Rainbow trout with lemon caper sauce:

Grill filleted trout over medium-hot coals. Baste with butter and fresh herbs (parsley, chives, dill). Grilled trout does not need much to accompany it, but a lemon caper sauce is nice if you like capers. I don’t actually have a recipe for the sauce but it is quite easy.

I brown some butter in a pan. I add chopped shallots (green onions will work fine), some drained capers — a couple of tablespoons or more, about a ? cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a couple of tablespoons of flour and some thinly sliced lemon slices. When these ingredients are browned (this will only take a few minutes), I pour some heavy cream (about ? cup) into the mixture and warm until it is thick. This sauce can be served as an optional topping for the grilled trout.

Risotto with mushrooms: (This is a time-consuming recipe but worth the effort!)

6 cups chicken broth, divided

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 shallots, diced

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

sea salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tablespoons finely chopped chives

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, warm the broth over low heat.

Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet, and stir in the shallots. Cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Grilled Asparagus:

1 pound fresh asparagus spears, trimmed

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

shaved parmesan cheese

1. Preheat grill for high heat.

2. Lightly coat the asparagus spears with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Grill over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or to desired tenderness.

4. Remove from the grill and using a paring knife, shave parmesan cheese over the asparagus.

Pecan and Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients

6 cups peeled sliced fresh peaches

2 cups blueberries

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon

? cup crushed pecans

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons soft butter

Combine peaches and blueberries in an 8 cup casserole. In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Add this mixture to the casserole. Mix well with fruit.

Topping: Combine rolled oats, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit mixture.

Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or microwave on high for 10 minutes, until mixture is bubbling and fruit is fork tender. Serve warm or cold.

Roasted Beet, Pepito and Goat Cheese Salad

(serves 2 -4)

2 medium beets, washed and trimmed

1/3C pepitos (spicy roasted pumpkin seeds)*

olive oil and salt and pepper

mixed greens

1/2 log of goat cheese

Vinaigrette:

1/2 shallot, minced

3T olive oil

1T red wine vinegar

1/8t sugar

1/2t salt

Turn the oven on to 350. Place beets on aluminum foil in a baking sheet. Bake for 60-90 minutes or until tender. Let them cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile make the vinaigrette and put in a medium bowl. Toss the pumpkin seeds with about 1t of olive oil and some cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper and toast in a toaster oven until gently toasted, add to the vinaigrette. Peel skins off of the beets and slice into 1/2” wedges and also add to the other ingredients. Toss well and leave at room temperature an hour.

When ready to serve gently spoon the pepitos and beets onto the greens. Crumble the cheese on top and drizzle remaining dressing.

*NOTE: Pepitos are actually pumpkin seeds. I found them already spiced and toasted at the Greenlife Grocery Store in Asheville. They also carry just the plain toasted seeds if you don’t care for the spicy.

By Bob Scott • Guest Columnist

North Carolina Legislators have declared war on tube roses.

Tube roses are little roses and pens in glass tubes. Also on the legislator’s list of evil products are cigar splitters. Splitters are plastic tubes that split cigars lengthwise. Both are sold at convenience stores.

Our legislators apparently believe that these products will increase the use of illegal drugs. So the legislature passed “An Act to Provide for the Regulation of Certain Devices that May be Used as Drug Paraphernalia.”

Our legislator’s fear is that drug users will use glass tube roses to smoke crack or methamphetamine and cigar splitters will be used to split cigars so they can be packed with marijuana. In the legislators’ thought process, this is reason enough to require these products to be kept behind the counter and anyone wishing to buy them must sign for them. It’s pandering to the public for votes by bragging how tough on drugs they are. Toughness, not logic, is the legislators’ quest.

The bill defines a glass tube as an object which is hollow, either open or closed at either end, no less than two or more than seven inches in length. Which brings up the question of whether high school and college chemistry classes’ test tubes should be put on the legislators’ controlled paraphernalia list?

Here’s a scenario: Let’s say you rush into a convenience store and you desperately need the key to the restroom. You notice a line at the counter. Everyone is getting impatient because one of the local drug users is struggling to fill out the paperwork to buy a tube rose. You, waiting for the rest room key along with beer buyers, are the big losers. A tube rose buyer is nothing but trouble.

Or what about the potential to create a black-market for tube roses? Immediately the price of tube roses will soar and every child in North Carolina becomes a potential customer for a dealer hooking our children on tube roses — or worse yet — cigar splitters. “Psst. Hey kid. Wanta buy a tube rose? No money. No problem. Take the money from your momma’s pocket book.” Another child becomes a criminal.

With the passage of this legislation, we will need federal and state grants for task forces witt multi-jurisdictional authority to go after tube rose/splitter dealers. We could divert law enforcement officers from duties dealing with domestic violence, child abuse, traffic control, theft, murder and all those things which have a severe impact on society. They would check the records of convenience stores to see who is buying tube roses and cigar splitters.

The bill says that records must be kept for two years. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies can inspect the records within 48 hours of the sale. The owners of convenience stores are required to train employees on the bill. A retailer or employee who willfully violates the bill is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor. The bill becomes law on Dec.1, 2009, so there may be a rush to buy tube roses and splitters. The best advice to the public is to get them now, before the bill goes into effect.

It is encouraging to know that the North Carolina Legislature is concerned with such weighty issues. But shouldn’t they be concerned with teacher layoffs, cuts to substance abuse treatment, health and human services funding, taxes, ethics and common sense?

Shouldn’t the legislature spend time working to create treatment and rehabilitation programs for drug users? Or developing a strategy to prevent drug abuse rather than the old, worn out, ineffective “War on Drugs” that costs this nation billions and funds drug cartels and terrorist groups? Sleep well North Carolina. Your legislature is half awake.

The House passed the legislation (HB 722) March 23, and the Senate passed it unanimously in early June.

(Bob Scott is a former newspaper reporter and law enforcement officer. He lives in Franklin.)

After two-and-a-half years of operating in temporary quarters, the big move is here.

Stacks of boxes are piled high in the hallways and offices of Haywood County workers, awaiting transfer to their new home. This weekend, they’ll be moved in a flurry of activity to the restored historic courthouse, which finally opens for business on Monday, June 29.

The renovation of the 1932 landmark into modern county offices has been much anticipated, once again consolidating many county services under one roof, bringing together departments like the Register of Deeds, Tax Office and county administration.

“I think it’s a very good example of restoring a historic landmark to modify and meet office space needs,” said County Manager David Cotton.

A ribbon-cutting for the historic courthouse will be held sometime in mid or late July to coordinate with the release of a book documenting Haywood County history, said Cotton.

County employees have, for the past few weeks, gone through the tedious process of packing up boxes of county-owned and personal items. Employees won’t actually be the ones moving the boxes — the county has hired movers to do that at a cost of $14,325 — but they’ll still have to oversee the transition.

Also making the move are hundreds of thick deed books — including the birth, marriage and death records of county residents dating back generations — make it safely to their new home in the historic courthouse. The books will be delicately vacuum-packed for preservation and moved on pallets.

The move back to the historic courthouse means the county can stop paying rent to the tune of $5,500 a month for temporary office space in the Waynesville Plaza. It will also free up significant office space in a county-owned building near K-Mart on Russ Avenue.

The county hasn’t completely rid itself of satellite office buildings, however, which still house myriad departments from planning to elections to social services. Some of those departments are eyeing the vacated space in the Russ Avenue building and making a pitch to move there.

“There will be county departments that will backfill the building,” Cotton said. “We’re still working on that, meeting with the directors that have expressed an interest in moving out there.”

There are myriad options for how county office space could be reshuffled. Cotton is compiling those to share with county commissioners at their July meeting.

The county has shelled out $363,000 for new furnishings for the historic courthouse. Each employee will receive a new office set, including a desk, credenza, storage and seating, at a cost of $2,400 per employee, Cotton said.

Employees will be able to take whatever furniture they want to keep from the Plaza location, and the rest will be auctioned off.

Cherokee isn’t the only one that potentially stands to make money off the sale of alcohol to patrons at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

Swain or Jackson counties could see a mini-windfall of their own if Harrah’s purchases vast quantities of liquor from the ABC stores in either Bryson City or Sylva.

Restaurants and bars that serve liquor must buy their booze from the nearest or most convenient ABC store — part of the tightly regulated nature of liquor that ensures collection of a hefty excise tax tacked on to each bottle.

While the state lays claim to the excise tax revenue, any profit turned by an ABC store remains with local coffers, generally split between the county and town where the store is located. More booze being purchased, especially the bulk quantities that gamblers at Harrah’s are bound to consume, means more profit for whichever store lands their business.

Before Sylva or Bryson City get too excited about the prospect, however, typical state laws governing liquor purchases may not apply to establishments in Cherokee, which consider itself a sovereign nation.

“They’re different,” said Laurie Lee, the auditor for the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Commission. “We don’t know at this point how it is going to work. It is a unique situation.”

Instead of buying liquor from the existing ABC stores in either Bryson or Sylva, Cherokee might look for a way to keep any profits of the bulk liquor purchases for themselves. That would essentially mean setting up its own ABC store.

State law requires voters in an area to approve the opening of an ABC store. Such a vote would be tough to pass in Cherokee where alcohol is a controversial issue, both for cultural, social and religious reasons.

While Cherokee voters approved a measure earlier this month to allow drink sales at the casino, the rest of the Cherokee reservation will remain dry. The pledge to limit drink sales to casino premises assuaged many who otherwise would have voted “no” — making it unlikely a vote on setting up an ABC store would curry favor from the majority.

But once again, it is possible an exception could be made for Cherokee. If Cherokee wanted to set up its own ABC store with the sole purpose of selling liquor to Harrah’s — rather than to the public — the state may allow such an arrangement without requiring the regular referendum.

Yet another option is for Cherokee to buy its liquor directly from the state warehouse, bypassing the Sylva and Bryson ABC stores. The state might like that idea, since it would stand to make the profits from the bulk orders.

“It is all a gray area right now,” Lee said. “Whether they will purchase directly through our warehouse or go through a local ABC board or whether they could set up their own store, we are researching all those issues. Those are all things that will have to be worked out.”

The first step is for Cherokee to decide on its preferred arrangement and then ask the state if it’s OK.

Norma Moss, the director of the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise, said the tribe hasn’t worked through those details yet.

“The distribution process still needs to be decided,” Moss said.

The line-up of hikes in the Lookout Tower Challenge spans Western North Carolina. Seven are located in the Nantahala National Forest, including Wayah Bald and Albert Mountain along the Appalachian Trail.

Five more towers can be found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including Shuckstack, overlooking Fontana Dam, and Clingmans Dome, atop the highest peak in the park. And the Blue Ridge Parkway provides access to several more towers, like Fryingpan Mountain near the Pisgah Inn or Green Knob near Mt. Mitchell. Even the newly constructed tower atop Mt. Mitchell, eastern America’s highest peak, is included in the Challenge.

Hikers who make it to all 24 lookouts get an embroidered hiking patch and a certificate of completion from the Carolina Mountain Club. They also receive formal recognition at the hiking club’s annual dinner banquet and inclusion in its newsletter. But the greatest reward is the magnificent vistas afforded by the towers.

Here’s a list of all 24 towers in the challenge:

Nantahala mountains: Wayah Bald, Wesser Bald, Albert Mountain, Yellow Mountain, Panther Top, Cowee Bald, Joanna Bald.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Clingmans Dome, Shuckstack, Mt. Cammerer, Mt. Sterling, Mt. Noble.

Blue Ridge Parkway: Fryingpan Mountain, Green Knob, Mt. Mitchell, Barnett Knob, Flat Top Mountain.

Other Towers: Little Snowball, Rendezvous Mountain, Moores Knob, Chambers Mountain, Bearwallow Knob, Rich Mountain, Camp Creek Bald.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has long been synonymous with black bears. From the first automobile tourists to today’s long-distance backpackers, catching a glimpse of the the iconic animal is the ultimate Smokies’ experience.

Of course, it was much easier to see one in the park’s early days when tourists regularly fed the bears without fear of reprisal. While it’s illegal to feed wildlife now, it was once an accepted practice, ensuring tourists could get a good, long look.

There was no such thing as bear-proof trash cans, so campgrounds and picnic areas became the bears’ main stomping grounds, giving rise to a host of problematic encounters. Some bears even broke into vehicles to get food left inside.

“They were always trying to catch a bear that was mischevious and getting into trouble,” said Teresa Pennington, who spent lots of time in the park during her childhood years in Asheville. “They would have big traps set up with a piece of meat inside and the gate would fall behind them. They would take them out of the park and release them, but three or four weeks later they were back again. They even had names for them.”

Many of the tourist shops in Cherokee would put bears in a cage and charge tourists to see them, spawning a black market for live bears. Trying to catch a bear was not just a source of money but entertainment for the kids, recalled Gary Carden of Sylva.

“You would pull up at Smokemont and raise the trunk lid and throw a pound of bacon in the back and then go hide. When the bear came in there to get the bacon you slammed the lid and drove off. Sometimes the bear tore that car all to pieces. You would drive around half the night and if nobody wanted the bear you had to go back to the park and let it out,” Carden said

By Peter Barr • Guest writer

The Carolina Mountain Club is challenging hikers to seek out some of Western North Carolina’s most spectacular panoramas. The group’s new Lookout Tower Challenge rewards outdoor enthusiasts for completing hikes to 24 of the region’s mountaintop lookout towers.

Lookout towers began popping up on mountain peaks in the early part of the 20th century. Most were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Used for rapid fire detection, men and women were stationed in isolated areas to scan the horizon for smoke and fire. Quick discovery and fast reporting helped to prevent small blazes from developing into ravaging forest fires. Most lookouts were erected in national forest and park lands where wildfires could spread quickly.

Fire tower use began to decline by the 1960s and 1970s when airplanes became the preferred method of fire detection. Aerial observation was more efficient and detection was far more expansive, eliminating the need for a network of smoke watchers and the funding to maintain their towers. Most towers were decommissioned by the 1980s.

No longer standing guard over the forests, remaining towers now offer hikers the opportunity for dramatic panoramic views. With the majority of Southern Appalachian peaks forested, a hike to the top of a mountain does not always reward with a view. Lookout towers offer the ability to climb above the tree canopy and bask in the majesty of the surrounding landscape.

The Lookout Tower Challenge gives hikers an added impetus to make the treks to these historic relics dotting the region’s peaks. It’s one of several hiking challenges run by the Carolina Mountain Club — from a peak-bagging circuit that sends hikers to every 6,000-foot mountain to a line-up of 100 waterfalls.

The hiking challenges allow hikers to build a repertoire of memorable outdoors experiences. Each hike is an added piece to a collection, and the pursuit makes the challenges addicting. For some, they are difficult to resist.

“The challenges give us an excuse to journey to the backcountry when we otherwise may find an excuse not to go,” said Michael Booker, of Knoxville, Tenn. Challenge programs attracted him and his wife, Jennifer, to the club.

After a five-year pursuit, they finally knocked out the South Beyond 6,000 circuit of 6,000-foot peaks. They began tackling the Lookout Tower challenge last November and have finished 21 of the 24 towers so far.

“It seemed like an attainable goal,” said Booker. “It offers the opportunity to explore diverse parts of the southern Appalachian backcountry that we otherwise may not have visited. Many of the mountains offer physical and mental challenges that in the end are rewarded with limitless views.”

Booker and his wife enjoy pursuing a common goal together. But when asked the single greatest reason they were lured by the LTC, he didn’t hesitate: “the views”.

Those wishing to revel in the beauty slightly longer, several fire towers have overnight camping spots nearby. Mt. Sterling, in the Haywood County section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, features a backcountry campsite, which was once the site of the tower keeper’s cabin removed in the 1980s. Wesser Bald, in the Nantahala National Forest and along the Appalachian Trail, also features a campsite. Camping by the towers gives backpackers the opportunity to witness spectacular sunsets and sunrises a short jaunt from their tent.

 

Lookout towers in need

No longer used for fire detection, many of the region’s lookout towers have been forgotten. While the challenge features 24 towers, about 40 lookouts are still standing in Western North Carolina. Many have deteriorated into an unsafe condition and had to be excluded. Even more towers have been removed entirely. More than 80 lookouts once dotted the region’s peaks. Neglected beyond repair, their views and history are gone forever.

The Carolina Mountain Club hopes the program will not only allow hikers to witness the beauty of the mountains, but realize the need to preserve these towers for their scenic and historic value. Few towers receive funding for their upkeep, and most continue to fall into disrepair. Many face imminent access restriction or complete removal. The North Carolina chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, a group dedicated to the preservation of WNC’s fire towers, co-sponsors the LTC with the CMC. The organization is trying to raise awareness for the need to save these historic structures.

Peter J. Barr is the author of Hiking North Carolina’s Lookout Towers and the director of the NC chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association. For more information about WNC’s lookout towers, go to www.nclookouts.com.

By Karen Dill

Sunburst. The word evokes a magical image. Yet, in my childhood community of Bethel, Sunburst was simply a place visited on lazy Sunday afternoons in June. It was a mere section of land beyond Lake Logan, but in my childhood memory the place seemed both mystical and wonderful — a fantasy land.

As I drive the road from my old elementary school in Bethel to the Sunburst Trout Company this month, I watch the patterns of light from the sun dapple the road and play among the trees that line the two-lane road. I remember the trips taken up this rural road as a child and the stories told by my father of his own childhood in Bethel.

When my father was 13, his father died. His family was destitute, as were many other Appalachian families in those days. At the end of seventh grade, he left the small one-room schoolhouse that he dearly loved to work at Sunburst Logging Company.

The loggers stripped the mountains above Lake Logan of trees and sent them floating down the Pigeon River’s West Fork for several miles to the Champion Fiber Company in Canton for the production of paper. It was hard work with little pay for an adolescent boy, but it meant staying in his childhood community for a while longer and avoiding starvation.

When my father turned 16, he would join the Army and fight in Europe for his country in the conflict that was to become World War II. Becoming a man at 13, working at Sunburst, and being shot in the war would forever change his life.

Despite the injuries that he sustained, my father would come home to the mountains of Western North Carolina and attempt to live a normal life. He would recall the days growing up in a valley with a few humble houses and the river running with trout. He would recall working at Sunburst Logging Company. He would recall better times with a body that was not ravished by war wounds and nightmares.

Sunburst represented a small and simple escape from Bethel. It was a place to visit on summer afternoons when my father needed to remember a time of his youth when life (despite its hardships) was simpler.

Change, it seems, is inevitable in the mountains. Sunburst Logging Company closed in 1935. The area became national forest land. It is still mostly unpopulated and the trees have grown back on the mountains. Champion Papers hit hard times a few years ago and no longer used the trees from our beautiful mountains to make their paper. Following a couple of fires in the 1940’s, the trees grew back and the area is now known as the Shining Rock Wilderness Area

The quiet mountain area of Sunburst has little to offer to tourists seeking excitement. The private lake is beautiful but restricted. The trails are steep and the camping rustic. With the establishment of the Sunburst Trout Company (www.sunbursttrout.com), this rough mountainous area is now famous for another business. Almost every restaurant in the area — from the local Jukebox Junction diner in Bethel to the nationally renowned Bistro at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville — has a version of Sunburst trout on their menu.

I do not need an excuse to visit my beloved childhood community and reminisce. And so I once again travel the road to Sunburst to remember the past and to buy the trout for the main feature in a summer dinner.

