Garret K. Woodward
The ocean is a long way from Rick Miller’s kitchen. The kitchen is a long way from where his journey began.
“Back then I wanted to be a marine biologist,” the 61-year-old smiled. “And I can still give all the Latin names to the fish.”
SEE ALSO: Mélange of the Mountains returns to Haywood County
Canton Mayor Mike Ray was happy to see it come to an end. Finally, a decision has been made.
“We’ve gone through 80 applications and have worked hard to make a decision for our city, our employees and our residents,” Ray said.
I went out too fast. I always go out too fast.
A writer looking at a blank page is a like a painter staring at a fresh canvas, a sculptor facing a block of clay or a woodworker holding a chunk of wood. The desire to grab words from thin air and construct them into sentences, notions and ideas comes from an internal fire to describe human emotion and situation. It is a calling, one that picks its creators when the time and place is prime. Writers are messengers, connecting the unknown cosmos to an everyday modern reality.
SEE ALSO: Wordsmiths converge on WCU for Spring Literary Festival
Western Carolina University will be once again play host to an array of writers during the 12th annual Spring Literary Festival, which runs March 31 through April 4. The event is a celebration of the written word, where finely-aged veterans intermingle with the young faces of future generations eager to find their voice. It is a bountiful cross-pollination, one crucial to the perpetuation of the craft.
Though the process has been long, Steven Lloyd is beginning to see the fruits of his labor.
“I sometimes feel like I’ve pushed a big boulder up a hill and it’ll fall backwards,” he said. “But, the momentum is still going. We’re a proven, successful theatre, and this is going to happen.”
The Canton town board remains undecided about who will take over as town manager. The board was expected to choose between three finalists at its March 13 meeting, but two members pushed for a delay until at least the next meeting.
The right place at the right time. We’re all aware of that notion, and most of us have experienced it at one moment or another. For Brad Boulet, it was standing in the mud at the Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta last spring. Beside him in the downpour was Caleb Burress, lead singer of Haywood County Americana outfit Soldier’s Heart. The two began talking and quickly found out they had much more in common than a love for music.
In a crowded, frenzied gymnasium, Macon County Sheriff Robert Holland was just trying to not embarrass himself.
“I haven’t touched a basketball in years,” he chuckled. “I’m trying to not look as dumb as possible.”
William McDowell remembers when segregation was a reality in Canton.
“When I was a kid we weren’t allowed to sit anywhere but the balcony at the Colonial Theatre in downtown,” he said. “You couldn’t eat in certain restaurants and there were black and white drinking fountains — segregation was really enforced.”
But, it’s only mid-March?
I’m well aware of that, dear readers. Yes, it is mid-March, but 2014 is hitting the ground running with a slew of incredible musical releases. Normally, I would wait until at least early July or the end of the year to mention some notable albums hitting the shelves, your iPod or stereo. And yet, within these last two months, there’s just too much melodic goodness out there to not share with y’all.
He was a toddler with tenacity and talent.
At three years old, Seth Taylor picked up his first guitar. Seeing musicians on television and hearing them on the radio sparked something inside of the Bryson City native. Once that instrument was in his hands, it was like two magnets connecting, where it would take all your might to pull them apart.
Heidi Dunkelberg is determined to make hops synonymous with Western North Carolina.
“I’ve got to figure it out,” she said. “There’s just got to be some way, there’s just got to be.”
Pouring its first pints in October 2013, Innovation Brewing in Sylva was created by Nicole Dexter and Chip Owen. The couple has a deep love for the craft beer, one that developed over the years through various jobs in the industry.
Sitting at her loom, weaver Amy Tromiczak feels right at home.
“It’s an amazing thing. You’re making cloth, and I love it,” the 25-year-old said. “It’s all about the whole process of choosing your fibers, deciding what kind of cloth to make, seeing it laid out on the loom.”
It was his voice that caught my ear. Turning towards the stage at the Water’n Hole in Waynesville, I was immediately transfixed on the bullfrog-deep vocals echoing from the microphone. Who is that voice?
The loud pounding echoed from the end of the empty corridor.
Crossing the threshold of the last classroom on the left at Smokey Mountain Elementary School in Whittier, one could see — and hear — that the source of the sound came from the feverish hands of students during their afternoon art class. Like an army of woodpeckers, the pupils each hammered away at copper sheet metal in an effort to make their designs a physical reality.
From the ashes of a recent fire, Mad Batter Bakery & Café will reopen. But, instead of returning to the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee where it was located for 15 years, the beloved establishment will set up shop in downtown Sylva.
There is no “I” in team for Jimmy Cleaveland.
“Listen, I don’t know where you’re going with this story,” he modestly said. “But, I sure don’t want this about me. I want it to be about these kids, for sure.”
Sitting on a toilet, Kyle Iezzi is ready for victory.
“The main thing is that I hope we go straight,” the 15-year-old said.
I ski in jeans. There, I said it. And I’ve been doing it for years — as far back as I can remember. Ever since I was a child, when the snowflakes started to drift down from the heavens, I hit the slopes. And this past week, the pickins’ were ripe in Western North Carolina.
Summer McMahan remembers the exact moment her life changed.
“Mountain Heritage Day [at Western Carolina University], 14 years ago,” she said. “I watched the Fiddlin’ Dill Sisters and decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
My first time was in a navy blue 1991 Toyota Camry.
My first time hearing The Beatles, that is. Like the first time you kissed a loved one, that initial introduction to the Fab Four stopped you in your tracks, where time itself seemed to slow down, and all was clear and right in the world, at least for that moment in your existence.
Zach Haney looks at obstacles as opportunities.
“I wasn’t even supposed to walk, but here I am,” he said.
