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To the Editor:
Thank you for the thoughtful, informative and balanced article on Lake Emory in Franklin. I would like to put my comments in more context. I do this knowing full well that the worst response a biologist can make in discussions of environmental management is “it’s complex.” Sorry, folks, but this is complex.
My concern over the toxic substances which may be contained in deep sediment layers is just that, a concern. As the article points out, studies of some aspects of sediment toxicity are ongoing. I think it would be fair to report that these studies have yet to reach firm conclusions – it’s complex. My point is that, especially given the importance of the river below Porters Bend Dam for a suite of sensitive and in some cases endangered mussel species, the highest possible degree of caution is in order.
There is another Lake Emory pollution issue, which also rates consideration. Franklin’s municipal wastewater treatment system discharges directly into Lake Emory some distance above the dam. Below that point, all the way through the Needmore Game Lands to Fontana, there are no permitted point source discharges – surely a major factor in the persistence of one of the healthiest large river reaches in the Southeast.
Essentially the river benefits from Lake Emory serving as a free tertiary treatment facility. What would be the effect if all the nutrients from treated effluent were passed quickly to the lower river instead of being acted on by the still waters, sediments and myriad critters of Lake Emory?
Shirley Ches’ perception of the sediment buildup is understandable, and certainly downed trees and other debris serve to trap sediment, sometimes in inconvenient places, but sedimentation was a problem in Lake Emory long before 1993. It is a fact that all artificial lakes, absent dredging, have a finite life span. No matter how deep the reservoir at the outset, and even if the upstream watershed is a pristine wilderness, reservoirs will eventually fill up with sediment.
Today, thanks to the combination of a changing economy and the efforts of organizations such as the Macon Soil and Water Conservation District, the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the Little Tennessee Watershed Association, as well as individual land owners, the situation appears to be much better – Lake Emory is probably filling up more slowly. But we still don’t know how quickly a dredged Lake Emory would fill and without that information the cost-benefit aspect of dredging remains decidedly fuzzy.
I share and applaud Quintin Ellison’s asthetic perception of the islands and hidden channels of Lake Emory – a haven for waterfowl. What has been accomplished there is accidental mitigation for some wetlands lost to “development.” And yet, neither they nor a deeper, “cleaner” Lake Emory are natural or stable.
Here is where the matter gets tricky for me as a conservation biologist. Taking the long view, I consider all dams and the reservoirs they create as environmental insults to rivers. A river achieves its full natural potential only when it is continuous and can serve as a corridor for up and downstream migration of fish and other animals. I cannot help but wonder if some of the fish species which today are found below Porters Bend Dam but not above were present upstream before the river was dammed. I cannot help but imagine how beautiful the Little Tennessee must have been at the natural drop the engineers chose for the dam site.
In my Utopian future, Lake Emory and others of its kind would not exist. People in Minnesota would recreate on lakes, but North Carolinians would swim, fish, hunt ducks and paddle on rivers. And there is a constituency for the removal of Porters Bend Dam, just as there was for the Dillsboro Dam.
On the other hand, my realistic side, based on nearly 30 years of living and working on the Little Tennessee, has always inclined to the opinion that on balance, Lake Emory does more good than harm. If that be the case, then the question becomes “how best to manage Lake Emory” – a question which encompasses dredging and a great deal more. It’s complex.
Bill McLarney
Franklin
I recently wrote in the Swain County newspaper about a singularly misguided proposal by Great Smoky Mountains National Park leadership to transfer their archives and artifacts to Townsend, Tenn. A Swain County site makes more sense, and full marks to county commissioners for becoming actively involved in this issue.
Beyond that, any resident in Swain County who gives a fig for the future or cares about our rich role in the Park’s past should speak out as well. The comment period remains open, and I’d strongly encourage readers to make their feelings known to the Park (www.nps.gov/grsm) and Swain native Rep. Heath Shuler (www.shuler.house.gov).
Incidentally, although I have asked specific questions and offered comments on the issue to Park officials, the only response I have had came in a testy conversation with a spokesman, Bob Miller. When I pointed out, repeatedly, inconsistencies between the comments period cited in his press release and what appeared on the Park’s web site (the latter was changed multiple times, with one comment period closing almost as soon as it opened), he said: “We’ll change it on the web site.”
What I could not get him to understand was that saying one thing in a printed press release and subsequently changing the rules of the game was confusing, and in my view disingenuous.
As if that situation wasn’t vexatious enough, close on the heels of the archives/artifacts proposal comes another which is, if anything, more convoluted and ill-conceived. A recent press release proposes changes in regulations governing backcountry camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Park leadership tells us that backcountry “site capacities are frequently exceeded.” In addition, according to their statement, “once backpackers obtain their reservations and arrive at their campsite, they often find the area filled by people without permits.” In the same release they also complain of lack of staff to patrol the backcountry.
Staff issues are matters for Park management, but they are missing in action in the backcountry. Personally I haven’t seen a ranger in the backcountry for decades, and I’ve only been checked while fishing once in the last quarter century.
The release raises questions. “How, other than hearsay, do officials know capacities are exceeded?” “If there are significant problems, why aren’t they addressing the situation with patrols?” “Does hard statistical evidence support changes?” “If problems exist to such a significant degree, hasn’t the Park been guilty of neglect?”
No doubt Park answers will plead budgetary constraints and more urgent frontcountry needs. There is validity to both, notwithstanding troubling examples of Park employee “do nothingness” alongside stellar work by others.
Or to view matters another way, if plans involve demands on Park staff, let’s handle matters proportionally. Look at the ceaseless “circlers” in Cades Cove, asphalt-bound flocks of buzzards filling the air with exhaust fumes.
Closer to home, what about the unending tube brigade parading up Deep Creek? They degrade banks between trail and stream; leave a noxious, never-ending legacy of litter in their wake; and channel the creek with habitat harming “engineering” projects.
Yet it seems such folks, like those breaking dog walking regulations, picking flowers, and much more, are studiously ignored while Park officials focus their fiscal laser beam on the tiny minority — probably less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all Park visitors — who camp in the backcountry. If they are serious about making folks pay as they go or want a fair distribution of what a friend has nicely styled “ranger impact,” let’s bring some balance to the user equation.
Perhaps more to the point, it seems logical to believe that active backcountry patrolling, along with meaningful fines for angling violations, ginseng poaching, illegal camping, and the like, would accomplish two things. It would provide money to justify the manhours involved and would dramatically curtail such activities.
