The final stretch of the Whitewater River is the part that I will never see, since it is lost forever beneath the waters of Lake Jocassee, built by Duke Power in the 1970s. Among the worlds lost to the Jocassee damnation was the trail of the French botanist Andre Michaux who explored the Keowee and its headwaters in 1878 and 1788.
Somewhere between the Whitewater and the Toxaway Rivers, he took notes on one unusual plant. The subsequent efforts of botanists to find the Shortia galacifolia described by Michaux continued for a century before the mystery of the Oconee Bells was finally solved.
REGIONAL–Ingles Markets, one of the larger grocery chains doing business in the western region, announced earlier in the fall that it would not allow Salvation Army bell-ringing at its stores this holiday season.
After some public pressure, it has reached a compromise with the charity.
Craig A. Gontner, Captain, WNC Area Coordinator and Waynesville Corps Officer with the regional Salvation Army office that serves Cashiers, said, “Ingles did make a business decision at a corporate level to allow only unmanned kettles to be placed in their stores. The Salvation Army’s view is that we understand their decision and value the partnership.
“Ingles is a committed friend and partner to the Salvation Army and this community,” added Gontner. “Ingles has agreed to allow bell ringers to be present for the time just prior to Christmas, Monday, Dec. 21 through Thursday, Dec. 24. We plan on utilizing this opportunity.”
The Hendersonville Times-Newsreported that Ingles originally banned bell-ringers to provide its customers with an “unsolicited environment” during the holiday season, given the tight economy. The Times-News also reported on the compromise. It’s lead: “The spirit of Christmas — and sensitivity to a barrage of customer complaints — has won the day.”
The compromise limits bell-ringers to a few days just prior to Christmas, down from more than a full month’s worth of ringing in previous years.
CASHIERS–David Joy at the Cashiers Crossroads Chronicle examines the impact of alcohol blue laws in Jackson County, and suggests that 2010 might be the year for a county-wide referendum.
An excerpt:
The sale of alcohol in Sylva and Dillsboro, both townships in a supposedly dry Jackson County, may ruffle the feathers of many conservative citizens, but these sales have brought in large revenues for state law enforcement and state alcohol education, as well as county and town recreation and general funds.
Since 2000 the Sylva ABC Board alone has brought $104,109 for N.C. alcohol education and $78,681 for N.C. law enforcement.
Furthermore, the Sylva ABC Board contributes 20 percent of their net profits to Sylva and Jackson County Recreation (10 percent each), and 100 percent of the remaining net profits to the Sylva and Jackson County general funds (50 percent each).
REGIONAL–Popular regional bluegrass act Balsam Range has had a breakout year.
Editor Kelly Donaldson at the Cashiers Crossroads Chronicle sums it up in this nice feature.
Here’s an excerpt:
The five-man band is wrapping up a phenomenal year that included touring, a number one song, a top five album and an appearance on a television show with one of bluegrass music’s hottest acts.
Balsam Range features Tuckaesegee native Darren Nicholson on vocals and mandolin, along with Western Carolina University graduates Buddy Melton (fiddle, vocals) and Grammy award winner Marc Pruett (banjo). The band is rounded out by Haywood County’s Caleb Smith on guitar and vocals and Tim Surrett on bass and vocals.
The boys recently took the stage on Saturday, Oct. 17 for a live TV taping of the popular PBS program “Song of the Mountains.” Balsam Range performed alongside Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, Next Best Thing Band, and Fall Creek.
SYLVA–Balsam Mountain Preserve, a 4,400 acre gated community between Balsam and Sylva, faces a foreclosure hearing at month’s end, according to a reports in today’s Asheville Citizen-Times and Smoky Mountain News.
Boarding House, Balsam Mountain Preserve
The Preserve differs from other communities in the area that are facing troubles in a couple of ways: the project is nearly a decade old, which means it pre-dates by a few years many similar projects that came on during the last decade’s wave of construction. It is also one-half to two-thirds “built-out”, with more than 230 homesites sold of 354 total, and most amenities in place. In addition, Balsam Mountain Preserve was the first such community to build in the north-central section of Jackson County — away from the ritzy Cashiers plateau — and has been an economic driver for the county.
