metering law in North Carolina.

By Zack Dean • Smoky Mtn. High School

I had to work late on Nov. 4, so upon coming home that night I didn’t know what to expect.

I walked into the living room to find a group of my mother’s friends glued to the couch, entranced by Barack Obama’s historical victory speech. As I joined them on the couch, I found myself curious as to what my peers thought of the election results, or if they even cared. My answer was clear the next day at school.

Sporting an Obama shirt, I received numerous high fives and pats on the back, a few snide comments but mostly apathy. Only a small number of my senior class was able to vote, and supporters of the newly elected president were scattered throughout the halls; some students were more interested in the results than others. Even with the few students interested in the previous night’s announcement, it was hard to differentiate the students who had a genuine opinion and those who were just wrapped up in the excitement.

I began to casually bring up the election in my conversations that day in school, resulting in a plethora of responses.

“(I’m) not 100 percent happy, but America chose” confessed Smoky Mountain High School Senior Ronnie Mau. “The election didn’t unite America like people thought it would.”

Senior Seth Kuehn agreed with Ronnie’s view on the election: “The change that Obama promises isn’t the kind of change we actually need.”

This kind of response was widespread, but pro-Obama comments were also sprinkled throughout. Fellow classmate Keller Berry confidently stated that, “With the outcome of this election, America has let out a sigh of relief, America needs a change, and Obama can bring it”.

I was excited to see some of my peers as enthusiastic and interested in this historical change of power as I was. But this excitement lost its sweetness as I heard an overwhelming amount of “I don’t knows” and “who cares?”

As young adults it is hard to make a decision based solely on what we know and believe. For the most part we lack the life experience needed to make an informed decision on which party to support. At this age our view on politics is heavily influenced by our family. It is rare to witness a student whose political beliefs differ from their parents.

But this isn’t bad. As fledgling leaders it is important for us to have a world view, no matter how biased. Without this early perspective, we are at the mercy of pop culture and side chatter that skews our opinions. I consider myself — and my generation — supremely lucky to live in a time where young people have such interest, and in some cases influence, on the politics of our nation.

After all, as I am sure you know, an overwhelming number of young Americans turned out to support President-elect Barack Obama. It was encouraging that day, to see some of my peers so energetic about the election of our new leader. All in all the youth of America is capable of enormous influence on our nation, and it is of great importance that we realize that power.

(Zack Dean attends Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva and has been following a reporter at The Smoky Mountain News as part of his senior project.)

For two weeks every summer, the Folkmoot Center is a popping nightspot. Well after midnight, little crowds cluster around the exit doors, tiny clouds of smoke rising around them. Inside, in what was once the Hazelwood Elementary School Cafeteria, a bunch of Canadians — who do Chinese dances — are holding strings while other dancers jump through them to the beat of Gary Glitter’s Rock N Roll Part 2.

The manager for the Italian team, a short and dapper older gentleman, is giving a tween Guadelupean a run for his money in the leaping-over-strings department. The Finnish, though, are killing everybody.

“Oh, Finland’s got some ups,” says a Canadian in a Dr. Seuss hat, commentating the game over the loudspeaker, as a tall, blond guy leaps over the final string.

Never mind that 50 percent of the people in the room may or may not know what ‘ups’ means. Or who Gary Glitter is. Or what the person across the table from them is really saying.

At Folkmoot, the universality of creativity transcends the many and varied language barriers between the performers and musicians who gather for the annual folk festival.

This year, there are six languages and seven countries, which sometimes makes communication a challenge.

A few groups share some common languages. The Americans and Canadians have little problem communicating, the group from Guadeloupe, a Francophone island, share that language with Burundi, where French and Swahili compete for dominance.

And technology helps.

In the hallway after performances have ended, Idris, a young Guadeloupean, is trying to get his point across to Doug Garrett, a former guide who is now a volunteer and guide coordinator.

“J’ai besoin d’un badge?”

“No,” says Garrett, who speaks no French. “Spanish, but not French.”

But there is a computer, and with the helpful assistance of Google Translate, the problem is solved.

Oh right. You’ve lost your badge? asks Garrett.

Oui, replies Idris.

OK, come back in an hour and we’ll have one ready.

Such exchanges force the conversants to be linguistically innovative.