Interestingly, another recent Park press release says that there has been a steady decline in Park visitation over the past several years. Logically, if that is the case, backcountry usage should also be down. The most recent statistics I could find, from a detailed 2008 study out of the University of Tennessee, bear that out and make Park statements seem ludicrous. According to the study, with the notable exception of the shelters along the Appalachian Trail, campsite usage is anything but heavy.
Take Deep Creek as one example. None of the seven streamside campsites had heavy usage. Only Poke Patch and Bumgardner Branch, the most easily reached of the lot, averaged more than one camper a night for the year (375 and 526 campers, respectively).
Indeed, if you look at campsites from Cataloochee to Twentymile Creek, only two other than Appalachian Trail shelters — Lost Cove on Eagle Creek and Proctor on Hazel Creek — totaled more than a thousand camper nights. That scarcely sounds like overcrowding, when most campsites are suitable for anywhere from 8 to 20 campers per night. Some accommodate appreciably larger numbers.
Additional evidence suggesting misrepresentation of the backcountry situation comes from conversations with hikers and campers as well as my personal observations. My brother, who has hiked thousands of Park miles in recent years, says he has encountered precisely one ranger more than a mile from a trailhead. He also notes, in sharp contradiction to what Park management would have us believe, that he seldom sees backpackers and that most of the campsites he walks by are empty or sparsely populated.
Even easily accessible sites seldom have more than a couple of tents except on weekends and perhaps during peak months (May and October). Take the storied Bryson Place, for example, where you might think crowded conditions often exist. Not so. The 2008 study showed 158 camper nights for the entire year.
A key part of the proposal is that Park management wants to charge a user fee. Putting aside all the considerations addressed above for a moment, I would simply remind Park officials, from Superintendent Dale Ditmanson down, that charging a backcountry fee would break a solemn pledge made at the Park’s founding. Namely, that there would be no access fees for the Smokies. Also, I suspect this is a “foot in the door” kind of thing that could lead to other user and even entrance fees.
As the poet of the Yukon, Robert Service, once wrote, “A promise made is a debt unpaid.” Sadly, Park officials have often broken promises, and here we seem to have a case of where a promise made bids fair to turn into a situation where the Park must be paid. That’s how I see this proposal – as a money grab.
If I believed that there was overcrowding, if I believed that the current reservation system didn’t work, if I believed the fees collected would be used exclusively for backcountry-related matters such as maintenance and a meaningful ranger presence, and if I believed it would stop here, I would tolerate a modest fee. Alas, I think the likelihood of such monies being used exclusively for their proclaimed purposes about the same as thistle seeds being unaffected by dust devils dancing across fields in August.
Even as I urge readers to be heard, I’ll close by confessing cynicism. Past experience suggests that these comment periods and informational sessions are often mere façades, not serious factors in ultimate decisions. Nonetheless, I think anyone who cares should make their voice heard. Sufficient, strident opposition just might have an impact.
(Jim Casada is a writer, an editor and a retired professor from Bryson City. His most recent book is Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: An Insiders Guide to a Pursuit of Passion.)
Comment on Proposals
Send comments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mail the Superintendent, GSMNP, 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, Tenn., 37738.
Principal chief candidate Patrick Lambert is calling foul after refusing to divulge his pay information to the tribe’s internal auditors. Lambert said they were trying to expose his personal information as a political smear.
The tribe’s internal audit office told Lambert it needed to know his salary at the Tribal Gaming Commission to prepare taxes for the Cherokee Youth Center/Boys & Girls Club. Lambert is a board member. The IRS, it claimed, needed the income paid to any board member of the Boys & Girls club by a related entity.
Both the Boys & Girls Club and gaming commission are tribal operations, so that means related, said the auditor.
Lambert, however, said “no.” Of all the people who sit on that board, why, he asked, was he being singled out?
“Nobody else was contacted to my knowledge,” said Lambert. “I refused to give my W2s. There’s often times people on these volunteer charity boards refuse to give these things, and the IRS accepts that fact if the organization has used reasonable effort.”
Auditor Sharon Blankenship, however, wasn’t taking “no” for an answer. She came to the office of the Tribal Gaming Commission, looking for the documents herself.
She was rebuffed there, as well, and asked to leave after Lambert’s staff put in a call to the Cherokee Police Department. Cherokee Code says that no one but a gaming commissioner can access gaming commission files.
Lambert charges that the effort to uncover his salary is politically motivated, an attempt by the current administration to use it as a smear campaign against him. Blankenship contends that she’s just trying to follow the rules set by the IRS.
The issue came up in a special session of tribal council last Wednesday, where Council Member Teresa McCoy asked why the audit office was going after the papers now.
“I was on that board in 2010 and nobody came to my house and said, ‘I want to look at your tax papers,’” said McCoy.
Blankenship, however, defended her actions. They did, she said, get in touch with everyone and the gaming commission is the only one that didn’t provide salary information.
In the end, Lambert’s attorney turned in an IRS form, but maintained that Lambert is in no way obligated to give out his W2s.
A new motorcoach resort for up to 21 recreation vehicles will be built on N.C. 106 in the Scaly Mountain area of Macon County, a project that developer and owner J.B. Corum is touting as earth friendly and good business.
Corum said he hoped other developers would realize that you could be “good to the environment” and still make money.
“It’s going to be done right, and I’m going to make reasonably good money off of it even then,” the Scaly Mountain resident told the Macon County Planning Board last week. The planning board unanimously approved Corum’s plans on the recommendation of County Planner Derek Roland.
“It’s a nice little place,” Roland said.
Corum has built a previous RV park just outside Dillard, Ga.
His newest project, Wildfower Creek Motor Coach Resort, will be built on 11.6 acres off Brown Lake Road. It will include a wetland area, which is to be donated to a conservation organization, a small pond and a community association building.
— By Quintin Ellison
It’s not too late to register for this year’s Gather ‘Round the Blue Ridge, the fifth-annual meeting of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.
This is a must-attend for those in Western North Carolina’s tourism industry. It takes place Tuesday, Aug. 30, with registration starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Lake Junaluska Conference Center. Highlights include examples of partnerships at work in the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, Heritage Area grants at work, Blue Ridge Music Trails, and more.
