Recently in Local Culture Category

Below: a stained glass window at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Sylva, depicting the holy family. (Click on the photo or any other photos below, to view an enlarged version.)


Below: Frasier fir trees on the lawn of the old courthouse, in downtown Sylva.


Below: Milt and Lucy Wofford of Sylva have a "ChrisMoose" in their front yard!

Below: Boy Scouts Joseph Baker and Alex Madill of Sylva's Troop 999 make last-minute preparations for the 2007 Sylva Christmas parade; the headgear does not seem to be part of the regulation Boy Scout uniform, however!

What makes it feel like Christmas in downtown Sylva?

For some people, it's the wreaths on the old courthouse. For others it might be the big tree at the bottom of the courthouse steps. But for everybody, it's the annual festive window decorations on Sylva's Main Street, hand-painted by local artist Austen Mikulka.

You've probably noticed Austen at work, perhaps accompanied by his loyal dog, Benro. He's the fellow crouching on the sidewalk with paint on his sweatshirt and hands, studying notepad sketches and skillfully turning them into full-color humorous scenes on the plate glass windows of shops on Main Street.

Thanks to his focused attention, each window not only is a bright bit of cheer for downtown Christmas shoppers, but also is a beautiful advertisement for each shop. You'll find snowmen in camping gear at BlackRock Outdoor (roasting snowballs over "coals" of ice); Santa Claus at Nick and Nate's restaurant, where Santa has cheese shredders and pizza cutters in his sack of toys; Santa Claus doing a wheelie at Motion Makers bicycle shop (where the tires are made of wreaths); and many more. The key is to hunt for the delightful details.(Below: two spoons warm themselves in front of an oven, sitting in the snow next to the pizza-slice trees, on the window at Nick and Nate's restaurant.)

You might recognize the Three Wise Men painted on Guadalupe Cafe's front window. On a starry night, on a snowy hill, we see not the three kings from Bethlehem, but loyal Guadalupe Cafe patrons John McCarley (local landscaper), Adam Bigelow (everyone's favorite hippie gardener) and Austen himself.

After moving to Sylva in 2001 from his hometown of Douglas, Georgia, Austen began working at Meatball's Restaurant. The restaurant had a large plate glass window in front, so Austen decided -- between cooking pizzas and waiting tables -- that he'd like to learn how to paint on windows, the way he'd seen an artist do back home. He had not been formally educated in art techniques, and he says "I started painting windows to teach myself how to paint."

Local businesspeople liked the results at Meatball's so much that Austen began to get requests for work on other shop windows. By paying Austen to design and paint the expressive and original scenes on their windows, shop owners enjoy greater sales and attention from window shoppers. Awnings above the glass windows along Main Street protect the art from rain, hail, snow and direct sun, which gives Austen's artworks a long lifespan.

Two of Austen's earliest Main Street customers were BlackRock Outdoor and Nick and Nate's Pizzeria. Newer customers include Bear Lake Reserve, Fantasy Travel, Jake's Mountain House, Guadalupe Cafe, Motion Makers, Lily's Treasures, the Friends of the Library Bookstore, Terri Clark Photography and the Sylva Herald.

(Below: Jake's Mountain House (the "Life is good" store) seems to be announcing that "Christmas is good!" Click photo to enlarge.)

Austen first sketches his masterpieces on paper, trying various shapes and characters. He uses his imagination to create a different scenario that fits each of his business customers. At Halloween on the window of the new Lily's Treasures boutique for children, for example, one could spot a pumpkin-headed lad atop the shoulders of his pumpkin-headed dad. A ghoul appeared atop a bicycle on the window of the Motion Makers bicycle shop. Three varieties of carnivorous plants created a sense of impending Halloween doom on the window of the Guadalupe Cafe.

Austen is thrilled with the response from both locals and visitors, though he sometimes worries his work will not be received well (the ghouls on various windows for Halloween "were pretty creepy," he admits). "I've gotten a lot of encouragement," he said. "It's good, because I'm not just pleasing myself and my friends, the people I know downtown, but also people who are complete strangers, and that's a really cool thing to do."

(Come downtown to Main Street to view all of Austen's Christmas work. The photos in this article are only a portion of the scenes you'll see.)

In addition to his work on Main Street, Austen likes to stay busy with other artistic jobs -- it's his living -- and he's available for photography, hand-painted signs, murals, portraits, graphic design and illustrations.

Several striking pen-and-ink drawings and illustations are available for viewing at the Guadalupe Cafe (which hosted a reception for Austen on Thursday, Dec. 13). Go by and take a look -- and if you can't, call Austen at 828.371.0695 for more information.

