Bryson City leaders avoided the temptation to sell off their watershed land for development, instead opting to follow through with an earlier commitment to conserve the pristine property. It was the right decision and one that will pay a long-term benefit for town residents and all of Swain County.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Jewelry artist Debbie Higdon makes what she likes to wear — handmade pieces, created from twisted and soldered silver wires and cut silver sheets.

By Chris Cooper

The G3 tours are a traveling celebration of the virtuoso rock guitarist. Joe Satriani developed the concept of G3 in reaction to his sense of isolation from other artists in his genre.

By Michael Beadle

It was Chet Atkins who really put the hook in Larry Watson. Atkins had that masterful style of finger-picking on the guitar Watson saw one night on “The Jimmy Dean Show” back in the 1960s while growing up in Canton.

Here’s the deal. I’m not going to be “recommending” anything in this installment of “Diversions.” I’m just going to tell a story about Wednesday, Nov.16, 2005 — starting right around noonish.

Jackson County commissioners are weighing the merits of several municipal grant applications that will allocate a total of up to $20,000 for projects across the county.

The purpose of the municipal grant program is to assist the municipalities of the county with the implementation of worthy projects that will directly benefit not only the citizens of the town but all of Jackson County.

Applications were received in October, and commissioners were supposed to make a decision about awards this month. However, that decision has been delayed until January to give commissioners more time to review each application.

The Village of Forest Hills applied for an amount unlisted on their application to go toward an entrance at the intersection of North Country Club Drive and Highway 107. The entrance is designed to feature four-foot high stone walls, back-lit lettering, landscaping, and a sidewalk to one day hook in to the county’s greenway.

As industry experts warn of a worsening international shortage of construction professionals, Western Carolina University and one of the nation’s largest personnel recruiting firms are teaming up to boost the number of college graduates prepared for management positions in the construction industry.

Denver Blaylock has been prodded by enforcers for seven years to meet Haywood County’s junkyard ordinance. The sprawling complex houses numerous lots piled high with used vehicles, appliances, parts cars, and just plain parts, as well as storage lots for cars hauled in by Blaylock’s family wrecker business.

Local biologist and aquatic scientist Bill McLarney agreed with the Wildlife Commission’s revised recommendations to allow stream work, but for an unusual reason — the trout population, at least in Peeks Creek, is gone.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Streambank restoration along Peeks Creek in Macon County, where a massive landslide killed six residents following back-to-back hurricanes in September 2004, is on hold as county officials wait to hear if they will receive funds to do the project after missing initial application deadlines.

Cataloochee

Our local ski mountain is just plain fun. My family enjoys nothing better than to make the trek through Maggie Valley and then up to the high-elevation resort for a few hours of skiing and snowboarding. On clear days with the sky a brilliant blue, the scenery is every bit as good as the skiing. As locals we can choose when to go and avoid the rush of out-of-towners. Truth is you don’t have to like winter sports to enjoy Cataloochee in the winter. There are plenty of places where tykes can play in the snow. The lodge has a fine little bar with a television for sports nuts, a fireplace, and plenty of food. The deck area outside overlooks the slopes and allow picnics if you want to bring your own sandwiches. Just go.

Real Christmas trees

My family is still sold on real trees. They’re messy and heavy, and I could better use the hours I’ve spent making trunks fit in tree stands, but when you add it all up it’s definitely worth the trouble. Our annual trek to Nesbitt’s Tree Farm is a much-anticipated event. There are other farms in Haywood and Jackson counties, and if you’ve never visited one I would encourage it. There are also plenty of lots to choose from. Once the tree is in the house, visitors never fail to comment on the smell of the fresh fraser fir. It just smells like Christmas.

Power outages

I’m not actually recommending this to any one, but as long as it’s short and not too cold, there is something exhilarating about living for a few hours without the wonders of the light bulb, heater, refrigerator and even toilet. We’ve suffered through two short outages in the last few weeks, sending us scrambling for candles and flashlights. These power interruptions led to extended dinners, card games, good conversation and an exaggerated awareness of all five of the senses. As I said, it’s all fun and games in short doses, but I don’t know how they did it in the old days.

Good coffee

There’s coffee, and then there’s coffee. I’m addicted and need it all the time, so for the most part I go for the drab stuff. Lately, though, I’ve let my guard down and taken to buying steaming lattes and mochas and all the froo-froo concoctions available at our local coffee houses. It’s opened up a whole new world of caffeine. I don’t know where this is going to lead, but I’m a little worried. This could get expensive.

— Scott McLeod

By Joe Hooten

The Roaring ‘20s ushered in an era of looseness, flair, and simplistic decadence that would quickly diminish once the big crash and the Great Depression set in. For every drop of liquor that was poured out during Prohibition, bootleggers would smuggle in 10 more, giving organized crime a mission and reason to exist.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

David Cozzo, director of the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources project, stands on a small stage in the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University in front of a crowd of about 15 middle-aged audience members.

By Michael Beadle

Sometimes John Grant sees a bear inside a rough block of soapstone. Sometimes he sees a buffalo or an eagle.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Translating the economic impact of Jackson County’s landfill gas recovery project into dollars and cents may prove harder than expected.