The dinner, I’ve decided, should be served on our patio at dusk. I’ve convinced my husband, Tom, to string small white Christmas lights around the patio so that the magical rippling of sparkling light can be viewed as we dine. The evening is perfect — cool and clear. Stars sparkle in burst of white light. The patio table is set with linens, fresh flowers and candles.

We begin the evening on our front porch with mint lemonade and the heavy sweet scent of the magnolia trees. Our resident peacock, Percy, has welcomed our guests with his usual flurry of beautiful feathers and male posturing in case we have forgotten that he is the alpha male of the lot.

We sip a delightful mint lemonade drink as we sit in the wicker chairs on the front porch of our old farmhouse. The mint has been freshly picked from the tender crop in our back yard. Like Percy, mint tends to be invasive and difficult to ignore, and before we can protest, he has taken a bite of mint right from the glass. We also enjoy a taste of smoked trout dip that I purchased from Sunburst. It is delicious with crackers.

The rainbow trout has been skinned and grilled over charcoals. It cooks quickly over the grill and is basted with melted butter and fresh chopped herbs from my garden. I serve the trout with a lemon caper sauce that is optional for those who aren’t crazy about capers.

I have roasted fresh asparagus spears in olive oil and lemon zest. As they are removed from the oven, I sprinkled freshly shaved parmesan cheese over the spears. The risotto is cooked with heavy cream and herbs and is topped with grilled mushrooms and a few shards of parmesan cheese. Because this is a rich (in taste and calories) dish, I serve it sparingly.

Although the trout, risotto and asparagus are easily a full meal, I want to try an interesting recipe that calls for roasted beets and spicy pepitos (I soon discover that these are roasted and spiced pumpkin seeds). We have just harvested a spring crop of beets. These will be roasted in the oven with olive oil, then tossed in a salad of mixed baby greens, goat cheese and roasted pumpkin seeds and dressed with light vinaigrette. This makes a colorful and healthy addition to this twilight meal.

For dessert, I have utilized fresh peaches that are in season from the local farmer’s market as well as blueberries picked from our local blueberry farm. I’ve combined the two to make a fruit crisp topped with a crunchy topping made from flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and crushed pecans. After baking, it is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and served still warm. I put on a pot of coffee and the smells of berry crisp and coffee permeate the cool evening air. We carry the dessert trays to the patio. As we slowly eat the dessert while we sip hot coffee, our little group breathes a collective sigh of contentment.

From our post at the patio table, we watch the stars compete with the sparkle from the strings of lights and the flickering candles. The stars win. The night is cool and my husband, always the gracious Southern gentleman, passes out sweaters to our guests. Percy bellows his goodnights from his perch in a nearby oak tree while a whippoorwill cries softly from the woods.

Nan, one of our guests, remarks that this evening is indeed magical. I think of my father’s childhood and the struggles he endured. Could he have imagined that the Sunburst of his memory would contribute to a meal on an evening such as this? While I honor the memories with a mixture of pride and poignancy, I know that joy and sadness, fantasy and reality, are simply shades of the contrasts and contradictions of life in the Appalachian Mountains.

Change is inevitable, even in our beautiful slow-moving mountain communities. A young boy’s father dies and his life is forever changed. A harsh logging camp gives way to a trout farm; trees are cut to build houses that line the ridge tops; we dine on simple patios with an exotic bird nearby. Life moves on and fantasy is intertwined with reality through a ribbon of brilliant color. Sunburst.

Haywood

Sunburst Trout Farm

Makes: Smoked Tomato Jam, trout dip, trout cakes, trout jerky, trout sausage, trout caviar, marinated trout.

Find it at: The Nest on Main Street, Waynesville (Smoked Tomato Jam); Ingles (trout dip); or order online at www.sunbursttrout.com.

Bethel Eden Farm

Makes: Corn meal, jam or preserves, soap, cider, honey, salad dressing, tomato sauce, flour, pesto, teas, dried fruits, juice, sorghum molasses.

Find it at: Waynesville Tailgate Market; Haywood County Historic Farmers Market.

Lingering Thymes

Makes: Vinegar, teas, soap, jam, preserves.

Find it at: Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market.

Ten Acre Garden

Makes: Jam, preserves.

Find it at: Waynesville Tailgate Market; Haywood Historic Farmers Market.

Chef Ricardo Fernandez and Wild Cat Ridge Farm

Makes: Tomato sauce.

Find it at: Lomo Grill in Waynesville.

Jackson

Brenda Bumgarner

Makes: Goat’s milk lotion and soap.

Find it at: Jackson County Farmer’s Market or 828.586.9611

Avant Garden

Makes: Pesto, jam or preserves, corn meal, pickles.

Find it at: Jackson County Farmer’s Market.

Dark Cove Farm

Makes: Soap, honey, beeswax, goat cheese, candles.

Find it at: www.darkcove.com.

Swain

Springmont Foods

Makes: Vinaigrette Classique, a traditional French vinaigrette

Find it at: Haywood Historic Farmer’s Market, Waynesville

Millie’s Incredible Edibles

Makes: Jams and jellies from local fruits,

including blackberry, rhubarb, peach and apple butter, as well as exotic jams with purchased fruits

Find it at: Cottage Craftsman, Bryson City

Kathy Calabrese

Makes: Kathy’s Products, a collection of salves, ointments and lip balms

Find it at: The Medicine Man in Cherokee; The Herb Shop in Cherokee; Jackson County Farmers Market in Sylva

Sacred Circle Farm

Makes: Floral wreaths, salves, Christmas Wreaths

Find it at: www.sacredcircle.com.

Balltown Bee Farm

Makes: Beeswax, honey, grits, corn meal

Find it at: Jackson County Farmers Market; Country Home Cooperative in Franklin.

Macon

Spring Ridge Creamery

Makes: butter, milk, buttermilk, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, flavored cheeses, ice cream, eggnog (during holidays only).

Find it at: On site, located on U.S. 441 about 10 miles south of Franklin near the Georgia state line. 828.369.2958

Nantahala Herb Co.

Makes: Teas, soap, salves.

Find it at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Deal Family Farm

Makes: Sorghum molasses, jam, preserves, honey, cider, syrup, Christmas wreaths.

Find it at: Fruit stand, 4402 Murphy Road, Franklin.

Otter Creek Trout Farm

Makes: Herbs, salves, soap.

Find it at: On farm. 828.321.9810.

Across Western North Carolina, an increasing number of people are discovering new and creative ways to use the bounty of produce and farm goods raised in the mountains. From jams to sauces to salves, homegrown chefs and artisans are turning a profit with their creations, which are known as value-added products.

“They are called value added because, after the work of raising products, such as fruit, the farmer or an artisan invests more time and effort to create another, more complex product, such as jam,” explains Rose McLarney, marketing and communications coordinator for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.

Because of the time put into creating a value-added product, farmers and producers can reap higher profits from everyday crops. George Ivey, director of the Buy Haywood program, aimed at supporting local farmers, uses the example of a tomato, a common mountain crop.

“If you just sell the raw product, it has the basic value of a tomato,” Ivey says. “But if you can turn that tomato into something else, you get paid for the labor and expertise of providing added value to the product.”

Value-added products provide a boost in business for mountain farmers. The products help create demand for local farm produce. That was one of the theories behind Buy Haywood’s value-added tomato recipe contest. Contestants created innovative products using locally grown tomatoes, giving farmers a new market for selling their produce.

Value-added items also make it possible to enjoy locally grown food throughout the year by preserving seasonal produce, in turn increasing awareness of local food.

The Smoky Mountain News spoke with four people who have found creative uses for locally grown produce through their value-added products.

 

Dairy farm trades in middle man for ice cream

When Jim Moore found his bottom line increasingly squeezed by middle men to the point of bankrupting his small dairy, he realized his farming dream would soon be over unless he took drastic measures.

“We were losing money every month,” said Moore, a dairy farmer in Macon County.

Moore had to find a way to market his milk directly to the consumer and cut out the middlemen stealing his profit. Besides, it didn’t seem fair.

“They pick up the milk, they charge you for picking it up, they sell it, then give you what they think is a reasonable amount,” Moore said. “They have no risk. All they do is market the milk.”

So in the early 1990s, Moore began reshaping his dairy to sell milk directly to the consumer, bringing the pasteurization and bottling in house. While he was at it, he thought “why not make ice cream, too?”

“I thought maybe they would like an ice cream if they came by to get the milk,” Moore said. “It took me a while to realize they would come to buy the ice cream, and might get a little milk while they were here.”

Indeed, on a recent Monday morning in June, customers began streaming in to the Spring Ridge Creamery ice cream counter in Otto as soon as its doors opened at 10:30 a.m. — and not just to stock up on cheese, butter and milk. No one, it seemed, could escape without a cone of ice cream in their hand despite being nowhere near the lunch hour.

It’s been that way since Moore opened the shop in the summer of 1998. His daughter’s hand was swollen by mid-day from gouging her scooper into the frozen buckets over and over. When a friend come through the door at lunch, Moore asked him to cover for his daughter behind the counter so she could venture to town for a wrist-brace.

Today, the dairy sells 500 gallons of ice cream a month on average out the front door of its shop, one scoop at a time. He employees three part-time workers and a part-time farm hand.

Moore makes all the ice cream himself, boasting more flavors than Baskin Robbins. When Moore bought a small dairy farm in Macon County in the 1980s, he never imagined his days would be spent churning butter, pressing cheese and concocting new ice cream flavors.

When Moore was growing up in Macon County, there were 45 dairies. By 1990, there were only seven. Today, he is one of just a handful in the far western region. Moore can see why.

“I don’t know how these other dairies are making it,” Moore said. “Feed costs have gone up through the roof. They are having to sell their milk below cost.”

Other small dairy farms facing similar plights have looked to Moore for inspiration.

“People come in and see this and say, ‘Boy this is the answer for us,’” Moore said. “But you’ve got to really want to do it. You might be getting out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

A dairy farm is a 24-7 occupation. Making cheese and ice cream has to be squeezed in around it.

Moore was lucky he made the leap when he did. He was able to amass the equipment he needed cheaply, watching for used items to come on sale. He had to have equipment to pasteurize, homogenize and bottle the milk. He needed walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers, not to mention the kitchen equipment like a butter churn and ice cream maker. The concept of an on-the-farm ice cream operation was still novel, and there was little demand for used equipment, allowing him to pick it up cheaply.

It was a risk nonetheless to rack up more debt when he still owed on his farm.

“It was one of those things where you had to have a lot of confidence in yourself that what you would be doing would pay for what you were adding,” Moore said.

Moore was lucky on another front: the location of his farm right on U.S. 441, a major tourism corridor into the mountains from Atlanta. During his daydreaming phase, Moore sat by the road doing traffic counts and realized just what a gold mine all those cars could be.

The dairy has become a requisite stop for tourists and second-home owners pouring into the mountains, as well as a final destination to stock up on specialty cheese before heading back home.

Moore got a good offer on his farm several years ago and almost sold it.

“But I’m glad we didn’t,” Moore said. Fans of ice cream no doubt agree.

Moore not only kept the farm, but worked with the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee to place it in a conservation easement so that it would always stay a farm, even when he’s gone. Like any true farmer, his love of the land comes first.

“I’ll have to work until I drop pretty much,” Moore said. But he can’t complain.

“Most farmers, if you can put food on the table and roof over their head, that’s all they want,” Moore said. “If you see somebody who is really satisfied, that means more than wealth or income.”

 

Chef turns local approach into recipe for success

As the owner of the Lomo Grill in Waynesville, Chef Ricardo Fernandez has spent 16 years putting his farm-to-table philosophy to practice. Fernandez grows much of the produce for the restaurant on his family-owned Wildcat Ridge farm. So when he got the chance to expand his mission of eating locally and helping community farmers, he jumped at it.

Fernandez entered his restaurant’s famous sauce in a local recipe contest which stipulated the use of Haywood County-grown tomatoes in each entry. Fernandez’s Mediterranean and “Mucho Macho” sauces grabbed second and third place respectively — and since then, demand for the product has skyrocketed.

Fernandez’s three tomato sauces — the Mediterranean, with olives, capers, and roasted garlic; the spicey Mucho Macho, made with 16 varieties of slow-roasted red peppers; and the Tomato and Basil, can now be found in 17 Earthfare locations across the Southeast, as well as a small number of Whole Foods retailers and the Greenlife grocery store in Asheville.

Fernandez is involved in every step of the process, from making the sauces in his Lomo Grill kitchen to hawking the products at tasting booths at various food retailers.

“We crush and blanch the tomatoes, and process the product, at our restaurant,” Fernandez says.

It’s a complicated process, Fernandez says, one that can be both timely and costly when it comes to getting the right certifications. All for-profit canning operations in the state must comply with strict USDA regulations. Canners must attend pickling school, and must monitor things like the acidity and pH levels of the tomatoes.

“There are a lot of health issues to take into consideration,” says Fernandez.

Besides the process of actually canning the sauces, Fernandez had to develop a business plan, a label, and a marketing strategy. That involved him reaching out to food retailers directly by himself. On a recent weekend Fernandez traveled to Greenville, Knoxville and Johnson City, stopping by a different store in each city to give samples of his sauces.

Fernandez’s product has found a niche, which is part of the reason it’s been so successful. It’s one of the only locally-made tomato sauces in the region. Plus, it appeals to an audience looking for healthier, fresher foods. The sauce is low sodium, gluten free, with no fillers or preservatives. It doesn’t use sugar or tomato paste, and it’s 100 percent vegan.

“People are amazed — it’s hard to find flavor so fresh,” Fernandez says.

In January, Fernandez will travel to a San Francisco food trade show to introduce the Haywood-grown sauce to the West coast. As the product’s reach expands, the competition gets tougher — but so far, the sauces have held their own. Since Fernandez started selling the product in October of 2008, he’s sold nearly 8,500 jars.

“The toughest part is who you’re competing with,” Fernandez says. “For us, the possibility of being on the shelves and competing with the best has a lot of merit and rewards.”

But to Fernandez, perhaps the best reward is helping to keep Haywood County tomato growers in business. He hopes his contribution is part of a growing trend.

“Sustainable agriculture needs to stay in business,” says Fernandez. “I’m glad the local community is helping.”

 

Trout farm adds tomato jam to repertoire

Sunburst Trout Farm in Haywood County is the region’s long-standing champion when it comes to value-added products.

The trout farm has rolled out an entire line of specialty gourmet foods based on its fresh rainbow trout, from smoked trout dip and trout cakes to trout sausage and trout jerky. The upper echelons of the food world can’t seem to heap enough praise on Sunburst Trout Farm for its innovative and elegant twists on the simple fish, whether it’s the Food Network or Manhattan’s top chefs.

The family-run farm’s latest addition capitalizes on a different home-grown product, however: the tomato. Sunburst was lured into creating its now-famous Smoked Tomato Jam when it heard about a value-added contest put on by Buy Haywood, a program aimed at creating new markets for Haywood County farmers.

The Smoked Tomato Jam indeed gave a boost to local farmers churning out tomatoes in the fertile river valley just downstream of the trout farm. The trout farm’s chef, Charlie Hudson, bought boxes and boxes of tomatoes from local farmers when they were in season, juiced them and froze the juice, allowing him to make tomato jam all winter.

“I am actually on my last bucket of juice,” Hudson said.

Hudson created the Smoked Tomato Jam recipe himself and won first in the contest. He reduces the juice, adds his secret ingredients and flavorings, and reduces it some more until it reaches a jam texture. Each jar of jam has the equivalent of one giant, homegrown, vine-ripened tomato. It’s a classic example a value-added product. The jam sells for $6 a jar, compared to the price that the original tomato would reap.

Hudson recently took his tomato jam — along with Sunburst’s other trout products — on the road to the International Boston Seafood Show and got a rave review from the “food sensory analyst” judging the entries.

“She said it starts out with the sweet and sour and finishes off with the smoke and that you are still getting tomato flavor throughout and all that is rolled up into one. That is super technical but it was what I was trying to do,” Hudson said.

More simply put, “Most people who taste it love it,” he said.

 

Herbalist finds value in the peskiest of plants

When people ask to see the garden Kathy Calabrese harvests her herbs from to make salves and ointments, she chuckles. It’s not exactly the neatly labeled and organized rows many people envision. Instead, her Whittier garden is something most people wouldn’t take a second glance at.

“People have this image of a lovely little English type garden, and it’s like, ‘you know folks, I’m harvesting weeds,’” she laughs.

From chickweed to plantain to dandelion, Calabrese’s garden is made up of weeds that can be found in any yard.

“The weeds that grow in our yards, the stuff we step on every day, people don’t really know a lot about them,” she says. “It’s amazing what kind of healing properties they have.”

Calabrese turns common weeds with medicinal properties into a line of salves, tinctures and lip balm. She’s been making her products since about 2000, and started out making salves largely by chance. A friend of hers had picked up a big load of beeswax, and accidentally dropped a 10-pound bundle of it as he was pulling out of Calabrese’s driveway. Calabrese decided to use up the bundle by making salve as Christmas presents for her friends and family — and the rest is history.

Calabrese keeps her recipe very simple. To make salve, she harvests a weed, chops it up, and puts it to soak in some olive oil. After a couple of weeks, she strains the herb out of the olive oil and is left with an infused olive oil. She combines it with beeswax to make a salve, or more beeswax to make her top-selling lip balm.

The salves and tinctures (a small amount of herb dropped into water and then drunk) that Calabrese makes are effective for everything from alleviating headaches to calming anxious nerves to aiding sleep. Some of the ointments even combat cancer. Calabrese has also recently forayed into making natural herbal insect repellent and poison ivy spray.

Calabrese is constantly tweaking her products based on the feedback she receives. Often, customers come in praising what a salve has done for them.

“A lot of times, people say it does work,” Calabrese says. However, “one thing that works for other people may not work for you.” Basically, unlike some conventional medicine, herbal remedies aren’t a one-size fits all approach.

Calabrese works with a variety of different herbs — pretty much whatever her garden decides to grow her.

“I see what my garden grows me,” Calabrese says. “It’s a real co-creative process. It’s not just me making the decisions, it’s me working with nature’s bounty.”

For Calabrese, the process of creating her products is a holistic experience.

“It’s this whole body experience of reconnection with the natural world, and reconnection with what’s all around us,” she says. “I’m tapping into something that’s bigger than our everyday life.”

By Ellen Cirino • Special To The Smoky Mountain News

The fifth Cold Mountain Heritage Tour, a self-driving tour to historic sites in and around the Haywood County community of Bethel that aren’t open for public access, will be held Saturday, June 27, and Sunday, June 28. The tour provides a unique opportunity for tourists and locals to experience some of the Appalachian mountain heritage in Haywood County.

The tour kicks off at 9 a.m. Saturday at North Hominy Community Club, located at 2670 Newfound Road just off Exit 33 on I-40. Guests will receive driving directions to each site on the tour.

The first stop is the private home of the Mann family who have graciously opened up their working century old farm. Tour guides as well as members of the Mann family will be explaining the farm’s history while showing guests the calf barn, milk processing house and where the first telephone in the community was located.

The next site on the tour is another private home whose original owners were Clyde Roark Hoey Jr. and his wife Bernice. Mr. Hoey was a North Carolina State Senator and it’s Governor from 1929 to 1933. The current owners, Gail and Doug Mull, will be showing the distinct Federalist style of their house as well as the many collectables throughout the home.