The Preserve’s considerable efforts at executing “green” development have been overshadowed by a dam break at a golf course irrigation pond two years ago that caused a flash flood. The wave of mud and water caused considerable environmental damage in Jackson County’s Scotts Creek watershed.
The Hendersonville community “Seven Falls” is also undergoing foreclosure, and an enormous, but much newer project in Jackson County is also facing such difficulties.
At Balsam, 40 of 80 full-time employees have been laid off, and many amenities, including an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course, are closed.
An excerpt from the Citizen-Times:
“We had sufficient sales to stay current on our interest payments and to pay down the principal and payables,” [Balsam Mountain Preserve President Chris] Chaffin said. “Unfortunately, our loan is due. It’s apparent the lender doesn’t have the flexibility to free up capital right now.”
Chaffin acknowledged that Balsam Mountain “actually defaulted on our loan the end of last year” and has been working with the lender since then.
The lenders listed in court documents are two corporations under the umbrella of TriLyn LLC, of Greenwich, Conn. Balsam Mountain secured two loans in 2005 for $9.8 million and $10 million.
CULLOWHEE-Organizers and supporters of Jackson County’s ambitious greenways project celebrated a milestone October 5, when the county board of commissioners voted to purchase a 1.4-acre plot of land near Cullowhee for $39,580.
The plot is the first purchased by the county to augment an existing sewage right-of-way that follows the Tuckasegee River between Cullowhee and Sylva. Organizers envision the Cullowhee-to-Sylva segment as a core element of a larger plan to hook individual greenways segments together to create an alternate transportation system for the county.
Commissioners tabled action on the purchase of an piece of property adjacent to the one they purchased.
County greenways project manager Emily Elders says the purchase is significant.
“It’s the first property purchased specifically for greenways in Jackson County after nearly ten years of hard work by our volunteers,” she said. “Hopefully, with future donated conservation easements, other successful negotiations and grant funding, we’ll be able to put a project on the ground soon that will demonstrate the wellness, transportation and recreation benefits of greenways for the whole county.”
Three newspapers are covering Jackson County’s greenways progress: the Smoky Mountain News, The Sylva Herald and the Cashiers Crossroads Chronicle.
The Chronicle is primarily concerned with the several Cashiers-area elements of the greenways plan, so it didn’t weigh in on Monday’s vote, but the Herald and News both did. Bibeka Shrestha’s story for the News emphasized the commissioner’s decision not to purchase the adjacent property, noting that if they had, the first mile of the 4.5 mile stretch would’ve been in county hands. The Herald, which has recently taken county commissioners to task for what it considers profligate spending on county payroll and the Dillsboro Dam fight, emphasized the property’s price tag.
HIGHLANDS–California actor Lee Stetson will take on the likeness of John Muir in a performance Friday at the Highlands Playhouse. The show, called “An Evening With John Muir”, is sponsored by the WNC Alliance and the Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance.
Tuckasegee writer Thomas Crowe previewed the performance in the most recent issue of the Cashiers Crossroads Chronicle; here’s an excerpt:
While the Sierras were [Muir's] preferred stomping grounds, he did travel, throughout his lifetime to many areas of the country, including the western N.C., mountains.
As if by some kind of time-warp or reincarnation intervention, Muir will be returning to the mountains of western N.C., for the first time since his visit in 1867 as part of his now-famous 1,000-Mile Walk.
As a walk (in to the body of California-based actor Lee Stetson) Muir will be giving talks in Asheville and Highlands that relate some of his most remarkable adventures in the wild, including a remarkable “tree ride” in a windstorm, a “sleigh ride” on a snow avalanche, his “interview” with a bear, and a face-to-fang encounter with a rattlesnake. Muir’s true wilderness tales are liberally salted with his wilderness philosophy–all around the theme of the health and invigoration one acquires when one fully and joyfully engages wildness.
But even more important to us, here in the Smoky Mountains, he will be talking about his time spent here in the western Carolina mountains.
