There’s a connection between being a musician and Halloween that goes beyond the obvious skulls/pumpkins/fake blood/heavy metal stereotype, at least for me. It’s a holiday where you can be as nutty as you want; roll yourself in tinfoil and carry a samurai sword around all day? Great! I had some friends in Charlotte that decided to make themselves into “human fruit baskets” one year. Let’s just say that the costume involved a huge amount of Saran wrap, some strategically placed apples and bananas, and nothing more. Eeek.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Tuckasegee community members will learn next week if a rock quarry gets state approval to be placed in their neighborhood.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

The possibility of relocating Franklin’s town hall has been a topic of debate among town board members and residents for some time now.

A major road is in the planning stages, and neighbors and others in the community feel like it’s more of a runaway train that will help developers, encourage sprawl, and subsequently change their future forever rather than a consensus-building project to provide taxpaying citizens with an answer to their transportation woes.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

It’s a typical neighborhood with houses, trees, bikes in the yard, a basketball goal and — an animal shelter?

By Michael Beadle

The tired diatribes of partisan politics may continue to capture the headlines in the coming campaign months, but there is one issue President Bush, Republicans, Democrats, student activists, Hollywood actors and most world governments are all agreeing on — Burma’s long-running military regime must end its repressive campaign against its own people.

Going to the movies

Every now a then a great batch of movies is released, calling me to the movie theater to spend too much on an overpriced ticket, popcorn and a soda. This month you can refer to your film selection not by name, but by the A-list actors and actresses from among whom you must choose — George Clooney (“Michael Clayton’), Morgan Freeman (“Gone Baby Gone”), Denzel Washington (“American Gangster”), Russell Crowe (“American Gangster”), Robert Redford (“Lions for Lambs”). The second string, of more niche films out now, offers Cate Blanchett (“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody (“The Darjeeling Limited”) and Tim Burton’s absolute classic “The Nightmare Before Christmas” re-released in 3-D. You’ll note that absent from this list are Steve Carrell’s “Dan in Real Life,” which unfortunately has been panned as overly sentimental, John Cusack’s “Martian Child,” which may fall prey to the same criticism, Brad Pitt’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” which I’ve been told is as epic in length as its name and doesn’t hold one’s attention span, and Jerry Seinfeld’s “Bee Movie,” which has gotten great reviews, but I just won’t be seeing. With such a great selection out there though, it’s mandatory that you get out there and soak some of it in — perhaps at the matinee, when tickets are cheaper.

Pie

I love pie. There’s a great little scene in the film “Michael” during which Andie MacDowell sings a country tune she’s penned about loving pie while sitting with friends at a table covered with a piece of every kind of pie the restaurant has — I can only aspire. I’m well known for my Pumpkin Pie, which I have to say is pretty gosh darn good. Too many folks get shy about the spices or use that blasted “Pumpkin Pie Spice.” Just tried a new recipe for a fresh cranberry and dried cherry pie that I fiddled with a bit and wound up with a sweet-tart creation perfect for Thanskgiving. And then there’s the Coconut Cream Pie from the Thomas Family Cookbook that’s just fabulously sinful — though I do double the coconut used. Anyone out there with family recipes is welcomed and encouraged to share.

The Sarut Group

Alan Ceppos and Frederic Rambaud have assembled a fun and interesting collection of gifts that “inspire, educate and entertain.” Rambaud was born and raised in West Africa and educated in Europe, and Ceppos spent 10 years in France, giving the company a global influence. Everything from the French designed passport covers to the sleeping kitty tape dispenser is bent on being funky and colorful. Go explore at www.thesarutgroup.com and get an early start on your holiday shopping.

— Sarah Kucharski

By Michael Beadle

A few days before Halloween, strange sounds were coming from room 451 in the Coulter Building on the campus of Western Carolina University.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

In their fight to stop progress to the proposed Southern Loop, members of the Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance filed a public records request last week with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to obtain all written material pertaining to the road.