Other sites on the Saturday tour include the oldest remaining log cabin in Haywood County and four more historically significant locations. The last stop on Saturday’s tour is at the East Fork of the Pigeon River, of Pinkney Inman Hollywood fame. This location was one of the only landmarks that Inman could rely on as the end of his 300-mile trek home, through landscape that was devastated by the ravages of the Civil War. This historic setting is now the home of the Riverhouse Acres Campground and guests will be treated to an evening of entertainment by local musicians and folklorists. Food will also be available at a nominal cost.

Sunday’s tour begins at noon at the Gateway Club in Waynesville. This building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was originally built during the pre-Depression era as a home for Lodge #259 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolinas.

Tour guests will also have the opportunity to purchase the 5th edition of Legends, Tales & History of Cold Mountain, written by local author Evelyn M. Coltman. This year’s book tells the history of farms, mercantile and people, detailing the history of Haywood County. “Walking In The Footsteps Of Those Who Came Before Us” is a two-hour CD available for purchase that features local descendents stories and versions of events that happened long ago.

Tickets may be purchased in advance at Zoolies, and Blue Ridge Books & News in Waynesville, Realty World/Heritage Realty in Maggie Valley, Jukebox Junction in Bethel. The two-day ticket for the whole tour is $25 and a one-day ticket is $15. Children under 12 are free. Tickets may also be purchased the day of the tour at the North Hominy Community Club and Blue Ridge Books and News.

The Bethel Rural Community Organization uses the proceeds of the ticket sales to help support farmland and historic preservation, MANNA food distribution, Bethel school activities, volunteer fire department, as well as benevolence to needy families and other worthy causes in the community. More information about the Cold Mountain Heritage Tour and the Bethel Rural Community Organization can be found at www.bethcomm.org.

The Commissioners of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission unanimously passed a resolution Thursday, pledging the agency’s support for the management and stewardship of the East Fork Headwaters, an 8,000 acre tract of biologically diverse land in Transylvania County.

During meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, the Commission agreed to manage the land if the Conservation Fund raises the money to purchase it. The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit land protection organization, is under contract to purchase the East Fork Headwaters Tract for $33 million.

“This land is highly desirable for protection and public use, and is truly multipurpose,” said Gordon Myers, executive director of the Commission. “The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission supports The Conservation Fund’s effort to effectuate long-term conservation of this valuable resource.”

The East Fork Headwaters tract is the largest privately owned tract remaining in far western North Carolina and is home to several waterfalls, 50 miles of trout streams and nearly 10 miles of the Foothills Trail where it enters North Carolina. The site contains exceptional recreational opportunities for public hunting, fishing, hiking and other outdoor pursuits. The land is also biologically valuable, containing habitats for a number of species listed in the Wildlife Action Plan.

The Commission cooperatively manages nearly 2 million acres through its game land program, providing valuable conservation stewardship and public access.

A copy of the resolution is available upon request.

Maggie Valley will celebrate the trout heritage of the Smoky Mountain region with its annual Trout Festival, held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 20, at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.

One of the integral aspects of the trout festival is environmental education, and a tent will house exhibits from such groups such as the N.C. Division of Inland Fisheries, Haywood Community Alliance, Haywood Waterways, Friends of the Smokies, the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, NCSARDA (Rescue Dogs), Appalachian Bear Rescue, Haywood Community College, Haywood EMC and the Girl Scouts, who will be doing face paintings. The North Carolina Forest Service will be represented by their fire line plow and the personnel with the Great Smoky Mountain National Park will also participate.

This year’s stage entertainment list the Elk & Bugle Corp from Cataloochee Valley, the Dixie Darlin’ Cloggers, Rob Gudger, a wolf habitat show, Doris Mager’s bird of prey show, Lonesome Mountain Band from Pigeon Forge, Tenn., the Rafe Hollister Band, from Waynesville and Priscilla and the Jerusalem Cruisers, from Maggie Valley.

The entertainment will include chain saw carving demonstrations, casting demonstrations and fly tying demonstrations throughout the day. Rep. Phil Haire, D-Sylva, is scheduled to speak around 11:45 a.m.

The WNC Sportsmans Club will have an Air Gun Range for youths ages 8-18, and the Maggie Valley Police Department will have a “Beer Goggle” driving course for all ages.

As always, trout dinners will be for sale to all participants.

Also the annual CATCH (Caring For Aquatics Through Conservation Habits) fishing clinic sponsored by Haywood Community College will take place at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the creek. Children need to sign up early for the clinics as space is limited.

The Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce will sell Trout Race tickets for the 4:15 p.m. event at the creek with $800 in prize money to be given away by the Town of Maggie Valley.

For more information visit www.gsmtroutfestival.org or call 828.926.0866, ext. 117.

 

Maggie Valley Trout Festival

When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., June 20

Where: Maggie Valley Festival Grounds, U.S. 10 (Soco Road) in Maggie Valley

Includes: Festival celebrating mountain trout with food, entertainment, crafts, and activities for children.

Anybody who knows any thing about Western North Carolina is aware of the bountiful rivers and stream waters that paint an awesome landscape for trout fishing.

Urban and backcountry waters running in all directions makes the area an attractive mecca for fishermen from all over the country and certainly a treasure for Haywood County and the State of North Carolina.

According to Haywood County-bred and Waynesville native Roger Lowe, who has fished these waters for years, “We who live in this area know and have been raised here to know where the best spots to fish are on a daily basis.”

Lowe and his wife, Dianne, own and manage Lowe Guide Service in Waynesville. The couple often fish together and guide others to popular fishing spots in the area.

Each month people who come to Waynesville and Maggie Valley to fish, according to Lowe, most of them return the next season to fish again with several friends in tow.

Waynesville and Maggie Valley are enjoying the Mountain Heritage Trout Waters program in a cooperative effort between the N. C. Wildlife Resources Commissions and local governments to encourage trout fishing as a heritage tourism activity in Western North Carolina.

Maggie Valley — with the Trout Festival — hopes it can take advantage of this heritage designation. Residents and visitors who want to fish in a stream that is designated a Heritage Trout Water may purchase a 3-day license for $5. The license is designated only for waters in the recognized waters, and they are available at the Maggie Valley Visitor Center and at town hall. Visitors can use loaner fishing rods will be provided. Anglers under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian.

The Cherokee Preservation Foundation recently awarded $87,700 to Western Carolina University’s Craft Revival Project to continue the university’s Cherokee crafts documentation project.

Following its initial year, which explored Cherokee baskets and basket makers, the second year of the project will focus on Cherokee potters and pottery during the first part of the 20th century. The project includes research on handcrafts made by tribal elders at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual.

The project’s primary goals are to provide documentation of early 20th-century Cherokee pottery, disseminate new educational information, build an online database of images and develop lesson plans to promote a better understanding of the role and impact of Cherokee crafts in Western North Carolina.

With the funding, the project staff will create a museum-level inventory system of the permanent collection at Qualla Arts and Crafts, photograph pottery in the collections, scan historic photographs of potters and pottery, and create individual records for each item photographed and scanned. In addition, the project staff will document the lives of the potter elders. The project plan also includes printing copies of a guidebook on Cherokee pottery. The guidebook follows one on Cherokee baskets and is second in the “From the Hands of Our Elders” series.

For more information about the project contact Anna Fariello at 828.227.2499 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Western Carolina University Chancellor John Bardo will not be among the pool of candidates being considered for president of the University of Cincinnati, he announced at a university board of trustees meeting June 5.

The fact that his name was among those under consideration had come as a surprise to Bardo, an alumni of the school. Bardo’s name appeared on a list of candidates compiled by the presidential search committee at Cincinnati.

“I did not ask to be nominated and did not apply,” Bardo said.

Bardo said he was honored to be considered by the search committee, and added that the decision to apply for a top position as president of another university was a serious one.

“This is not like moving from Burger King to Hardees working the cash register,” Bardo told the board of trustees. “If you’re in a role like this, you have to think seriously about applying for a position.”

At this point in time, however, leaving WCU is not something Bardo would consider, he said.

“I’m not going to think about that right now. What I am going to think about is WCU, the budget, and serving the people of this great state,” said Bardo.

By Jim Webb

Don’t you wish you kept good records? I sure do. Those Elvis Presley 45’s, purchased the first day they hit the record store, would probably be worth a fortune now. Oh, well, what did I know in the late fifties?

Good garden records, on the other hand, will probably be of little value to anyone but you. But after a few years you’ll find them to be invaluable. You will have a healthier, more productive garden and, as a bonus, it’ll look prettier.

So far this sounds like as much fun as an insurance company questionnaire, right? Be patient. Recordkeeping can be a pleasant activity. Equipment and supply requirements are minimal. You probably already own the most expensive item you will need: a good, comfortable, weather-resistant chair. An end table to hold your herbal iced tea or other libation is also useful. (An inverted bushel basket works fine and also functions as a slug trap.)

Place your chair and table slap dab in the middle of your garden. Or if you have a spot on the east side of your plot that combines views of the garden, the distant mountains, and the sunset, that’s perfect!

Next, you’ll need a pencil, some 8 1/2 x 11 paper and a loose-leaf notebook. Draw a map or maybe several maps of your garden area. Do not hire a surveyor; just doodle the whole thing on one sheet of paper for starters.

Unless your garden is real small, you’ll quickly discover the need to split your map into individual maps for each bed or row. My garden is a big rectangle split into quarters. Fencing around the garden is designed to, at least momentarily, slow down the rabbits, dogs, cats, etc., and to provide trellising for assorted stuff. I have a map for each of these quarters with a title and a space to write in the year. My maps are drawn, more or less, to scale.

Don’t worry about all the paper you use until you get your maps just right. All trial efforts can be composted, or wadded up and thrown on the floor to entertain the cats for a few days. Once you’ve gotten your maps just like you want them, DON’T USE ‘EM! That’s right, do not use them. Photocopy them and use the copies for each year’s garden. Just don’t forget to write in the year.

Before the season starts the maps help you to plan how many plants you can use in the available space. Then once planting begins record what you grew in which area and when. On my maps I write in what I planted, source, whether it was seeds or transplants, the planting date and an estimated date to begin harvesting. For example: “Blue Lake pole beans, Park Seed, seeds, 5/15/2009, 7/11/2009.” You will also want to record what sort of results you had.

Also write down what you did to that soil. I’m a compost fanatic, but I never have enough to cover the entire garden. So when I put compost on a particular bed, I outline that bed on my map with a bright colored highlighting marker. With several years of maps available, the last time a bed was composted is easy to see at a glance. Using different color highlighters, you can do the same thing for liming, spraying beneficial nematodes, or whatever. I also note the date I mulch a bed and what sort of mulch I used. Do the same for any cover crops. If I can find the time for a fall crop, I’ll do another map for those plantings.

Obviously all this information won’t fit on my nice little maps, so I keep a journal of a page or two for each crop. I list the type of plant, the source, when the seed was started or cuttings rooted, when transplanted and where planted. I also try to note when I first spot bug or disease problems and what, if anything, I did about it. Dates for first and last harvest are also noted if I remember. Write notes about anything else you think might prove useful, including last and first frost dates.

If you’re growing for dollars, some of these records will help make your tax return preparation painless. And, on the off chance that you are ever audited by any tax folks, good records are major proof that you are not some starry-eyed, herb sniffin’ hobby gardener but are, indeed, a serious profit-oriented business person.

Remember that nobody but you will ever read your garden notes unless you turn out to be another Henry David Thoreau. Had he known his writings would eventually be read by others, he might well have left out that he still took his laundry home for Momma to wash.

Jim Webb is a Master Gardener Volunteer and a long time tailgate marketer in Haywood County. For more information call the Haywood County Extension Center at 828.456.3575.

The terms of Duke Energy’s counter-offer to Jackson County and the town of Franklin in exchange for dropping their opposition to Dillsboro dam removal have been made public.

Duke Energy made a confidential offer to their opponents two weeks ago in hopes of staving off a move by Jackson to use eminent domain to seize the dam. Jackson County commissioners voted 4 to 1 last week to turn down the offer. The Franklin town board followed suit this week with a unanimous vote to reject Duke’s offer.

Franklin Alderman Bob Scott made the terms of the offer public. Once the town board voted on the offer, it became a public record, he said. Scott also believes the residents of Franklin have a right to know what the town board voted to accept or reject on their behalf.

“The public body exists for one reason only and that’s to conduct the public’s business,” Scott said. Furthermore, Duke is a public utility operating as a monopoly in the region and should answer to the public as well.

Here is what Duke has offered Jackson County in exchange for dropping their opposition to dam removal:

• Pay $150,000 to help create a river park along the Tuckasegee River in Dillsboro.

• Provide 200 hours by a Duke staffer to write grants to assist with the river park.

• Pay $75,000 to help Jackson County with the upkeep and management of a boat launch Duke already has plans to build along the Tuck, but will be turning over to the county for maintenance.

• Agree not to seek damages or attorney fees against Jackson County for holding up permits Duke needed to dredge sediment behind the dam. Duke had to go to court to get the permits.

• Speeding up payment of $350,000 for recreational amenities on the Tuckasegee and Lake Glenville that had been already promised. Duke had previously pledged to pay the mitigation sum within 15 years, but would speed it up to five. Duke similarly offered to speed up the already-promised sum of $40,000 for sediment control initiatives.

Here is what Duke had offered Franklin:

• Pay $10,000 for additional amenities at a recreation area on Lake Emory. Duke plans already call for a boat put-in and picnic tables.

In exchange, Duke wanted Jackson and the town of Franklin to drop all legal and public opposition, including challenging Duke in the news media. The offer also was contingent on the majority of terms remaining confidential.

Franklin leaders claim Duke has shortchanged their residents in the way of mitigation for the utility’s dam and powerhouse the Little Tennessee River at Lake Emory. Removing the Dillsboro dam was supposed to count as mitigation credits for Duke’s hydro operation at Lake Emory, but Franklin leaders fail to see the benefit of dam removal in Dillsboro to their residents in Franklin and want to see more direct benefits, primarily around Lake Emory.

When Suzanne Wilson’s job was eliminated last December, she quickly found a new career, one that would allow her to use her creative talents and provide financial assistance to a cause near and dear to her heart.

Wilson, a resident of the Cruso community in Haywood County, has always loved to sew and decided to try her hand at cloth handbags, shoulder and clutch bags. She dreamed of earning enough to replace her former wages, and be able to donate to her favorite cause. Wilson is an active member of Friends of Hospice.

“Actually, the bags started as Christmas gifts, but they were so popular that I began making more,” Wilson said. The first few turned into dozens and now hundreds of the bags.

A member of Haywood County’s Green Initiative, Wilson firmly believes in recycling and reclaiming materials. She gets the cloth for her bags from donations or purchases scraps at local businesses.

Each bag is lined with a fabric that complements the exterior fabric. Some women like to reverse the bags to expose the inside fabric for a different look, Wilson said.

Each bag is double-stitched and is signed and dated by Wilson. She has named the bag styles, such as the Edna and the Claire, after family members and friends.

Wilson is a volunteer at Bethel Elementary School and the teachers there asked her to make bags large enough to hold their classroom papers.

Wilson’s bags are available at the Haywood Regional Medical Center Gift Shop and the Growing Young Café in Asheville. She also takes them to craft fairs and events like the Trout Festival in Maggie Valley.

“I take custom orders and will take the bags to homes and offices upon request,” Wilson said.

For more information contact Wilson at 828.506.3230 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By John Sanderson • Guest Columnist

It was great to learn recently about the effort the Haywood County Schools Foundation (HCSF) is making to support our school system in these difficult economic times. I applaud HCSF for donating $30,000 to the school system to mitigate somewhat the impact to our local schools of possibly losing 36 teaching positions in the upcoming school year (now forty-six, according to more recent estimates). There is also great merit in initiating a grassroots campaign to continue to generate local dollars and encourage volunteerism to lessen the impact of losing teaching positions. But I find it difficult to feel any real sense of satisfaction or comfort when reading about these admittedly exemplary local efforts, especially after seeing all of the proposed cuts to education in the House version of the state budget.

Thirty thousand dollars is certainly a significant outlay of funds, but this amount will not even pay for a full beginning teacher (actually, about 75 percent of one). For example, if the Foundation is unbelievably successful and raises, say, $120,000, that amount would provide funding for no more than four beginning teacher positions. The total amount of HCSF funding would reduce the number of lost teaching positions from 46 to a mere 42.

In other words, a likely best-case scenario would be for each of Haywood County’s schools to lose at least two teaching positions, and in a number of schools to lose as many as three or four, even after local citizens, businesses, and civic organizations, through the Foundation, have made tremendous efforts and fiscal sacrifices.

Some might suggest that these losses would not be all that harmful to individual schools, losing just a couple of teachers in most cases. But as a former teacher and recently retired school principal, I can assure you that the loss of even a single teacher in a relatively small school is very significant, especially in this period of intense scrutiny and high-stakes accountability. When faced with such reductions in teaching staff, principals are forced to make very difficult choices about resource allocation.

In an elementary school, for example, does the principal keep class sizes smaller in the early grades, when students need lots of individual attention as they develop basic academic and social skills that provide the foundation for future success? Or does she keep the numbers lower in the upper grades where scores on standardized tests determine the school’s status on federal and state accountability measures? Middle and high school principals in similar circumstances often have to consider entirely eliminating some course offerings and/or significantly increasing class sizes. No school system should have every principal in every school faced with such gut-wrenching decisions at the same time.

My greatest concern in the short term, then, is the all-but-certain loss of teachers in every Haywood school this coming year. A further concern, however, is that some communities in our state might be able to offset the impact of their reductions in state funding, thus contributing to an inequitable system of schooling across the state. Wealthier communities may have enough local resources to offset their losses, and that is great for them I suppose. But what about those counties like Haywood? In a state where the Constitution specifically states that “equal [educational] opportunities shall be provided for all students” in a “uniform system of free public schools,” can it ever be acceptable for school systems to have significant differences in the level of funding available to provide educational opportunities for the children in their care?

•••

The N.C. Supreme Court actually provided an answer to that question a few years ago in the Leandro vs State of North Carolina decision. The Supreme Court ruled that the N.C. Constitution guarantees every child “an opportunity to receive a sound basic education in our public schools,” but the Court did not give much guidance as to what exactly constitutes a “sound basic education.” The Court did conclude, however, that the N.C. Constitution “does not require substantially equal funding or educational advantages in all school districts.” In other words, it is currently considered constitutional for kids in different communities across our state to have greater or lesser educational “advantages” on the basis of nothing more than the economic circumstances in those communities. Personally, I find this to be distressing, and I believe a lot of people would share my concern if they were aware of this N.C. Supreme Court decision.

I fear, moreover, that the already existing gap in educational opportunities between the “haves” and the “have-nots” will widen significantly if the currently proposed cuts come about. I believe that children from Murphy to Manteo (and from Hemphill to Hyder Mountain, for that matter) should have essentially the same educational opportunities and “advantages.” The fact that something is “constitutional” in the eyes of a majority of seven State Supreme Court justices does not necessarily make it desirable or even acceptable, and I find the very real possibility that we may soon have a noticeably tiered public educational system to be unacceptable. So, what are caring, concerned parents and citizens to do in the face of these threats to the equitable provision of quality educational opportunities throughout our state?

