Recently in Fundraisers Category
The folks at the Community Table, Jackson County's combination soup kitchen and community gathering center, are gearing up for a holiday season filled with warmth, fellowship and, most importantly, food.
This Christmas season, Timara McCollum, the Table's executive director, is encouraging everyone to give a little time to helping make holidays for those in need. She's joined by the Table's newest addition: Kitchen Manager Samantha Crawford, who joined the Table in August.
Crawford's role is to take whatever donations, Table garden produce and stocked items are available and magically create delicious, nutritious home-cooked meals for hundreds of people. The Table has served more than 100,000 hot meals since its inception in 1999.
She also coordinates the volunteers and garden workers who serve, clean, cook, cut desserts and wash dishes during special events and the four-times-per-week meals.
"I've made stuffed peppers, because we had so many out of the garden once. They also really like that Southern favorite of beans, greens and cornbread," she says, when asked what her most creative or favorite recipes have been. "But then, I've made Chinese stirfry before, and they ate that too," she adds, smiling.
Crawford encourages everyone to volunteer, and promises she can find a job to suit just about anyone -- even kids can play a role in volunteering at the Table. And she finds herself completely in line with the group's mission and goals. To find out more, you can call her at 586-6782.
The Table will hold a Holiday Cookie Bake on December 1, 5, 7, 8 and 12, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on each of those days. The baking event will use donated sugar cookie dough, cookie cutters and decorations like sprinkles to bring together kids, adults and Table patrons and staff at the holidays.
Parents are encouraged to bring children, and community members are encouraged to come help bake holiday cookies for distribution to patrons of the Table as well as to their friends and families. (There'll be lots of tasting for the chefs, too!)
RSVPs are requested for the Cookie Bake. Call Timara McCollum at 586-6782. If you'd like to donate items for the bake-off, you can call the same number to find out what's needed.
Another holiday event for the Table is an upcoming Christmas feast. The date has not yet been determined.
The Table feeds home-cooked meals to anyone and everyone in need in a homey, restaraunt-style atmosphere, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, from 4 to 6 p.m. In addition, they offer a Blue Plate Special the last Wednesday of the month during which local chefs provide food for $5 per plate, with all proceeds going to the Table. More information is available by contacting McCollum at 586-6782.
The Table is located at the corner of Storybook Lane and Bartlett Street in Sylva, next to the Church of Christ and 2 blocks from St. Mary's Catholic Church.
Shown below: volunteers and staffers at the Community Table (click photo to enlarge). From left: Josh Schond, a WCU student volunteer; Samantha Crawford, the Community Table's Kitchen Manager and Volunteer Coordinator; and Tim and Linda Rice, longtime volunteers. They're working on putting together pots and pots of homecooked spaghetti for dinner.
This Christmas season, Timara McCollum, the Table's executive director, is encouraging everyone to give a little time to helping make holidays for those in need. She's joined by the Table's newest addition: Kitchen Manager Samantha Crawford, who joined the Table in August.
Crawford's role is to take whatever donations, Table garden produce and stocked items are available and magically create delicious, nutritious home-cooked meals for hundreds of people. The Table has served more than 100,000 hot meals since its inception in 1999.
She also coordinates the volunteers and garden workers who serve, clean, cook, cut desserts and wash dishes during special events and the four-times-per-week meals.
"I've made stuffed peppers, because we had so many out of the garden once. They also really like that Southern favorite of beans, greens and cornbread," she says, when asked what her most creative or favorite recipes have been. "But then, I've made Chinese stirfry before, and they ate that too," she adds, smiling.
Crawford encourages everyone to volunteer, and promises she can find a job to suit just about anyone -- even kids can play a role in volunteering at the Table. And she finds herself completely in line with the group's mission and goals. To find out more, you can call her at 586-6782.
The Table will hold a Holiday Cookie Bake on December 1, 5, 7, 8 and 12, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on each of those days. The baking event will use donated sugar cookie dough, cookie cutters and decorations like sprinkles to bring together kids, adults and Table patrons and staff at the holidays.