Cost is $29 including lunch; reservations are required. 828.298.5330, Ext. 301, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
HandMade in America has spent the past year assessing how to make Bryson City a better place to live, and now the Swain County Chamber of Commerce is calling on citizens to help make their recommendations a reality.
The final results of the study will be presented at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, at the Swain County Senior Center.
There are 49 pages of recommendations in the report, which works out to about a dozen projects, said Karen Wilmot, executive director of the chamber. They range from getting wayfaring signs leading to local attractions, Wilmot’s pet project, to historical designations for local buildings and sprucing up the parking lot adjacent to the old courthouse. For that final project, an architect has already drawn up an improvement and landscaping plan, pro bono.
Wilmot said that steering committee members will take charge of one project, but they need residents to really make the projects happen. The executive committee, said Wilmot, is only driving the bus.
At the meeting, residents can learn more about the projects, the report and the next step in the process. For more information, call 828.488.3681 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
A new roadside rest area is coming to Balsam, serving westbound travelers on U.S. 23-74. It will sit on seven acres just across the highway from the current rest area on the eastbound side.
One main reason for the new rest area is safety, according to Joel Setzer, head of the Department of Transportation for the 10 western most counties.
The existing rest area serves both sides of the highway, forcing drivers on the far side to make a U-turn across oncoming traffic when pulling in and out, which can be unsafe on such a busy stretch of road, Setzer said.
Plans also call for renovating the existing rest area. Construction is scheduled to begin in August of 2013.
— From staff reports
Investigators are looking for two men who followed a woman to her home in the Cashiers area and sexually assaulted her. They believe there might have been similar incidents involving at least one of the suspects, and are urging any other possible victims to call them.
The sexual assault took place Aug. 14 and involved a 34-year-old woman. She described the primary suspect as about 5-feet, 6-inches tall, Hispanic, with brown eyes and black-spiked hair, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
“There have been statements made by other individuals in the community that similar incidents with similar circumstances have occurred in the past,” a news release stated. “The suspect may live or work in the Cashiers area and may frequent stores and restaurants.”
The sheriff’s office is also seeking possible surveillance video of the primary suspect.
The man might have a scratch from his nose to his cheek, though it might at this point be faded, the victim said. Anyone with information should call 828.586.1391.
In an unrelated sexual assault in neighboring Macon County, investigators there continue searching for a suspect who broke into a woman’s home on Rose Creek Cove Road in the Cowee community. The victim did not know the suspect, described as a white male, approximately 6-feet tall, with short dark brown hair, no facial hair, and blue or green eyes. He has a skinny to medium sized frame and a noticeable tan. Anyone with information regarding this case should call 828.349.2104.
Applications are now available for the Haywood County Arts Council’s Grassroots subgrants. These grants are designed to support arts activities occurring through June 30. Nonprofit arts organizations or nonprofits planning an arts activity may apply. The applicant organization must be based in Haywood County and produce its programming in Haywood County.
Grassroots grants are matching grants that must be matched dollar-for-dollar by the receiving organization. Application is by letter describing the organization and the project, along with a budget for the project, and the signatures of parties responsible for the organization. Each first time applicant organization must discuss their proposal with Arts Council staff before completing the application.
An information session to introduce the program to new applicants is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Haywood County Arts Council’s gallery and offices. For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Kay Miller at 828.452.0593 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Old-time musicians Trevor and Travis Stuart, natives of Bethel, will perform at this year’s Gather ‘Round the Blue Ridge, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area annual meeting, which will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 30, at the Lake Junaluska Conference Center.
The Stuart Brothers have been playing as a duo for more than 20 years and have played for dances, festivals, music camps and concerts throughout the United States, as well as in England, Ireland, Germany and Russia. They also participate in the Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program, teaching schoolchildren to play traditional mountain music.
The keynote speaker for the event is Gerard Baker, who until his recent retirement was the highest ranking Native American in the National Park Service.
The cost is $29 and includes lunch. Reservations are required. For more information, contact Amy Hollifield at 828.298.5330, ext. 301 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Youth Talent Contest will return to the Great Smoky Mountains Railway Railfest on Sept. 17 in Bryson City.
The contest will give the opportunity for youth up to age 18 to share their talents. Participants in this contest must exhibit a talent that will reflect heritage and old Appalachian ways of our region. Applications are due by Sept. 1.
Categories include poetry/storytelling, vocal performance, instrumentalists and dance.
Trophies are offered for first- second- and third-place winners. First-Place Best of Show winner will have the opportunity of playing on the Heritage Stage at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Day.
To register, download the application from www.spirirofappalachia.org and mail to Jackson County 4-H, 538 Scotts Creek Road, Sutie 205, Sylva, N.C., 28779, email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or fax to 828.586.5009.
For more information, call 828.586.4009 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
100-plus artists and crafters from all over the Southeast will gather for a craft show from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4 and 5, at Maggie Valley.
The event will feature piped music throughout the day, and festival foods such as kettle corn, hot dogs, hamburgers, barbecue sandwiches with baked beans, cole slaw, sweet tea and turkey legs will be prepared by local groups. The Java Hut will sell specialty coffee drinks, smoothies and more.
Fireworks will be displayed at the fairgrounds on Sunday, starting around 9:15 p.m.
Admission is free. 828.497.9425 or visit www.maggievalleycraftshows.com.
Gallery 262 in Frog Level will feature the works of Jere Smith and Dan Wright, Aug. 19 thru Sept. 15.
Smith is a woodworker and furniture maker whose work uses strong clean lines reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement and Shaker-style furniture. Wright is a stained glass artist whose work reflects the natural surroundings in the mountains, also incorporating elements of the Arts and Crafts movement.
The show’s opening reception will run from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday Aug. 19. Many artists will be on hand, along with both Jere and Dan. Wine, beer and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
Learn to create an abstract painting in a one-day workshop with artist Silvia Cabrera Williams at Leapin’ Frog Gallery in Waynesville’s Frog Level district.
The workshop will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, with a lunch break.
Particular attention will be paid to composition and design principles. Experimental art techniques will also be used.
Fee for the workshop is $50. Call 828.456.8441 to register and obtain a supply list.
Bring your dancing shoes for a dance from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 26, at the Franklin Community Building, U.S. 441 South across from the Whistle Stop Mall. Music will be provided by the Swingtime Band.
828.369.9155.