If you missed them last weekend, don't miss them this weekend: Dillsboro's luminary celebration will be held again on Friday and Saturday evenings, from 5 to 9 p.m (December 14 and 15).

The town's shops, inns, and restaurants will be decorated for the season, and will offer cocoa, cider, and small treats for visitors.

Santa will be available for photographs with the kids, inside Town Hall, at the corner of Front Street and Depot Street.

Over 2,500 small white paper bags filled with sand and lighted candles will adorn the streets and sidewalks. Musicians will be stationed at nearly every shop, and look for a group of musicians to be jamming around the firepit at the Riverwood Shops.

Admission is free. Parking is available in town, at several lots around town, and at the Monteith Farmstead, just off of Old Hometown Place Road.

Dress for cold weather, and bring the entire family!

For more information, see www.visitdillsboro.org or call Teresa Dowd, Dillsboro Merchants Association Chairman, at 586-5700. Additional coverage is online in an article by the Sylva Herald (click).

The events coincide with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Christmas trains, featuring the Polar Express rides. For information on train rides, call 1-800-872-4681 or visit www.gsmr.com.

Curtis Blanton's play, "Precious Christmas Memories," will be performed at the Webster United Methodist Church at 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 9.

For more information, see an online Sylva Herald article (click here).

[Jackson County Magazine is not affiliated with the Sylva Herald.]

City Lights Bookstore in Sylva will host Asheville photographer Kevin Adams on Saturday, December 8th at 4 p.m., for a presentation based on his new book, North Carolina Then & Now.

Published in the fall, the book features more than 75 pairs of oversized photographs of places around the state. Both shots of each pair are taken from the same vantage point, but one is a new photograph taken by Adams and the other is a historic photograph. The photos demonstrate the rapid pace of development in NC over the past 75 years.

Covering all parts of the state, the book includes many photographs from the mountain region, including the downtowns of Sylva, Bryson City, and Asheville. Various mountain views, including Whiteside Cove, Linville Gorge, and Tablerock Mountain are also featured.

Adams includes an extensive caption with each photograph, describing the scene's history. He consulted more than 10,000 historic photographs before choosing which ones to include in the book.

Adams will discuss his research and photography techniques and take questions from the audience. An autographing will follow his remarks.

For more information or to reserve a signed copy of the book, call City Lights at 586-9499. Copies of Adams' previous books, North Carolina Waterfalls and North Carolina's Best Wildflower Hikes, will be available. 

BRING ON THE SEASON with local bluegrass and blues jam sessions at the Mountain Heritage Center on Western Carolina University’s campus.

The traditional pickin’ sessions and concerts kick off this year on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m.

The first concert of the 2007-2008 season will feature Marshall resident Don Pedi and Celo resident Bruce Greene, both of whom are widely recognized throughout the Appalachians for their talents in transcribing old fiddle tunes for the mountain dulcimer and performances of old-time Kentucky fiddle music, respectively.

Each concert is followed by a jam session, open to any interested musicians and audience members.

The concerts continue on the first Thursday of each month through March. Performing at future concerts are the McDowell Family on Jan. 3, Chuck Norris and Daybreak on Feb. 7, and Charles Shuler and Friends on March 6.

As part of the focus on mountain music styles, the MHC also will host a third-Thursday open jam session (sans concert), which kicks off next month on Jan. 17, at 7 p.m.

All interested musicians, singers, and audience members are encouraged to attend the free event; the MHC is located on the ground floor of the H.F. Robinson Administration Building (the large white building at the main entrance to campus).

For further information, call the MHC at 828-227-7129.

Looking for something to do? Don't forget that we are surrounded by sights and sites that attract tourists from around the world. Get out and explore! Recently I did just that.

Some of the best-known peaks in the Plott Balsams mountain range lie just north of Highway 23/74. The Blue Ridge Parkway (which has an entrance on 23/74 just past the Jackson County line, heading towards Waynesville) can take you to Waterrock Knob, Blackrock and Pinnacle Peak.  All 3 are splendid hiking destinations, with fantastic 360-degree views that include Sylva, Cullowhee and Cherokee.

I've never been an avid hiker, so when I agreed to hike from Waterrock Knob to Blackrock it was because my hiking partner told me it would be an easy walk... just a few uphill parts, some great views, and barely any driving needed to get there. It sounded perfect for my day off, because I love being outside for camping and gardening.

So off we went, hiking along a single-file game trail, up several steep inclines and then along the top of the ridge from Waterrock over Double Top and Yellow Face. We continued around Table Rock and then hiked through to Blackrock.