Five Jackson County women were given the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service during a recent awards luncheon in Sylva. These winners were Mary Adams, Joyce Cooper, Margie Hall, Stella Hall and Elaine White.

The Friends of the Macon County Library have received a $200,000 pledge of support from The Janirve Foundation of Asheville.

The Waynesville Main Street Historic District has been accepted to be on the National Register of Historic Places.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

A recent statement that Cashiers area residents will be footing the majority of the bill to build a new library in Jackson County and that construction of a less expensive, joint library with Southwestern Community College is still an option is misleading, county leaders say.

About this time each year, when the days and tempers get short and the traffic lines get long — when I begin to see people trudging wearily in and out of stores and shopping malls — I think about the Grinch Club. I start fantasizing about an imaginary organization founded in honor of that nasty, green fellow who stole Xmas — which is not a bad idea. For thousands of people like me who exist in the lower economic strata of this country, Mr. Grinch could become a folk hero — a creep that had the moxie to speak for us all.

By Kirk Adcock • Guest Columnist

I would first like to thank Gen. Geoffrey Higgenbotham (“Playing politics at the expense of our soldiers,” Nov. 30, Smoky Mountain News) for his long and distinguished service to our country. I very much respect the sacrifices he has made so that our country can remain free. I would also like to thank the general for clearly helping me to grasp and understand why the founding fathers wanted our country governed by ordinary citizens, with our commander in chief being the president rather than an Army officer.

Editor’s note: This article was written by Mallory Martin and Carl Kittel of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Martin is the Mountain Region Fisheries Supervisor. Kittel is the Coldwater Production Coordinator.

Those sporting the trendy turquoise and pink Great Smoky Mountains National Park license plates on their bumpers raised $181,800 this year for projects sponsored by the Friends of Smokies, making 2005 the most productive year yet for the specialty license plates.

By Michael Beadle

Laura Boosinger was a student at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa in the late 1970s when she decided to take a banjo class for a college credit.

The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee was recently awarded a portion of a $200,000 grant from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.

By Chris Cooper

If you didn’t know already, Jamie Cullum is that kid who was on Pay-Per-View last summer. It was a “freeview” concert, I think, during which he ran around like a complete nut on a huge stage, before an equally large crowd, in front of a gigantic English castle somewhere.

Christmas shopping

Granted it’s four days before Christmas and those of you that haven’t yet gotten your shopping done are most likely in the throes of anxiety, making a mad dash to get something – anything – for your loved ones. That, or you just don’t care period, and everyone’s getting slipper socks this year. That’s OK.

By Michael Beadle

The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will probably have to rebuild its box office and concession stand after a pipe burst earlier this month, flooding the floors of the lobby, auditorium and lower-level rooms of the Performing Arts Center in Waynesville.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Approximately 80 workers will be laid off from Cashier’s Consolidated Metco plastics plant beginning in January in the largest downsizing in Jackson County since the Ashley Company furniture plant closed in 2002.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Repairs along a section of trail on the Little Tennessee Greenway in Macon County damaged by hurricane flooding have been completed and the trail reopened for use, marking the end of a successful season for Friends of the Greenway.

An effort to install wireless Internet service throughout Downtown Waynesville is making a year-end push for donations.

By Jason Kimenker • Guest Columnist

Winter has arrived, and the holiday season is in full swing. Wonderful and warm traditions of family and community bring us together in this cherished season.

It’s not always about the money, at least not at first. That’s a point to keep in mind as the methane gas recovery project in Jackson County continues to move forward.

Residents of Western North Carolina confronted many important issues in 2005, whether it was another chapter unfolding in an ongoing political feud or deep philosophical challenges like balancing growth and preservation. As we wrote about these events, the common thread was the human element, people trying to come to grips with change while holding onto what’s important. We searched our archives and retrieved some of the more interesting quotes from the stories of the past year.

Outdoor recreation and the environment go hand in hand. Paddlers like clean rivers, hikers prefer old-growth forests over those that have been logged, road bikers generally disapprove of red alert ozone days and fishermen hate it when the property adjacent to their favorite fishing hole turns into a gated community.

Nature’s lessons

A $105,000 grant from North Carolina’s GlaxoSmithKline Foundation to Friends of the Smokies will connect several hundred teachers in North Carolina with the resources of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park over the next four years.

The world of outdoor recreation had several milestones this year, especially in the whitewater arena.

For the past two years the Smoky Mountain News has culled Top 10 Albums of the Year lists from avid music listeners across our coverage area — a task both challenging and educational.

By Joe Hooten

Throughout the 1700s, immigrants from European nations began pouring into the 13 colonies with dreams that were as unique as the people themselves, they fanned out all across the eastern seaboard and eventually made their way into the backcountry of our great state.

Hiker Haze Weekend will welcome the season’s first Appalachian Trail thru-hikers at Fontana Village Resort March 25-26, along with a ceremony honoring the town of Fontana Dam as an official trail community.

The two-day Hiker Haze events will include presentations on native plants and Native American artifacts, karaoke for hikers, disc golf, a corn hole competition, guitar jamming and a campfire. Trail fans and local hikers are welcome to join the fun, as well as bona fide AT thru-hikers.