REGIONAL–A draft list of road-building priorities for the southern mountains, released last week, placed a Cashiers crossroads roundabout at the very top, but also included several projects designed to relieve congestion around Sylva.
The 25-project list, compiled by the Southwestern Rural Planning Organization’s Technical Coordinating Committee, plays a significant role in helping prioritize state road building efforts. It has been released for comment, and can be viewed at this address: http://www.regiona.org/rpo.htm
Planning officials hope to replace the heavily-traveled stoplight intersection of NC 107 and US 64 in southern Jackson County with a sizeable roundabout. The roundabout solution was much discussed during the 2008 Mountain Landscapes Initiative as part of a larger, cohesive plan for development around the center of the popular, unincorporated village of Cashiers.
Sylva-area projects on the list are additional improvements to Cope Creek Rd., which connects NC 107 with US 23/74; improvement of NC 107 south from its southern intersection with “old 107″ to its intersection with NC 281 at Tuckasegee, and further consideration of the much-discussed “southern loop” — half of which would connect NC 107 south to US 23/74, effectively allowing Western Carolina University traffic to bypass Sylva.
Missing the list, but also being considered, are these Jackson County projects (among others):
• Improvements to NC 107 from its intersection with Business 23 (Kel-Save) to near Lovedale Rd. (Ingles Area). “Improve the current 5-lane divided facility to divided boulevard facility with median from US 23 Business to south of Lovedale Road. Intersections would also be improved during this upgrade.”
• Improvements to Business 23 from Harris Regional Hospital to its intersection with NC 107 (Kel-Save). “Widen Asheville Highway from a 2-lane facility to a 4-lane divided boulevard facility with a median from NC 107 to US 23.”
SYLVA–Jackson County’s unique greenway effort has been around for a decade or so, and has been becalmed at times.
But not lately.
Elders, with daughter Mason
A combination of public sentiment and local government support has pushed the greenways effort, now spearheaded by the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department, to new levels.
On August 17 the Jackson County Board of Commissioners gave their unanimous approval to the greenways master plan. The plan itself is a significant accomplishment, but the commissioners’ buy-in was, too.
“I feel that we have never had quite so much momentum and support for greenways in Jackson County”, says Emily Elders, Greenways Project Manager. “The commissioners’ endorsement and the continued participation and public support are encouraging as we begin to tackle the projects we listed in the master plan.”
Funding and rights-of-way don’t come easy in the greenways business, but as Elders begins checking the smaller projects off the list, the larger vision of local greenways advocates could take shape. These smaller projects will eventually grow together to fit into a larger transportation system for the county, says Elders.
“Greenways projects are often self-contained; more like recreation spots,” Elders says. “Many of ours will serve those purposes, too, but ultimately they’ll all begin to connect to help us solve larger transportation problems.”
Among the current projects are a few in the Cashiers/Glenville area, as well as a Dillsboro-to-Sylva connector that has been a thorn in the side of residents for years. Residents still envision a greenway connector between the towns, but a geographical bottleneck has made a joint effort with the NC Department of Transportation to build a sidewalk alongside Business 23 the only practical solution. The project is funded, but organizers are still negotiating with two property owners who refuse right-of-way.
“There’s no other approach except to begin negotiations, treat everyone fairly and respectfully, and hope for the best,” says Elders. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get a section on the ground soon, and that will go a long way towards helping ease many people’s concerns about beautification, privacy, safety, and property values.”
CASHIERS–The US Forest Service is planning changes at spectacular Panthertown Valley, and Cashiers’ Friends of Panthertown organization is holding a public meeting to explain those changes.
There are a little less than 80 miles of trails in Panthertown Valley. [Nina] Elliott, [Friends of Panthertown Coordinator], said the changes aren’t going to add miles, but will focus more on signage and what trails can accommodate various users (horseback riding, biking or hiking.)