The views were wonderful, when I could breathe enough to see them clearly. Catamount Gap is clearly defined, with Cullowhee sleeping right behind and Sylva getting bigger by the second in the foreground.

When the burning in my legs got too bad (I discovered some muscles I didn't know I had), I stopped to take a closer look around. I could see wild berries, sleeping spots where bears had patted the grass flat, pine and birch forests that hadn't been disturbed in hundreds of years, and oaks just turning the barest hint of red.

Our route included wildflowers of every kind, huge rocks the size of cars teetering on the edge of one ridge where they’ve been teetering for centuries, laurel slicks and fallen birch with the bark peeling off like reams of paper. It was a wonderland, heightened by the abandoned feeling of a forest at such an elevation.

Any local can tell you there's a deep sense of contentment that comes from spending even a small afternoon in the company of nothing but mountains, sky and trees. It's really more than a guidebook can describe. At higher elevations there's a magic to be found in the solitude, where not even small animals move. I felt the sense of place our mountains provide -- safety, security, beauty and timelessness.

Unfortunately, the differences between isolation and civilization became all too clear when we crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway. While waiting for traffic to let us cross, we experienced the smell of car exhaust, the sound of engines, motorcycles and airplanes, and the heavy traffic at the Waterrock Knob overlook. There, at a parking lot filled with cars and motorcycles, we saw people drinking beer and taking videos of the vista, but the trail itself was devoid of walkers.

Later our senses were jarred by the flat, lifeless green of Balsam Mountain Preserve’s golf course at however-many-thousand-feet, where we had expected to see more ridges, valleys, trees and small pastures.

And as we walked down a road and rounded a curve we discovered a sudden, secret view of blue peaks and ridges against a bluer sky -- but it was interrupted by a glaringly white, huge new house on the side of the foremost mountain. Why do people paint mountainside houses bright white?

Ironically, such encroachments might keep us from taking for granted the natural beauty of the place where we live.

I know I have a renewed appreciation for these mountains, and I'll bet you will, too -- so take a hike!

On November 17, 2007 beginning at 5 p.m. at the Sylva Community Center, Catch the Spirit of Appalachia will present “Passing It On,” a performance with stories, songs, and spontaneous art in a fast-paced production. Featuring The Ammons Sisters as the teller and illustrator of the story, the presentation will spotlight the prose, poetry, music and creativity of local writers and singers. Admission is free.

(The Sylva Community Center is located at 538 Scotts Creek Road.)

One storyteller will be Karen Greenstone from Sylva, whose story is called "Baseball Bonanza," an example of a "shaggy dog story" (where the teller spins a long yarn ending with a clever punch line). Karen has taken the skeleton of a particular shaggy dog story about baseball that she heard years ago and has embellished the original tale to create a fictional account of the most memorable kids baseball game ever in the New Orleans neighborhood of her childhood in the 1960s.

Other stories include “The Detour/Two Sides of a Secret” by Erik Hicks; “The Early Years” by Serena H. Dossenko; “Steal Away Home” by Victoria A. Casey McDonald; “The Long Road Home” by Samantha Ganly-Hicks; “The Legend of Mountain Laurel” by Judy Rhodes; “Without Lies,” by Chelsea Greene; “Remembering Grandpa,” by Lauren Hicks; and “The Cow Story,” by Barry Dossenko.

Immediately following, CSA will present special entertainment featuring “The Muses,” a 3-woman a cappella group singing an ingenious mix of Celtic, Americana, traditional Appalachian, and World music. Their repertoire covers a wide range and includes original compositions, spirituals, soul numbers, and songs from Scotland and Ireland.

This year’s Pastel Art Exhibit will include artists Paul Knoepp of Otto, Becky Nelson of Whittier, Nikki Hinke of Cullowhee, Lucius Salisbury of Franklin, Margot Johnson of Glenville and Doreyl Ammons Cain of Tuckasegee. These pastel artists have painted the bright colors of the mountain land with a creative flare. This pastel exhibit brings together many views of our mountains.

A special part of the exhibit will display Art Chairs from the animal relief fund raiser for Catman2 and ARF. Highly imaginative scenes of animals, painted on many different types of seating furniture, will be offered to the highest bidder in a silent auction. For holiday giving, the sale of books, photography, Limited edition art prints, greeting cards and original art will be offered for sale, so come ready to purchase an unforgettable treasure.

Finally, at 7:30 p.m., Harold Sims will draw the winning ticket for this year’s Catman2 Quilt Raffle.