In one overheard exchange, the simple question ‘what’s the weather like in your country?’ was broached. It becomes less simple, however, when one party doesn’t know the word ‘weather.’ So what’s another way to express the concept of weather?

But backstage at the performances and in downtime around the Folkmoot Friendship Center, the common languages — dance and music — engender camaraderie.

Under the awnings behind The Stompin’ Ground in Maggie Valley, the Finns and Canadians exchanged steps while awaiting their turn with the crowd inside.

Later that night, the Croatians shared their moves with everyone as the crowd pivoted haltingly around the room, the Croatian women practicing their signature keening shout, something akin to an extremely high-pitched war cry.

Flora Gammon said it has always been this way. Leader of the International Band and long-time Folkmoot volunteer, she says dance bringing everyone together has been a long-running theme with the festival.

“Once we had a group from Spain, the Basques, that were here, and they were the most standoffish group I’ve ever seen in my life,” says Gammon. “So we were all saying ‘Let's teach each other dances.’ And it came my turn to teach an American dance, and I said, well, I'll teach you the hokey pokey. I don’t know what it is about the hokey pokey that in the Basque language seems to make them all happy, but they were smiling and communicating with everybody and having a great time.”

This year, there are no standoffish groups. From Italy to Canada and every group in between, they may not speak the same language, but they seem to understand each other just fine.

Dogs performing aerial tricks and other extreme stunts will come to Cherokee for the Carolina Dock Dogs exhibition Aug. 5 through 7.

There is also an open division for anyone 7 years or older and any dog 6 months or older.

Practice sessions are held Friday. The first wave of competitions will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday and last into the evening. Contests gear back up Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. with finals at 2 p.m. Main contests include Outdoor Big Air, Extreme Vertical and Speed Retrieve.

Registration fees for DockDogs at www.carolinadockdogs.com/Cherokee.html

Kids ages 3 to 11 will swarm the river bank at Oconaluftee Island Park in Cherokee for the 10th annual Talking Trees Children’s Trout Derby on August 6.

Fishing poles and gear are provided, as well as instruction from experienced fishermen, allowing kids who have never fished before a chance to try their hand. Cherokee Fish and Game will stock 15,000 trout  prior to the event.

Registration is mandatory and slots go fast. Registration must be done in person the day before the event on Friday, Aug. 5, at the Cherokee Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Festivities during registration day include exhibits, food booths, Native American dancers and live music.

For any slots that are left, registration the day of the event will begin at 6 a.m.

Kids get free breakfast and lunch, with lots of prizes to go around. Fishing is held between 8 a.m. and noon.

Owners of the region’s largest fly shops and fishing outfitters will share insight on local waters at the next meeting of the Plateau Fly Fishing Club, held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, at the Cashiers library.

Joe Street and Chris Anderson, owners of River’s Edge Outfitters in Cherokee and Spruce Pine, will focus on strategies to use when fishing the Little Tennessee, Raven’s Fork and South Holston rivers. Maps to those locations will be provided free of charge.

Following the presentation, a raffle will be held featuring a Brookings two-person float trip on the Tuckaseegee River and a day on the Raven Fork Trophy Water, donated by River’s Edge.  

828.885.7130.

Swain’s newest 4-H Club, the Outdoor Adventurers, hiked Clingmans Dome to the observation tower and participated in two Junior Ranger Programs in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Students learned how to pack for a day hike, hiking basics, and outdoor exploration techniques. They studied numerous plant species, trees, birds, lichens, rock formations, cloud condensation and saw a very large buck.

The focus of Outdoor Adventurers 4-H is exploring the outdoors and gardening. It is open to youth county wide, K-12, and meets at  the Marianna Black Library Gardens Tuesday afternoons from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. 828.488.3848 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

North Carolina’s land trusts, including the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, have for a second time received federal funds to conserve land and protect views from 20 of the state’s scenic byways, including the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Federal Highway Administration’s National Scenic Byways Program recently awarded $2.7 million to a collection of 10 land trusts and the Conservation Trust for North Carolina.

Land trusts will use the new grant funding to build on a 2006 Scenic Byways grant, which helped land trusts develop conservation plans along 25 Scenic Byways in North Carolina. The 2011 grant will pay to implement elements of those plans, such as outreach to landowners regarding conservation efforts and acquiring property and conservation easements.

