Recently in Volunteer Opportunities Category

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.

Jackson County Habitat For Humanity's retail/resale store in downtown Sylva is now open for business on Wednesdays from 12-5, Thursdays from 2-7, Fridays from 12-5 and on Saturdays from 9-2.

For information, see our earlier online article (click).

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.

WestCare Health System is celebrating Pastoral Care Week from October 21 through 27. The hospital is recognizing its volunteer chaplains who provide care to patients around-the-clock.

The program is headed by WestCare Chaplain Ron Allen, and utilizes the services of 16 volunteer chaplains in Jackson County, 6 in Swain County, and several at nursing homes of both counties.

During the past year these volunteers made more than 2,100 visits to patients, answered 209 emergency calls and made more than 240 phone calls on behalf of patients seeking local pastors.

Over half of the support for the Chaplaincy program comes from local churches and individuals, who donate money, resources and volunteer their time.

To get involved or just to say thank you, call the WestCare Foundation at 586-7669.

It's a breezy, warm October weekday, and in the Wilmot community off of Highway 23/74, the Purvis family is getting new wheelchair-accessible ramps added to their house. Mrs. Purvis, however, doesn’t have to do any of the work; she's just coming out every once in a while to check on the "boys" hammering away at the back entrance to her home.

The "boys" are First United Methodist Church’s volunteers. Pictured below, from the left, are Tommy Ginn, Tom Schutte, Jim Wisdom and Max Browning. They're using construction supplies and plans provided by the county’s Department on Aging. They're replacing Mrs. Purvis' steps with ramps.

Today, as happens often, the volunteers are joined by a family member, Otis Purvis, who helps with everything from putting rails together to tacking down matting over the wood.

The Purvis home is one of hundreds served by the program, which utilizes volunteers to bring these additions to the homes of seniors in need all over the county.

The FUMC group has been donating one day a month to the program for the last several years, as do several other Jackson County churches.

If your group would like to volunteer, or you or someone you know is in need of the service, call the Department on Aging at 586-8562.

Jackson County Magazine says: this kind of partnership between government and volunteers is citizenship at its finest. We applaud the Department of Aging and our local church volunteers!

Volunteers are asked to assemble at Smoky Mountain High School this Saturday morning beginning at 8:30, to do weeding, mulching, planting and general cleaning. The event is sponsored by the Parent-Teacher Organization.

Bring your rakes, wheelbarrows, shovels and brooms. At 1 p.m. SMHS principal Jay Grissom will provide a cookout lunch for the volunteers.

The PTO can provide more information, at 226-1078.

Sylva’s Harris Regional Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop -- known to regulars as "the H.A." -- is enjoying as much success at its new location near the intersection of Skyland Drive and Hospital Road as it did at its former location in downtown Sylva.

The shop sells clothes, toys, kitchen items, fabric, craft supplies, shoes and more. The Hospital Auxiliary's sales proceeds go to Westcare Health System projects. One such project is to purchase playground equipment for a planned community childcare center next to the store.

You won't find furniture or appliances for sale, because the volunteers, many of whom are older ladies, can't handle them. But it's nothing short of amazing to see how they handle everything else. Every item for sale has been taken out of boxes, cleaned, priced, sorted and arranged by the cheerful, friendly volunteers.

Each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday the parking lot is filled and the store is crowded with people hunting for needed supplies or just out for bargains. On those days you'll also see a big white sign on the sidewalk, asking for more volunteers.

Can you help? Visit the store for an application or call volunteer coordinator Carol Douglas at 586-7405.

Also, you can click here for more information, published by Western Carolina University's Office for Student Affairs as part of a directory of volunteer opportunities for students.

The enormous creekside building that once housed Ace Hardware in downtown Sylva is being renovated for use as a store for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit group that renovates and builds houses for low-income families in Jackson County.

The store opens this month (October) and will sell discounted and donated building materials, furniture, knick-knacks for the home, construction supplies and more. Donations of any items except clothes are sought. The store hopes to offer mostly like-new merchandise.

Habitat for Humanity (or HFH) is a Christian housing ministry it helps eligible needy people to renovate or purchase their homes. A program participant must meet income requirements, prove substantial need, and put in "sweat equity" hours by helping to build the home along with the many community volunteers who provide the labor needed to erect or renovate the house. The program participant receives an interest-free loan if a traditional home loan is unavailable, and is able to purchase the home at a reduced amount because the price basically consists of the cost of land and materials.

Seven houses have been completed by the Jackson County HFH since June 2006. Two house projects currently are underway, on Cullowhee Mountain.

For more information or to find out how you can volunteer, call executive director Joyce Russell at 586-1232.