Parents are encouraged to bring children, and community members are encouraged to come help bake holiday cookies for distribution to patrons of the Table as well as to their friends and families. (There'll be lots of tasting for the chefs, too!)
RSVPs are requested for the Cookie Bake. Call Timara McCollum at 586-6782. If you'd like to donate items for the bake-off, you can call the same number to find out what's needed.
Another holiday event for the Table is an upcoming Christmas feast. The date has not yet been determined.
The Table feeds home-cooked meals to anyone and everyone in need in a homey, restaraunt-style atmosphere, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, from 4 to 6 p.m. In addition, they offer a Blue Plate Special the last Wednesday of the month during which local chefs provide food for $5 per plate, with all proceeds going to the Table. More information is available by contacting McCollum at 586-6782.
The Table is located at the corner of Storybook Lane and Bartlett Street in Sylva, next to the Church of Christ and 2 blocks from St. Mary's Catholic Church.
Shown below: volunteers and staffers at the Community Table (click photo to enlarge). From left: Josh Schond, a WCU student volunteer; Samantha Crawford, the Community Table's Kitchen Manager and Volunteer Coordinator; and Tim and Linda Rice, longtime volunteers. They're working on putting together pots and pots of homecooked spaghetti for dinner.
The Western Carolina University School of Music will present its annual Sounds of the Season concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, in the performance hall of the Fine and Performing Arts Center on campus. The traditional concert uses nearly all the school's choral and instrumental ensembles to present a variety of Christmas and holiday arrangements, ranging from traditional compositions of carols to more modern arrangements of old favorites and newer pieces.
But the concert isn't your typical holiday event. Each year, the performances are structured as a "prism concert," which means a succession of ensembles perform at various locations throughout the performance hall.
All proceeds from ticket sales go to the School of Music's scholarship fund.
Tickets (in advance or at the door) are $10 for adults and senior citizens, and $5 for students and children. No reservations are necessary, but if you'd like more information or to reserve tickets, call the music office at 227-7242.
More musical entertainment is available at WCU Tuesday, Dec. 4, as the Wind Ensemble gives its second concert of the season. The show begins at 8 p.m. in the Fine and Performing Arts Center, and will feature several (non-holiday) pieces. The Wind Ensemble concert is free and the public is invited. For more information, call 227-7242.
DO GOOD this Friday: a benefit concert for Malawi drought victims, organized for a Smoky Mountain High School Senior Project by student Sabine Moses, will be held in the school gym from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
All donations at the door (no tickets, suggested donation is $5 per family) will go to help victims of severe weather conditions in Malawi, Africa.
Featured local performers include the Summit Church Band, Eric Barnes, the Retroblenders and Matt Williams.
For more information, call Sabine at 399-0694.
All donations at the door (no tickets, suggested donation is $5 per family) will go to help victims of severe weather conditions in Malawi, Africa.
Featured local performers include the Summit Church Band, Eric Barnes, the Retroblenders and Matt Williams.
For more information, call Sabine at 399-0694.
Help build Jackson County's new library and have fun, too, by participating in the Great Smoky Mountain Book Fair in Sylva on Saturday, November 10.
More than 50 regional authors will gather to read from and talk about their work with you, including local authors Gary Carden, David Lamotte, Curtis Blanton, Rob Neufeld, Barbara Duncan and Bob Terrell.
Tickets ($5) will be available soon at many Sylva businesses.
On the evening before the Book Fair, hear a one-woman performance of “On Agate Hill,” a Lee Smith story, by Barbara Bates Smith (accompanied by musician Jeff Sebens playing banjo, hammered dulcimer, and lap dulcimer). The cost is $25. Hors d’oeuvres are included.
Both the Friday night performance and the Saturday book fair will take place at the First United Methodist Church of Sylva.
By participating in one or both events, you'll be helping to build our new library. All ticket proceeds and 20% of book sales will be added to a construction fund for a new building.