A program at noon Thursday, March 26, will recognize Fontana Dam as the newest Appalachian Trail Community, under the auspice of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. A short guided hike will follow at 2:30 p.m.

Representatives from a spectrum of organizations will attend and speak, including the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Fontana Dam town council and the offices of U.S. Congressman Mark Meadows and U.S. Senator Richard Burr.

www.fontanavillage.com. 

More AT celebrations to come

Thru-hiking season is nearly here, and towns along the Appalachian Trail in Western North Carolina are gearing up for their annual offerings of festivals and outdoor-related programs to help thru-hikers and townies alike celebrate the trail. With festivals in Franklin, Nantahala Outdoor Center, Fontana Dam and Hot Springs — as well as a month-long lineup of programs at the Macon County Public Library — there will be plenty going on. Trail volunteers have been at work getting the trail and shelters ready in anticipation of an uptick in AT hikers, following the movies “Wild” and A Walk in the Woods,” which chronicle long-distance hiking journeys.

Be sure to pick up next week’s issue of The Smoky Mountain News for a full roundup of AT-related programs and events in the area. 

The Annual Ozone Season Kickoff will unveil the state of Western North Carolina’s air quality in 2014 with a program held 8:30 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 31, at the Land of Sky Regional Council office in Asheville. 

Ground-level ozone, a dangerous compound that forms from pollution in the presence of sunlight, can present summertime health hazards to humans and harm plant and animal life as well. North Carolina has been seeing a downward trend since 1999, with 2013 coming in as the lowest season on record — an outcome likely due to a combination of state and federal regulations to improve air quality and cool weather that summer. 

Speakers from the N.C. Division of Air Quality, Duke Energy, the WNC Regional Air Quality Agency and the Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition will discuss conditions, trends and initiatives for their improvement. 

Free, with registration required. www.conta.cc/1EDBNpn

Each year, the Family Nature Summit is held in some part of the country known for its special beauty and recreation value. This year, it will be based in Lake Junaluska, June 27 to July 3.

By Danny Bernstein • Guest columnist

When I first thought about taking my granddaughter, Hannah, on an outdoor experience, I looked at various intergenerational offerings but realized that she and I would be doing the same activities.

The Nantahala Racing Club’s Whitewater U.S. Open will keep the river churning at Nantahala Outdoor Center March 27-29.

A 550-acre prescribed burn will start soon near Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

To the Editor:

Sen. Tom Tillis, R-N.C., is probably not a traitor, but he surely is an embarrassment to the state of North Carolina.

About as soon as his hand came down from swearing in, he allowed as how restaurant workers should not be compelled by law to wash their hands after a restroom visit. Government was being a big bully in this case by forcing them to wash their hands. 

So, if we take Tom’s logic to its logical conclusion, we shouldn’t have to pay taxes, obey speed limits, or bother with fishing regulations. That’s just government being a  big bully.   

But the issue of Tillis being a traitor has to do with this smarmy letter to which he put his signature, the one that advises the nation of Iran to ignore the President of the United States, the chief foreign policy officer of the nation. Citizens and even senators are constrained by law from negotiating foreign policy with foreign governments. The law has been on the books for almost as long as the U.S. has been a nation. Tillis and 46 other senators chose to ignore it.

Realistically, because of his office, Tillis and the “gang of 47” will not be tried in federal court for treason. Too often holders of high office and position escape punishment due them.  

But there is a price to be paid for political stupidity and embarrassing those who elected you. Tillis can be tried in the court of public opinion and found to be ... irrelevant.

Rick Bryson   

Bryson City 

To the Editor:

For years I have promoted downtown. I tell my friends to shop locally, eat at our local restaurants and enjoy our festivals. If the smoking ban goes into effect, I won’t be doing any of those things anymore.

That means I will not be coming to your store for my Christmas shopping sprees. I will no longer spend money at the kitchen store, jewelry store, fish market or general store.

I will not be coming to your restaurant with my family and friends. I will not be dropping into your pub for a local brew. I will not be bringing my out-of-town guests for a visit to quaint downtown Waynesville for shopping and dining.

Think about it. I won’t be the only one.

Bob Nowakowski

Waynesville

Haywood Community College’s Creative Arts Professional Crafts and Continuing Education departments recently participated in the American Craft Council show March 13-15 in Atlanta. 

This initiative is designed by the American Craft Council to bridge the gap between educational curriculum in craft and the marketplace by providing undergraduate students a venue for a curated, collective exhibition of their work.

HCC was among more than 250 of the country’s most talented contemporary jewelry, clothing, furniture and home decor artists. The platform highlighted the talents cultivated by the emerging artists in the Creative Arts Program and exposed the work generated in the program at a national level.

The American Craft Council (ACC) is a national, nonprofit educational organization founded in 1943 with a mission to promote understanding and appreciation of contemporary American craft.

828.565.4240 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The film adaptation of the Ron Rash novel The World Made Straight will make its Western North Carolina big-screen premiere at 3 and 7 p.m. Monday, March 23, in the A.K. Hinds Center at Western Carolina University.