•••

First of all, I fully support every effort the HCSF is making to lessen the impact of the budget cuts, so I would suggest that all concerned citizens support the HCSF and our schools. But I also think that now is a very appropriate, and even necessary time to remind our legislators that the N.C. State Constitution says that education is, in fact, a “right” of the people, and that the state has a “duty ... to guard and maintain that right.” I believe, furthermore, that concerned citizens need to let our representatives know that if the legislature approves these proposed cuts to educational funding, the state will not be fulfilling one of its key constitutional obligations. Even by applying the very minimal standard established in the Leandro case, is it remotely possible to provide the required “sound basic education” from one year to the next when there are going to be 6,005 fewer teachers to provide it, 4,663 fewer teacher assistants to help, possibly 5 to 10 fewer days to provide it in, no professional development for teachers (for at least two years), and $38 million less for textbooks? I think not.

Following are a few questions and comments I would like for our local legislators to consider. I then want them to return to Raleigh with a renewed commitment to take up leadership roles in fighting the myopic view of education that seems to be dominant at the moment:

• How can the state consider cutting professional and paraprofessional classroom positions so drastically and not consider making equivalent cuts in the increasingly monstrous testing/accountability program that is becoming (and in many ways already is) the “testing tail” that is wagging the “education dog?” Continuing to demand the same (or better) levels of performance on state tests while grossly reducing fundamental resources is nonsensical on the face of it. The testing/school accountability budget needs to be studied in depth to see where logical and significant reductions can be made, thus freeing up funds for hiring teachers and providing more meaningful curriculum support, rather than paying for (1) the mind-numbing marathon tests of endurance that have become a sine qua non in education today, and (2) the bureaucracy that benefits from the current arrangement

• How can our legislature allow a system of public schools to exist in North Carolina that will potentially have tremendous differences in the amount and quality of the educational opportunities they offer their students? We cannot allow the North Carolina public school system to become a “tiered system” with wealthy communities able to offer their children significantly better educational opportunities than is possible in less affluent areas. Students in Haywood, Swain, Jackson, Pender, or Onslow County deserve the same quality education that students in Wake, Guilford, or Mecklenburg County receive, so bright, hard-working students anywhere have a genuinely equal chance of attending one of our state’s universities, and then pursuing their desired career paths.

• If the money generated by “The Education Lottery” is not going to be used specifically and consistently for the purpose of funding a first-rate educational system for all students in our state, how about introducing a bill to rename it something catchy like “The Governor’s Mad Money Lottery?” But no matter what, the state needs to stop engaging in “bait and switch” tactics by calling the lottery an “education lottery” and then using the money for anything but education in hard times.

• Finally, how about the issue that no politician seems to want to deal with: increasing state revenues? Politicians do not even want to use the “T word” because doing so could be political suicide. No one wants higher taxes — and maybe now is not the time to consider increases in certain kinds of taxes — but adding 25 cents to the cost of a beer, for example, will hardly cause beer producers and distributors to become destitute or ruin our state economy. That act alone would generate significant additional tax revenue, and a few more “sin taxes” could offset even more of our budgetary imbalance. At least the most recent House budget proposal does include some tax revenue hikes, though not enough to stem the negative effects of the education cuts.

If our legislators honestly believe that the only way to balance the budget, without raising additional revenue, is to make these onerous cuts that will make ours an inequitable, second-rate state educational system, then it is time for them to stop dodging their responsibility and to do what’s necessary. It’s a cliché to say, “You get what you pay for.” But it’s true. If we, the people of North Carolina, want a first-rate education system for all of our children — one that will attract industry, one that will prepare our children for the challenges ahead, one that will place our students on a relatively level playing field with other students in America and throughout the world — then we will have to pay for it. It’s as simple as that. And cutting the school year by 10 days, eliminating more than 6,000 teaching positions, calling a halt to staff development funding for two years, and trying to excuse such actions as necessary in the short-term interest of balancing a budget is, to use another cliché, “penny-wise and pound-foolish.”

These are very difficult economic times, but times like these do not diminish the importance of education. If anything, the difficult times we face make it more important than ever that our children become even better prepared to deal with the increasing challenges and economic uncertainties they will face as adults. In times like these, in fact, a “sound basic education” becomes much more than a minimal set of 20th century “survival skills,” and our state government has a duty to provide our children — all of our children — with equal educational opportunities, regardless of community size, wealth, or other arbitrary differences.

In my mind, it all comes down to one simple question: “Do we the people of North Carolina value education enough to be willing to do what is necessary to see that all of our children receive the “sound basic education” that our times, and the N.C. Constitution, require?” If we do, then we must communicate our feelings to our elected representatives. Our region is very fortunate to have outstanding representatives working for us in Raleigh, but these folks have to know we have their backs if they are to go up against entrenched and well organized groups that may not share our concerns. On the other hand, if we do not value education and our children’s future enough to find ways to pay for a first-rate system, then we need do nothing, and the system will collapse around us soon enough. I urge you to get active and make a difference.

(John Sanderson is recently retired as an elementary school principal in Haywood County. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

Chairman Brian McMahan

“I believe that river belongs to the people of the United States of America. That’s our river. Yes we have benefited from the production of power, but it still belongs to the people. I don’t argue the fact that Duke should be allowed to make a profit, that’s part of capitalism. At the same time, if they are going to use our river to generate power, shouldn’t they compensate the people here a little bit more? If you look at what they have offered, it is pennies compared to what they are making off our river. The people have pretty much been ignored.”

 

Commissioner Joe Cowan

“We are all elected by the people of Jackson County. The vast majority of my constituents have said to me ‘Help save the Dillsboro dam.’ I think it is time to stand up to Duke I don’t care if it does cost a million dollars, I think we will beat Duke and will prevail in this lawsuit because we have facts on our side. Never have I seen a large energy corporation come in and take so much from a people of a county and want to take more and more over the next 40 years and give back so little.”

 

Commissioner William Shelton

“This has been a very very tough decision for me. I have gone back and forth. Unfortunately it comes down to whether you vote your heart and morals or do you vote with your head? After lots and lots of tossing and turning I’ve done the very best I could to put my finger on the pulse of my district and I am finding overwhelming support to save the Dillsboro dam. After a long difficult decision, I am going to have to vote with my heart on this.”

 

Commissioner Mark Jones

“I think we should continue the fight. The money we have spent already is the vast majority of the money we are going to have to spend. The economic problems the town of Dillsboro has gone through in recent years, this would be a tremendous benefit.”

 

The lone dissenter: Commissioner Tom Massie

Jackson County commissioners are fool-hardy if they think they can win a fight of this magnitude against Duke Energy, Commissioner Tom Massie expressed to fellow board members for the umpteenth time this week.

Massie nearly begged his fellow commissioners not to go through with the vote for condemnation.

“Condemnation is very, very risky. We are breaking new ground. There is no if’s and’s or but’s. This has never been done in the state of North Carolina, this kind of condemnation,” Massie said. “I am not a gambler. I wouldn’t spend a penny in a poker game. I refuse to gamble the taxpayers’ money of Jackson County with this kind of risky venture. I wouldn’t do it with my money, and I wouldn’t do it with theirs.”

During the county commissioners lengthy closed-door discussion leading up to the vote this week and last week, audience members relegated to the hallway outside the meeting room would occasionally walk over to the door and peer through a small window to see what was going on inside. And more often than not, Massie was the one doing the talking, growing animated at times as his fellow commissioners patiently listened but were ultimately unmoved.

Massie agrees with the rest of the board on one count: Jackson got a raw deal from Duke, he says.

“I didn’t think it was fair then I don’t think it is fair now,” Massie said. “My heart says we should continue this argument and fight but my head says this is not good business. This is a time we need to put emotion aside and we need to make prudent cold calculating business decisions about what is best for the Jackson County taxpayers and residents of this county.”

Massie said the writing is on the wall, and has been for a long time now.

“All the federal and state agencies involved in this thing have sided against Jackson County and are for dam removal. We have lost every single appeal we have had in this fight for the past five years,” Massie said.

Massie said he hopes he is proven wrong and the county prevails this time.

Why does Duke want to tear down the dam?

Dam removal is tied to the larger issue of mitigation for Duke’s hydropower operations in the region. Duke operates 10 other dams on five rivers in the region. The permits for those dams are up, and to get new ones, Duke must offer environmental and recreational mitigation, compensating the public for the use of the rivers to produce profitable hydropower.

Tearing down the Dillsboro Dam is the cornerstone of Duke’s mitigation plan. Paddlers and environmental agencies are excited to see the dam go as it will restore a stretch of free flowing river. Others think Duke is unloading an aging dam it didn’t want anyway under the guise of mitigation.

 

Is there hope for a compromise yet?

Yes. Duke could at any time make Jackson County a counter-offer to back off condemnation proceedings, or vice-versa.

 

What exactly does Jackson plan to take from Duke?

Jackson County voted to initiate condemnation proceedings against the Dillsboro dam, the powerhouse adjacent to the dam and shoreline property Duke owns around the dam on both sides of the river.

 

Can Jackson County legally take the dam from Duke?

Jackson County wants the dam and surrounding property to make a park. Counties are granted the power of eminent domain to seize property for several public uses. One of those is recreation, which the county cited as its reason for the condemnation. Recreation was used to as grounds for eminent domain in the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

 

What would Jackson do with the dam?

Jackson County leaders previously said they wanted to operate the dam themselves as a source of green power rather than see it torn down by Duke. Making electricity isn’t just cause for a county to flex eminent domain power, however. But once Jackson has control of the dam under the guise of recreation, it could theoretically try to put the dam in operation for hydropower.

 

What happens now?

Jackson County’s next step is to have a survey and appraisal of the property it plans to condemn. Following the vote Monday night, the county must wait at least 30 days before it can formally file condemnation proceedings through the courts. As for Duke, representatives at the commissioners meeting said their next step is to wait and see if Jackson follows through with formal proceedings.

 

How much will Jackson have to pay for the property?

Jackson will hire an appraiser to determine fair market value for the property. The dollar value will be filed as part of the formal condemnation proceedings in court. When Duke formally initiates the proceedings, it has to put up the money right then. Whatever dollar value Jackson County puts on the dam and surrounding property must be deposited in full in an escrow account held by the court.

If Duke disagrees with Jackson’s offer, it can sue for more money. The ultimate decision would rest with the courts, possibly a jury trial.

 

Can Duke challenge the value Jackson puts on the property?

Yes. The most common protest in a condemnation proceeding is over the monetary value being offered for the property. Duke can go to court claiming the market value of its property is more than what Jackson says it is. Duke’s legal argument would center around what’s a fair price rather than the ideological premise of condemnation.

 

Can Duke challenge Jackson’s use of eminent domain?

Yes. Duke could challenge whether Jackson County has just cause for the condemnation and argue that the dam is not an integral to the recreation plans, although this type of legal challenge to eminent domain is rarely attempted.

The state spells out grounds for eminent domain, one of which is recreation. Whether the particular recreation project is a good idea is not legal grounds for contesting it.

“To say, ‘Well we don’t think it is a very good project’ isn’t going to do very much,” said Charles Szypszak, an expert in public law with the Institute of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill.

 

Can Duke hurry up and tear down the dam?

Duke still owns the dam for the moment. However, hurrying up and tearing down the dam while Jackson gets its ducks in a row for condemnation is logistically impossible.

Before Duke tears down the dam, it is mandated to dredge 70,000 cubic yards of back-logged sediment from behind the dam to prevent it from washing downstream when the dam comes out. The dredging would take approximately five months, according to Fred Alexander, Duke spokesperson.

The target date for dam removal to begin was January 2010. That would get Duke outside the window for spawning season of the endangered Appalachian elktoe mussel, which lives downstream of the dam.

 

If tearing down the Dillsboro dam was Duke’s version of environmental mitigation, what will serve as mitigation if the dam stays?

This is unclear and a matter of great debate. Duke says if the dam stays, it will be required to forgo some of its power generation at the much larger dam upstream at Lake Glenville.

To make hydropower at Lake Glenville, Duke diverts water out of the Tuckasegee River and sends it for miles over land through giant pipes to a power plant before finally being returned to the river. The more water Duke diverts from the river, the more power it can make. The same goes for hydro operations at its other bigger dams, like Nantahala Lake and Bear Lake.

In the meantime, however, several miles of the river downstream of those dams are left with little water, harming the aquatic ecosystem.

Removing the Dillsboro dam was supposed to mitigate for robbing other stretches of the river of water. If the dam doesn’t come out, environmental agencies could insist on Duke restoring more water to those stretches currently being by-passed.

The less water Duke is allowed to divert, the less power it can make at its large Lake Glenville power plant. Because of this, Fred Alexander, a spokesperson for Duke, argues that keeping the Dillsboro dam would actually mean a net loss in hydropower. The amount of power produced off the small Dillsboro dam could not make up for the power production lost at Lake Glenville, Alexander said.

Alexander said it is an either-or proposition. If the Dillsboro dam doesn’t come out, Duke will have to restore more water to the dewatered sections, and thereby lose some of its hydropower capacity.

The mitigation package on file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says only that failured to tear down the dam “may nessicitate” a re-examination of how much water is being diverted from the river below Duke’s larger dams.

John Boaze, an environmental consultant with Fish and Wildlife Associates, said it is not necessarily and either-or proposition, but that other mitigation may be an option contingent on approval by state and federal environmental agencies.

“What becomes of that your guess is as good as mine,” said Boaze.

Jackson County has long held that tearing down the dam was a poor excuse for mitigation that benefited a small segment of the population, namely paddlers. Jackson would rather see greenways along the river, or an environmental trust fund based on a percentage of Duke’s profits off the dams.

Photographer Ken Wilson of Waynesville recently published his first book, The Aleutian Islands of Alaska, Living on the Edge.

The book is a stunning compilation of photos from Alaska where Wilson went with wife, Kathy, to serve as missionaries to the United Methodist Church on Unalaska Island. The couple have returned to Western North Carolina and live in Waynesville.

Wilson, who was the publisher of The Mountaineer in Haywood County for two decades and spent 35 years in the newspaper business, had long been a nature photographer. When he got to the Aleutians, be began shooting images of the wildlife and the native people. The book’s outstanding photography is accompanied by a series of essays by those familiar with the islands, and includes mini-biographies of many of the residents.

Reviewer Andrew Blechman had this say about Wilson’s book: “Chances are I am never going to get around to having the time and the money to spend a summer touring these islands via the Alaska state ferry, which connects many of the islands to each other and to the Alaskan mainland. If you don’t expect to get around to this one either, do yourself a big favor and check out this book. It’s an extraordinary and beautiful part of the world that is well worth visiting, even if only via a great book. The Aleutian Islands of Alaska: Living on the Edge – Highly Recommended.”

Wilson spent three years photographing the islands, and then another couple of years putting the book together. The book captures the islands tumultuous weather, stunning landscapes, and the story of the native Unangan people.

The 160-page book is available on Amazon.com and at some local bookstores. To read an e-press release about the book visit www.uaf.edu/uapress/aleutian_islands.html.

Jackson County’s decision to take the Dillsboro dam through eminent domain is a bold next step in the relicensing saga that has been playing out for years.

Commissioners voted 4-1 Monday night to use one of the strongest powers they possess to get what they believe to be a fair deal from Duke Energy. Taking the dam through eminent domain promises a messy legal fight. But it’s the end game that matters here, and a majority of their constituents are — in a word — insulted by the mitigation package Duke has offered.

As we’ve noted before, making the removal of a community icon the centerpiece of the giant utility’s environmental mitigation effort just didn’t make many people happy. Yes, the free-flowing river will be a boon to paddlers and restore a lengthy stretch of the waterway to its “pre-Duke” status, but other considerations came into play.

This dam, small in size and in plain view of thousands of citizens every day, has gained a value aside from its hydropower production. It has become a part of Dillsboro, one of those man-made objects that give residents a sense of place. As soon as Duke began pushing the idea of removing the dam, many started speaking up to voice their surprise and displeasure.

Here’s the rub for Duke: if the giant utility had come to the table with a better mitigation package, removing the dam likely could have happened. A look around the region proves that in other cases where utilities sought federal licenses to operate hydropower plants, more tangible mitigation packages were offered.

Two relicensing arrangements nearby — Alcoa to the west and Progress Energy’s Pigeon River deal to the east of Jackson — offered big-time, lasting packages. The Progress Energy solution — creating the Pigeon River Fund — has, almost 20 years later, helped every school child in Haywood County gain intimate knowledge of the watershed, in addition to providing money for dozens of environmental and riparian efforts to help landowners and nonprofit organizatios.

Representatives from this newspaper attended many of the stakeholder meetings that led to Duke’s decision to take down the Dillsboro dam. During the relicensing process for all of its hydropower plants in Western North Carolina, Duke invited citizens, representatives of various state environmental and licensing agencies, and others to a multi-year series of meetings. Many of those supported the dam removal, and so Duke thought it was going down the right path.

A glimmer of hope for compromise arose during mediation that took place over the last couple of months. But those privy to those negotiations obviously did not think Duke offered enough.

We somehow wish the energy company could become a partner in this effort to make Jackson County a green energy leader, not an opponent. Unfortunately, it appears it will be left to the courts to determine a fair outcome.

By Avram Friedman

Receiving public input is not a discretionary part of the decision-making process for elected public officials in North Carolina. It is mandated by law that local elected officials provide the opportunity for public input before making decisions that potentially have a major impact on the lives of people in an affected community (general statute160A-364, “Procedures for adopting amending, or repealing ordinances”).

There was a collective shrug of the shoulders by Sylva Town Council members at their May 21 meeting when presented with clear documentation exhibiting how there was no meaningful notification for the April 16 public hearing on modifying the zoning ordinance to accommodate the expansion of Jackson Paper. The Town Council voted to amend the ordinance at that same meeting, immediately following the “hearing” at which no one attended or spoke. Although several of the elected officials acknowledged the reality that the circumstances resulted in poor — if any — public notification, they all fell back on the claim that the letter of the law had been met and not one would introduce a motion to re-visit the zoning ordinance modification to include a real opportunity for public input.

As a result, this week the Canary Coalition and four local residents of Sylva are filing an appeal to the Superior Court, requesting the April 16 zoning ordinance modification be repealed pending due process, including a real public hearing with adequately informative and timely public notification. The plaintiffs have retained attorney Mark Melrose of Sylva law firm Melrose, Seago and Lay to file the appeal.

We all want the jobs this proposed expansion of Jackson Paper would bring. Sixty-one more people employed in moderately high-wage jobs will have a significant positive impact on our local economy. Jackson Paper has been a fairly good steward of the environment over the years. I can hear some people asking, “Why would the Canary Coalition interfere with this positive development?”

We don’t necessarily want to interfere with it. We want the chance to learn exactly what is planned and how it’s going to impact public health and the environment. It’s as simple as that. But apparently, many of our local elected officials on both the town and county level don’t know, never asked these questions, and didn’t think it was important for the public to be able to ask or offer insight either, before making crucial decisions to accommodate the expanded industry.

The paper plant expansion was first announced in the Sylva Herald on April 9. By April 16 the Town of Sylva modified its zoning ordinance. By May 22, the County voted to supply $500,000 from its revolving loan fund, at percent interest, to Jackson Paper to help with the expansion. Some of us have noticed how uncharacteristically fast the wheels of government are suddenly turning, unfortunately at the expense of due process.If the spirit of due process had been followed, the Town Council members would have learned from public input, prior to voting their decision, that Jackson Paper’s Air Quality Permit allows the burning of coal and rubber “pellets” (shredded tires) as well as wood chips.