By Jennifer Garlesky •Staff Writer

The raging Class II rapids of the Cacapon River, which flows along the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, hooked Doug Woodward on whitewater paddling.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Last week Eastern Band of Cherokee officials made the decision to remove The Cherokee One Feather Editor Joe Martin from his newspaper position.

By Kathleen Lamont

This month’s column was a tossup. I was encouraged by a recent article on the Haywood County landfill to carry on my persistent campaign for backyard composting and was going to shelve the rainwater collection idea. That was until I ran into my next-door neighbor on her way to shower at her daughter’s house.

By Chris Cooper

Mountain Heart released a fantastic album last year with Wide Open, demonstrating a remarkable ability to make modern, crossover friendly bluegrass without sacrificing one bit of musicality and soul.

Macon County Schools superintendent Dan Brigman, school board attorney John Henning Jr. and the school board as a whole did not do itself any favors in its handling of the very important bond referendum that citizens voted on Tuesday. In fact, the system made some serious mistakes, and as a whole the administration should have been more informed first and, after mistakes happened, more upfront about its mistakes. Finally, the schools system should have been more forthright to parents and voters.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Convicted sex offenders don’t have many advocates, but a recent rush of laws banning them from public parks has called into question just how many civil liberties these people should have to give up.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Building a strong downtown district will be a top priority of the new Sylva Town Board of Commissioners.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Former alderman Gavin Brown is now the new mayor of Waynesville, unseating 16-year incumbent Henry Foy.

The two candidates were aligned on almost all issues but one — Brown has promised to make a liquor by the drink referendum one of his first priorities in office. Foy was opposed to bringing liquor to Waynesville.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Jackson County commissioners have decided to invest money in the county’s airport.

Commissioners voted 4-1 on Monday (Nov. 5) to award $65,000 to the airport authority to conduct a feasibility study of the mountaintop airport. Commissioners Tom Massie, Mark Jones, William Shelton, and Brain McMahan voted in favor of the award. Commissioner Joe Cowan opposed the vote.

Voters in Swain and Macon counties soundly defeated land-transfer tax ballot initiatives Tuesday, dashing hopes that the newly approved measures would provide a new revenue source.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Franklin town leaders are in the process of fixing some of the sewage spills throughout town, Franklin Town Manager Mike Decker said.

Ski season

Count me among those who continue to be like a kid at Christmas when it’s the beginning of ski season. It’s a freeing feeling, strapping on skis and just flying down a hill with gravity as your motor.

By Michael Beadle

When nurse Josie Ellis set out to take pictures of Hispanic migrant families several years ago, she had no intention of creating an art exhibit. It was simply an attempt to share photographs of children with their parents who could not afford cameras and rarely had their own photos.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Tuckasegee community members are at ease now that the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources denied a quarry permit to Carolina Boulder and Stone.

By David Curtis

Making the rounds in teacher’s email inboxes is a story about an educator from Arkansas who taught her students an invaluable lesson on the right to an education.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Restaurant patrons in Highlands will soon be able to sip on rum and coke while eating a steak or order a pitcher of beer while eating pizza now that citizens voted “yes” to an alcohol referendum.

Last Tuesday’s vote was as illuminating as any recent elections, and it should send a few good signals to those already looking ahead to 2008.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Legislation passed in the most recent session of the General Assembly calls for the restructuring of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority Board.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

The renovation of Haywood County’s historic courthouse is halfway complete, and things continue to move along smoothly — for the most part.

By Sarah Kucharski

Sunlight streams in our house’s south facing windows. The rays bring out the color in the Kiatt wood that makes up the top of the new table sitting in our dining room.