Scenic drives to receive conservation funding include the Cherohala Skyway, Waterfall Byway and Nantahala Byway in the western most counties.

Conservation planning funds have been awarded for the Forest Heritage in Haywood and Transylvania counties and Whitewater Way spanning in Jackson and Transylvania counties.

“North Carolina is renowned for its scenic drives, from the Outer Banks Scenic Byway to the Sandhills Drive and Pottery Road in the Piedmont to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which by itself welcomes 16 million to 17 million visitors a year. We must protect the breathtaking natural landscapes that bring people to these regions,” said Acting Executive Director Margaret Newbold of Conservation Trust for North Carolina.

Learn to put a little hop in your brew on a tour of Hop’n Blueberry Farm and Pisgah Brewing Company.

The dual hop tour takes place Saturday, Aug. 6. Tickets are $8 per person and include two beer samples. 

Pisgah Brewing Company has been producing a “wet hop” beer with fresh hops grown at Hop’n Blueberry Farm for the last three years. This unique beer only happens once per year when hops are picked and added to the brewing process at the brewery within hours after leaving the farm.

The tour begins at the farm where owner Van Burnette will share information about growing hops from the ground up.

www.hopnblueberryfarm.com or www.pisgahbrewing.com

Appalachian crafters, old-timey demonstrations, Cherokee culture and mountain music will be celebrated during a special event at the Waterrock Knob Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6.

“Blue Ridge Parkway: Celebrating Heritage and Communities” will feature craft demonstrations, Cherokee dancers, Appalachian story tellers, old-time and bluegrass bands and clogging.

Entertainment includes The Ross Brothers at 10 a.m., the J Creek Cloggers at 11 a.m.; The Cherokee Friends Dancers at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Ammon Sisters Mountain Storytelling at noon; and The Boys from Tuckaseegee at 2 p.m. National Park Service Rangers will be giving short interpretive talks between performers.

Crafts displays will include pottery, woodcarving, spinning, knitting, chair caning and more. Participating authors include: Bob Plott of Strike and Stay, David and Anne M. Whisnant of When the Parkway Came and Super Scenic Motorway. Food will be available for purchase from Big Mountain BBQ.

Waterrock Knob is at mile marker 451 on the Parkway between Waynesville and Maggie Valley. 828.456.9530 ext. 3.

Learn how to be safe in the woods while hunting through a series of Hunter Safety courses at Haywood Community College.

Haywood Community College’s Natural Resources Division and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will offer Hunter Safety courses Aug. 15 through Aug. 17 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the HCC campus. Participants must attend three consecutive evenings to receive their certification.

Additional Hunter Safety courses will be offered Sept. 6 through Sept. 8; Oct. 10 through Oct. 12; and Nov. 7 through Nov. 9.

Pre-registration required. Anyone interested in taking a hunter safety course must register online in order to attend any session at www.ncwildlife.org.

N.C. land trusts win $2.7 million grant to protect scenic byways

Young campers from the Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center in Waynesville were given a hands-on lesson about water quality in rivers at the Oconaluftee Islands Park in Cherokee. Haywood Waterways Association partnered with the Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River (WATR) to teach the kids how to catch aquatic creatures.

Kids identified insects in the trays, cups, and buckets and learned how each insects indicated something significant about the water quality.

“When the kids learn about water, it adds another holistic academic component to our summer programming, which ups its value to the students,” said Lin Forney, director of the Pigeon Development Center. “After learning how pollution affects water quality and how important it is to use this resource wisely, the campers had a better idea of why we need to preserve and protect our water sources.”

For more information on the Kids in the Creek or to organize water quality education programs for your group, call 828.631.2823 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The new 2011 edition of the Haywood County farm map and brochure has been released.

The new publication lists more than 40 locations to buy locally grown plants, produce, Christmas trees, and more. The featured sites include farm stands, plant nurseries, tailgate markets, trout farms, and places where you can ride horses or go on a llama trek. A calendar of farm-related events is also included in the brochure.

“The map and brochure has something for everyone,” said George Ivey, who coordinates the Buy Haywood project, which promotes local, high-quality farm products to community-minded consumers. The brochure is available at the Haywood County visitor centers in Balsam, Canton, and Waynesville; the Haywood County and Maggie Valley Chambers of Commerce; and Haywood County Cooperative Extension. You can also view and print a copy online at www.buyhaywood.com/farmmap.