Included in this free evening of creative arts and opportunities are homemade refreshments by Becky Nelson from Barker’s Creek -- salmon loaf, carmel apples, cheese and fruit, Baklava, hot cider and hot chocolate and more -- served by members of the CSA Board of Directors.

Shown below: Karen Greenstone of Sylva demonstrates the art of storytelling.

Western Carolina University's Mountain Heritage Center is hosting a presentation on Tuesday, Nov. 13 by Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranger Brad Free. The talk is entitled "Trade, Timber and Tourism: The Trans-Mountain Road of the Smokies," and centers around the Oconaluftee Turnpike built to connect North Carolina and Tennessee in the 1830s.

The toll road was the only crossing in the Smokies for several years. It followed a Native American trail across passes and over high ridges through what is now the national park. Ranger Free will describe the changing landscape along that road and how it differs from other ecosystems in the Smokies.

Free is an experienced speaker. As an employee with the national park's Division of Resource Education and Visitor Services, he guides history hikes, presents campground evening programs and provides costume interpretation at the national park's Mountain Farm Museum.

The program begins at 5:30 p.m.

WCU's Mountain Heritage Center is on the ground floor of the H.F. Robinson Administration Building. For more information, call (828) 227-7129 or visit www.wcu.edu/mhc.

If you're looking for a volunteer community project about strong women and local heritage, the town of Dillsboro is looking for you.

This Saturday, Nov. 10, the Monteith House Restoration Committee is looking for helpers to get "down and dirty" at a volunteer clean-up event at the Monteith Farmstead in Dillsboro. The event begins at 10 a.m. and continues through the afternoon.

Volunteers will help clean, repair and catalog at the turn-of-the-century Monteith Farm, which has a four-level farmhouse, a canning house, a flower house, a greenhouse and a barn. Workers are needed for a variety of tasks, including sweeping down cobwebs, cleaning and organizing artifacts, and fixing broken windows and boards.

More opportunities to help will be on Wednesday Nov. 14 from noon to 5, and on Saturday, Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. continuing through the afternoon.

The restoration eventually will bring the home to almost-original condition. It will house the Southern Appalachian Women's Museum, which will showcase the lives and contributions of sisters Edna and Edith Monteith, who were the home's last owners, and other outstanding Appalachian women.

The town of Dillsboro purchased the 16-acre property from the estates of the sisters. Edna and Edith lived in the farmhouse with their family and were its last surviving members. The 2 women, one of whom was married for a time, ran the farm themselves. They had gardens, chicken coops, butchery, beehives, greenhouse, canning and laundry rooms.

A lot of dust and dirt needs to be removed because the house was unoccupied for several years, but it already has yielded treasures, including the sisters' school essays on the then-recent passage of the 19th amendment allowing women the right to vote; dozens of shoes and dresses in near-new condition; letters, postal records and other documents that describe the history of Jackson County as it grew in the 1950s though 1980s; and the orignial beehives the women kept to make honey.

According to Volunteer Coordinator Tim Osment, the two events also enable the all-volunteer restoration committee to put other events in motion. By cleaning out the first floor of the house and cataloging its contents properly, the committee then can use the space to collect donated items for a planned January attic sale fund-raiser. Early next year the committee plans to jump-start its fund-raising drive with a traveling Appalachian exhibit and opening gala. Osment would like the house to be in "tourable" condition for people participating in those events.

Attic sale items can be donated during the 3 clean-up days, and those interested in information about the park are encouraged to stop by, whether or not they can help clean.

To volunteer, wear old clothes and sturdy, close-toed shoes. If you'd like to dust artifacts, bring a new or clean paint brush. Flashlights, permanent markers, and any food or drinks would be useful, too. Come to the park for one, two or all three of the events (for a map, click here).

From Sylva, take west Main Street towards Dillsboro to the first stop light after passing the Dillsboro Court shopping area. Turn right at the light and then approach the farmstead using the first road on the right. Parking is in the gravel lot. From Highway 441, turn into downtown Dillsboro at the traffic light (Haywood Road) and continue to the first stop light; turn left and then approach the farmstead using the first road on the right.

If you'd like to pre-register (not necessary, though) or to get more information, contact Osment at 828-273-7619 or by email at timosment@gmail.com.

The town of Dillsboro's website has an article about the project (click). The town plans to run a section of its portion of the Jackson County Greenway through the farmstead, and to build a fine arts theater, visual arts gallery, public restrooms, playground and picnic shelter.