Friends and neighbors in the Cashiers area will read their favorite poems and share their reasons for enjoying them at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library. The Second Annual Cashiers Favorite Poem Readings, sponsored by Friends of the Library, will be followed by a reception in the library’s Friendship Garden.
“I know the word ‘poetry’ makes some folks yawn,” said Marilyn Staats, coordinator of the event. “We were all born with a love of rhyme and rhythm, most of us were raised by parents who read us Mother Goose poems and, if we were lucky, we had teachers who introduced us to everything from Winnie the Pooh to Robert Frost to Shakespeare to nonsense verse.”
Starting off the evening will be a quartet of Cashiers Valley Rotarians acting out “Casey at the Bat.” Other familiar poems on the program include “The Highwayman,” Rudyard Kipling’s “If,” Gerald Manley Hopkin’s “Pied Beauty,” and the inspirational poem, “Invictus.”
Poets whose works will be read include W. B. Yeats, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and one of the most popular poets writing today, Billy Collins.
The North Carolina premiere of the comedy, “Sirens,” is the Highlands Cashiers Players first play of the new season. It continues Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 25-28, at the Performing Arts Center in Highlands.
The story concerns a middle-aged couple, Sam and Rose Abrams, who take a cruise to the Greek Islands, hoping to bring a little romance back into their 25-year marriage. On this voyage, Sam and only Sam hears an irresistible melody wafting over the water and follows it to a strange destination where he encounters a siren. Sam’s adventure and its unexpected consequences when he returns home are totally entertaining.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students and $15 a person for groups of 15 or more. Seating is reserved, but tickets can also be purchased at the door before performances. Call 828.526.8084 for reservations.
Grammy-winning folk singer Suzy Bogguss will perform on Sept. 2 at the Highlands Performing Arts Cetner. Bogguss has just released a CD and companion songbook of traditional folk music, American Folk Songbook. The album is filled with songs that are the very fabric of American musical history and Bogguss reclaims this history and revives it with a fresh and beautiful take on classics like “Shenandoah,” “Wayfaring Stranger,” “Ol’ Dan Tucker,” “Beautiful Dreamer” and of course, “Red River Valley.”
Bogguss won a Grammy in 2005 for Traditional Folk Album, the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award in 1992 and album of the Year Award in 1994.
828.526.9047.
Regional favorite The Barefoot Movement will play from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, as part of Music in the Mountains, the free weekly evening concert series held at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Depot in downtown Bryson City.
The Barefoot Movement is a trio of musicians from North Carolina and Tennessee whose music melds Americana influences with the invigoration of acoustic modern rock and jazz. The group was formed when Noah Wall, singer and fiddler, and Tommy Norris, mandolin player, attended high school together and began setting Noah’s lyrics to Tommy’s chords.
Music in the Mountains spans 22 Saturdays from June to October and includes all genres of the local and regional music scene. For a complete schedule of performers, visit http://www.greatsmokies.com/free-music/ and to check out the sounds of The Barefoot Movement visit www.barefootmovement.com.
The Frog Level Philharmonic will perform a concert of Dixieland jazz music at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28, at the Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City.
Immediately following the one-hour concert there will be a meet-and-greet reception for the 31 artists with artwork in the Community Art Exhibit at the Center for the Arts.
The Frog Level Philharmonic will perform music from the Dixieland era with an emphasis on the early 20th century to the 30s. The band was formed in 2005 by Charles Alley in Waynesville, and has since become known locally for their renditions of Dixieland classics with jazz overtones and mountain soul.
For more information call 828.488.7843 or visit www.swain.k12.nc.us/cfta to view the current calendar of events or to get directions to the Arts Center located at Swain County High School.
Local singer/songwriter Liz Nance will perform an evening of acoustic music at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Snacks and refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Marianna Black Library.
Nance has been playing music since she was 13 years old, when she took up the bass guitar to play along with her aunt and uncle. It wasn’t long before she started playing the guitar and by the time she was 18 she was writing her own songs. Nance moved to Bryson City in 2004. She has played music across the region for years now and has recently partnered up musically with her husband, A.J.
For more information, call 828.488.3030 or visit www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
Summer is slowly turning to fall, school doors are opening for another year, and another hallmark of the season is just around the corner: the Haywood County Fair.
Aug. 23 to 29, the Haywood County Fairgrounds will come alive with events, contests and vendors, as well as the rides and fairway foods that are requisite at every county fair.
A new feature this year will be a draft-horse and mule pulling contest scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27. Horse and mule teams will attempt to pull a dead sled with 500 pound weights added after each successful pull. Teams may enter in one of four classes: light horses, light mules, heavy horses and heavy mules.
FULL LIST OF EVENTS HERE
Saturday also will give the county’s youngest performers a chance to shine at the new youth talent competition, held at 3 p.m. For youngsters more grammatically inclined, a spelling bee could be the venue to show off their skills. For the artists, there’s Saturday’s pumpkin-decorating contest and if you prefer eating food over painting it, an ice cream-eating contest is also on the ballot.
Throughout the week, the fairway and fair facilities will be full of attractions such as local craft vendors, farmers touting their prize vegetables and a petting zoo for the younger crowd. Standard fair fare will be available for hungry patrons, but if funnel cakes aren’t cutting it, a fish fry on Friday afternoon, barbecue lunch by the Haywood County’s Future Farmers of America and a local farm lunch on Sunday morning will offer more substantial dining options. They do cost extra, however, and the luncheon requires tickets. Oh, and don’t forget the cakewalk and cake judging on Saturday morning.
The fair isn’t forgetting its musical heritage, either. In addition to the youth talent show, a hoedown is scheduled for Friday evening, with entertainment peppered throughout the rest of the week. Sunday afternoon, the Smoky Mountain Jubilee will cap off the week’s festivities. Local favorites Balsam Range and other Appalachian acts will perform and the evening will be emceed by former State Sen. Joe Sam Queen.
A fair, of course, isn’t a fair without animals. And in the livestock competition arena, dairy and beef cattle, sheep and goats, horses and even pigs will parade their skills and conformation. Kids with canine friends can show them off at Saturday’s dog show. There will be a game of kid-and-canine musical chairs, a chance to do some tricks for treats and an agility demonstration by trained dogs.
Horses also will prove their pulling skills in a series of horse pulls, along with the more mechanical truck pulls and tractor pulls. The tractor event will give fairgoers a unique opportunity to see some old-fashioned tractors in action. Only pre-1960 models will be allowed to compete in the antique contest.
