For years, Blue Ridge Parkway staff have been concerned that visitor behavior at Devils Courthouse, a popular overlook on the 469-mile road’s meander along the Haywood-Transylvania county line, is hurting the organisms that live there. A new volunteer program aims to combat the issue through education, one visitor at a time.

The table is set — all you have to do is come sit down and be served.

A crew of more than 50 volunteers from the community decorated Lake Junaluska for the holiday season, including the Rose Walk, the Bethea Welcome Center, the gazebos along the walking trail, the Inspiration Point garden and more.

The Folkmoot Friendship Center on Virginia Avenue in Hazelwood is central to the festival’s operation.

Lately I’ve been hanging out at The Open Door in Frog Level and I have to admit, it’s my new favorite joint in town. After my mom passed, I began to feel overstimulated in traditional settings like ballgames, street festivals, and even crowded restaurants. All the noise, clanging, and happy sounds were so discordant with my melancholy; I would leave feeling exhausted and agitated.

Waynesville town leaders heard something they didn’t necessarily want to hear last week.

Despite the stereotype of volunteer firefighters as Type A alpha males, knowing your Nascar drivers and driving a pick-up truck isn’t a prerequisite for being a volunteer firefighter.

Little boys worship them. Bruce Springsteen memorialized them. The helpless count on them. 

Volunteer firefighters are a symbol of American strength and determination, pillars in their community who answer the call of duty when friends and neighbors need them most.

SEE ALSO: Desperate for recruits, volunteer firefighters hope to change the perception that their brotherhood is a boys’ club

Haywood County commissioners debated this week whether to make volunteers who serve on appointed boards and committees undergo a background check.