The book fair is produced by the Friends of the Jackson County Library, Sylva's City Lights Bookstore, and the Honors College at Western Carolina University.
For more information, visit the City Lights Bookstore page about the event and visit the web page of the Great Smoky Mountain Book Fair.
The Sylva Herald has more coverage about the book fair in an online article (click) (not affiliated with JacksonCountyMagazine.com).
On Wednesday (Oct. 31), the Community Table in Sylva will host a special lunch for all members of the general public. The $5 cost will provide needed operating funds for Jackson County's only source of free and reduced cost meals for the needy.This week's "Blue Plate Special" begins at 11 a.m. and runs through 2 p.m.
The meal will be prepared by Wanda Moss, who for many years owned the Riverhouse Restaurant in Cullowhee, will be guest chef. She’ll prepare two soups: one vegetarian and the other a vegetable beef brew she is famous for. Sandwiches will be her homemade pimento cheese served on pumpernickel or rye bread.
The Community Table's Kitchen Manager, Samantha, will make a graveyard cake and witches' fingers cookies for dessert. Staff and servers will be in costume, so come prepared for pleasant spookiness and treats!
To-go orders can be placed by calling 586-6782. Also, deliveries can be made in the Sylva, Cullowhee and Dillsboro area.
The Community Table is in Sylva's former "Pumpkin Patch" neighborhood, on Bartlett Street across from the Sylva Church of Christ. [View directions on Mapquest.com (click)]
A Blue Plate Special occurs on the last Wednesday of each month. Jackson County Magazine says: Put it on your calendar!
The Community Table is a nonprofit, volunteer group. Since 1999 the Community Table has provided meals four days a week to those in need, on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, from 4 to 6 p.m.
To volunteer or for more information, call Executive Director Timara McCollum at 586-6782.
The general public is able to view the excellent 3-page Jackson County Happenings for the month of November, published by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.
(Requires the free Adobe Reader program to view.)
Highlights: the publication includes information about the On Agate Hill play in Sylva on November 4 (better get your tickets now), the Great Smoky Mountain Book Fair in Sylva on November 9 and 10, another blacksmithing class on November 10 and 11 in Dillsboro, and WCU's Madrigal Dinner on November 30 (tickets go on sale on Tuesday, November 9).
(Requires the free Adobe Reader program to view.)
Highlights: the publication includes information about the On Agate Hill play in Sylva on November 4 (better get your tickets now), the Great Smoky Mountain Book Fair in Sylva on November 9 and 10, another blacksmithing class on November 10 and 11 in Dillsboro, and WCU's Madrigal Dinner on November 30 (tickets go on sale on Tuesday, November 9).
Cullowhee Valley School is the spot for this year's barbeque sponsored by the Cullowhee Volunteer Fire Department, beginning Sat. Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. and lasting until about 8.
Tickets can be purchased at the event, which features live music and raffles for two shotguns donated to the department by Papa's Pizza to Go in Cullowhee.
See the Sylva Herald's web site for more.
Tickets can be purchased at the event, which features live music and raffles for two shotguns donated to the department by Papa's Pizza to Go in Cullowhee.
See the Sylva Herald's web site for more.
Nobody cooks fish like Catholic men on a Friday! The Knights of Columbus, a men's fraternal organization at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sylva, fires up its 4 vegetable oil fryers Fri. Oct. 26 from 5 to 8 p.m. ($8 for adults, $5 for kids 12 or under), filling them with American catfish (they taste better than Chinese catfish, and it's the principle of the thing), hushpuppies and hashbrowns. Over in the kitchen, others are serving freshly made cole slaw, drinks, homemade pies, brownies and other desserts.
The crowd of several hundred people is always lively and friendly -- Catholics, Protestants and perhaps even a few hungry nonbelievers. The net proceeds go to charitable causes, including support for intellectually disabled residents in Jackson County.