The fairgrounds will be open on Tuesday for competitors to drop off exhibits, but will be closed for judging until 5 p.m. Wednesday. Gates will open at 9 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. Sunday’s festivities will start at 11 a.m. Exhibits can be picked up Monday. Fair admission is $2 per person, or $6 per car.
Want to understand and know about the Cherokee trails that shaped this region?
On Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m., The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust and the Village Green will bring Lamar Marshall to the Cashiers Library for a free community event, “Cherokee Trails of Macon and Jackson Counties,” at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23.
Two years ago, with the first of two Cherokee Preservation Foundation grants and guidance from the Tribal Heritage Preservation Office of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Wild South and its partners started out toward their goal to re-find, restore and re-emphasize the trail and road system of the Cherokee Nation in Western North Carolina and surrounding territory.
The Cherokee Trails Project covers approximately 150 linear miles and 47,000 acres in the Pisgah, Nantahala and Cherokee national forests containing Cherokee historical sites. Marshall, Wild South’s cultural preservation director, said that there is “clear evidence that the main arteries of our 20th century road system in the Southeast were built directly on Cherokee trails and corridors — the Cherokee developed the circuitry for modern transportation.”
Additionally, on Saturday, Aug. 27, Marshall will lead an Eco Tour on a “Cherokee Trails Walk.” Reserve a spot by calling 828.526.1111 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. This Eco Tour is $5 for HCLT members and $35 for new friends, which includes a Land Trust membership.
If you are feeling tough and fit, then the Tsali Challenge is just the right event to showcase your paddling, running and biking skills.
The annual race, for solo racers or teams, is set for Aug. 27 and Aug. 28 at the Tsali Recreation Area west of Bryson City.
This is an off-road triathalon, with racers starting with a three-mile flat-water paddle, followed by a five-mile trail run and topped by a 12-mile mountain bike loop.
Bryson City Bicycles is the local sponsor of the Tsali Challenge. Race package pick-up will be held there Friday, Aug. 26, from 3-6 p.m. (at 157 Everett St., in downtown Bryson City). There will be a pre-race party at the Nantahala Brewery from 6-9 p.m., which includes a free Nantahala Brewing Company pint glass for all racers.
828.488.1988 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Contact GoneRiding to sign-up or register the morning of the race.
There a few proposed changes being made to the state’s wildlife management and fishing regulations that would impact Western North Carolina.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission voted July 7 to take 55 proposed changes to public hearing, including one forum scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at Haywood Community College in Clyde.
Proposed changes that would impact this region are:
• Classify Cedar Cliff Lake in Jackson County as hatchery-supported trout waters.
• Allow electronic calls for take of crows and coyotes.
• Add feral swine to the commission’s hunting rules with no closed season and no bag limit.
• Allow the executive director or his designee to waive the rule banning the importation of a cervid carcass or carcass part from any state where chronic wasting disease occurs for a deer or elk harvested within 20 miles of the North Carolina state line.
• Open the raccoon, opossum and bobcat hunting season in the Sherwood and Harmon Den Bear Sanctuaries in Haywood County.
For a full text of the proposed regulations changes, see the proposed changes in fishing and wildlife management regulations for 2012-2013 at www.ncwildlife.org/HotTopics/documents/2012-13_Proposals.pdf.
Increased bear activity in the Appalachian Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest has led to closings in Yancey County and at Mount Mitchell State Park’s family campground.
The latest Yancey County closures are the Briar Bottom Campground, Black Mountain Campground, Forest Service Road 472 and Neals Creek Road until Aug. 29.
A number of bear-and-human encounters have been reported lately in the High Country. Earlier this month, four trails also in the Appalachian Ranger District were closed until Aug. 29. These were the Buncombe Horse Trail, from Forest Service Road 472 to the intersection the Big Tom Gap Trail; Mount Mitchell Trail, from Black Mountain Campground to Mount Mitchell State Park; Mountain to Sea Trail, from N.C. 128 to Black Mountain Campground’s Higgins Bald Trail.
Visitors are encouraged to practice the following safety measures to reduce bear encounters:
• Make noise to avoid surprising a bear.
• Never approach a bear or other wild animal.
• Do not hike in the dark.
• Carry EPA-registered bear pepper spray.
• Keep a clean campsite by properly disposing of food scraps and garbage. Do not leave food or garbage inside fire rings, grills or around your site.
• Never leave food or coolers unattended, even in developed picnic areas.
• If bear-proof containers are not available, store food and garbage inside a hard-top vehicle or trailer.
• Never store food inside a tent.
• Wipe tabletops clean before vacating a camp or picnic site.
• If a bear is observed nearby, pack up your food and trash immediately and vacate the area as soon as possible.
For more tips on bear safety, visit: www.fs.fed.us/r8/outdoorsafety/wildlife.php.
Learn how to make your own rain barrel, create a stormwater wetland and about habitat rehabilitation projects in general at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 22, at Rickman Store in Cowee Valley.
This event is in Macon County, part of the Gardening for Wildlife Series.
Doug Johnson of Macon County Soil and Water Conservation District will explain how to construct a “rain garden” or stormwater wetland, and he will share information about potential financial assistance to homeowners and businesses interested in habitat rehabilitation projects.
Debbie and Frank Leslie will then demonstrate how to make a simple rain barrel from a plastic garbage can. Participants are encouraged to bring their own if they wish to make one on the spot.
The Rickman Store is located on 259 Cowee Creek Road, next to Cowee Elementary School, seven miles north of Franklin on N.C. 28. 828.349.5201 or visit the Rickman Store on Fridays from 10 to 5 p.m.
Learn how to build your own rain barrel at a Haywood Waterways Association workshop.
Rain barrels are a great source of water for gardening, cleaning equipment and even flushing toilets. They are particularly important during drought conditions. They also help slow stormwater runoff from rooftops — stormwater is the top cause of pollution to lakes, streams and rivers.
The event will be held Thursday, Aug. 25, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Agricultural Service Center on Raccoon Road in Waynesville. The cost is $60. All materials will be provided and each attendee will go home with a fully functioning rain barrel.
Preregistration and fee are required by Wednesday, Aug. 24.
828.631.2823 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
A workshop on the State of the Tuckaseegee River will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Whittier Community Center.