An opportunity to learn about the trees in downtown Sylva and surrounding areas takes place Thursday, Aug. 11, with a walking tour of the town’s “Tree Walk.”

Peggy Hurt, member and past president of the Sylva Garden Club, will lead the walk. Those who want to participate should meet in the atrium of the Jackson County Public Library complex at 10 a.m. The tour should last approximately 90 minutes.

The Sylva Garden Club compiled and published a booklet titled “The Sylva Tree Walk” in 1981, and updated the material in 2008. The booklet includes a brief description of each of the trees featured in the walk. Also, in 2008 each of the trees was relabeled for easy identification. “The Sylva Tree Walk” booklets are available for purchase at the Friends of the Library Used Book Store on Main Street in Sylva and at the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.

828.586.2016.

Local author Louise K. Nelson will be at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 30.

Nelson has written several books, mainly on Haywood County’s early history. Nelson was born in Haywood County 85 years ago, but her family settled in Haywood County in 1802, while her husband, Floyd Nelson’s family settled in 1785. Between the long history of their two families and the history that Nelson herself has lived through, the history in her books is written with firsthand experience.

For more information or to reserve one of Nelson’s books, call 828.456.6000.

Historians Reed Henson and David and Debbie Patterson will hearken back to the Confederacy at 7 p.m. on July 28 at the Macon County Library with their collection of arms, clothing, flags and equipment that would have been used at the time. They’ll also talk about Western North Carolina’s part in the War Between the States.

For more information call 828.524.3600 or visit fontanalib.org.

Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center will host and sponsor a free performance of “The Liars Bench” Southern Appalachian variety show at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4.

“The Liars Bench” was founded by Sylva writer and storyteller Gary Carden in June 2010, and the show’s cast presented monthly programs at City Lights bookstore in Sylva during its first year. The ensemble gave its first performance in the Mountain Heritage Center auditorium in July to a standing-room-only crowd.

“Cherokee in a Changing World” will be the theme for the upcoming performance at the museum. Cherokee storyteller Lloyd Arneach will speak about the myth of the Nunnihi, Carden will deliver a tale titled “When the Tourist Came,” and Barbara McRae will give a presentation on the Nikwasi Mound.

Robert Conley, WCU’s Sequoyah Distinguished Professor in Cherokee Studies, will also discuss major issues facing the Cherokee people today, as well as present some theories about an ancient Cherokee ritual known as the “Booger Dance.” Barbara Duncan, a musician and poet from the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and Liars Bench regular Paul Iarussi, a claw-hammer guitarist, also will perform.

For more information about the show call the Mountain Heritage Center at 828.227.7129.

The Marianna Black Library in Bryson City has been celebrating “One World, Many Stories” during its annual summer reading program all summer long.  Community children have had a chance to bring their own hand-crafted passports to Australia, Egypt, England, China, Mexico and Brazil.

Family Night will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 29, in the library auditorium. This celebration will include a song that the children have been working on all summer and a slide show. Pizzas will be provided by Bryson City Pizza Hut.

For more information about the summer reading program schedule and times, call 828.488.3030 or visit www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

Dine at Lakeside Restaurant on Wednesday, July 27, and help The Bascom Visual Arts Center. Lakeside will donate 15 percent of the gross sales from the evening’s supporters to the art center.

When making your reservation, be sure to mention you are dining to support The Bascom. To make a reservation call 828.526.9419.

Local artist Silvia Cabrera Williams will lead a teaching session on from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6, at Leapin’ Frog Gallery in Waynesville’s Historic Frog Level.

Some basic instruction about paints, values, shapes and color placement will be given as well as how to do transfers onto paper or canvas.  Rubbing alcohol, cheesecloth and aluminum foil will also be used in the creation of a piece of abstract art.

Williams has been an artist for many years and loves the experimentation process.  Her work is currently on exhibit at Gallery 86 on Main Street, Waynesville, and Gallery 262 in Frog Level.  

Cost for the workshop is $50. Call 828.456.8441 to register and get a supply list.