Right now Jackson Paper only burns wood chips, which is a relatively clean combustion process. If all systems are working properly, almost all of the visible smokestack emissions consist of steam.

Coal, however is another story. Wherever coal is burned there are emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, barium, dioxins, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride and a long list of other toxic and hazardous air pollutants. Burning coal also results in a toxic ash pile that would, in this case, accumulate adjacent to Scott’s Creek, a major tributary to the Tuckaseegee River.

Nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide — combined emissions from burning coal — are acknowledged by industry, government agencies and the scientific community to account for more than 30,000 deaths annually on a national basis. These emissions are responsible for heightened rates of asthma, emphysema, heart disease, stroke and other pulmonary diseases.

Mercury toxicity from coal-burning emissions results in neurological damage to human beings, especially to fetuses and young children. Autism and learning disabilities have been directly linked by extensive scientific research to high levels of mercury in the blood. The Center For Disease Control warns that one in eight pregnant women in the Southeast have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood.

Burning rubber pellets has its own set of health and environmental impacts. Rubber from tires contains a cocktail of petroleum-based hydrocarbons that are potentially hazardous to human health and the environment if emitted into the air. Jackson Paper burned rubber pellets, along with wood chips, for several years ending in 2003 as part of a statewide program to reduce the accumulation of automobile tires at dump sites where they were becoming a problem for sheer volume. Jackson Paper stopped burning rubber in 2003 because its price rose in response to competing market demand. But, markets shift and if the price goes down again, one of Jackson Paper’s owners assured me they would again consider burning rubber at their Sylva plant.

Although right now Jackson Paper is only burning wood chips as fuel for their operation, the permit leaves open the possibility that some time in the future coal or rubber pellets will be burned should there be a shortage of wood chips. This is a concern since T&S Hardwood is at least temporarily ceasing operations, removing one of the major sources of wood chips available to Jackson Paper. Industries are being stressed everywhere in the current economy, so the reliability of the wood chip stream is uncertain.

Because the spirit of due process was not respected, our local government officials were deprived of all this and probably much more information from the knowledgeable members of our community prior to making the decisions to accommodate the expanding industry with zoning ordinance amendment and access to public money.

Here’s what we hope to accomplish by appealing the Town’s April 16 zoning decision, pending due process. Members of the community will have the opportunity to advise the Town Council to grant the zoning ordinance amendment to accommodate the Jackson Paper expansion with the stipulation that coal and rubber pellets are removed from the list of allowable fuels in their air quality permit. Jackson Paper can continue to burn wood chips while using natural gas as a backup. With this stipulation, we’ll have the 61 jobs AND the reassurance that the health of thousands of residents in the community will not be negatively impacted now or in the near future.

It isn’t a choice between jobs and a clean, healthy environment. It’s practical to have both. We can also have open, responsible government. It’s a shame you have to go to court sometimes to achieve it.

Avram Friedman

Executive Director, Canary Coalition

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By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

The misty mountaintops and bubbling creeks of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have served as a source of inspiration for countless artists. In celebration of the Parks’ 75th anniversary, some are now choosing to give back to the place that has given them so much by creating special pieces to benefit the Park.

“Pastels for the Park,” which opens June 6 at the Artists House Too in Bryson City, brings together 11 pastel artists who have created 36 paintings of the Park’s natural wonders. Ten percent of the proceeds from sales of the pieces will be donated to the Friends of the Smokies, the only North Carolina nonprofit that works on behalf of the Park. The exhibit is one of the only artists shows sanctioned as an official 75th Anniversary Celebration event.

“Being that it’s in my back yard and I use it constantly, I thought it would be nice to do some sort of event that would benefit the Park in some way and bring more attention to our side of the Park,” said Artists Too owner Peggy Duncan, who came up with the idea for the show.

Duncan recruited fellow members of the Appalachian Pastel Society to create pieces for the show. Each painting is done with pastels, which are pure sticks of pigment mixed with a tiny amount of binder.

The scenes chosen by the artists are varied, ranging from wildflowers like trilliums to rushing water scenes with creek and rivers to some of the Park’s best-loved mountain views.

Duncan herself has contributed three paintings for the show of her favorite Park spots. One is of the Oconaluftee River cascading near the Smokemont Campground. Another depicts the confluence of Deep and Indian creeks, a popular destination in Swain County. A third painting is of a fisherman casting his fly at Deep Creek.

“I think we have a beautiful show,” Duncan said. “It hangs together very well. The pieces are different and varied, and subject matter and color are very soothing. There are a lot of nice, soft pieces, and very vivid bright pieces.”

The paintings range in size from a small 6-by-8-piece to larger, 24-by-30-inch framed images, and run from $120 to $900.

“In this kind of economy it’s hard for people to think about purchasing art,” said Duncan. “All the artists have made their prices very reasonable. We would love to have a big turnout and some sales to benefit the park.”

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

A year ago, a group of more than 40 rafting outfitters gathered to discuss ways to boost declining visitor numbers in the Nantahala Gorge. The meeting, coordinated by regional tourism entity Smoky Mountain Host, was hailed as the kickoff to an effort to revitalize the whitewater rafting destination, which had seen a 17 percent decline in visitors from 1998 to 2007.

The results of the charette, as well as suggestions for what the next step in the process might be, were finally released at a meeting of the Nantahala Gorge Association earlier this month — and evoked mixed opinions. Outfitters say the effort could be worthwhile, but conflicting ideas abound about what direction, if any, should a Gorge revitalization effort take?

 

Who benefits?

When the outfitters met last May, many had mixed opinions about adding a whitewater park to the Gorge — an idea that charette coordinator Smoky Mountain Host put forth.

Detailed plans for a potential whitewater park made up a portion of the follow-up presentation given recently to outfitters by Smoky Mountain Host President David Huskins — and some outfitters still aren’t too keen on the idea.

Plans call for adding a Class V rapid and play features just past the current boat takeout in a bid to attract kayakers to the area. A number of outfitters continue to question who the whitewater park would benefit, since only a handful of Gorge outfitters offer kayak rentals and instruction in addition to guided rafting trips.

“The things that affect all the outfitters out here is what I’m interested in, not just the select few group,” said Mark Thomas, owner of Paddle Inn.

Poised to benefit most from the park, some outfitters believe, is the Nantahala Outdoor Center. NOC runs the largest kayaking operation in the Gorge, and the whitewater park would abut the shores of NOC property.

“I think if you go ahead and build something in front of someone’s place of business, obviously it’s going to benefit that place,” said Ken Kastorff, owner of Endless River Adventures.

Outfitters express concern that a whitewater park that would mostly benefit one company is driving the revitalization effort.

“Sometimes what ends up happening is the largest company is the squeaky wheel, and they get heard the most,” said Kastorff.

Thomas was more adamant in his concern.

“As far as I can tell, this is all about NOC and private boater traffic,” he said.

NOC President Sutton Bacon refused to say whether the outfitter supports the idea of a whitewater park.

“I don’t really have a comment on that,” Bacon said. “A whitewater park is one of many elements that have come out of the charette. We are supportive of anything that increases visitation to the area that allows people to access the Nantahala and increase our brand reputation as a recreational corridor.”

Huskins said that even though the proposed whitewater park abuts NOC property, it would be open to other outfitters.

“A whitewater park ... would be available for use by all outfitters if built with public funds,” Huskins said.

But outfitters have other concerns. Some question whether the Nantahala River is the best place for a whitewater park feature at all, since the Gorge is notoriously clogged with tourists in peak season.

“You look at where the park was going to be placed, and it’s already in a pretty busy area during the summertime,” Kastorff said. “To have something that complicates it worse may not be the best decision.”

Thomas said he would be reluctant to support a feature like the whitewater park that would “clog up traffic in the Gorge and make taking boats in and out impossible.”

Carolyn Allison, owner of Wildwater Ltd., suggests placing the whitewater park somewhere else entirely — specifically, on the Tuckaseegee River that runs through Bryson City.

“I’m not sure the Nantahala is the right place for it,” Allison said. “Personally I think they should consider something in Bryson City.”

Kastorff, the former president of the Nantahala Gorge Association, said he push that idea before, but town leaders and county officials didn’t seem interested. Kastorff still supports the idea.

“You have a park right in Bryson City that would make a wonderful whitewater course,” Kastorff said. “That would spread out tourism and bring more into Bryson City proper.”

 

Making it better

So what direction should a Gorge revitalization effort take?

The charette focused on three primary suggestions for improving the Gorge. The Nantahala River Park at Wesser, which includes the whitewater park, viewing platforms and wading pools, was one idea. Two other ideas — improving the area where rafts and kayaks put in for the six-mile float down the river; and building a welcome center at the junction of U.S. 74 and N.C. 28 at the entrance to the Gorge.

Improving the put-in seems to be of particular interest to outfitters. The current put-in is muddy and crowded, with a dirt parking area.

“When you take a look at bringing people to the area, (one idea) is having a good put-in,” said Kastorff. “Right now, the put-in is marginal at best. That to me is of paramount importance.”

Proposed improvements to the put-in include adding a platform paved access route, trailhead parking and flush toilets, and relocating the bike trail so bikes and rafters don’t share the same path. The improvements are estimated at $2.5 million.

There has been talk of the U.S. Forest Service fronting the cost of improvements to the put-in, but no such thing has been agreed upon, according to Crystal Powell with the U.S.F.S. Nantahala District Office.

Powell said the idea for improvements to the put-in seems to have originated with Smoky Mountain Host, and that while the Forest Service has heard about the plan, it has no intentions at this point of paying for the proposed project. Powell said no decision on improving the put-in can be made until the relicensing process that enforces how Duke Energy manages the river is finished.

While put-in improvements, however they are paid for, may not directly combat declining visitor levels, they would improve visitor experience, Alison said.

“Is that going to bring more people into the Gorge?” Alison asked. “I don’t know, but it will certainly maintain visitor experience, as well as keep our waters clean.”

Kastorff thinks put-in improvements would boost visitor levels by helping to establish the Gorge as an overall quality product.

“Having things that are clean and beautiful, like a good put-in, so that things move smoothly — I think that has way more of an impact than some of the other things they’re talking about,” Kastorff said.

Thomas said that there are some basic improvements that could be made to the Gorge before taking on big projects like a whitewater park or welcome center — like Internet access, something most people now take for granted.

Currently, the options for getting Internet in the Gorge are limited to dialup, which is slow, or satellite, which is expensive. The lack of options makes it difficult for outfitters to do business.

“We’re looking at businesses that provide millions in economic stimulus for the area, and we can’t even communicate out here,” Kastroff said.

 

Where to now?

With the coordination of the outfitter charette last year, the presentation of results and the economic impact study of the Gorge, the role of Smoky Mountain Host in the Gorge revitalization effort is mostly complete. It’s unclear who, if anyone, will step up to spearhead the effort.

“I suspect that would be up to the Nantahala Gorge Association, the oufitters and community stakeholders and public officials and agencies,” Huskins said.

One major challenge that will have to be addressed is how to fund the proposed improvements. Huskins said this would likely be done incrementally using private and public sources, as well as money from user fees, non-profits, and increased taxes.

Overall, outfitters seem to think Smoky Mountain Host’s efforts have been beneficial.

“There were some interesting aspects that came out of the economic impact study that was done,” Kastorff said (SEE RELATED ARTICLE). “It was pretty significant. I think that was something a lot of folks didn’t realize.”

Bacon said the economic impact study provides an important tool for outfitters.

“Now we have a research tool that quantifies the economic impact of the Gorge,” Bacon said. “That’s an important data point for all the outfitters.”

Bacon said NOC is more than willing to work with other outfitters on a Gorge revitalization effort.

“I look forward to working with all of the stakeholders in the Gorge to try and increase visitation and improve access and our brand recognition,” said Bacon. “It’s in all of our best interests to increase visitation.”

Kastorff said if anything, the project has showed outfitters that there can be power in numbers, whether or not they initially agree on proposed improvements

“In the long run, whether there is a whitewater park or not, it was well worth the effort just because we put a spotlight on the fact that by working together, we can achieve something.”

It’s time for Harrah’s Cherokee Casino to offer alcohol to patrons, especially since the Tribe is counting on receipts from the thriving gambling operation to pay for everything from health care to education, and enrolled members can certainly make use of the extra money. If Harrah’s is to remain the Tribe’s cash cow, the smartest route is to maximize profits by passing the measure permitting the casino to serve alcohol.

No one in this country, and particularly no one living near a Native American reservation, can deny the negative effects of alcohol. It’s created more problems for more families than most people can imagine. The damages have been significant among Native American populations.

But some things have changed over time. Cherokee has become a place where education and social programs have vastly improved over the last decade. While we will never erase all of America’s social ills, Cherokee now has more tools in place than ever to help its people deal with whatever addiction problems they might have. Having alcohol within the community at the casino may strike fear into the heart of some, but the truth is that alcohol is now available right over the county lines in Jackson and Swain.

Many of these programs to help the addicted, ironically, are funded by profits from the casino. Tribal leaders get 50 percent of the profits to fund programs, and they have invested that money wisely. Most all agree that having alcohol at the casino could lead to a substantial jump in profits. That means more money to build facilities like schools or public health clinics.

Tribal leaders and Harrah’s managers have decided to position Cherokee and the casino as a destination resort. That means they want Cherokee and Harrah’s to be a place people will come to for several days at a time, and research shows those travelers want the ability to have a beer or a drink should they desire.

Much of the opposition to alcohol at the casino comes from those who are morally opposed to drinking. The only point to make here is that alcohol — like gambling — is a choice, and those who are opposed to it should continue to argue and debate their side of this. Opponents deserve to be heard, and it remains to be seen who will win the day in this historic vote.

In a debate that has strayed into the arena of morality, it seems belittling to bring up the sour economy. But the economic slowdown in Western North Carolina has affected thousands of families, depriving them of work and the money necessary to take care of themselves. Harrah’s has become the region’s — not just Cherokee’s — most important economic engine. If its profits go up, then nearly 2,000 workers and dozens of small companies in and around the region — along with the 14,000 Cherokee who receive per capita checks — will have more money to spend.

The casino has brought a new prosperity to Cherokee and helped the entire region. There are many more positives than negatives in helping that business by allowing it to offer alcohol to its patrons.

By Jim Janke

When our house was being built it became obvious that we needed to hide two 40 feet long by 10 feet high retaining walls. These walls were the first things you noticed when looking at the south side of the house, detracting from the overall landscape design. How to cover these walls quickly?

First we painted the retaining walls a darker color to make them less noticeable. Then we planted Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata, also called ‘Japanese Creeper’). It grew moderately the first year, then took off. By the end of the third season it had completely covered both retaining walls. Boston ivy is truly a four season plant. Glossy green foliage hides the walls in spring and summer, the leaves turn a gorgeous burgundy in the fall, and the many crossing limbs with blue berries provide good winter interest.

Compared to English ivy (Hedera helix), Boston ivy is faster growing and will tolerate more sun. English ivy is evergreen; Boston ivy loses its leaves in the fall. English ivy forms small rootlets along the stem to attach to trees and banks; Boston ivy attaches to surfaces using tendrils with small, circular discs at the tips. These tendrils might damage porous wood surfaces, but will not harm cement board siding.

Plant Boston ivy in full sun to part shade. Use it as a standard ground cover, to grow up walls or trees, or to cover banks, fences, trellises or topiary frames. Boston ivy grows fast to 50 feet and is relatively disease and pest free. The only maintenance required is to cut it back every month or so to keep it contained in your desired planting area. I use a long reach pruner to keep it off the house walls.

Add plenty of organic matter to the planting hole. Plant 5 to 6 feet apart, at the same depth the plants were in the pot from the nursery. Keep moist the first year. While Boston ivy is drought tolerant, water thoroughly during dry periods, because each plant supports a huge amount of foliage. Use a balanced fertilizer each spring.

Boston ivy might be difficult to find locally. I purchased plants from Bluestone Perennials (www.bluestoneperennials.com), a company I’ve done business with for many years. Many other sources are listed on the internet.

Boston ivy grows on the walls of Wrigley Field in Chicago. If it’s hardy there, you’ll have no problem growing it in the friendly confines of the Carolina mountains.

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

1900s

Logging and lumber companies built railroads, camp towns and timber camps, slashing across the landscape while fueling an economic boom.

 

1923

National Park Service Director Stephen Mather voices his support for creation of a national park in the East.

 

1925

A Southern Appalachian National Park Committee is sanctioned to scout locations for a park. Proponents in North Carolina and Tennessee join forces and lobby for the Great Smoky Mountains.

 

1926

President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill endorsing the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Fundraising begins.

 

1927

John D. Rockefeller Jr. pledges $5 million for land acquisition. The money will only be made available when the two states can raise enough funds to match the donation.

 

1927

North Carolina appoints a commission to begin buying land for the park.

 

1930

Representatives from both states including Gov. Henry Horton of Tennessee and Gov. Max O. Gardner of North Carolina travel to Washington, D.C., to present 158,876 acres in deeds to the U.S. government. It is enough land to get a park started. The National Park Service sends the Smokies’ first superintendent and a crew of rangers to monitor and protect the area.

 

1933

The Civilian Conservation Corps is created, providing a large labor pool of young men to build roads, trails, campgrounds and park buildings. The Smokies was home to more CCC workers than anywhere else, with 4,350 men in a total of 17 camps up and running within the first year. Their work continued for nearly a decade.

 

1933

A motor access road across Newfound Gap, elevation of 5,046 feet, connecting North Carolina and Tennessee was opened.

 

June 15, 1934

Congress passes legislation creating the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, realizing the dream of the many who had supported the idea so vehemently.

 

Sept. 2, 1940

Thousands gather at Newfound Gap to hear President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicate the park. Standing on the recently finished Rockefeller Memorial, with one foot in each state, FDR speaks of the importance of preservation, but also of the growing conflict in Europe.

 

1941

Park visitation tops 1 million for the first time. By 2000, visitation peaks at 10 million visitors a year, but dropped back to 9 million by 2008. The Smokies continues to see more visitors than any other park.

The Nantahala Gorge contributes $85 million to the local economy each year, and is the primary reason many tourists make their first visit to Western North Carolina, according to the results of an economic impact study conducted by Western Carolina University.

The report, completed in March, provides the first comprehensive look in more than a decade of the economic impact of the whitewater rafting industry. Gorge rafting outfitters hope the numbers will finally convince state tourism officials to spend more dollars promoting the rafting industry.

“We sometimes feel sort of like the redheaded stepchild,” said Ken Kastorff, owner of Endless River Adventures. “It’s a huge economic driver, and to some degree we’re not getting the support we need.”

Surveys distributed to more than a thousand Gorge visitors revealed the area is key in drawing tourists to the region. More than 60 percent of respondents revealed the Gorge is what brought them to WNC in the first place. The majority — 70 percent — came to the area to raft or kayak. Another 18 percent were in the Gorge to ride the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Sixty percent said they would “definitely” return to the region within the next year based on their experience.

According to the report, Gorge visitors earn an income far above the national median. A third of Gorge visitors earn more than $100,000 each year; and another third earn more than $65,000 in a year.

And visitors to the area are likely to flex their significant spending power. Adult visitors to the Gorge spend about $250 each in the region on lodging, food, shopping, attraction admissions, and transportation. They stay an average of five nights per trip at lodging facilities throughout the western counties.