A series of short panel presentations and discussions on various elements and factors contributing to water quality are scheduled. The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River has hopes to lay the groundwork for periodic, regular assessments of the Tuckaseegee River at the watershed scale.
Presenters include: Anne Marie Traylor of the Environmental Quality Institute; Ed Williams of the N.C. Division of Water Quality; and Mike Bolt, Mike Lavoie, and Patrick Breedlove of the Cherokee Office of Environment and Natural Resources; David Kinner of the geosciences department at Western Carolina University; Ken Brown, chairman of the Tuckaseigee Chapter Alliance; and Michelle Price of the Macon-Jackson Conservation; Gerald Green, head of the Jackson County Planning Department; and county sediment and erosion control officers. Lunch is $9. You are also welcome to bring your own lunch. 828.488.8418 or WATRnc.org.
Clay Bolt, an award-winning natural history photographer, will be at the Highlands Nature Center at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25. He will share the story of how he created an international photography project called “Meet Your Neighbours.” MYN is a global initiative that reveals wildlife living among people in extraordinary ways, but that are often overlooked and undervalued. Bolt often partners with organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, to highlight environmental issues. www.meetyourneighbours.org or 828.586.2221 or www.wcu.edu/hbs.
Shutterbug alert: The ninth annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition is now open for registration and submissions.
Amateur and professional photographers 13 years of age and older are encouraged to submit at www.appmtnphotocomp.org. The competition closes at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18.
This annual event is the work of Appalachian State University Outdoor Programs, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. The competition celebrates the unique people, places and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians, but attracts entries from across the U.S.
The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition has grown into one of the region’s most prestigious photography competitions, with more than 600 submissions last year, and viewed in person by more than 10,000 people at the Turchin Center for Visual Arts in Boone.
Mast General Store is sponsoring five categories for this year’s competition, and will be providing more than $1,000 in prizes for those category winners.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is sponsoring the category Blue Ridge Parkway — A Ribbon of Road. Photographers are encouraged to capture images of the parkway that incorporate some aspect of the actual roadway itself.
Those submitting images to the Blue Ridge Parkway — A Ribbon of Road will be asked to identify the parkway location, and describe in a short story of a paragraph or more why the parkway is of particular significance as captured by the composition of the photograph. Entries will be judged on creativity, impact, subject matter, center of interest and storytelling — effectively sharing the journey by celebrating the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition offers seven separate categories that will be chosen as winners with more than $4,000 in cash and prizes. Competition categories include: Best in Show; Blue Ridge Parkway; People’s Choice; Culture; Adventure; Flora and Fauna; Landscape, and Our Ecological Footprint.
The Best in Show wins a $1,000 cash prize and the Blue Ridge Parkway category will win a $500 cash award. A panel of professional photographers will review all entries and narrow them down to approximately 46 that will be displayed in exhibition at the Turchin Center. From those images, the judges will select the final winners.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Rocky Top Trail Crew is looking for horse packers and crew volunteers this fall to help maintain the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The ATC will provide food, tools, equipment, and professional trail crew leaders to aid volunteers. The Rocky Top Crew, in its 15th year this year, focuses exclusively on the 35 miles of the A.T. in the Smokies that allow horses.
There will be five trail sessions in September and October. Horse packers are needed to bring in supplies, as well as volunteers to spend a week doing trail work.
appalachiantrail.org/crew or call 828.254.3708.
Want to help keep Panthertown Valley beautiful and accessible? Volunteers are needed Saturday, Aug. 20, for a Trail Work Day.
Volunteers will work on Overlook Trail, a popular hiking trail featuring magnificent long-range views of Panthertown, a 6,295-acre backcountry wilderness near Cashiers. Tools are provided and no special skills are needed to participate with Friends of Panthertown on this project.
Volunteers will meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Salt Rock entrance at the end of Breedlove Road, and work is expected to be completed by 2 p.m. Volunteers should bring a lunch, plenty of water and wear good shoes.
Friends of Panthertown is a local nonprofit dedicated to protecting and maintaining Panthertown Valley. The group was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from REI. The money will help support the Panthertown Valley Stewardship Project, a campaign to encourage volunteerism in Panthertown Valley.
The mission of the Friends of Panthertown is to work in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to conserve the quality and experience of recreational opportunities in Panthertown Valley.
For more information call 828.269.HIKE (4453) or visit www.panthertown.org.
Franklin resident Sara Doolittle will be at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, for a special story time featuring her first picture book, Lillie’s Smile. Her book was inspired by memories of her maternal grandmother. It was written in hope of preserving Lillie’s story and heritage.
WCU professor Mary Adams will read from her work at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. The reading is part of the Coffee with the Poet series. Adams has two collections of poetry, Epistles from the Planet Photosynthesis and Commandment.
Author Lynne Hinkey will read from her book Marina Melee at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, at Blue Ridge Books in downtown Waynesville.
Marina Melee follows George Marshall, freshly divorced for the third time and fired from his “allowance” paying job in the family oil business. George and his friends stumble upon the idyllic island of São Jorge, where George buys a marina to show his skeptical father and family that he has what it takes to achieve business success without their assistance and without having to work too hard. At times raucous, at times touching, Marina Melee is a fun voyage to the Caribbean island of São Jorge, where living the easy life is hard work.
The Macon County Library will come alive with music on Thursday, Aug. 18, with Lady and the Old Timers at 11 a.m. and Mary Kay Sullivan and Harry Miller and their band, Country Memories, at 7 p.m.
Lady and the Old Timers are one lovely lady and seven old-timers, the oldest being 85 years young. They provide vocals and music by stringed instruments and one harmonica.
Country Memories will provide contemporary and traditional country, bluegrass and gospel music, humor, a little yodeling and even a little “country rap” thrown in.
The Fines Creek Bluegrass Jam will begin at 4 p.m. on Aug. 26-27and at the festival grounds behind the old Fines Creek School on Fines Creek Road.
Steve Brown and Hurricane Ridge will open the festivities on Friday. Brown will also serve as master of ceremonies. Raymond Fairchild will be featured next, followed by The Troubadours, Hazel Creek and the Marcus Ireland Band. Dance groups appearing Friday night will be the Dixie Darling Cloggers and the Southern Mountain Fire Cloggers.