“There are no signs,” said Elliott of its trails currently. “Panthertown Valley is a back country area, so most trails aren’t marked. It provides an experience for people to go out and find solitude in nature. However, the Forest Service has deemed it necessary to mark trails, at least minimally at trail intersections. It’s a safety issue. People get lost all the time. We’ve all been lost in Panthertown before. These signs have a lot of information on a little place. It’s not going to affect the experience for users in Panthertown.
CASHIERS–The St. Pete Times’ Lucy Morgan broke the story about massive shady dealings at Big Ridge, near Cashiers, last year.
Now she’s back with an update.
Here’s her lead and two subsequent paragraphs for Monday’s paper:
CASHIERS, N.C. — Banks are foreclosing on lot after lot. A federal magistrate suggests mortgage fraud has been committed. And some of those who bought lots in a controversial western North Carolina subdivision have been accused of fraud.
It’s the latest action swirling around a mysterious residential development on Big Ridge, a remote mountaintop about 12 miles north of Cashiers, a village that has become a summer mecca for thousands of Floridians.
Work in the development started by Domenic Rabuffo is at a standstill. Partially constructed houses stand empty and open to the rain. Instead of construction crews, the most frequent visitors are sheriff’s deputies posting mortgage foreclosure notices on vacant lots and unfinished houses.
HIGHLANDS – A musical trip of a lifetime and a stunning painting by Aix-en-Provence artist Jill Steenhuis are among the amazing auction items up for bid at The Bascom’s Autumn Leaves Gala on Oct. 2.
This original painting by Steenhuis, an American-born acclaimed Cezanne specialist who lives with her French husband and three sons in Southern France, will go to one lucky bidder at The Bascom's Autumn Leaves Gala, Oct. 2.
Four tickets to the Rome Chamber Music Festival’s opening night gala and concert on June 6, 2010, plus four tickets to an additional performance during the June 7-10, 2010, festival run, will go to one lucky bidder. The Festival has played to full houses of chamber music enthusiasts from around the world and has received brilliant reviews every year since its inception in 2003. The Rome Chamber Music Festival is endorsed by the Embassies of the United States of America to Italy and to the Holy See, as well as the City of Rome and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
Another lucky bidder will win an original painting by Steenhuis, an American-born acclaimed Cezanne specialist who lives with her French husband and three sons in Southern France. Her studio at the Chateau Noir from 1981 to 1995 is where Post Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne had his studio for 30 years, and her paintings are collected internationally.
“Every year, The Bascom holds an Autumn auction to benefit the exhibition and education programming at the nonprofit visual arts center, and every year, the items are better and better. But this year, the items are off the charts,” said Beth Nellis, event chair. “Imagine yourself and three friends in the Eternal City enjoying masterworks performed by world-renowned musicians. Then imagine an incredible French landscape taking up residence on your mantle. Come to the Autumn Leaves Gala, and you can have all of this and more.”
Held at The Farm at Old Edwards Inn, the Autumn Leaves Gala also features a seated dinner from Executive Chef Johannes Klapdohr, as well as wine and spirits. Dozens of live and silent auction items will be available for bid.
Tickets to the Auction Gala are $225 each. For tickets to the Friday, Oct. 2, Auction Gala or its sister event, the casual Saturday, Oct. 3, Autumn Leaves Party ($35), visit www.thebascom.org/autumnleaves or call (828) 526-4949, ext. 4. Combination tickets for both nights are $250.
Corporate sponsors are Old Edwards Inn & Spa as presenting sponsor, ZWJ Investments as gold sponsor, Donna Laird Graphic Design, Franklin Ford/Moss Robertson Cadillac, Highlands’ Newspaper, The Hillside Shops at Cashiers Village, InMed, The Laurel magazine, The Shoptaw Group, and Zeke and Earl’s Hot Dog Stand.
STATEWIDE–Homeschooling is growing in the Tarheel state, writes David Joy in the Cashiers Crossroads Chronicle.
The crux:
Across the state, 41,042 home schools were operated during the 2008-2009 school year, a seven percent increase from the previous year. Of these schools, 66 percent classified themselves as religious schools.