Shown below is the flower house, one of the outbuildings scheduled for restoration and salvage. Here the Monteith sisters grew plants and stored canned goods. Beehives were in the top portion of the shed. (Click photo to enlarge.)


The photo below shows, from left, the main farmhouse, the butchery shed and chicken coops (which shared a building), and the canning and laundry house. A fireplace grill in the laundry house was used for boiling vats of laundry and canning vegetables. The building contains one of the first Maytag washers made. Its upper floor is clear of nearly all items; volunteers are still trying to determine its use.

Whether you’re familiar with clay, firing practices, and glazing techniques or you just like the look and feel of a handmade coffee cup first thing in the morning, you’ll be astonished Saturday, Nov. 3, as the streets of Dillsboro fill with pottery aficionados of every stripe and color. Artisans will be on hand all day at one of the state’s largest juried pottery fairs, showcasing their wares and their artistic touch in a wide array of presentations and hands-on demonstrations.

The fair, organized by Dillsboro potters Karen and Brant Barnes of Riverwood Pottery and fellow Dillsboro shop-owner JoeFrank McKee of Tree House Pottery, is in its third year and brings visitors from all over the country to learn more about handcrafted pottery and browse through the more than 150 visiting artists’ booths. There’s also live music all day, traditional food, and shopping in the stores of Dillsboro proper, plus a train ride catered to festival-goers later that afternoon. Admission to the event is free.

Organizers say the family-friendly event is not just a boost for local stores and artists, but a chance to keep alive the traditional art of handcrafted pottery for both visitors and residents alike. We couldn’t agree more.

Public parking the day of the fair is available at Dillsboro’s Monteith Park, and shuttles will be available throughout the day. Whether you’re coming for the day or planning to make a weekend out of the event, you can call Barnes at 586-3601, McKee at 631-5100, or click your way to www.visitdillsboro.org.

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).

Jane Gibson Nardy, a Cashiers native, will bring her skills as an historian and author to City Lights Bookstore in Sylva this Saturday, October 27 at 2 p.m., for a reading from her recently published pictorial history, Cashiers Valley.

Nardy and co-author Jan Wyatt compiled the book with more than 200 vintage photographs and extensive historical captions, all describing the evolution of the Cashiers Valley area in southern Jackson County.

Nardy will also speak during the program about the importance of photographs, their role in our society, and how interpretations of photographs can provide clues to a community's past.

Nardy is the historian of the Cashiers Historical Society, which was formed in 1996 to save the historic Mordecai Zachary House, located on Highway 107 two miles south of Cashiers. Then-owner Robert "Bubba" Tolbert wanted to sell the home to a group willing to undertake its preservation. In 1997 Thomas and Wendy Dowden purchased the home, now called the Zachary-Tolbert House, and donated it to the Cashiers Historical Society, which restored the 1850 house to nearly-original condition. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the building is used by the historical society as its headquarters and serves as a community resource for learning, recreation and fund-raising.

Nardy is a descendant of Colonel John Zachary, one of the original founders of Cashiers, whose history is part of the story told in the house museum. She will be available after the reading for questions and book signings.

For more information, call Jessica at City Lights at 586-9499 or visit a page about the program on the City Lights web site.

A Sylva Herald article has additional coverage.

Migrant farmworkers are becoming part of Jackson County in a big way. They come to Western North Carolina for jobs and often stay here, bringing their families.

Western Carolina University is partnering with a regional non-profit to present a series of events to raise local awareness of these new residents.

A photographic exhibit opens Thursday, Oct. 18, at the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University and continues through Saturday, Dec. 1. The photographs have been assembled by Vernicos, Inc., a non-profit organization that works with farmworkers in Jackson and other nearby counties.

Also, on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m., the public is invited to a panel discussion at the Fine and Performing Arts Center. Topics include, Who are the migrant farm workers? What are the challenges they face? On the panel will be Mark Heffington, medical director of Mountain Area Family Medicine, and Mark Couture, associate professor of modern foreign languages at WCU and a board member of Vecinos. A reception follows.

For more information, contact FPAC Museum Director Martin DeWitt at 227-2253 or visit http://www.wcu.edu/5124.asp . To learn more about the Vecinos Farmworker Health Program, contact Josie Ellis, RN, at 508-9785 or visit http://www.idealist.org/en/org/128309-282

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.]

On Saturday, October 20, 2007, from 9 until 5 at the Jackson County Recreation Complex (the Rec Center) in Cullowhee, the second annual Appalachian Arts & Crafts Bazaar will commemorate local artists and crafters who carry on highly prized skills of old.

Click here for details!


[Photo by Lee Pritle.]