The Haywood County Arts Council will host an exhibition titled, “Main Street Moments in Time,” celebrating 25 years of the Downtown Waynesville Association and featuring photographs from the DWA’s archives, the Historical Society’s SnapShot project, and photographs of the downtown district by local photographers.  

The show opens Wednesday, Aug. 3, and runs through Saturday, Aug. 20. The artists’ reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 5, at Gallery 86 in conjunction with Waynesville’s Art After Dark.

For more information visit the Arts Council’s call 828.452.0593 or visit www.haywoodarts.org.

In March, a group of interested local leaders met to discuss the formation of an affiliate program of the regional the Junior Appalachian Musicians Program.

The meeting set the wheels in motion for the implementation of an after-school program for Jackson County in the fall of 2011, providing instruction and performance opportunities for youth in traditional Appalachian and bluegrass string instruments. Upfront funding was granted by the Jackson County Arts Council, with other grant applications in the works.

Individual contributions of money or instruments are needed. Instrument contributions are coordinated by Ray Menze at 828.293.3407.

Contributions should be sent to Heather Gordon, Jackson County 4-H, 538 Scotts Creek Rd, Suite 205, Sylva, N.C., 28779.  

For more information contact Ray Menze at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Pam Dengler at 828.506.8802 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

As part of a Summer Music Series, the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City will host acoustic country musicians Ron and Julia Thompson at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 28. The program will be presented on the front porch of the library, and snacks and refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Marianna Black Library.

Ron and Julia have been playing music together for 20 years, and Julia has been singing the country melodies of singers like Loretta Lynn since she was a little girl. In the years that they have been playing together, they’ve performed in most of the Southern states, as well as many local venues.

For more information call 828.488.3030 or visit www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

Groovin’ on the Green, Cashiers’ summer concert series, continues at 6:30 p.m. on Friday evenings through September at the Cashiers Commons.

July into September featured bands are Velvet Truckstop on July 29; Les Freres Michot on Aug. 12; The Fishsticks on Aug. 26; Angela Reign and Band on Sept. 2 and The Carol Strickland Band on Sept. 16.

Food is available for purchase from a featured local restaurant at every concert or concertgoers may bring their own picnic-fare, beverages and snacks along with blankets or chairs.

Emiko Suzuki will conduct a workshop in origami at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4, at the Jackson County Public Library. Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding which began in the 17th century.  

In addition to being accomplished in origami, Suzuki is experienced in the tradition of ikebana, Japanese flower arranging. She taught ikebana or 13 years in Japan before coming to Western North Carolina in 2007. In addition, she is a master in the art of the tea ceremony which represents the essence of Japanese culture. Suzuki taught the tea ceremony in Japan for two years.

Suzuki graduated from Western Carolina University with a Masters of Visual Art Teacher in May, 2011. She worked as a Japan Outreach Coordinator at Western Carolina University from 2007 until 2009.

This workshop is limited to 15 participants.  Reservations are required. Call 828.586.2016 or sign up at the reference desk at the library.

Nan Smith, a local beading artist, will lead a program on jewelry beading at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 28, at the Jackson County Library. During her workshop she will teach the group how to make seed bead and crystal earrings.

Smith has been a Dogwood Crafter in Dillsboro for about six years. She has won numerous award ribbons with the Extension Service Club and at the Mountain State Fair, including two Best in Show for beadwork.

After enlightening the audience about the history of beading, she will show various pieces of jewelry and tell how they are produced with patterns. Smith will teach the group how to make a simple pair of crystal and seed bead earrings.

828.586.2016.

The Creative Thought Center in Waynesville invites the public to its Colossal Rummage Sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 30.

The sale will be held indoors and cover 6,000 square feet and will include a diverse range of items from clothing and books to furniture and kitchen accessories.

A major portion of the offered items have been donated by Persnickety’s in Waynesville. For more information call 828.246.2794.

The annual Junaluska Woman’s Club Fashion Show Scholarship Luncheon will be held at 12 p.m. on Aug. 2 at the Foundation for Evangelism at Lake Junaluska. Fashions provided by Krismart in Sylva will be modeled by club members, with commentary by Margaret McCleskey. Proceeds from the event support scholarships for Lake Junaluska summer employees.  

For more information call 662.312.7603.

The Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts will host an evening of American music with superstars Lee Greenwood and Louise Mandrell at 7:30 p.m. on July 30.