The Saturday lineup will feature Balsam Range, Carol Rifkin and Paul’s Creek, the Hominy Valley Boys and the Marcus Ireland Band. Appearances by the Fines Creek Flatfooters and the Appalachian Cloggers will round out the evening’s entertainment.
The Fines Creek Community Association sponsors the event each year to raise money for its scholarship fund. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for ages 16 to 18. Both nights are $25 for adults and $15 for ages 16 to 18. Children under 16 are free with a paying adult. Those who plan to attend are asked to take their own lawn chairs or blankets. 828.627.1912 or visit www.finescreek.org.
A tribute concert honoring The Kingston Trio, one of America’s most popular folk groups for more than 40 years, will be hosted at The Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20.
The Kingston Trio is best known for such hits as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Tom Dooley.” Collectively, The Kingston Trio released 19 albums that made Billboard’s Top 100, 14 that were in the Top 10 and five of which hit the No. 1 spot.
The opening act for this tribute concert will be The Sock Hops, an oldies group from Marietta, Ga. Specializing in four-part harmonies of musical favorites of the 50s, 60s and 70s, The Sock Hops have opened for such acts as The Temptations, The Drifters and Frankie Avalon.
Headlining the show will be Banks and Shane, a high-energy band that has paid tribute to The Kingston Trio through special concerts since the late 50s and have performed to sold-out audiences throughout the United States.
Tickets start at $10. 866.273.4615 or visit greatmountainmusic.com.
Moscow Ballet and the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts announce open auditions for 7- to 16-year-old dancers to perform side-by-side with 40 Russian professionals in the “Great Russian Nutcracker.”
Auditions are at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Moscow Ballet soloist Svetlana Todinova is in town specifically to conduct the auditions and to train the young dancers for several days.
Students from all area dance studios are invited. Those accepted will perform in the “Great Russian Nutcracker” at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 27.
Applicants must have dance training, dress in dance attire and may bring pointe shoes.
866.273.4615 email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.nutcracker.com/Audition_Dates.
“Understory: An Exhibition of Work by Alice Sebrell” will run from Aug. 21 through Oct. 28 at the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University. A reception with wine and appetizers will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Aug. 21 in the atrium of the Fine Art Museum.
Sebrell, a North Carolina native and program director for the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center in downtown Asheville, uses photography and other media, including wood, metal and glass to create work that combines imagery from the natural world and the man-made environment.
The WCU Fine Art Museum is open to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday and Thursdays to 7 p.m. 828.227.3591 or visit fineartmuseum.wcu.edu or call.
A Sock Hop and a meet-the-candidates event will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Aug. 21 at Juke Box Junction in Bethel.
There will be hamburgers, hot dogs, sides and sodas, and much like the sock hops of old, the music provided is strictly from the early stars of rock ’n roll. There will also be raffles for baskets and an antique car show.
All candidates for local elections have been invited for a meet-and-greet, so you can get to know those who might become the leaders of our communities.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. In addition, each person is asked to bring a new pair of socks to be given as a charitable donation to the Salvation Army.
828.456.3505, 828.646.0587, or 828.246.7921.
The Haywood Community Band will present its fourth free concert of the Maggie Valley Concert Series at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 21 at the pavilion adjacent to the Maggie Valley Town Hall.
The theme for the August concert will be “Thanks For The Seasons,” and will include memorable melodies of past years, including In The Good Old Summer Time, Rain Drops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, Summer Time from Porgy and Bess, and Winter Wonderland.
828.456.4880 or 828.452.7530, or visit www.haywoodcommunityband.org.
Mountain musicians Rob and Anne Lough will give a concert at 3 p.m. on Aug. 21 at the Haywood County Library in Waynesville.
Rob and Anne Lough bring to life the ballads, folk songs, folk hymns, stories, dulcimer and dance tunes that are a treasured part of our cultural heritage.
For more than 40 years, Rob and Anne Lough have been delighting audiences with their wide reaching repertoire, beautiful harmonies and superb musicianship. Anne plays the autoharp, mountain and hammered dulcimer and is complimented by Rob on guitar accompaniment. They have been regulars for the past 20 years at the cultural events throughout the region.
Anne has several recordings and more than 10 books of dulcimer arrangements to her credit, the most recent one.
The concert is free. For more information, visit www.haywoodarts.org.
Sandra Beck will teach a two-class knitting workshop at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23 and 25 at the Jackson County Public Library Complex.
Beck will provide instructions about making a shawl or scarf over the two classes. Attendees will learn to cast on and bind off and are asked to bring a #15 circular needle with a 29-inch length, two skeins of yarn and point protectors to the first class.
Beck grew up in Waynesville and moved to Sylva in 1993. She began knitting in the 1960s and has participated in the Cooperative Extension Service knitting classes in Jackson, Haywood and Buncombe counties.
For more information call 828.586.2016.
Members of the Stecoah Artisans Guild will be demonstrating their techniques on from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center.
Visitors will be able to try their hand at gourd carving, knitting, drum making, textile crafts and more. The event is free and all ages are welcome.
For more information call 828.479.3364 or visit www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.
The Third Arts and Craft Show will be held on Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Beaverdam Community Center in Canton.
Local author Louise Nelson will have books available, and other crafts include dichroic glass jewelry, Studio Earth art, pottery, stained glass, decorative gourds, birdhouses and more. More than 18 craft vendors will be present.
Live music will be performed by the Ross Brothers, Zeb and Levi, and the J-Creek Cloggers will perform at 10 a.m.
Sausage biscuits and coffee will be available for breakfast and hotdogs, chips and desserts for lunch.
Haywood Arts Regional Theater’s next production will be the Noel Coward comedy “Hay Fever” at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 19, 20 and 25 to 27 and at 3 p.m. on Aug. 21 and 28.
From the 1920’s until his death in 1973, Coward was one of the most popular British playwrights of his age and also one of the most prolific, with more than 50 published works to his credit.
“Hay Fever” centers around the antics that ensue when each member of the eccentric Bliss family invites an unsuspecting guest away for the weekend.
The HART production is directed by Jeff Bachar. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and $8 for students and children. Special $5 discount tickets for students are available for Thursday and Sunday performances. For more information call 828.456.6322 or visit www.harttheatre.com.
What if we treated all athletes like skateboarders?
I ask this question because I am a skateboarder. I grew up playing almost every sport (football, soccer, baseball, basketball, judo, etc.), and I witnessed firsthand how much support these sports receive in this area. Unfortunately, skateboarding receives little reinforcement here because some people automatically attach an unmerited negative stigma to the sport.
