What child wouldn’t love to be a super hero for the day? The Downtown Sylva Association is sponsoring a “Recycled Superhero” contest for children during Greening Up the Mountains this year.

All superhero costumes will be made from donated recycled materials – and we need your help to make these dreams a reality. Recycled materials – everything from fabric scraps to paper towel rolls, aluminum cans to cardboard boxes – can be dropped off at Town Hall in downtown Sylva.  

Children will be able to use their imaginations to come up with their very own superhero costumes from your donated items, get their faces painted by volunteers from Western Carolina’s University Players, and come up with their very own unique super powers.

Children can build their costume between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the DSA Children’s Booth at Bridge Park; judging will start at 2:30 p.m. near the Children’s Booth. Winners will be announced in several categories at 3:15 p.m. and can take home prizes from local sponsors.

Bring all household items and related materials that could help us make superhero costumes for these kids.

The Jackson County Recreation/Parks Department is still accepting registration for this year’s 5K Run/Walk at Greening Up the Mountains. The annual race takes place at 9 a.m. prior to the opening of the festival events in downtown Sylva. This year, all proceeds will benefit the greenway trail being built at the Webster Department on Aging complex. 

This year’s course is new, providing a much more friendly terrain for the race than in previous years. The course runs from Mark Watson Park across Business 23 and down Old Dillsboro Road, then turns around in Monteith Park and comes back on the same route to the finish at Mark Watson Park. This course is primarily flat, with few slopes, but does have one gravel section.

T-shirts are provided with registration and are guaranteed to the first 75 to register. Pre-registration is $20; race-day registration is $25, and begins at 8 a.m. the day of the race. Registration forms may be printed from www.downtownsylva.org.

The 2011 Heritage Alive! Mountain Youth Talent Contest at Greening Up the Mountains has really exploded.

The start time for the contest has been changed from 10 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Bridge Park stage to accommodate the large number of youth who want to perform. Approximately 24 acts will take the stage before the program draws to a close at 11:15 a.m.

Entertainers ranging from 10- to 18-years-old will perform on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, buck dancing, vocals and poetry.

Cash prizes for all participants have been donated by the Catch the Spirit of Appalachia Board of Directors, parents of the 4-H youth, First Citizens Bank, United Community Bank and Champion Credit Union. Judges for the contest are Judy Rhodes (guitar/piano/singer entertainer); Pam Dengler (fiddle/piano entertainer); and Ron Smith (guitar/banjo/singer entertainer).

Jackson County 4-H is joining with Catch the Spirit of Appalachia to produce the Mountain Youth Talent Contest. The Heritage Alive Mountain Youth Talent Contests started in 1997 and is for youth ages 5-18. The purpose is to discover, develop, and encourage talent in the youth of Western North Carolina and to provide an opportunity for local youth to perform on stage before an audience.

Participants in the Talent Contest will now also be eligible to participate in “4-H Entertains” at the district and state level. The Mountain Youth Talent Contest will be offered in three locations and “Best of Show” winners will perform at Mountain Heritage Day at WCU.

• Greening Up the Mountains Festival (Sylva) – Saturday, April 23.

• The Franklin Folk Festival – Saturday, July 16.

• Great Smoky Mountains Railfest in Bryson City – Saturday, Sept. 17.

The two organizations are also working together to bring the JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) program to Jackson County. 4-H is working with a group of community members to start this after-school music program next year. Classes will be taught by regional musicians who will pass along their skills in guitar, fiddle, and banjo.  

The JAM organizing group is currently seeking funding through grants and individual contributions to get this program off the ground. The program is also in need of instruments (guitars, violins, and banjos) so that costs for participants can be kept low. For more information contact Ray Menze at 293.3407 or Pam Dengler at 506.8802.

Smoky Mountain Stage

(Suntrust Parking Lot, Area D)

10-10:15 — Jackson County Heritage Preservation Commission Poster Contest Awards

10:30-11:30 — Triple Threat Performing Arts Academy (including an audience participation dance lesson!)

11:45-12:15 — Lions Gate Kung Fu Academy

12:30-1:30 — Marshall Ballew

1:45-2:45 — Dan River Drifters

3-4:30 — The Freight Hoppers, with special dancing guests the Cullowhee Valley Cloggers.

Tuckaseigee Stage

(Bridge Park, Area E)

9:30-11:15 — Heritage Alive! Youth Talent Show (sponsored by Jackson County 4-H)

11:30-12:15 — John-Luke Carter

12:30-1:15 — Total War

1:30-2:15 — Buchanan Boys

2:25 — Announcement of Superhero Costume Contest Winners!

2:30-3:15 — Big House Radio

3:30-4:30 — Vertigo Jazz Project

Mother Earth Day Jam

All musicians invited to participate in an open jam session. Tuckaseigee Stage, 4:30-6.

