The Southern Highland Reader

CULLOWHEE – A new exhibit focusing on the legendary Plott hound hunting dogs of Haywood County will open Friday, Oct. 9, at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center.

“Our State Dog: North Carolina’s Plott Hound” explains the history and origins of the dog breed with a combination of artifacts and photographs. The exhibit covers breed characteristics and describes how Plotts are used to hunt bears, boars and raccoons. Museum visitors also will have an opportunity to view bear and boar skins, rare hunting weapons and other artifacts.

The original breeding stock of hunting dogs was imported to America by Johannes Plott around 1750, said Mountain Heritage Center Curator Trevor Jones. The Plott family and their dogs settled in Haywood County around 1800, and both the family and the dogs prospered in the New World, Jones said.

As time passed, the Plott hound’s legendary ability to chase bears and boars grew, and Plotts are now raised across the country and around the world.

The Mountain Heritage Center staff worked with the National Plott Hound Association, the Jackson County Coon Hunter’s Club, members of the Plott family, and local bear and boar hunters in developing the exhibit, Jones said.

Many aspects of the exhibit are based on the research of Plott hound experts Bob Plott and John Jackson. Bob Plott is a descendant of Johannes Plott. Many artifacts were supplied by local hunters.

The exhibit will be on display through April 8 of next year.

The Mountain Heritage Center is located on the ground floor of WCU’s H.F. Robinson Administration Building. The museum is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday. The center also is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June through October.

CULLOWHEE–Organizers of Mountain Heritage Day, Western Carolina University’s long-running mountain folkways festival, will explore uncharted regions of hades this week.

This is because the large festival’s usual site on the valley floor is too soggy to be used, and so organizers will relocate the whole shebang on a moment’s notice to another part of campus.

Here’s a release from Western:

CULLOWHEE – Mountain Heritage Day, Western Carolina University’s annual festival of mountain culture, will be held at an alternate location on campus this Saturday, Sept. 26, because of recent heavy rains in the area.

Festival activities will take place along Memorial Drive and Killian Building Lane, which will be closed to traffic, and around adjacent university buildings, said festival Chairman Scott Philyaw. The regular festival site, an intramural field located near the Cordelia Camp Building, is too wet to be used during the festival, Philyaw said.

Memorial Drive will be closed at its intersection with Norton Road, and Killian Building Lane will be closed at its intersection with Centennial Drive. About 130 arts and crafts vendors are scheduled to display their wares at the festival, and their booths will be located along Memorial Drive and Killian Building Lane, Philyaw said.

Despite the change in location, most festival activities will go on as planned. Mountain Heritage Day will offer two stages of traditional music and dance; old-fashioned mountain food; exhibitions of folk arts and skills; and demonstrations of Cherokee Indian ball (also known as “stickball”), shape-note singing, black powder shooting and an 18th-century hunters’ camp.

The festival Circle Tent will offer historical presentations, children’s activities, storytelling, and guitar and fiddle circles. Other items on the agenda include a 5K foot race and woodcutting contest.

WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to allow festival visitors to view its exhibits and displays. The museum is located on the ground floor of H.F. Robinson Administration Building.

Three activities – an antique auto show, demonstration of horses and mules at work, and hayrides – have been canceled because of the change in location.

Festival activities begin at 8 a.m. and continue until 6 p.m. Admission and parking at Mountain Heritage Day are free. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.

Pets are not allowed at the festival site, but service animals are welcome. For more information about Mountain Heritage Day, call (828) 227-3193.

Visitors are encouraged to stick around after the festival to cheer on the football Catamounts as they take on the Furman Paladins at E.J. Whitmire Stadium. Kickoff is 6 p.m. For tickets, call the WCU athletics ticket office at 800-34-GOWCU.

CULLOWHEE – The 2008-09 old-time and bluegrass music concert/jam session series at Western Carolina University will conclude Thursday, April 2, with a concert by the Hominy Valley Boys, followed by a jam session in which local musicians are invited to participate.

Hailing from Candler, the Hominy Valley Boys have performed at many venues across Western North Carolina and are featured on the DVD “Rank Strangers.”

The 7 p.m. concert in the auditorium of WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center is free and open to everyone. Pickers and singers of all ages and experience levels are invited to take part in the jam session of old-time and bluegrass music that will follow the concert.

The Mountain Heritage Center is located on the ground floor of WCU’s H.F. Robinson Administration Building. For more information, call the museum at (828) 227-7129.

CULLOWHEE – Tennessee poet Linda Parsons Marion will speak about her work during a presentation set for 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center.

Marion’s visit to WCU is part of the spring semester Appalachian Lunchtime Series, which is sponsored by the Mountain Heritage Center and Ron Rash, WCU’s Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture.

Marion is the author of two poetry collections – “Home Fires” and a newly published work, “Mother Land.” She is poetry editor of Now & Then magazine and an editor at the University of Tennessee. She lives in Knoxville with her husband, poet Jeff Daniel Marion.