By Chris Cooper

It’s not such an odd pairing when you think about it; two voices as recognizable as these, weaving and twisting around each other, using their considerable interpretive skills on a set of songs written by the likes of Tom Waits, the Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips and Townes Van Zandt. Plant’s music, either with the band that made him part of rock’s pantheon or on his solo efforts, has often been sprinkled with early blues, 50’s rockabilly, world music and the pastoral shades that bluegrass’s traditional instrumentation (acoustic guitars, mandolin and banjo played by band mates Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones) can provide.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

The rural landscape of U.S. 441 heading into Cherokee is changing. Drivers can see numerous realty signs touting “land for sale” along the four-lane roadway that leads into the Qualla Boundary’s business district.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Snow is once again blowing at the Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley, marking the official start of the winter ski season in Western North Carolina.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

The election of Brad Walker, Bryson City’s new mayor, is more than just a changing of the guard — it’s representative of how the tiny Swain County town has transformed in recent years from a remote location in the Smokies to a much sought-after tourist destination.

Smoky Mountain Living prominently features images from across the southern Appalachians in each edition. Photo essays adhere to the issue’s overall theme.

The next edition of Smoky Mountain Living will focus on the theme “Water.” The mountains’ ecological diversity relies on the region’s rivers, streams, lakes, and waterfalls, all fed from groundwater supplies and copious rainfall. In the Smokies, the average annual rainfall varies from approximately 55 inches in the valleys to over 85 inches on some peaks-more than anywhere else in the country except the Pacific Northwest. During wet years, over eight feet of rain falls in the high country. The relative humidity in the park during the growing season is about twice that of the Rocky Mountain region.

Send your images to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by June 21, 2013. Reader submitted photos are unpaid but those selected are rewarded with publication in our nationally distributed magazine. SML covers the southern Appalachians and celebrates the area’s environmental riches, its people, culture, music, arts, history, and special places. Each issue brings the Appalachians to life.

Published six times each year, SML is a magazine for those who want to learn more about where they live and those who want to stay in touch with where they love.

Submissions should be hi-resolution digital images and include information about where and when the photos were taken and by whom.

For more information about Smoky Mountain Living, visit smliv.com or connect at facebook.com/smliv.

Omnivore’s Dilemma

What should we eat for dinner? Do we buy organic? Do we grow our own food? Should we eat fewer carbs or curb our protein? The basic idea of what to eat now fraught with unprecedented choice and anxiety in an age of fast food convenience and a supermarket’s infinite possibilities. As the American menu has expanded, so too has its risks — cancer-causing additives, industrially processed products, genetically modified foods, calories and fat grams that steer us in and out of diets. And all the while, we lose the connection to that natural process of how animals and plants once fed us. Author Michael Pollan delivers a stunning book of how food comes to us and what our myriad of meal choices now means as the very survival of the human species. Weaving elegant prose and fabulous research, Pollan traces four meals back to their roots — from fast food to a gourmet meal — and you’ll be amazed to learn what happens to the food we normally take for granted. Pollan makes a compelling case for re-examining the political, economic and moral implications of our food choices. A must-read for the modern consumer.

Aphrodite’s Daughter

Travel across time and meet a host of powerful and daring women in this poetry collection by Winston-Salem’s Becky Gould Gibson. Inspired by stories from Greco-Roman mythology, Christianity and art through the ages, Gibson eases into self-reflection and challenges the reader to humanize feminist icons. We imagine Aphrodite ranting through an email or a 9th Century abbess giving a speech that would make William Wallace tremble. As Vikings are about to strike her monastery, Abbess Ebba cries out to her fellow nuns: “Hallowed steel, halt, hide until needed! / Mild Mother Mary, now let them come; / my sheath is stocked — keen-edged, cunning. / Watch them bleat back to their long-boats, / blood shouts, swearing: ‘This new god has / wondrous ways!’”

While delivering homages to goddesses, Gibson treads into her own pool of personal experience. We knowingly nod at the metaphor of daughters exhibited like Ming vases. During a pap smear test, we enter the most sacred orifice of a woman whose very cells flaunt themselves like Jazz Age flappers. Gibson dares us to laugh at our icons as we do ourselves. In one series of poems celebrating images of the Virgin Mary, irreverent titles abound — “Our Lady of the Cucumber” and “Our Lady of the Belt Buckle.” This collection, which won the 2006 X.J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, celebrates a keen-eyed talent in the prime of her craft. Get thee to a bookstore.