Recently, I have had a couple of run-ins with a particular Waynesville police officer. Sometimes after business hours and on rainy days I skate under the covered area at the Public Works Building — it is always dry and the ground is smooth. Just last week I was skating there by myself when two town workers showed up. They dropped off some things, waved at me, and then left. Next, two police officers pulled in, filled their cars up with gas, and also left.
Some time later, a different police officer, this one unaccompanied, pulled up to also get gas. But he was different from the other town employees and the earlier officers. He, I quickly realized, had hassled me in a threatening manner before. He saw me skating and walked swiftly over in an irritated manner. He sternly told me to leave immediately or that he would arrest me. I calmly asked the officer why he felt the need to kick me out when two town employees and two other officers saw no nuisance in my skating there.
The officer would not hear my questions, he became very angry very quickly, and began to shout, “If you do not leave here or if you say another word you are going to jail!” All I wanted was a rational, unaggressive conversation with the officer. I proceeded to ask him who I was hurting by being there after hours? Where else did he expect that skaters could go, since there is no designated place for us?
He replied, “The town doesn’t want you here, and if you keep talking you are going to jail.” Immediately following this encounter, I went to the police department and spoke to the sergeant on duty. He was very receptive of my thoughts and comments and appreciated my informing him of the situation.
Skateboarding is the 12th most participated sport in America. Like other sports, it fosters numerous benefits for millions of children and teens: it is a great way to exercise, it is an avenue for young people to find commonalities and to form friendships, and it teaches the values of self-discipline and hard work. Kids who are busy skateboarding are not sitting at home playing video games, watching TV, or eating junk food. Nor are those who really love skateboarding wasting their time experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Like other young athletes, dedicated skateboarders find the sport to be a postiive outlet.
I am not a criminal. When the officer approached me the other day I was not stealing, hurting others, or vandalizing. I was skating.
I am a 28-year-old professional skateboarder. People pay me to do this, they provide me with free equipment, and they send me all over the world. But in my own hometown, I am far from welcome and instead told to “Get out!” Skating has been such a blessing to me. It has afforded me amazing opportunities and has taught me invaluable lessons in life. Yet, some around here hate it because they simply do not understand it, nor do they care to get acquainted with it.
For quite sometime Waynesville has been in the process of developing plans for a skate park. I am on the committee and there has been no major development on the project in months — there have been no updates and it does not appear that there are any upcoming meetings. What are skaters supposed to do? I refuse to go sit at home and watch TV because there will “eventually” be skate park in town. Runners, swimmers, and those who play soccer, football, basketball, baseball, disc golf, and tennis, all have places where they can go without being kicked out. The town has provided them with fields, gymnasiums, courts, and a pool to satisfy their recreation needs.
What about Waynesville’s skaters?
Thankfully there is a small privately owned skate park located in the Eagle’s Nest area, but it caters to only middle-schoolers and high-schoolers. Skaters, like other athletes, range from children to adults.
I challenge those in this area to no longer discourage youth from engaging in a sport that has captivated millions across the globe. I appreciate the town’s plans to build a skate park. But until the facility is actually built, instead of telling local youth to go back home to their living rooms and television sets and kitchen pantries, let us be understanding of their skating around town.
By Jared Lee • Guest Columnist
To the Editor:
After reading a recent article in The Sylva Herald, I feel it is time to further explain my position on R-5000. My questions have never been about whether Southwestern Community College needs another campus entrance/exit; rather, does the exit need to be of such magnitude.
Mr. George Stanley of SCC was right, I was wrong in saying this started out as a $6 million project. R-5000 started with the DOT in March 2007 as a $4 million project and has blossomed to an $11.5 million price tag in four years.
Mr. Stanley is correct in stating that SCC owns property on the west side of N.C. 107, but Mr. Stanley failed to mention that there is property that is needed on the east side of N.C. 107, Evans Road and Bonnie Lane, that has not been purchased by the DOT.
Mr. Stanley is also correct that approximately 2,900 cars a day will use this road, but the 400 cars per day figure I used was what traffic coming from the south that would utilize the multimillion dollar overpass.
Mr. Stanley is correct that part of DOT funding comes from the 38-cent gas tax, but that is but a small portion of their funding.
Mr. Stanley is correct in stating that there is no guarantee that this may not stay in Jackson County if not spent on R-5000. Joel Setzer, the division engineer with the DOT, and Conrad Burrell, the DOT board member for this division, would be a large part of that decision-making process as to if another Jackson County project was “critical” enough.
Mr. Stanley is incorrect in his statement that no Division 14 projects were delayed. In an e-mail dated April 21, 2009, that Setzer sent to Van Argabright (State Transportation Improvement Plan Manager) and copied to Burrell (vice chairman of the NCDOT Finance Committee and chairman of the Board of SCC), he wrote that, “There are 39 projects with schedules being delayed. Of the 39, we see 7 projects that the original schedule should be maintained.”
Of those, two projects were directly related to SCC, R-4748 (Macon Campus) and R-5000 (Jackson Campus). On April 27, Setzer sent another e-mail stating, “These two projects are being evaluated for schedule due to funding shortages. These are high priorities for Division 14. Division 14 is evaluating options for keeping these Projects on schedule and delaying others.” Those two projects were R-4745 ( Macon Campus) and R-5000 (Jackson Campus).
After having the safety issue raised so many times as one of the justifications for the R-5000 project, I checked with Emergency Management and learned that there are only two reasons for total evacuation of campus. One would be a chemical spill and the other would be a major fire. Most other situations such as a “sniper attack” would trigger a campus lockdown.
There has been $935,000 already spent on engineering and $11.5 million budgeted for construction to date. There is also $200,000 budgeted for right-of-way acquisition, which will not go far in buying anything fronting N.C. 107.
No matter where the money comes from, it’s still our money, the property purchased by SCC was our money, the building of any road will be done with our money. Let’s use our money a little more wisely.
Please feel free to contact me Jack Debnam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Burrell at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Setzer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or Gene Conti, the state secretary of transportation, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or one of our state representatives with questions about the way more than $30 million of our money is being used on these two projects.
Is it too late to scale back this project and instead build just another entrance for SCC? I don’t think so.
Jack Debnam
Chairman, Jackson County Board of Commissioners