Gorge businesses and employees also make a big impact on the region’s economy. Businesses shell out $5.7 million in local taxes each year, and Gorge employees spend nearly $2,000 each month at local establishments.

David Huskins, president of Smoky Mountain Host, hopes that the Gorge economic impact report is the first of several focusing on major tourist attractions along the U.S. 19 corridor, including heritage attractions on the Eastern Band of Cherokee reservation and the economic impact of Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park.

By John Beckman • Guest Columnist

The concept of wealth has been sideswiped over the last few decades. It seems that the former notion of amassing assets through hard work and sacrifice, and using them to do philanthropic community good, has given way to a “What’s in it for Me?” assumption. I fear that we are losing the sense of real value in our relationships to society and to each other, mauled by advertising hype and incredibly lousy role models. Stuff has taken over substance, and excessive quantity trounced true quality. It appears that many people confuse wealth with belongings, when genuine belonging can only come from our alliance with and connection to others. Will this recession finally slay the American mega-consumer and the more is better mindset?

I recently had a visit from an old friend, old in several ways and a friend in many. We met when he was 53 and I was a hell-bent 16-year-old. Little did I know at the time how rich and deep his friendship would become. He had just retired from a 33-year career in the Army and was setting out single-handedly to restore a now sad but once grand brick mansion two doors up from my parent’s house. I needed teen money and told him I could for anything for $5 an hour.

We’ve kept in close touch for the past three and one-half decades, so, when he turned 87, I sent him a plane ticket to Asheville to come and see how great life is in Western North Carolina. As experienced local hosts know, there is a lot for visitors to see and do here in a few days to try to capture the diverse flavors the mountains have to offer. Fortunately, with my guest being almost 90, I could eliminate extreme rock-climbing, marathon biking, Class V rapids and thru-hiking the A.T., which was fine by me and my aging knees. There are plenty of less strenuous options in these parts for those wise in years.

My friend is a great one for careful observation and critical analysis of what he sees, examining things in their own context and how they associate with all things around it, rather than from some vacuous arena or prejudice. I haven’t found too many people who can do this, and these are some of the best kinds of friends, as they often challenge their friends to define and distill their positions for deeper understanding and insights.

On a ride down US 441 to visit my former farm, my friend commented on the over-abundance of U-Store-It units littering the sides of the road, which led to a discussion about over-consumption, lost priorities and a drifting mindset in much of America, afloat on an ocean of socially-hyped inadequacy. The general conclusion was that if a person has the means to meet their basic necessities and just a little bit extra, then they are in the eyes of the world, wealthy. Friendships and involvement in one’s community and the accompanying sense of belonging do not require hordes of cash nor huge houses full of stuff. By working cooperatively to improve the surroundings for the greater majority of a society, the individual life is made richer, more meaningful and of greater value to others.

I introduced him to my friends the baker, the brewer, the restaurant owner, my garden helper, my postmaster, innkeeper, landscaper friend, septic installer and any friends we’d see on the street. Each one seemed a treat to share. We took in a HART production, photographed historic sites, dropped in a couple galleries and I noticed again just how great friends make great moments happen. We talked late into the night after my wife had left us to “solve the problems of the world.” Our discourses ran the gamut from politics to power tools, logic verses emotion, and from interpreting the Constitution to photographing clouds. These are rich times, I thought, as I drifted to sleep.

On the last night of his visit we splurged on $3 cigars topped off with shots of very average blended scotch over ice, and a couple hours on the porch overlooking the constantly changing waters of the creek. I felt a sense of richness deeply listening to the creek and the voice of a friend, wanting for nothing more than what I had at the moment. I wouldn’t have traded places with Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, assets be damned.

I met a new friend recently I look forward to sharing time with, and headed to Raleigh recently to lay to rest another I have much enjoyed for the past 25 years. Friendship, as it turns out, is true wealth, gathered over time and best when shared with others, glittering more than all the gold of Midas and the best investment a person can make.

(John Beckman is a farmer, builder and observer living in Cullowhee. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .)

Zach’s Barbecue Pork:

Zach takes a Boston Butt pork shoulder — the cheaper cut of meat the better. He marinates the pork overnight in a salt water and molasses mix. The next morning he removes the pork from the marinate and applies a rub of salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, a little cayenne, garlic powder and onion powder. Zach cannot tell the exact amounts of the spices as he just adds them to taste. He smokes the pork over a charcoal and soaked hickory wood fire (keeping it at about 225 degrees) for about 10 hours in a domed smoker. Throughout the 10-hour process, he moistens the pork with an apple cider vinegar based (eastern Carolina style) sauce — if this is vague, so is Zach concerning his secret ingredients. When the pork is done, he removes the shoulder from the smoker and the pork is pulled apart with forks. More of the sauce can be added to taste.

 

Bourbon Baked Beans

6 strips of thick cut bacon

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1 jalapeno, more or less to your taste, coarsely chopped

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed with cold water

1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed with cold water

1 can (16 ounces) Bush’s Original Baked Beans

1/2 cup of barbecue sauce

1/2 cup of catsup

? cup bourbon

4 tablespoons molasses

2 teaspoons dry mustard

? teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

Cook bacon strips. Remove from heat and slice into small pieces. Using the leftover bacon grease, saute the onion and peppers until wilted. Add the bacon pieces, onions, and peppers to the rest of the other ingredients in a baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. You can taste the bourbon in this dish!

 

Grilled Vegetables

I like to use a variety of fresh vegetables: yellow and green squash, green, yellow and red bell peppers, onions, asparagus, sliced beets, eggplant. After slicing the vegetables, I cover them with a thin layer of olive oil and Italian salad dressing. I also sprinkle some Italian seasoning over the vegetables as they cook over medium coals. This does not take very long—just long enough to make nice grill marks and produce tender vegetables. You want them a little crunchy.

 

My Favorite Slaw

Mix 1/2 cup oil (I like canola), 1/2 cup malt vinegar and 2/3 cup white sugar. I mix this in a jar and shake frequently.

Brown 1 package Ramen noodles (do not use the seasoning mix), 2/3 cup sunflouwer seeds, ? cup broken pecans with ? stick of butter over medium high heat for about 5-7 minutes. Butter burns easily so keep stirring.

Mix the browned noodle mixture with a large bag of coleslaw mix and 5 chopped green onions. Add the dressing and stir to toss. This is easy and delicious.

 

Peace Cake

1 cup of butter, softened

? cup shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups of unsifted plain flour

? teaspoon baking powder

? teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract.

Beat the butter and shortening at medium speed of electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar, beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; add alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Add extracts. Grease and flour a 13 X 9-inch sheet pan.. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool and frost with white icing.

 

Seven-Minute White Icing

1 ? cups of sugar

2 egg whites

5 tablespoons cold water

? teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In top of double boiler, place sugar, egg whites, water, and cream of tartar. Beat until thoroughly blended. Place over rapidly boiling water; beat with electric hand mixer for seven minutes. Remove from heat,; add vanilla. Continue beating until icing is of spreading consistency. Frost cake and decorate with fruit. For the 4th of July, strawberries and blueberries can be used to design a peace sign, an American flag—well, you get the idea!

By Karen Dill • Guest Writer

July brings warm and often muggy weather to the usually cool mountain glens. It brings hot sultry afternoons with thunderstorms and the smell of snakes in the damp air. July brings the occasional mosquito and, worse, relatives from far-off places who are longing for a cooler (and free) vacation for a week or two.

Although no one that I knew in Bethel had air conditioning in the late 50’s (and wouldn’t for a couple of more decades), our beautiful mountains became the mecca for savvy tourists who discovered that green trees and cool mountain streams provided relief from the hot city streets. It was cheap relief, especially if you had relatives who would willingly put you up without complaint. And though entertainment was limited, the visitors to our mountains seemed to find contentment in our evening rituals.

Most summer evenings were spent sitting in the front yard after supper watching lightning bugs dot first the ground and then the night sky. This marvelous form of entertainment was satisfying for both adults and children. Some families even allowed their children to capture the bugs in Mason jars as an extension of this entertainment. The holes punched in the tops of the metal lids might assure their existence until the wee hours of the next morning.

My mother did not approve of the capturing of the bugs and their ultimate demise. “It just seems mean,” she’d say and I passed on her disapproval of the practice to my own children. Lightning bugs are meant to enjoy in the wild and to remain free, I’d tell my children. They are living creatures, after all and deserved our respect. My daughter carried this noble principle into neighborhood squabbles over the imprisonment of lightening bugs in our own small town of Webster and the catch and release practice became part of the July tradition of growing up in the mountains.

When July rolled around, the summer seemed almost perfect. The days were warm and long; the nights cool and clear. School was out. The summer air permeated with the smells of outdoor cooking, newly mowed grass and sweet honeysuckle is a memory that is forever etched in my mind.

But alas, the bucolic mood did not last for long. For during the week of July 4, the relatives came and tranquility was suspended.

The relatives came from New Jersey. My father’s older brother who had grown up in Bethel had relocated up North after World War II when he married a Northern woman and proceeded to sire two children who were New Jersey northern-bred through and through. It was during these annual visits that I came to understand the origins of the Civil War. Northerners were just different (strange actually) and certainly did not understand our Southern ways.

When Uncle Charlie came for the annual visit, he did not come alone. He brought his two children and his wife, Aunt Margaret. I suspect that Aunt Margaret quickly tired of these visits as her sister-in-laws were as different as night from day from her. Aunt Margaret was a razor-sharp, quick, outspoken businesswoman who had little in common with my sweet, docile aunts. I loved her brazen remarks, but I suspect she was content to stay in New Jersey and work (free of husband and children) for a couple weeks rather than make the pilgrimage south. I missed her.

The cousins, however, were a different story. They were quickly bored with our “hillbilly” ways. My family had neither television nor telephone, so my entertainment consisted of reading books borrowed from the Canton Library.

The cousins laughed at our mountain accents, ridiculed our neighbors who used an outdoor toilet — we called it their “Johnny house” — and were generally disdainful of our food, our outdated clothing, and our lack of any real entertainment. But worse, they thought that lightning bugs should be captured and imprisoned (without trial) in glass jar jails. They just didn’t understand our mountain ways.

And so, while the first weeks of July were spent accompanying the relatives on mountain hikes, picnics, and fishing trips that my Uncle Charlie organized, I was also secretly freeing lightning bugs. By the end of visit, we were all ready for the grand finale — the family reunion cookout. The uncles would gather early on a Saturday afternoon to light charcoal for the grilling. All manners of meat would be cooked over the hot coals — pork roasts, chickens, hamburgers, hot dogs and freshly caught mountain trout or catfish. The aunts would supply endless bowls of potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, banana pudding and more vegetables and desserts than I could name.

Conversation would start and stop as it does with families who have the past in common while the present is filled with jobs, children’s activities and friends. The joys of aging are many (wisdom, experience, self-confidence), but few rival the joy of entertaining people that you truly enjoy spending time with in your own backyard. “Family” becomes a redefined term. It not only encompasses the blood relatives but close friends of our own choosing.

At this year’s July 4 cookout, we had both.

Our son, Zach was here for a short visit from his home in St. Petersburg, Fla., and he was in charge of grilling the main dish — pork roast — and making fresh mozzarella cheese. Unlike the relatives of my childhood, Zach grew up here in Webster and respects our rules and our mountain ways. He is also a spectacular cook who understands the chemistry of beer and cheese making and prepares pork with skills that his parents have yet to master.

Zach begins the evening before the cookout. He labors throughout the evening and into the next evening to bring the wonderful smoked pork to our table. I prepare bourbon baked beans, slaw, grilled vegetables, fresh tomatoes with the mozzarella cheese that Zach has prepared and in honor of the 4th of July, a simple sheet cake decorated with fresh fruit. I decide to dub it the “peace cake” after constructing a red and blue peace sign with blueberries and strawberries over white icing on the cake. It does take on a patriotic flair when I place candles that sparkle when lit. These candles (along with the lightening bugs) will be our fireworks.

The meal comes together through a communal effort. Everyone pitches in and shreds the pork under Zach’s careful watch. The vegetables are guarded around the grill by a revolving staff of guests. Everyone carries a dish to the patio as we prepare to dig in and enjoy the meal.

As our family and friends cookout winds down, we grin across the messy meal at each other in a familiar way. With family (both chosen and blood kin), it is acceptable to eat heartily and make a mess without apology. Silence is not uncomfortable and a quiet belch is blessing for the good food shared.

The peace cake is delivered to the patio amid cheers and I light the candles that sparkle like fireworks. It is not a pretty cake, but we make an optimistic toast nevertheless to the prospect of future world peace. For when family and friends can join together for a cookout, chat comfortably around a fire and share in the preparation of good food on an ordinary neighborhood patio, then maybe peace is possible. The seeds of hope seem to flourish in the quiet warmth of a July evening when simple acceptance of family (warts and all) is honored. The mosquitoes as well as annoying relatives have stayed away. Even the lightning bugs (free from the confines of a glass jar) blink their approval.

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

By Andre A. Rodriguez • Special to the Smoky Mountain News

It’s been at least a dozen years since Waynesville’s leaders began contemplating a public skate board park to provide a safe alternative to illegal skating on streets and parking lots.

The town bans skateboarding on sidewalks and most town streets. Violaters face a $50 fine and the possibility of having their boards confiscated.

But it doesn’t always stop them, whether it’s risking a stealth nighttime run through the town’s six-story parking deck or staging a mass ride down the middle of Main Street, as was the case in a rare display of public disobedience by young skaters a couple of years ago.

Waynesville Alderman Gary Caldwell, a long-time advocate of a town skate park, sees skaters taking up their sport wherever they can, often in private parking lots.

“The other day I was taking my mom for a stroll at the Brian Center on the outside, and I saw little guys over at Garrett Funeral Home’s extra parking lot skating and jumping up on that rail,” said Caldwell. “We’ve got to make [a skate park] happen soon.”

The town set aside $70,000 toward the park a dozen years ago and are now waiting to hear if they will be awarded a matching $70,000 grant from the state Parks and Recreation Trust Fund and town Parks and Recreation Department, Director Rhett Langston said.

Langston said he hopes he has good news to deliver about the grant soon, but the General Assembly’s delay in approving a budget has also delayed the grant process. The grant was tentatively scheduled to be awarded in July, but the date has been pushed back to at least Aug. 21, Langston said.

“It’s going to be stiff competition, more so than usual,” Langston said, citing the state budget crunch.

 

Park plans

Plans for the skate park call for a fenced-in, outdoor facility on the site of the former horse ring on Vance Street. It will join the sprawling town recreation complex along Richland Creek, where playgrounds, tennis courts, picnic shelters, ball fields, a greenway, a dog park, a track, and the Waynesville Recreation Center are clustered.

The park would be free to use, but skaters would be required to pay a small registration fee so the Parks and Recreation Department can keep track of who is using the facility. The town would maintain the facility, Caldwell said, but “I think it’ll be well maintained and taken care of by [the skaters]. I think that they’ll respect it and take very, very good care of it themselves.”

Skateboarders will be required to wear helmets, and knee and elbow pads, unlike at BP Skate Park in Balsam, where many area boarders go to skate, particularly on inclement weather days since BP is an indoor facility.

The topic was an issue of contention during a public opinion meeting held in March 2008. Many experienced skaters said they don’t like skating in full pads because the pads limit motion and can be uncomfortable while skating on hot days.

Langston said there is no wiggle room for the full pads requirement, which is mandated by state law. He said he’s spoken with other municipal skate park operators who have said people still come to skate despite the requirement they be fully padded.

 

Brick by brick

While Langston awaits word on the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant, he announced that the Waynesville Kiwanis gave a $20,000 grant to the project. The park will be named the Waynesville Kiwanis and Parks and Recreation Skate Park, he said.

As families return from summer vacations and school gets cranking again, the fundraising effort is expected to kick into high gear. Langston said he plans to hold a fundraising meeting in mid-September. In the meantime, the town is selling bricks that will be used for a walkway leading to the park’s entrance. The four-inch by eight inch bricks can contain up to three lines of personalized text with 20 characters per line per brick. The bricks can be purchased for $50 each or two for $75. Langston did not have a total for the brick sale but did say sales were going “very well.”

“That’s been an ongoing event, and so far we‘ve been very pleased with it,” he said. “We’re trying to take that idea and get more aggressive.”

Langston said he hopes to get more young people involved in the fundraising effort since they’re the ones who will benefit from the project. The park is also looking for individual donors and corporate sponsors, who can get their name permanently placed on a dedication sign at the park.

Those interested in purchasing a brick, making a donation, or volunteering for the fundraising committee are asked to contact Langston at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.456.2030.

A workshop on how to build a simple greenhouse will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 30, as part of the “Gardening in Cowee” series at the Rickman Store in Macon County.

Vegetable growers can easily extend the gardening season during the fall and continue producing into the winter by building a simple and very affordable green house that allows some vegetables to survive the cold weather.

Participants will help build what’s called a “tunnel” greenhouse, made from PVC pipe, wood and construction grade plastic, all held together with bolts and screws. The light structure is moveable or can be left in one place in the garden. A list of materials, diagrams and instructions will be provided to take home.

The workshop will be led by Ron Arps, a farmer in Jackson County with a Community Supported Agriculture operation. Arps is also a founding member of the project CREATE (Community Response for Energy Action and Transition Education), which promotes creative alternatives for people to grow their own food, build their own buildings, power their own transportation, produce power for their homes, and transform lifestyles to reduce fossil fuel consumption to help address the effects of climate change.

Rickman General Store is a community gathering place located on Cowee Creek Road, next to Cowee Elementary School, seven miles north of Franklin via on N.C. 28. 828.369.5595.

All-winter greenhouse harnesses power of the sun

A workshop on how to build a passive solar greenhouse will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, at Harvest Moon Gardens on Greens Creek in Sylva.

The greenhouse pattern is borrowed from Suncatcher Design Group, which employs proper design, materials and orientation to create a greenhouse that stays warm all winter relying only on the sun. Marsha Crites of Harvest Moon Gardens learned about the style during this year’s Organic Growers School from an environmental studies professor at Appalachian State.

“When I heard that a passive system in the Boone area could keep a greenhouse at 55 degrees Fahrenheit when the outside temperature was minus-2 degrees, I was sold,” Crites said.

Harvest Moon Gardens is a small retreat center and home to Crites’ landscape and garden design business.

“The elevation here is about 2,900 feet, and while winters seem to be increasingly mild in Western North Carolin, I like knowing that the perennials and herbs I cultivate for my business will be safe on even the coldest of winter nights without the use of electricity and other complex systems,” Crites said. “I may also use the greenhouse to grow salad greens and other vegetables that will keep me and my retreat guests eating healthy, fresh produce all year.”

Cost is $30 and includes lunch and dinner, including a campfire. There are still a couple spaces left. 828.586.2726 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By Jim Janke

Every summer one or two people bring samples of ugly little insects into the plant clinic and ask how to get them out of their home. If the insects in the picture are also in your home, you have millipedes. Here are some ways to minimize this problem.

Millipedes are attracted to dark, cool, moist environments that are rich in organic matter, such as compost piles, mulched areas, or under logs. When conditions become too hot and dry they move to find moisture. In the fall they move in search of overwintering sites. They do not bite, sting, or transmit diseases. When disturbed they curl up into a circle and remain motionless. They crawl slowly and protect themselves by secreting a compound with an unpleasant odor. Millipedes do not survive indoors for very long unless they find moist conditions.