In the past five years, N.C. has experienced a 24.7 percent increase in the number of home schools, with 9,512 new schools, and an increase of 31 percent in the number of home school students, with 18,285 new students.
Jackson County has mirrored or exceeded this growth.
REGIONAL–Asheville website RomanticAsheville.com offers up this list of what it considers the region’s top waterfalls.
Whitewater Falls, south of Cashiers, makes the cut at number four, and Gorges State Park and Graveyard Fields are in the top half.
The piece links to a separate list of Highlands-area falls.
An excerpt:
Upper Whitewater Falls is the highest waterfall east of the Rockies. The falls plunge an amazing 411 feet! The best part is that you can get a great view with a short walk. Just follow the paved walkway to the upper overlook. The walkway begins at the end of the parking lot and is accessible to wheelchairs. A lower overlook is located at the bottom of 154 wooden steps. More energetic hikers can continue down the half-mile spur trail that drops 600 feet in elevation to the Whitewater River and Foothills Trail.
Upper Whitewater Falls/Photo by Mark File/RomanticAsheville.com
CASHIERS--The Telluride MountainFilm Tour touches down for two days in Cashiers this weekend, offering shows from 7 until 11pm Friday and Saturday.
Read more here, from the Telluride organization.
Read more here from the organizers in Cashiers.
Read a release here in The Smoky Mountain Hiking Blog.
Here’s a trailer from one of Friday’s films, “Pickin’ and Trimmin’”:
Early spring greens are already coming in to tailgate markets and produce stands.
Here’s an early rundown of area tailgate markets:
Cherokee Farmers Tailgate Market
Local farmers and gardeners provide fresh local produce on a weekly basis. Look for organic and heirloom produce.
Where: Located on Acquoni Road in downtown Cherokee. From NC 19 turn onto Acquoni Road Drive. Travel about 1 mile and look for farmers market sign.
When: Fri., 10:00am-2:00pm
Contact: Tammara Cole, 828-554-6931
Open: June 1-November 11
Graham County Farmers Market
The Graham County Farmers Market sells goods that are homegrown or homemade. A wide array of local fruits, vegetables, and plants are available May-Oct.
Where: United Community Bank parking lot next to Ingles in Robbinsville.
When: Sat., 8:30am-1:00pm
Contact: Beverly Whitehead, 828-479-8788
www.smnpa.org
Cashiers Tailgate Market
First year local farmers market in Cashiers. Organic, local, fresh vegetables, fruits, baked goods, jellies, fruit pies, honey.
Where: Cashiers Community Center on Hwy 107 between Cashiers and Highlands.
When: Wed., 1:00pm-6:00 pm, Sat., 7:00am-1:00pm
Contact: Donna Few, 828-230-4785, bearfootgrandonna@yahoo.com
Open: May-October
Jackson County Farmers Market
The Jackson County Farmers Market is open from May-Oct. Located on Mill St. in downtown Sylva. We feature only locally grown produce and products. Most of our growers use organic practices.
Where: In the municipal parking lot next to Bridge Park, downtown Sylva.
When: Sat., 9:00am-noon
Contact: Susannah Patty, 828-507-1146, sylvafarmersmarket@gmail.com
Open: May 2-October 31
Franklin Tailgate Market
Selling only homegrown fruits, vegetables, herbs, cut flowers, plants, eggs, locally made cheese, trout, and honey.
Where: West Palmer Street, across the street from the old post office, between the barber shop and the antique store, Franklin.
When: Sat., 8:00am-noon
Contact: Alan Durden, 828-349-2046
Open: June 6-October 31
Swain County Tailgate Market
The Swain County Tailgate Market is located in downtown Bryson City near the Smoky Mountain Railroad,every Sat. morning. We have an array of vendors, including organic and sustainable growers of produce, plants, herbs, and honey. The market will be open from the first Sat. in Jun. until the last Sat. in Sep.
Where: On Mitchell St. in Bryson City at the parking lot of the Administration Building.