— By Michael Beadle

By Brent Martin

For those who have read Charles Frazier’s excellent Western North Carolina tale, Thirteen Moons, you will most likely remember his descriptions of the dark Nantahala Mountains and the vivid imagery associated with their empty night skies and spirit-filled forests.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

If all goes as planned, Haywood County will one day be home to a 4,500-acre mega-resort that could drastically change the face of tourism in Western North Carolina — and what it means to call Haywood County home.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Voters in Macon County rejected a $42.1 million bond that would have provided new funding to build new schools, leaving county officials no choice but to seek out alternative funding.

By Chris Cooper

Every so often a few releases slip beneath the radar, or at least my radar. Massachusetts based Rounder Records released a few (honestly, more than a few) fine recordings over the last year, notably those by endearingly oddball pop veterans They Might Be Giants and the disarmingly talented NY duo Dean and Britta.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

It’s been more than a week since Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue raised some eyebrows with his atypical approach to getting rain to fall in the drought-ravaged state. With no rainfall in site and the lake supplying Atlanta’s water rapidly dwindling, Perdue joined 250 citizens in a last ditch effort to combat the drought — he bowed his head and prayed.

By Brent Martin • Contributing Writer

I recently met with Merritt Fouts, a multi-generational resident of Macon County, to talk about his family’s syrup making that would take place the next day. Merritt is a retired school principal and editor of the weekly e-newspaper, The Burningtown News.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

As Jackson County officials work to develop a plan to regulate commercial growth along U.S. 441, officials from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians say a partnership needs to be formed to ensure that the area’s economic development fits both parties’ needs.

These days Americans aren’t known for making tough choices. To the contrary, our national reputation is one of being soft. We eat too many bad foods and complain about our health, sit around way too much instead of exercising, and continue to drive gas-guzzling, huge cars when we know they damage the environment and play into the hands of foreign dictators who control the oil.

By Jennifer Garlesky & Becky Johnson • Staff Writers

An influential yet controversial figure in public policy is reclaiming a leadership post in the mountains three years after his forced departure as Haywood County’s manager.

By Julia Merchant and Becky Johnson • Staff Writers

One of the consultants involved in pulling off Cataloochee Wilderness Resorts — a 4,500 acre development supposedly coming to Haywood County — has raised some eyebrows in the community.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Sylva town board member Danny Allen conceded his race against fellow board member Ray Lewis on Monday, settling the tie between the two candidates following the Nov. 6 election.

By Michael Beadle

For the longest time, Buffy Queen and John Buckley wanted to share their love of movies with other people. As avid film fans, they’d see an amazing documentary and say to themselves, “People need to see this.”

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Members of Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance are sifting through paperwork at the North Carolina Department of Transportation Division 14 office in Webster to find out how the Southern Loop road project suddenly appeared on the state priority list.

“And they’re hanging their stockings!” he snarled with a sneer.

“Tomorrow is Christmas! It’s practically here!”

Then he growled, with his grinch fingers nervously drumming,

“I MUST find a way to keep Christmas from coming!”

— The Grinch

Most readers will recognize where those words are from, whether or not they have read the entire poem, seen the original movie or even the remake. Most of us can imagine a scene, a personal memory of what Christmas Eve and Christmas morning was like growing up, or what it’s like watching your own kids on Christmas morning. Most of those scenes are pleasant, memories that bring a smile to your face, make your heart a little warm?

I was 22 years old in 1967. Although it’s become fashionable to downgrade the sweeping changes brought about by my generation to the meaningless antics of a bunch of spaced-out druggies and naive idealists, history confirms that we really shook things up in the 1960s. We advanced civil rights, women’s liberation, gay rights, and free speech; we became environmentally aware; we exposed and brought down the dark reign of Nixonian evil, we said no to an imbecilic war, blind conformity and government censorship. Yes we had our nut cases and, yes, we made our mistakes, but overall we made a real and positive difference. This great worldwide birth contraction was spearheaded by young people.