The best way to prevent a millipede infestation is to make them uncomfortable close to your home. Organic mulch in contact with the foundation is a primary home for millipedes, so moving it 6 inches or so away from the house wall will help quite a bit. Or use inorganic mulch like stone or gravel. Keep any other organic materials away from the foundation. Check your downspouts, faucets, and air conditioner drip lines to keep water from puddling. Keep your lawn de-thatched to make it a less millipede-friendly environment.

Keeping cracks sealed, having sweeps on entry doors, and caulking door thresholds where they contact the foundation will also help. My home is fairly new, and all of these joints are supposedly tight, but the millipedes find their way in anyway.

A pesticide application around the perimeter of the foundation will help. You must apply an adequate volume to coat all surfaces of the mulch or plant material, because the pesticide needs physical contact with the millipedes to kill them. A dilute application with a hose-end sprayer is best, but even this will not be 100 percent effective. Remember to read and understand the label of any chemical you use, and follow those instructions exactly.

Applications of insecticides along baseboards and other interior living areas of the home do not stop millipede invasions. Sticky mouse traps will collect those that are moving around on smooth floors. If you have an infestation larger than you can handle with a vacuum or broom, call in a professional exterminator.

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

As the inventory of every living species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park trudges into its tenth year, it turns out the biggest hunt so far isn’t for obscure slime molds or nocturnal flies — it’s for taxonomists to do the counting.

“In the beginning we cast a wide net: all these things need to be researched and if you want to do that, come,” said Todd Witcher, the director of Discover Life in America. “Now the park is wanting to look at things that are understudied. There are cases where there just is nobody to do it.”

Witcher’s pitch to lure hard-to-get taxonomists — beyond simply being part of the world’s premier species inventory — includes the thrill of finding and naming a new species.

“The idea of discovering a new species is intriguing,” Witcher said. “That’s why they are in science or taxonomy.”

As more national parks and preserves follow in the footsteps of the Smokies and launch their own all-species inventories, the global shortage of taxonomists is becoming even more apparent. The competition for experts in an already strained field makes it unclear how or when the Smokies’ All-Taxa Biological Inventory will eventually conclude.

“When it comes to getting taxonomists in a field where there are no experts, it’s hard to predict how long some of that will take,” Witcher said.

By Andre A. Rodriguez

Each morning of the Folkmoot festival, the members of Shalom Israel Ashdod spend at least one hour getting warmed up for the day, working on staying in shape by doing ballet.

Then the group — including musicians — spends at least another hour practicing the dance programs it will present to audiences later in the day. The dance troupe arrived in Waynesville after two days in New York and rehearsed two full days prior to the beginning of the 26th annual Folkmoot festival.

Even though the dancers have practiced and performed the dances probably hundreds of times, the quest for perfection continues and might never be attained.

“Usually the group is working all the year, all the time,” said dancer Moshe Gino, who has been with the group for 15 years. “We don’t work only for a festival. This is working all year. We work three times a week for three hours at a time.

The constant rehearsing is necessary, he said, because while the traditions, dances and music stay the same, the dancers are always changing.

“We need to teach the new dancers and combine them with the old dancers to make the art good on the stage. It’s important that on the stage you look good to the audience to enjoy the Israeli folklore, Gino said.”

The dedication to the art displayed by Shalom Israel Ashdod is representative of the many international folk dance troupes who take part in Folkmoot festival. Many of the dancers and musicians are professionals or “semi-professionals,” as Gino refers to the members of his group.

But Gino, as well as his father, Hilik Gino, who leads the group’s rehearsals, are professionals. Hilik Gino studied dancing in New York at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance along with Alvin Ailey and French dancer Roland Petit, Moshe Gino said.

In addition to Shalom Israel Ashdod, Hilik Gino runs several other groups in and around the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

“They are different styles. Everything is very, very unique. Every group has their own performance and choreography,” said Moshe Gino, who will be traveling to Los Angeles after Folkmoot to teach another dance group his father worked with there.

Why all the work? For the performance.

“This is the most important thing for a dancer — to perform before an audience,” Gino said. “It’s hard to wake up in the morning, most of the dancers didn’t sleep very well, so to wake up in the morning and start to work you need a lot of power. But when you’re at a performance you get power from the audience. That’s usually what happens. The bigger the performance, you are excited more and you are giving more to the audience usually. It makes you more nervous and gives you more pressure and gives you more energy.”

 

Keeping performers happy

Working behind the scenes at the Folkmoot Friendship Center, the kitchen staff also does its part to keep the Folkmoot performers energized by serving up about 1,700 meals a day, which include lots of fruits, vegetables, beans and rice, and macaroni and cheese, said morning shift kitchen manager Lake Williams.

“They love the American macaroni and cheese,” she said.

The kitchen staff prepares mostly traditional American foods but also takes into account dietary needs of the visiting groups, including providing vegetarian meals and ensuring dishes do not contain pork.

The healthy, hardy meals are appreciated by the dancers and go a long way toward ensuring the dancers enjoy their Folkmoot experience.

“Look, these dancers, they paid a lot of money to come to the festival, and if they don’t enjoy themselves they don’t have any reason to come next year,” Gino said. “So what happens inside the Folkmoot Center is very important to the festival, because without this any festival cannot exist.”

Shalom Israel Ashdod seems to really enjoy the Folkmoot experience. This year marks the group’s fourth visit to North Carolina’s Official International Festival. The group also performed at Folkmoot in 1995, 1998 and 2001.

“This is an amazing place,” said Gino, who was with the group for each visit.

The amount of interaction that goes on between the groups at Folkmoot also helps the group members enjoy themselves and want to keep coming back.

“You need all the socialization,” Gino said. “It’s an amazing thing to meet other people from other cultures,” especially when meeting groups with similar backgrounds and shared stories.

“Sometimes when we go to a festival there is an Arab country like Egypt or Armenia, countries that don’t have very good relationships with Israel, but they were our best friends because the Arab nation is very similar to Israel.

“There are many people in Israel who came from Arab nations,” such as Morocco, as did Gino’s father.

“So there is the same music, same subjects to talk about, to enjoy,” Gino said. “A lot of Israeli people speak Arabic.

“When you meet other cultures I think it’s changing,” he said. “You look at other points of view. It’s changing because you see that everybody is similar. All the people are very similar. All the people want to have fun, to enjoy meeting other people, to make connections. It’s the same in every culture, in every state, in every human being. You understand how simple it is and how other people make it not simple.”

The work that goes into Folkmoot performances is hard, Gino said, but “the world is very easy.”

Sounds like Waynesville’s leaders heard just what they expected last week regarding South Main Street — many people feel many different ways, and so no matter what the outcome many are going to be unhappy.

Waynesville’s leaders and residents have a real challenge in front of them as they decide just how best to re-design this corridor. South Main Street connects two distinctly different areas — the thriving, historic town center and the new big box development that currently includes Super Wal Mart and Best Buy. Along the way are nice neighborhoods, lots of small businesses, and a lot of open asphalt parking areas. The challenge is to provide the right roadway to bring together two areas that have commonalities and are also, in many ways, polar opposites.

The state Department of Transportation has so far said it will adhere to the town’s wishes. They say this corridor is not connected at all to any of its thoroughfare plans to move mass numbers of vehicles, and so will defer on this one to town leaders and local opinion. That means local residents and towns apparently won’t end up fighting DOT for the road they want, which still happens way too often.

So what is best? It seems fairly obvious that a road that gets progressively smaller as it nears downtown’s portion of Main Street makes sense. Bike lanes and sidewalks should be included the entire length of the route. Waynesville has already established a reputation as a pedestrian-friendly community, and making these main corridors adhere to this long-range plan is obviously in the best interest of the town and its citizens.

The area between Country Club Drive and the entrance to Super Wal Mart will be the most difficult. Some businesses in this area likely won’t be around within a few years, but others are right now awaiting the decision on the roadway so they can complete plans. This is where some will walk away dissatisfied with the final decision. Some think it’s time to four-lane this area — a move that would lead to the razing of many buildings — while others like the haphazard collection of small, privately owned businesses. For some, that’s the character of Hazelwood.

“It seems like they are trying to get rid of old Hazelwood to beautify the town. That’s what the sole purpose is,” said Oma Lou Leatherwood at a public hearing on the road held last week at Hazelwood Elementary School.

For others, the need to re-develop the area is obvious: “It’s just really decrepit looking. They are never going to attract businesses if that stretch is so ugly,” said Joellen Habas.

And so, without doubt, there will be losers and there will be winners. Some aspects of what needs to be done here are obvious, but some decisions will likely be made on the gut instincts of town aldermen. Stay tuned.

A Hard Journey by James J. Lorence. University of Illinois Press, 2009. 344 pages.

Once on a warm, summer afternoon (circa 1957), I met Don West in the Townhouse Restaurant in Cullowhee. He was visiting his daughter, Hedy (a student at WCC) and talked easily about provocative topics: McCarthyism, HUAC, Eugene Debbs and union violence in Georgia. At one point, he indicated a well-dressed coffee-drinker at the counter and said, “See that guy? He is an FBI agent that follows me everywhere I go.” The coffee-drinker nodded and smiled. I was skeptical. Besides, I was 18, and most of my attention was focused on his daughter, Hedy.

When he got up to leave, he gave me a battered copy of Clods of Southern Earth and suggested that I read it; we could talk about it the next time we met, he said. I had no way of knowing that just a few months before our conversation, he had narrowly escaped lynching near Blairsville, Ga. Shortly after visiting Hedy, he would return to his farm in Douglasville to find his livestock poisoned, a KKK cross burning on his property and a government agent on his porch with another HUAC subpoena. I had just met what may well be the most controversial and significant poet, minister, activist and teacher in the last century of Appalachian history.

I found James J. Lorence’s biography to be a dense, difficult but rewarding book. Certainly, it presents a comprehensive portrait of a charismatic, flawed and driven man whose confrontational manner caused him (and his family) considerable hardship. Like an old storytelling friend of mine once observed about her own difficult life: “I have dug my grave with my tongue.” In a pulpit, a classroom or in crafting the lines of a “working man’s poem,” West possessed an astonishing gift: the power to persuade and inspire others. Yet, that same gift provoked his enemies to bring him down.

Born Donald Lee West on June 6, 1906, in Gilmer County, Cartecay, Ga., West’s early beliefs were shaped by his grandfather, Asberry Kimsey Mulkey. From an early age, Don was taught to believe in the inherent wisdom of common people, the equality of all men (anti-slavery) and the concept of Jesus Christ as a revolutionary. Raised in a family with a reverence for the power of words, music and oral tradition, Don learned to use them to promote his grandfather’s principles. These basic precepts remained with West throughout his life.

When West’s family moved to Cobb County and became sharecroppers, Don and his sister were ridiculed for their clothes at school. This experience, in conjunction with an encounter with educational “paternalism,” convinced Don that schools were attempting to eradicate his culture and replace it with middle-class values. Although he received a work scholarship to Berry College, Don quickly found himself expelled when he led a protest against the blatant racism in the film, “Birth of a Nation.”

Gaining admission to Lincoln Memorial University in east Tennessee, West becomes friends with Jesse Stuart and James Still, marries Connie Adams, decides to become a minister and moves to Vanderbilt, where he soon becomes involved in radicalism, strikes, unions and educational reform. A trip to Denmark convinced him that the Danish school system offered the solution to retaining traditional values in education.

At this point, West’s life becomes a striving for ideals that invariably brings him into conflicts with authority. His attempts to launch the Highlander Center (1933) in Monteagle, Tenn., with Miles Horton is successful, but leads to irreconcilable conflicts with Horton. Amid accusations that the Highlander was a “communist training center,” Don leaves and begins a series of erratic journeys (on his beloved Indian motorcycle). West’s nebulous involvement with the Communist Party causes many of his friends (including Jesse Stuart) to distance themselves from him. Eventually, West’s publicized ties with Communist and leftist politics forces him to seek work under an assumed name.

For much of West’s life, his mainstay is his wife Connie. A gifted teacher, she readily finds employment. Even when Don’s notoriety brings her dismissal as well (guilt by association), she frequently travels to Florida and other states to teach. She sends the money home to Don and her family. In time, she also becomes a talented artist.

Time and time again, West succeeds in an astonishing variety of ventures: a beloved superintendent in Hall County, Ga.; three years of teaching at Oglethorpe; a successful newspaper editor in Dalton, Ga.; the creation of the Appalachian Center at Pipestem (modeled after his beloved Danish school system); a series of awards, including Appalachian Writers Association, Berea College and the Lincoln Memorial Hall of Fame — all remarkable achievements.

Yet the majority of his successes turned to dust in his hands. His notoriety and his past involvement in radical activities results in his dismissal from Oglethorpe; the KKK and groups of anti-red organizations (including the American Legion) drove him from Dalton, and his major nemesis, Ralph McGill, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, is credited with driving West from Georgia. For a time he lived and taught in New York. Then came a realized dream at Pipestem.

Lorence’s biography gives a detailed account of how a battered and demoralized West retreated, again and again, to his farm in Georgia to seek renewal from the land. Even this final refuge is denied him when his farm is torched and his collection of 10,000 books destroyed — a tragedy that Don later claimed was provoked by Ralph McGill. However, the last decade of Don’s life was relatively peaceful, and was spent fundraising, teaching and promoting the Appalachian South Folklife Center at Pipestem. West died at the Charleston Area Medical Center in 1992.

This is what remains: His awards, his poetry and essays and the Appalachian South Folklife Center at Pipestem, West Virginia; the multitudes of students who still speak of him with respect, the lifetime friendship of people like Langston Hughes, Paul Green, Byron Herbert Reece and Arthur Miller; and the music of his daughter, Hedy, an art that owes its authentic beauty to the same forces that shaped her unrepentant father.

It may be that the final judgment of Donald Lee West’s significance is yet to be made. If Communism is finally a harmless scarecrow and if McCarthyism has been defanged, perhaps it is possible that we can finally give this angry, impatient and gifted man a fair hearing. He loved mountain people and honored them in every act that he performed. Let us finally acknowledge that.

(Gary Carden is a writer and storyteller who lives in Sylva. His current writings can be found at his blog, http://hollernotes.blogspot.com/.)

Although Wellco shoe plant in Waynesville is closing, the community will be spared the blight of another vacant industrial site.

Haywood Vocational Opportunities, which manufactures and assembles medical supplies, is buying the site to expand its own operations. HVO, which currently has 320 full-time employees, hopes to add 75 more within two years at the Wellco site.

“This certainly softens the blow,” said Mark Clasby, Haywood County’s Economic Development Director. “Obviously you hate to lose any jobs anytime, but fortunately in this situation, HVO has been a great success story for Haywood County.”

An expansion was already in the works for HVO. HVO was planning to buy a site in the Beaverdam Industrial Park near Canton, but will now utilize the Wellco site instead.

“It is very conducive to upfitting, upgrading and renovating to meet our needs,” said George Marshall, CEO of HVO.

The Wellco site is less than half a mile from HVO’s current operation. That proximity was the main factor in the decision, Marshall said.

HVO’s main product is medical drapes used during surgery. The company also assembles surgical kits — up to 800 a day — customized with the suite of instruments a particular doctor might need. The new space will be used to expand HVO’s production capacity and grow new product lines, Marshall said.

Clasby is grateful HVO stepped in to buy the Wellco site, even if it meant backing out of the deal in the industrial park. When it comes to courting new industry to set up shop, Clasby feels the 10-acre graded site in an industrial park on the side of Interstate 40 will eventually find a new taker. As for the old Wellco site, Clasby fears it would have been impossible to recruit a new tenant.

“Manufacturing companies are not interested in old buildings with lower ceilings,” Clasby said.

“The Wellco property probably would not have a lot of interest from manufacturing industry,” Marshall agreed.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Gaily colored petals of long-stemmed Cosmos flowers lilt along on the sea-swept winds that blow across Great Cranberry Island, located just off the coast of Maine where Patricia Bailey, an associate professor of art at Western Carolina University, is at work directing another season of artist residencies.

The sun sets against a low tree line, casting a warm pink light across the tidal basin and filling artists’ studios with the glow of evening. This is when painter and printmaker Joseph Norman comes alive. The self-proclaimed night owl created 30 works in the first week of his residency at the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation. Norman, former chair of painting and drawing and professor at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, characterizes his works as expressive poetic realism spanning across several media.

“I hope to have a chance to reconnect with my creative spirit during this residency,” Norman said. “For me, this is a transitional period in my personal life and I have to retool before making the next move. I want to learn to work again in silence and become comfortable once again with being alone with my thoughts.”

Under a rising moon, Norman toils energetically in his temporary studio that houses a press and other equipment from the studio of the late artist Charles Wadsworth, a friend of the two artists whose home the foundation now operates as an artists’ sanctuary.

Formed in 1993, the foundation is dedicated to the artistic vision of the two painters, John Heliker and Robert LaHotan, who were its founders. Heliker had a long career in the New York art world. He taught at Columbia University, founded the New York Studio School and taught the master of fine arts painting program at Parsons School of Design. Winner of the Prix de Rome and a Guggenheim Fellowship, he showed widely and was the subject of the first retrospective exhibition in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s new building in 1968.

A Fulbright Scholar who earned his master of fine arts from Columbia University, LaHotan drew artistic inspiration from the landscape and contemporary impressionist painters including Matisse and Bonnard. He taught art at the Dalton School in New York for more than 30 years. In New York City and in Maine, the foundation is engaged in a variety of projects that perpetuate the painters’ legacy, including a residency program on Great Cranberry Island for painters and sculptors of established ability.

WCU’s Bailey met Heliker and LaHotan while living in New York. She earned her master of fine arts degree from the Pratt Institute in 1971, worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and taught at Parsons School of Design before coming to WCU in 2001.

Her long friendship with the artists led her to accept a leadership role on the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation’s board of trustees. When Heliker died in 2000, LaHotan charged the foundation’s board with forming a residency program that would celebrate Great Cranberry’s artist community, which included Ashley Bryan, Dorothy Eisner and Charles Wadsworth. With LaHotan’s death in 2002, Bailey worked diligently to open the Heliker-LaHotan home and studios to artists.

At home with Heliker & Lahotan

The landscape of Great Cranberry Island and community of artists there bade Heliker and LaHotan to purchase a 19th-century house and boatyards built by Capt. Enoch B. Stanley on a sheltered tidal pool that had once been the prosperous and busy harbor door to the island during clipper-ship days. The island was sparsely populated, with most residents working on farms or at sea; however, it was known as a shipbuilding center.

Great Cranberry is the largest of a group of five islands to the southeast of Bangor in the Gulf of Maine, near the entrance to Somes Sound and the two harbors that sit to either side of its mouth. Both Great and Little Cranberry islands, which got their names from the wild low-bush cranberries that grow there in the fall, still have small year-round populations of lobstermen and boat builders.

Heliker and LaHotan spent the most productive years of their lives painting on Cranberry in the summers and teaching and painting in New York during the winters. Their historic home has been left very much as it was while Heliker and LaHotan lived there. Artists each have private bedrooms and use of the living quarters. Three large bookcases offer a wealth of reading, and in the eat-in kitchen black-and-white tiled countertops stretch under a row of hanging skillets. Hardwood floors are found throughout and wide windowsills make an excellent perch for Bailey’s cats. A modest garden supplies some of the produce for residents’ meals, and mainland grocery stores deliver other supplies by ferry. The home-like feel is part of what makes the residency so welcoming to artists who may recognize the surrounding scenery in the work of their brethren - one of Walker Evans’ most famous photographs is of the home’s cast-iron parlor stove.