Along with his patriotic hit “God Bless the USA,” Greenwood has won numerous accolades including two Male Vocalist of the Year awards from the Country Music Association and the CMA Song of the Year honor in 1985 for “God Bless the USA.”

Greenwood is accompanied by country music legend Louise Mandrell, a master of multiple instruments, including the drums, accordion, fiddle, and bass guitar. Mandrell has been performing for nearly four decades, working with Merle Haggard, as a back-up vocalist and as a performer on the weekly variety program, Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.

Tickets are $45. Call 866.273.461 or visit greatmountainmusic.com.

I remember both my grandfathers very well.  Both served in the military during WWI, and their grandfathers fought in the American Civil War. With that perspective, one can readily comprehend how quickly time moves along.

Nowadays, at age 59, I see things at flea markets that are touted as antiques, yet I may have used some of those things early in life. And all the nostalgic stories of yesteryear are easily sliced to ribbons by memories of having been there. I mention it here in regard to my mother, who died on July 15.

Jean Muirhead was elected to serve in the Mississippi Legislature in 1968, having only recently been also admitted to the state bar. At the time there were only seven women in the Magnolia state who were licensed to practice law. But it was the 60’s, and things were changing fast.

One of her first legislative attention-getters was to break with tradition in regard to the school-age kids who served as assistants in the House and the Senate. They were, they are still, called pages. But in the halcyon days of Deep South thinking, before “the nigras” began howling to be recognized as people, before Yankee television reporters could invade at any moment and send live, color images of the truth back to their anchors’ desks in New York City, life in my home state was vastly different than it is today.

It was a time of male domination. There were only seven female lawyers? Today there are hundreds! And although it never really felt like it to me at the time, as a kid growing up in the late 50’s and 60’s, repression was everywhere. (I’m not about to attempt to explain life through the eyes of a black Mississippian. I am white; but I’ve got my own stories.)

I well remember as a teenager the nagging sensation of living inside an inescapable falseness. Things were not as they seemed. On Sunday mornings I would attend Sunday school and “big church” with my family. And before “big church” began, outside the sanctuary the deacons smoked cigarettes at the front door. Sometimes the preacher would walk through the crowd and cloud of blue smoke, nodding with tight lips at his coterie of ordained sinners. He would never smoke; nor would he condemn those who did, at least not one on one. He would wait until he stood in sanctuary of his pulpit, there to harangue the entire congregation on the evils of tobacco. The deacons on the front row would then clear their throats, cough, and nod in agreement.

Women were seen only in the pews or the choir loft. They had no place on the dais. God’s word was men’s word, and females were not considered astute enough to preach and teach on the complexities of Western religion. Their place was in the home, cooking pot roast, rearing the children, pleasing their husbands.

In those days, drug stores had entrances around back labeled “Colored.” The few public restrooms available were similarly identified. If you are under the age of 30 and are reading this, you probably find it difficult to understand. But repression and segregation were the orders of the day. The world was controlled by white men, no matter how ignorant and brutish they happened to be. Boys wore flat-top haircuts, and girls wore skirts, not pants. Individualism was an arcane and unholy route, and those who took it faced universal condemnation.

In the movie “Patton,” G.C. Scott portrays the mercurial WWII general, George S. Patton. In one scene enemy airplanes begin strafing his headquarters in N. Africa. The planes make a couple of passes over the village until finally a direct hit is made on the building wherein Patton is watching the action from a window. Suddenly plaster and debris is raining down on his head. Grabbing at his revolver in its holster Patton growls, “All right now, by God, THAT’S ENOUGH!” He jumps through an open window onto the top of a truck, and then down to the ground where he stands in the street and fires relentlessly at the planes with his handheld revolver, cursing with every shot.

Well, I doubt my mother did much cursing on the Senate floor, but one day she did realize, “by God, THAT’S ENOUGH!” In glaring, shocking revolt, she appointed a female page to serve her, even though it was not girl’s week. Boys could serve as pages throughout the legislative session; but girls got the opportunity during only one of those weeks, until, that is, Jean Muirhead came to town.