When: Sat., 8:00am-noon
Contact: 828-488-3848, christine_bredenkamp@ncsu.edu
Open: June-September
SAPPHIRE–Here in Sylva we take our entertainment wherever it can be found, so Christmas parade before last, when a local sanitary concern entered a motorized, flame-throwing, rubber-laying, smoke-belching outhouse in the float competition, we were well-satisfied. Sadly, the zippy shack-out-back didn’t return last Christmas to defend its second-place finish, so the 2008 parade felt a bit sluggish.
Imagine how moved we were, then, when we settled in and popped open the Cashiers Chronicle last week, to discover that the Sapphire Valley Ski Resort is sponsoring its third annual sliding Outhouse Race in a few days.
The race, which raises money for the Tamassee DAR School, is scheduled for Saturday, February 28.
CULLOWHEE–Justin Caudell, a WCU junior and award-winning reporter, has taken over the top keyboard at Western Carolina University’s student newspaper, the Western Carolinian.
Caudell, who has two years under his belt as a reporter with the Cashiers Chronicle in Cashiers, NC, inherits a virtually clean slate with the Carolinian, which has drifted through several design metamorphosis in past years, and has shown little editorial direction.
We wish Caudell the best in shaping this very public representation of Western’s student body.
SYLVA-During it’s Thursday (09.18.08) meeting, Sylva’s town board declined to grant a zoning ordinance amendment for proposed high-density housing near the intersection of Yellowbird Branch and Savannah Drive.
The Residential Planned Unit Development overlay (RPUD), would’ve allowed the construction of a series of townhomes on property previously zoned R-1.
Board members Ray Lewis, Harold Hensley and Maurice Moody voted against the zoning ordinance amendment, Commissioners Stacy Knotts and Sarah Graham voted to approve. Sylva’s appointed planning board voted unanimously earlier in the year to recommend that the board approve the amendment.
At their early August meeting commissioners held a public hearing at which the developer, Cashiers-based Taurus Development Group, also made a presentation. Citizens at that hearing expressed concern about the development as a whole and a potential legal matter between a neighbor and local property owner Herb Ross. These matters were not tied specifically to the RPUD, but seemed to concern the board and may have impacted the final vote.
The vote was tabled for two successive meetings after the public hearing.
Commissioner Hensley called for Thursday’s vote before any discussion took place. Hensley, Lewis and Moody declined to elaborate on their reasons for the “no” vote, which visibly agitated Town Planning Director Jim Aust.
Ross and Taurus may re-apply in one year, and in the meantime may proceed with the single-family home aspect of the development, which meets current zoning requirements.
Ross’s current plans are to develop the 48-acre tract with 68 town homes and 51 single-family homes, ranging in price from the mid $100,000’s to the mid $300,000’s. The prospective target market is young professionals, for which there is a lack of adequate housing in the Sylva area. There is a “green” angle to the project, including best land management practices that include minimizing building footprints by clustering buildings together, and the inclusion of systems that reuse storm water. Developers also intend to take advantage of existing or proposed infrastructure, from sidewalks to water and sewer.
Aust values these “green” practices, but seems to value the larger principles at play even more. He sees the positive aspects of traditional community structure meeting 21st century needs.
“Clustering housing reduces the carbon signature, minimizes degradation of water quality and provides attainability by people in the middle income brackets,” Aust said. He went on to say that higher-density development also keeps infrastructure costs lower.
This type of development sets an example for good development, Aust said.
The Crossings development comes on the heels of an announced smaller, but in some ways similar, development on Elm Street. Sapphire developer Art Pohl received a zoning ordinance amendment to build a series of more upscale townhomes just East of the Crossings project, on Elm Street. The vote also came one month after a proposed mixed subsidized/market condominium development in upscale Highlands was scuttled in a contentious 3-2 vote.
SAPPHIRE–Here in Sylva we take our entertainment wherever it can be found, so Christmas parade before last, when a local sanitary concern entered a motorized, flame-throwing, rubber-laying, smoke-belching outhouse in the float competition, we were well-satisfied. Sadly, the zippy shack-out-back didn’t return last Christmas to defend its second-place finish, so the 2008 parade felt a bit sluggish.