“The most inspiring aspect of my visit has been the connection to Heliker and LaHotan,” said Ruth Bernard, a neo-expressionist painter and adjunct professor of art at Penn State-Berks. “I feel I am an extension of them by continuing the tradition of the creative process begun by Heliker and LaHotan and others of their generation.”

The foundation welcomed its first four residents in 2006. In 2007, there were eight artists; 11 in 2008. This year the residency program will bring 15 for the three- to four-week residencies that are designed for artists of established ability. The group hails from locations stretching from Kaleva, Mich., to Memphis, Tenn., and Athens, Ga., to Audierne, France.

Residents must bring with them whatever materials they will need, as there is no source of art supplies on the island, and few on the mainland. It is recommended that such items be shipped ahead of time. The island’s ferries are more than a novelty, they are a way of life. There is a small post office, a general store, a community center, an exercise facility, and a single church with non-denominational services held only in the months of July and August.

The summer is when the island population swells to hundreds of part-time residents and summer vacationers; however, artists much embrace their seclusion. No more than three artists are in residence at a time. The island studios offer a wealth of natural light, views of the tidal basin and solitude on the private shore, which is what Heliker and LaHotan wanted.

“This place is so supportive of uninterrupted work,” Bailey said.

The Great Cranberry experience translates to a sense of intimacy within one’s works, said Susan Danly, curator of graphics, photography and contemporary art at the Portland Museum of Art, which recently hosted “Art of the Cranberry Isles.” The exhibit features 25 pieces from artists working on the Cranberry Islands throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

John David Wissler, a painter from Pennsylvania, studied under Heliker at the Parson School of Design and saw the landscape and its spirit in Heliker’s works. He has made a special connection to the Heliker-LaHotan home during his residency.

“The place will be with me and in my work for quite some time,” Wissler said. “I knew it would be a place I would want to paint. It has been wonderful.”

Fostering the arts

With funding from a recently awarded stipend, Bailey this year will help further develop the residency program and support two exhibitions on Heliker’s work. One exhibition is being collected from Heliker’s drawings and associated materials from his time working on the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project, the first major attempt at government patronage of the visual arts in the United States and the most extensive and influential of the visual arts projects conceived during the Depression.

Heliker’s work is among the more than 100,000 easel paintings created during the project’s eight-year existence. David Lewis, associate professor of art history at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, is developing the exhibit with research assistance from Tara Jones, a graduate of Western Carolina. The two have been going through the foundation’s extensive archives of Heliker’s work and pulling materials such as sketchbooks and letters that no one has seen since Heliker created them. Jones also is serving as the Heliker-LaHotan facility coordinator and Bailey’s assistant.

The artist’s connection

The foundation’s reach spread to Western Carolina’s Fine Art Museum, which is home to a donated 1989 Heliker painting titled “The Visit II.” The work was hung in 2005 during an inaugural exhibition “Worldviews: Selections from the Permanent Collection.” The work helps anchor the focus of the collection, and will greatly strengthen the museum’s teaching mission, said Martin DeWitt, founding director of WCU’s Fine Art Museum.

“As we examine the beautiful work of Mr. Heliker, we can discuss his early roots as a modernist, and trace his extraordinary journey as artist and teacher, the influence of which continues to this day,” DeWitt said.

The Fine Art Museum may in coming years become host to Lewis’ exhibit of Heliker’s WPA works. DeWitt has a special connection to the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation. Both his brothers, each of whom is a painter, will have completed residencies on Great Cranberry Island this year. The cultural round-robin also has meant that artists such as painter and printmaker Norman have appeared as visiting artists at WCU, and through this connection learned about the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation and are in turn exploring their creativity during a residency.

The artists’ vibrancy is contagious, Bailey said, and dinnertime conversations welcome lively discussion about academia, teaching methods and, of course, art. After time spent on the island, Bailey, who teaches drawing and painting, comes back to her campus classroom with a renewed sense of purpose.

“I’m energized,” Bailey said. “I’m energized by the artists I have the privilege of working with.”

For more information about the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation, visit www.heliker-lahotan.org/. Former WCU new media professor Katya Moorman designed the site, which is maintained by WCU alumnus Andrew Kinnear.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park boasts more volunteers than nearly any other park. Last year, 2,780 volunteers logged a total of 117,537 man-hours. They wielded Pulaskis on trails, handed out maps at visitor centers, donned historic costumes for heritage days, scooped ashes out of campfire rings and promoted ethical wildlife viewing during peak elk times in Cataloochee.

Some volunteers turn their commitment to the park into a full-time endeavor, like Jim Lowe of Robbinsville. The Smokies hit a home run when Lowe sought out the area in his retirement. With a Ph.D from Yale in entomology and botany, and a forest service career that centered around plants and bugs, Lowe not only has hours and passion to spare but a real knowledge of science.

Lowe found his true niche as a volunteer with the All Taxa Biological Inventory. During the height of ATBI insect collections, the 77-year-old Lowe made twice-monthly treks to Purchase Knob for three years to check insect traps.

To catch crawling insects, Lowe used a pitfall trap: a plastic jar sunk in the ground. Any bugs stumbling along would fall in and drown in a dose of propylene glycol, poisonous only to insects.

For flying critters, Lowe draped a large mesh net over a pole, called a malaise trap. When insects collide with the mesh, they have a naturally tendency to fly upwards looking for a way past the obstacle. But at the apex of the net, the insects found themselves face to face with a bottle of ethyl alcohol.

Since black bears would lap up the ethyl alcohol if given the chance, an electric fence was strung around the whole contraption.

After three years, the Park finally put the breaks on the intensive collection after running out of storage space for the insects.

“Literally thousands,” Lowe said.

Lowe wasn’t the only one making the weekly rounds to check traps. Similar stations were set up at 10 other sites in the park. Lowe frequently pinchhit for volunteers manning the other locations.

“Between that and my trail maintenance, I never hike recreationally any more,” Lowe said.

As an on-call volunteer, Lowe often gets the chance to rub elbows with the troop of researchers funneling through the Smokies on ATBI quests. Lowe has a boat on Fontana Lake and is often tapped to give researchers a lift across the water to the wild and remote North Shore area of the Park. One week it might be ornithologists snaring birds in mist nets, and scientists tracing water mites the next.

Lowe sometimes serves as a backcountry guide for what he calls the “intellectual types” with less than savvy outdoor skills.

The ATBI has overshadowed any semblance of retirement Lowe had to his name.

“It’s a long standing love of the park and wanting to contribute to the knowledge of it,” Lowe said. “At the risk of sounding sappy, I am just devoted to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It has been a great part of my life.”

By Andre A. Rodriguez

Twenty-five years after their father represented the Netherlands at the first Folkmoot festival, a second generation of folk dancers has arrived from Holland to take part in the two-week international dance festival.

Oscar and Victor Peeters weren’t even born when their father, Rene Peeters, came to Waynesville to perform, first in 1980 at a folk festival that was Folkmoot’s forerunner and then again in 1984 at the inaugural Folkmoot event.

Growing up, the brothers heard many tales about their father’s first trip to the United States and the international festivals to which their parents traveled — in addition to Folkmoot — in countries such as Israel, Italy, Portugal and Romania.

“I heard stories about festivals in a lot of countries, mostly in Europe,” said Oscar Peeters, 21. “My father was in the Waynesville festival, and he talked about America. That was his first visit (to the United States).”

“Just like us,” said Victor Peeters, 16. “This is our first visit (to the United States), too.”

Oscar and Victor Peeters’ mother, Lynda Hoekstra, is also making her first trip to the states. She is artistic director for Paloina, the Dutch group with which the brothers dance and with which she used to dance. She said her husband spoke fondly of the host family with whom he stayed in Waynesville. She said he also shared a frightening and slightly humorous anecdote about another group’s performance during the fledgling Folkmoot festival.

“There was a German group from the south of Germany, and they had a dance with axes,” Hoekstra said. “There was this big theater with a very new floor. Their dance didn’t go right, and one of the dancer’s axes hit the floor and made a hole.

“So that was one of the things he talked about and of course it was his first time to America as well,” she said. He spoke about the “big houses and big cars. It’s quite different than Holland.”

Another dancer performing with Paloina at this year’s Folkmoot shares a similar history with Oscar Peeters and Victor Peeters. Twenty-year-old Jan (pronounced “Yon”) Hootsmans said his mother, Maja Kuijper, was a singer with Paloina’s accompanying orchestra during the 1984 Folkmoot festival. Hootsmans joined Paloina when he was 16 and began dancing with members he grew up watching, he said.

“As a small kid I actually went to a festival with some of the people who are in the group right now, so they knew me as a 2-year-old and then as a 16-year-old.”

The young performers have been enjoying their first trip to the United States, which began with a few days in New York.

Victor Peeters said he enjoyed renting bikes and going cycling, while Oscar Peeters said his favorite part of the trip so far was looking up a Romanian gypsy band on the Internet and going to see them perform live “deep, deep in Brooklyn.”

As far as international folk festivals go, Folkmoot is one of the largest and most organized they’ve attended, Hoekstra and Hootsmans said.

“Everything from day one to day last is organized,” Hoekstra said. “When you come into the (Folkmoot Friendship Center) all the beds are made and they even give you towels and small bag with toiletries and it’s all so well done. The food is very good. They try to make it good for everybody.”

Making it good for everybody includes allowing the members of the groups from eight countries participating in this year’s festival to interact with others outside their group as much as possible.

Victor Peeters, who took part in the fourth annual Folkmoot 5K on Saturday (July 18), said it was an “awesome” experience.

“I think it was great running with all the different people and the locals,” he said.

Some other festivals only allow for interaction with their guides and bus drivers, said Victor Peeters.

“Mostly the guides at the other festivals are the representatives of the (host) company that have some ability in English,” Oscar Peeters said. “Here (at Folkmoot) everyone speaks English so you can converse with any person you want to.”

Hoekstra said she’s happy her sons have taken an interest in folk dancing, even though they only began participating about two years ago. It’s good for the continuity of the Paloina, which was founded in 1971.

“There were years when some of the older ones stopped dancing and then we had a period when not too many dancers were ready as far as joining the other dancers,” she said. “So you feel it’s good to share the information you know to not only the next generation but also to people who are a few years behind you because it’s good to continue the dance.”

Hootsmans has two younger brothers who dance with Paloina’s children’s group, to whom he feels he has a responsibility to pass on what he’s learned.

“I have a feeling they’ll probably be joining our group in a few years,” he said. “I’ll be there to mentor them at that point as well as some younger guys who are dancing in that children’s group right now.”

By Carl Iobst • Guest Columnist

Over the past few weeks several individuals and one media outlet have provided Jackson County citizens with a comedic Greek Chorus concerning the Jackson County commissioners and their decision to condemn the Dillsboro Dam and the land around it. News stories that have been written about the commissioners supposed ‘exercise in futility’ have come seemingly from a corporate spin doctor’s pen. Other individuals have attempted to “shame” us for not ‘doing the right thing’ and allowing Duke to have its way and destroy a county icon and significant cultural resource.

One individual claims that the powers of a private corporation (Duke) supersede the powers of a duly elected body (Jackson County Commissioners). Pardon me; I thought that the United States was a republic and not an oligarchy. Things change I suppose, despite ‘silly little pieces of paper’ such as the Constitution of the United States.

The supposed “cornerstone” of the integrated Nantahala/Tuckaseigee 2003 Settlement Agreement was actually an “agreement” rammed though by Duke as a sop to the “stakeholders” and their own selfish agendas. This silenced the rest of the environmental community and curried favor with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Duke’s “Great Fear” is that they won’t get another half century of a licensed monopoly on hydro-electric production in Jackson County and make hundreds of millions of dollars from us, the rate-payers.

Yes, it is truly an absolute shame to see Jackson County’s limited natural and cultural resources raped once again. A huge electric power monopoly and a few selfish, self-centered ‘stakeholders’ are going to get what they want — no matter the cost. And the public be damned!

Regardless of the outcome of the FERC re-licensing process, I pity the poor souls (and there have been quite a few) who would sell themselves and the cultural resources of Jackson County for little more than, comparatively speaking, 30 pieces of silver. I can sleep at night; can they?

Carl Iobst is secretary of the Jackson County Citizen Action Group and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

In Swain County, incumbent Republican Sheriff Curtis Cochran successfully fended off challenger John Ensley.

Cochran has faced several controversies in the preceding four-year term, his first in law enforcement. He has weathered well-publicized rows with county commissioners, including a discrimination lawsuit against them and disagreements about deputy pay, overtime and other budgetary woes. The department under Cochran has also seen the escape of an accused murderer from its new, still half-empty jail — aided by a detention officer — and the misuse of official credit cards by yet another detention officer.

Democrat Ensley, a local businessman with only a tad more law enforcement experience than Cochran, felled other primary contenders with ease but eeked out little more than a third of the final vote tally. Throughout his campaign, he promised to use his prowess as a salesman to entice federal, state and other local prisoners to fill the costly jail, a feat Cochran has, as yet, failed to perform.

Cochran won all five of the county’s precincts, taking more than 60 percent of the vote in four districts and leading one of those by 71 percent. He will now enter another four-year term, where he will be working with the recently-elected, all-Democrat county commission.

 

Swain County Sheriff

Curtis Cochran (R)    2,857

John Ensley (D)    1,706

Swain County will spend the next four years with an all-Democrat board of commissioners after all the incumbents running for office held onto their seats and Donnie Dixon and Robert White scooped up the two open spots.

Neither current chairman Glenn Jones nor commissioner Genevieve Lindsay sought re-election after both spent the last eight years on the board.

Steve Moon will serve his second term on the board, winning one district and 12 percent of the vote. He owns a tire shop and came to the board after a six-year run on the county’s school board. Moon said during the spring primaries that he wanted to stay on the board to watch over its allocation of interest from the North Shore Road settlement.

David Monteith, also an incumbent, came away with three of the county’s five districts and just under 15 percent of votes, the largest percentage of any winner. Monteith is a school bus driver and was the lone commissioner to vote against the North Shore Road settlement. He campaigned on a platform of protecting and increasing the county’s job base.

Donnie Dixon, a newcomer to the board, didn’t win outright in any precincts, but still pulled out nearly 13 percent of the vote. Dixon is a machinist who served a single term as commissioner in the 90s, but is coming back to the board with ideas of greater openness, televised meetings and courting higher paying jobs for the county.

Robert White is the second newcomer but is also no stranger to public life as retired superintendent of the county’s school system. He campaigned on strategic planning and citizen involvement to lead the board, citing the expertise in both areas that he gained as superintendent as good qualities to recommend him for the job.

While the four commissioners had to beat out a total field of nine challengers, the race for chairman was run between only two. Current board member Phil Carson won, edging out Mike Clampitt by just under 5 percent of the votes.

 

Swain County Board of Commissioners (Chairman)

Phil Carson (D)    2,319

Mike Clampitt (R)    2,083

 

Swain County Board of Commissioners (vote for 4)

David Monteith (D)    2,465

Donnie Dixon (D)    2,089

Steve Moon (D)    2,041

Robert White (D)    1,976

James King (R)     1,788

John Herrin (R)    1,778

Andy Parris (R)    1,724

Gerald Shook Jr. (R)    1,604

William (Neil) Holden (L)    1,015

Incumbent Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville) lost his state Senate seat to fresh-faced Republican challenger Ralph Hise, making Hise the youngest North Carolina senator and adding another member to the now-Republican majority in that chamber.

This is just the latest in a series of tough battles fought by Queen over the last few elections for the 47th Senate District. His fortunes at the polls have risen and fallen with the tides of national sentiment – he lost his seat in the Bush-bonanza of 2004, but swooped in to reclaim it in 2006 when Bush’s ratings – and, by extension, his party’s – plummeted, and held it easily in 2008, riding the Democratic wave led by now-President Obama.

Queen himself attributes this loss, the second of his Senate career, to the national backlash against incumbents as well as the wealth of attack ads lobbed at him by his opponent and outside groups unaffiliated with Hise.

“It was a unique kind of race, as anyone knows that followed it,” said Queen. “There’s been a million dollars of negative advertising, which is twice as much as you would expect, even in a high profile race like I usually have.

“It’s hard to withstand a million dollars of negative advertising and still keep your public persona.”

Meanwhile, winner Hise attributes his win to the feeling among voters that their interests and needs aren’t being properly represented in Raleigh.

“We’ve heard an anger across the district that people are upset with their government and representation since we started this campaign,” he said, noting that his own frustration with the way government is run prompted his bid for the seat in the first place.

While 60-year-old Queen has served intermittently since 2002, 34-year-old Hise comes to the assembly from his position as mayor of Spruce Pine, carrying with him minimal legislative experience.

He said his priorities in Raleigh will be to “return us to some fiscal discipline” while seeking out new opportunities for jobs in the district.

Hise took just under 56 percent of the vote, winning McDowell, Yancey, Mitchell and Avery counties. Queen surpassed him Haywood, his home county, and neighboring Madison County.

Although he is out for this legislative term, Queen has made comebacks before, and wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a return to the campaign trail on the next election cycle.

“I am 60 years old and I’ve still got a lot ahead of me,” Queen said, “but whether it’s in politics or business or what, I’m not certain.

“I like public service and I will look at the future appropriately as it develops, but I certainly have enjoyed getting to do the things I’ve been able to do for my region.”

Hise said he is excited about the win, after what he called a “hard, tough fight,” but takes a cautious attitude towards the role of the new Republican majorities in both state chambers, warning that he and fellow Republicans must be careful to keep promises lest they find the tables turned on them when voters hit the polls again.

“If we don’t return representation to our government,” Hise said, “this will be a two-year opportunity.”

 

47th Senate District

Ralp Hise Jr. (R)    31,098

Joe Sam Queen (D)    24,531

A hard-hitting campaign, coupled with a surging Republican tide helped Jim Davis claim the state’s 50th District Senate seat on Tuesday.

Davis, a Macon County resident, beat incumbent state Sen. John Snow, a Cherokee County Democrat. If unofficial election night results stand, then Davis helped give Republicans control of the state Senate for the first time in more than a century . Republicans also took control of the N.C. House.

Davis late Tuesday night described himself as excited, elated and exhausted. The Franklin orthodontist said he intends to continue his dental practice.

Davis will now also resign his seat as a Macon County commissioner, with two years left to his term. He said his understanding is that the county’s Republican Executive Committee, via a subcommittee, will select his replacement.

Davis ran on an economic platform that promises a new policy of frugality. He blamed out-of-control taxing and spending by Democrats for North Carolina’s economic problems. He also said the state has created a climate that is unfavorable for businesses, squelching job creation.

Jim Blaine, head of North Carolina’s Senate Republican Caucus, told The Smoky Mountain News two weeks ago that he believed mountain voters would help overturn Democratic control of the state because of a desire to receive a more equitable distribution of tax dollars when compared with amounts received in the eastern portion of the state.

Snow is a retired District Court judge and prosecutor who had served three terms in the state Senate.

 

50th Senate District

Jim Davis (R)    30,838

John Snow (D)    30,634