The 14th annual Greening Up the Mountains Festival is slated for Saturday, April 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Sylva.

The spring festival, named for the way spring creeps up the mountain sides, began over a decade ago as a celebration of Earth Day. Crafters, environmental groups, non-profits, local businesses, and farms and nurseries will provide more than 135 engaging booths for this year’s attendees.

The festival’s music lineup includes headliners The Freight Hoppers, Vertigo Jazz Project and Big House Radio and local favorites Marshall Ballew, the Dan River Drifters, John-Luke Carter, Total War and the Buchanan Boys. Performances by Triple Threat Performing Arts Academy students and the Cullowhee Valley Cloggers will add to the day’s festivities, as will the Heritage Alive! Youth Talent Contest sponsored by 4-H and the presentation of the Jackson County Heritage Preservation Commission’s Poster Contest Awards.

The day begins with a 5K Walk/Run at 9 a.m. from Mark Watson Park, sponsored by the Jackson County Greenways Project.

This year’s festival centers around the theme of supporting local businesses, providers and residents as the best way to create a sustainable economy. The festival will showcase demonstrations, booths and educational displays from environmental groups, “green” initiatives and those focused on learning and sustaining traditional mountain crafts and arts.

New this year, a “Market Square” will provide an open-air space for farms, CSAs, nurseries, beekeepers and others to showcase their traditional agricultural wares, and a full complement of children’s activities will encourage their participation in environmental stewardship and local economies.

The festival brings an estimated 10,000 people to downtown Sylva each year.

Sponsors for this year’s version of Greening Up the Mountains include: Howard Allman-Allstate Insurance, Pepsi, Duke Energy, Harrah’s, United Community Bank, Charles Wolfe-State Farm, Jackson County Arts Council, Soul Infusion, Bubacz, The Smoky Mountain News, Tuck Reader, WRGC Radio, McNeely Companies, Dogwood Women’s Health, Stanberry Insurance, Suntrust, Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, Western Carolina University, Annie’s Naturally Bakery, and Southwestern Community College.

For information call 828.586.1577 or visit www.downtownsylva.org.

With Sylva’s annual street festival Greening Up the Mountains right around the corner, town commissioners had a somewhat unusual decision land on their doorstep last week: risk a lawsuit or pay a licensing fee to a music industry group.

Apparently, you can’t just show up with a guitar at a town event and play “American Pie” anymore.

Sylva’s attorney, Eric Ridenour, advised the board not to pay $305 to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, because he believed paying the fee could set a precedent that would allow other licensing companies to gouge the town.

Ridenour based his advice on an experience with a representative of another licensing company, SESAC Inc., last year. The sales representative harassed Ridenour for weeks.

“It became more of a marketing tactic than a legal issue and it wasn’t hard to see through that,” Ridenour said.

Ridenour believes the town could win a lawsuit in the event that they are sued over a copyright violation during a town-sponsored event, in part, because the licensing companies don’t guarantee which artists’ songs are covered by their fees.

ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC are performing rights organizations. Effectively, they all do the same thing, issuing blanket licenses to music broadcasters, like television and radio stations and music performance venues.

By paying the blanket license fees, towns like Sylva are ensured that they can’t be sued if an artist at their festival plays a song without the permission of its author. It sounds ridiculous at face value, since most part-time musicians regularly play cover songs without permission, but if you don’t pay licensing fees, you are potentially liable.

“Potentially liable means it’s a gray area and you could probably write a dissertation on it,” Ridenour said.

Towns like Maggie Valley and Franklin, which have long-standing festivals that include music, pay the licensing fees. Ridenour said if Sylva was really concerned about the liability, it could get the musicians to sign a waiver saying they accepted responsibility for any copyright violations.

Mayor Maurice Moody didn’t like that idea.

“I would really be opposed to that,” Moody said. “Too many local musicians have day jobs. They’re part-time and they play for pleasure. I wouldn’t want to shift that burden on to them.”

The performing rights organizations aren’t boogey men. The licenses sold by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC pay royalties on copyrighted music. Royalties pay the songwriters. But Ridenour’s point is that the town could end up forking over $300 per year to each of the organizations, and over time the amount adds up.

Moody said he would rather pay the fee than face the possibility of a costly lawsuit.

“I don’t think it’s worth the risk,” Moody said. “Even though from a legal standpoint he’s probably right.”

Music rights will be an issue at Greening Up the Mountains, but they’ll be even more central to the town’s ability to hold its Friday night music events throughout the summer.

Commissioner Stacy Knotts also voted against passing the buck to the artists and said she didn’t mind the town paying the licensing fees.

“It might just be a part of doing business –– part of the joy of having music downtown,” Knotts said. “I definitely want to keep having music in the town.”

The commissioners voted 3 to 2 to pay the ASCAP fee. Cue up the Don Henley.