Lunchtime series presentations are held in the Mountain Heritage Center auditorium. Those attending are invited to bring their lunch.

The series will conclude for the spring semester with a Wednesday, April 22, presentation by the authors of a new Haywood County history book.

The Mountain Heritage Center is located on the ground floor of H.F. Robinson Administration Building. For more information, call the museum at (828) 227-7129.

CULLOWHEE – The 2008-09 old-time and bluegrass music concert/jam session series at Western Carolina University will continue Thursday, March 5, with a concert by Ken Bloom, followed by a jam session in which local musicians are invited to participate.

Musician Ken Bloom will be featured in a free concert at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center on Thursday, March 5. Local musicians and singers are invited to participate in an old-time and bluegrass jam session that will follow his performance.

Bloom will perform on zither, minstrel-style banjo and bowed and strummed dulcimers beginning at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center. Performers of old-time and bluegrass music are invited to bring their instruments and take part in the jam session that will follow his presentation.

A resident of Pilot Mountain in Surry County, Bloom has performed at many venues across the country, including WCU’s Mountain Dulcimer Week. “The concert promises to be an evening of common tunes played on uncommon instruments in a wide range of musical styles, from old-time to Celtic/Gaelic to a smattering of swing and jazz,” said Peter Koch, education associate at the Mountain Heritage Center. “The jam that will follow the concert will be a lot of fun, also, since Ken is an incredible musician and teacher who can play along with popular tunes with a totally different sound.”

The concert/jam session series for 2008-09 will conclude Thursday, April 2, with a performance by the Hominy Valley Boys at 7 p.m., followed by the regular jam session.

The concerts are free and open to everyone. Pickers and singers of all ages and experience levels are invited to take part in the jam sessions.

The Mountain Heritage Center is located on the ground floor of WCU’s H.F. Robinson Administration Building. For more information, call the museum at (828) 227-7129.

CULLOWHEE – Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center will host a public reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, to celebrate the opening of a new exhibit that showcases Haywood County history.

Images such as this one that depicts logging activity in Haywood County in the 1930s are included in the new exhibit, “Haywood County: Portrait of a Mountain Community.” (Photo courtesy of the Haywood County Historical Society)

“Haywood County: Portrait of a Mountain Community” went on display at the WCU museum Monday, Jan. 26, and will be shown there through Friday, May 29. After that date, the exhibit will be on display at the Haywood County Library in Waynesville until it becomes part of the Haywood County Historical Society’s history room at the courthouse in Waynesville, which is being renovated.

Developed in conjunction with the society, the exhibit features themes and images that also will appear in a forthcoming Haywood County history book, which is scheduled to be published in July. The exhibit examines the development of agriculture, industry and tourism in Haywood, and also looks at the townships and villages that have made up the county since its founding in 1808.

The Mountain Heritage Center, open to the public free of charge, is located on the ground floor of WCU’s H.F. Robinson Administration Building. The museum is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information about programs and special events, call (828) 227-7129 or visit www.wcu.edu/mhd on the Web.

CULLOWHEE – Trevor Jones, a native of St. Cloud, Minn., is the new curator at the Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University’s museum of Southern Appalachian natural and cultural history.

Trevor Jones (right), the new curator at WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center, examines a bear trap that is part of the museum’s collection of artifacts with Peter Koch, education associate at the center.

Jones was formerly curator of history at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wis. He earned bachelor’s degrees in history and German at Grinnell College, and a master’s degree in history and certificate in museum studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

In his role as curator at the Mountain Heritage Center, Jones will write, design and build exhibits; oversee the museum’s collection of artifacts; and assist visitors as they learn about the region.

“I’m excited to be working at the Mountain Heritage Center during such an exciting time in the organization’s history,” Jones said. “The center is in the process of launching innovative new programs and exhibits, and I’m pleased that I can be a part of it.”

Jones has published articles on a wide range of subjects, including the role of American Indians in the Civil War, blacksmithing at the dawn of the 20th century, and the digitization and preservation of rare and fragile museum materials. Recently, his research has focused on civil liberties and World War I.

Earlier this year, Jones was chosen as the first American recipient of the Global Curator Fellowship, a new honor sponsored by the Historians’ Special Interest Group of Museums Australia, and the Curators’ Committee of the American Association of Museums. The fellowship is bestowed upon one American and one Australian each year, and as the American honoree, Jones will attend and present a research paper at the May meeting of the Museums Australia Annual Conference in Newcastle, Australia. He also will attend the May conference of the American Association of Museums in Philadelphia.

The Mountain Heritage Center, located on the ground floor of WCU’s H.F. Robinson Administration Building, spotlights the human and natural history of the Southern Appalachian region with a wide variety of programming for adults and children, and through its exhibits and displays.

The museum is open free to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday year-round, and from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays, June through October. Because the Mountain Heritage Center observes a university holiday schedule, visitors should call the museum around major holidays at (828) 227-7129 to inquire about visiting hours.