Directions: St. Mary's church is in Sylva's former "Pumpkin Patch" neighborhood. Once you're on Grindstaff Cove Road between U.S. 23-74 and downtown Sylva, take Dillsboro Road into the neighborhood and you'll see the church, which is at the corner of Bartlett Street and Dillsboro Road.
The crowd of several hundred people is always lively and friendly -- Catholics, Protestants and perhaps even a few hungry nonbelievers. The net proceeds go to charitable causes, including support for intellectually disabled residents in Jackson County.
Directions: St. Mary's church is in Sylva's former "Pumpkin Patch" neighborhood. Once you're on Grindstaff Cove Road between U.S. 23-74 and downtown Sylva, take Dillsboro Road into the neighborhood and you'll see the church, which is at the corner of Bartlett Street and Dillsboro Road.
The Men's Group of Sylva's First United Methodist Church holds its annual Poor Man's Luncheon at the church Fri. Oct. 26 from 11 until 1.
The lunch of pinto beans, potatoes, cole slaw, drink and dessert costs $6, and serves as the group's main fundraiser for church projects and missions. Take-outs will be available.
The late Raymon Stovall is being honored by the Men's Group this year; he was a member of the group for many years.
The lunch of pinto beans, potatoes, cole slaw, drink and dessert costs $6, and serves as the group's main fundraiser for church projects and missions. Take-outs will be available.
The late Raymon Stovall is being honored by the Men's Group this year; he was a member of the group for many years.
Thirty pink ribbons strikingly displayed along Main Street in Sylva are sponsored by WestCare Health System as part of its annual breast cancer awareness drive. The drive coincides with national Breast Cancer Awareness Month.Get your own pink ribbon for $1 at several local stores, including Goody's in Jackson Plaza. Proceeds go to fund breast cancer research.
WestCare invites you to write a loved one's name on an ornament and place it on a Tree of Hope in the lobbies of the hospitals in Jackson and Swain counties and at the WestCare Medical Park in Franklin.
WestCare is sponsoring two walks, called Hoping for the Cure, on Friday, October 12. Meet in the Sylva's Harris Regional Hospital lobby at 11:30 a.m (the first 100 walkers will receive a breast cancer awareness water bottle) or in the First Baptist Church parking lot in Bryson City at 5 p.m. (the first 25 walkers will receive a breast cancer awareness water bottle). Everyone is encouraged to wear pink during the walks, which will last approximately two hours.
For more information about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, visit www.nbcam.org.
At an important fundraiser for the upcoming Bridge Park in downtown Sylva, three musical groups will play all afternoon at a stage near Main Street on Sunday, October 14.Bring a blanket or lawn chair to enjoy the music. You'll also find food and information about the park, which recently began construction but is still very much in the fundraising stage.
The music kicks off at 1 p.m. and continues until 7.
Performing from 1 until 3 is Balsam Range Bluegrass Band, which includes longtime local favorites Buddy Melton (Rooooo-beeeee!) and Grammy-winner Marc Pruett.
From 3 until 5 hear four-time Grammy winner David Holt and the Lightning Bolts. If Marc Pruett's band is the warm-up, you know Holt's group must be awesome.
From 5 until 7, you'll hear CookingWithQuanta, a rock band that includes Sylva's beloved hippie gardener, Adam Bigelow, on the electric bass. The band has played to enthusiastic crowds at Sylva's Guadalupe Cafe.
The largest sponsoring contributor to the fundraiser is the Jackson County Arts Council.
Other sponsoring contributors are F. Patrick McGuire, D.D.S., Coward, Hicks & Siler, P.A., and Smoky Mountain OB/GYN Associates.
The Downtown Sylva Association, which is sponsoring the event, hopes to raise a considerable amount in donations from individuals on the day of the event.
The DSA will have a staffed donation tent where it will be accepting donations for Bridge Park in cash or a check. Last year, at a similar event, the DSA was able to raise $5,000 in contributions from the community.
[Jackson County Magazine says: Bring your checkbook and help build our park.]