Later she would disrupt the ol’ boys club even more. A bill had come to the floor that had to do with state court procedures. My mother scribbled out an amendment to the bill and took it forward to the secretary of the senate. For other reasons the bill was apparently important to the entrenched powers, the men who wanted the bill passed right then. The secretary read the amendment, which struck the word “male” from the text. If you have never been present when our lawmakers are working, you may not grasp how chaotic it sometimes is. Half the time it appears no one is paying any attention. (The other half they are not.)

So, amid the usual confusion, when the secretary called for the vote, the bill passed. It then was moved directly to the House, where, owing to the momentum of the thing, it passed there too. The Ol’ Boys realized they’d been snookered, but to resist would have been embarrassing, and probably futile. There was a chink in the armor, and because of the passage of that bill, women could at last serve on state court juries. It may seem a trifle today, but at the time it was yet another indication that in the homeland of Confederate President Jefferson Finis Davis, a new day was dawning.

(Scott Muirhead lives in Maggie Valley and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

To The Editor:

Before Shirley Ches graced us with her commentary on the state of the universe in her recent letter to a local paper, most of us didn’t know we had a spokesperson for USA Earthlings right here in Franklin.

Mz. Ches evidently presumes to speak for all liberals in her tirade against us who “mouth our pledge, sing our national anthem and wave our flag.” She says that reports show that the “trickle down” theory had been disproved. She says conservative economics has sent jobs overseas. I say outrageous wages demanded by labor unions forced business overseas in order to compete. I say that our egregious corporate tax rates have forced business overseas.

Mz. Ches’ sense of timing, or lack of it, challenges only her lack of understanding in the ways of the world she claims as hers.  With our government tied in knots trying to save our economy from the destructive liberal policies of the current administration, Mz. Chez says that conservatives would deny care to the ill, elderly, children, jobless, etc., by trying to save the future of the country she claims to speak for.

Mz. Ches maintains that our bloated government is the way to go, just like Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal have gone in the past and are now, or soon will feel the pain of their liberal past. That’s working out well, don’t you think? She says our concerns of important issues are skewed. She says that those who pay taxes are robbing “her” people by not paying more.

Mz. Ches says that me and my kind, who exhibit religious zeal, are hypocrites.  Fortunately, Mz. Ches is not the ultimate judge she seems to think she is. Her crowd of Earthlings has created havoc in this country and will soon be taken down by the vast majority of the voting public who resent her scorn and thoughts of superiority.

Don Swanson

Franklin

To the Editor:

Bob Scott, alderman, town of Franklin, wrote a pointed letter to the editor titled, “Rate increase should be met with salary cuts.” Scott has done solid research in to the hefty salaries of Duke energy’s top executives. Their pay is certainly a slap in the face to thousands of their customers who have lost jobs and unemployment benefits.

In the same July 7 issue of the Macon County News, Duke says “Get the facts: Why is Duke Energy asking to increase electric rates?” In the next-to-last paragraph the reader is told, “In exchange (for rates approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission), the company )Duke) is allowed the opportunity to earn a fair return for investors who bear the financial risk of capital investment.

At the rest of over-simplifying the facts that exist for Duke customers, this is what I see. On one hand, Duke is still a utility company charged with the legal task of providing electric service for the customers in their area. When they want more money, they request help from the NCUC.

On the other hand, Duke is a company that sells stocks and makes every effort to provide financial rewards for investors. Now, if Duke operates as efficiently as possible, how can they justify paying investors profit. Their investors’ wealth is increased at the expense of all rate payers.

So is Duke really a utility? Or are they really a Fortune 500 company? It certainly does not appear that way. Duke is a hybrid company, a dual entity business/utility. In other words, they enjoy the profits of a successful corporation with the security of a utility.

This dual entity reminded me to re-read the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. It states, in part, “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person the equal protection of the laws.” That begs the question — if you do not own stock in Duke but pay for electricity, is it fair and just for your money to be shifted into the wealth of a stockholder?

Duke’s stockholders must very well like this business/utility arrangement. My friends basically tell me that nothing will ever be done without it. That may be true, but I still believe that as citizens of the United States we need to pay attention to laws that deprive us of our property. As one person there may not be anything I can do about the injustice. But, can you imagine how that could be affected by a united front of Duke customers?

Mr. Scott suggested one way to provide a little monetary relief to all Duke Energy users. This letter will, hopefully, show another. What will Duke do?

Think about it.

Dave Waldrop

Webster