Guitarist for the Joe Lasher Jr. band, Haney is a 21-year-old Canton native. Born with cerebral palsy, he’s turned whatever adversities he faced into a promising career in music.
A request to serve keg beer at an event in the Canton Armory prompted a broader discussion of the town’s alcohol policy at public venues it rents.
Free parking has its drawbacks, at least for the Country Music and Dance Parlor in downtown Canton.
What does the “K” stand for?
“It stands for Kavanagh,” I told the lady behind the counter. “My mother’s maiden name, now my middle name.”
Becky Seymour can see the bright lights of Hollywood from Haywood County.
“Right now we’re in the major infancy stage, but we want to basically put Haywood on the map in the film and television world,” she said.
As video marketing manager for the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority, Seymour is leading a charge to tap the niche industry.
The end is near.
On Feb. 5, I’ll turn 29 years old — the last official birthday of my young adulthood. I’ve always subscribed to the adage “you’re only as old as you feel,” and though I’ve never been one to really care about age, this damn number seems to stick out to me like some neon sign on the horizon.
There’s a buzz going on at the Mahogany House in Waynesville.
Normally, one could attribute that to a woodturning tool, handheld blowtorch or whatever else an artist might need to turn one’s vision into a physical reality. But today, that buzz is hearty conversation about the upcoming exhibit at the Haywood County Arts Council up the road on Main Street.
If Keith Richards had been born below the Mason-Dixon Line, his name might have been Mike Cooley.
When Heidi Dunkelberg first entered the town of Canton, she couldn’t imagine ever living there.
Hailing from the Green Mountains of Burlington, Vt., The DuPont Brothers have emerged as a breath of fresh air in an often stifling, suffocating music industry.
What started as a backyard game one afternoon has turned into a passionate career for Nathan Lowe.
“I just got addicted to playing cornhole,” the 28-year-old chuckled.
Lowe was at his sister’s college graduation party at North Carolina State in Raleigh. He got teamed up with his father, Randy, to play in a casual cornhole tournament. Though the duo had never tossed previously, they ended up beating everyone that day.
The train came to a halt. Looking out the foggy window, a cold, snowy landscape awaited me.
“The current temperature is 10 below zero. Make sure you all bundle up. It’s like Siberia out there,” the conductor said over the loudspeaker.
Every Jan. 1, a clean slate arrives. It’s a chance to start over, to push into exciting pursuits where curiosity roams free. The past year is already in the history books. Everyone has returned to square one — a level playing field where the possibilities are endless.
The real deal is hitting the airwaves.
Blasting out of the backwoods of Robbinsville, My Highway is a crossroads for country, rock-n-roll and mountain music. Led by Josh Beasley and Josh Lane, the quintet has been making names for itself around Western North Carolina and beyond. Performing a variety of original and cover material, the band keeps one foot firmly planted in Appalachia, one stretching to the bright lights of Nashville.
It’s about preserving tradition — delicious tradition.
“We live in a small town, and it’s wonderful when you start meeting local farmers and seeing what they’re trying to do, trying to support themselves by living off the land,” said Jessica DeMarco. “It’s appealing, and we want to help support this concept, this way of life.”
Who in the hell is that?
Standing on the porch at Camp Hope in Bethel, I found myself in amazement of the sound echoing from the nearby pavilion. It was the inaugural Shining Rock Riverfest this past September. The voice was that of Indigo Blue Desouza.
On Dec. 21, Tipping Point Brewing in downtown Waynesville will be celebrating its third year in operation with a “Customer Appreciation Day.” Starting as a restaurant/tavern, the business has grown into an acclaimed brewery in the bustling Western North Carolina craft beer scene.
Next week will mark my second Christmas in Western North Carolina. And, like last year, I won’t be making it back home to Upstate New York for the festivities. This has also been the case for Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
Bouncing around her gallery like a rubber ball, the energy of Teri Siewert is contagious.
“The ambiance here is something you can’t buy or make. It’s either there or it’s not, and it’s definitely here,” she said.
Standing on the balcony of the historic Jackson County Courthouse and Library, high above downtown Sylva, Dottie Brunette begins pointing.
Named of the “12 Comics to Watch” for 2013 by LA Weekly, Atlanta-bred comedian Dave Stone has been taking over the stage with his southern flare meets keen observations of modern society.
On a recent crisp early winter evening, hundreds of folks from around Western North Carolina and beyond converged onto the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.
“This year, 2013, was a great year for us,” said Paul Garner, manager of the SMCPA. “We’re always going to strive to do better, always step it up, always wanting to treat artists better, always wanting to treat our patrons better. We have a great year planned for 2014.”
Dark clouds hung above Cullowhee last Friday morning. And as the rain fell on the mountain community, tears slid down the face of Suzanne Stone.
“I’m numb,” she said. “I rotate between crying and disbelief. It’s like losing your home.”
The strings of tradition and progress echoed from the back alley. Upon further inspection (and a lone door cracked open), the harmonic tone was radiating from the mandolin of Darren Nicholson.
As the temperatures drop in Western North Carolina, the fun only heats up. The holiday season here is filled with events and activities aimed at celebrating the best way we know how — with friends, family and visitors alike.
Families can partake in wagon rides, iceless skating, craft sales and art demonstrations, all the while enjoying authentic mountain music, clogging and parades throughout several downtowns. These are just some of the activities happening around the region, with each and every date, time and place found within this section.
Cruising up Utah Mountain Road outside Maggie Valley, one begins to get the feeling if they drove any further up the hill their vehicle might just disappear off the face of the earth.
In an effort to promote growth and a positive impact on Western North Carolina communities, GroWNC came in front of the Haywood County Economic Development Commission to showcase their project and its goals for the region.
The Haywood County Economic Development Commission last week listened to a summary of task force reports on how it and the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce could work under the same roof to promote economic development.
