Calendar of Events

Laura Gaskin will be demonstrating her embroidery techniques in the lobby of the Folk Art Center from 10-4pm. Come listen to the stories behind her pieces and watch as she paints scenes with stitches!

Stop by the restaurant to enjoy 15% off of your order!

OAKS Afterschool Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
September 7-December 17, 2021 | Monday-Friday | 2:30-5:30pm
An inclusive recreation program designed to support rising 1st5th graders and their families. OAKS will provide homework
assistance and opportunities to play through a variety of activities
and field trips. Participants will benefit from lower child to
staff ratios, continuation of scholastic goals (as applicable),
and individualized treatment plans (facilitated by LRT/CTRS
and program staff). Participants who cannot meet eligibility
requirements may attend with a 1:1 worker.
Location: Oakley

Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021-June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 2:45-6pm
K-6th graders.
Does your child enjoy having fun and making new friends? Offering
arts, crafts, special events, homework assistance and more!
Families currently enrolled in the school system’s reduced or free
meal program, please contact your recreation center for discount
fee information.
Locations: Burton, Grant, Montford, Shiloh, Stephens-Lee

Montford Pre-Teen Afterschool Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021 – June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 3:30-6pm
5th-6th graders.
New program designed to meet the needs of your pre-teen.
Providing time dedicated to school assignments, life skills, arts,
communication, leadership, fitness, nutrition, and loads of fun.
Location: Montford

Teen Leadership Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021-June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 3:30-6pm
6th-9th graders.
Looking for a cool and enriching alternative for your Teen to attend
this school year? We offer creative activities, diverse projects,
field trips, and more.
Locations: Grant, Shiloh, Stephens-Lee

THE POLAR EXPRESS™ with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is back in 2021! The 1¼ hour round-trip passenger excursion comes to life as the train departs the Bryson City depot for a journey through the quiet wilderness for a special visit at the North Pole. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, guests on board will enjoy warm cocoa and a treat while listening and reading along with the magical story. Children’s faces show the magic of the season when the train arrives at the North Pole to find Santa Claus waiting. Santa will board THE POLAR EXPRESS™, greeting each child and presenting them with a special gift as in the story, their own silver sleigh bell. Christmas carols will be sung as they return back to the Bryson City Depot.

Our Foundations business planning class helps guide ideas from concept to reality in a participatory, supportive learning environment.

Join a cohort of aspiring and existing entrepreneurs to gain an aerial perspective of your vision and the comprehensive business skills necessary to help bring your visions into reality. Participants will gain a clear aerial perspective of their business operations, financials, research and development, and marketing strategies. They will leave the course with a comprehensive business plan, a clear vision for their business, and concrete tasks for future work.

Throughout the class, emphasis will be placed on developing the social capital of the group. Participants will be encouraged to gather feedback from their peers, creating a strong network of deep support and synergy. For more info, visit the Foundations Business Planning overview page.

In 1905, paper manufacturer Peter Gibson Thomson came to western North Carolina in search of pulpwood and a suitable location for a mammoth pulp mill that would provide pulp for his Champion Coated  Paper mill at Hamilton, Ohio. He also planned to build a large chestnut extract plant. This is the story of Thomson’s 420,000 acre timberlands and the railroads the Champion Fibre Company built to transport the wood to the pulp mill and extract plant at Canton, North Carolina. This PowerPoint presentation will feature historical photographs, track maps, and show several of Champion’s railroads that became hiking trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Also included will be the story of the settlement with Champion Fibre that was the key to the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

About the Presenter:

Gerald (Jerry) Ledford earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Mars Hill College in 1977. He earned a Master of Science in Music Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign in 1979. Mr. Ledford retired in 2013 from the North Carolina Public Schools after a 32 year career. He has taught high school and middle school band in Cumberland, Graham, Swain, Transylvania, and Henderson counties.

As a boy, Jerry spent many hours down at the station at Canton, NC, where his maternal grandfather, Gerald Fish, worked for most of his 42 year career for Southern Railway on the Murphy Branch. He also had a great uncle who spent his working for Southern on the Murphy Branch. His paternal grandfather Lewis Ledford worked as a mill superintendent for his brother-in-law Louis Carr at Norwood Lumber at Forney Creek and Carr Lumber at Pisgah Forest. Several of his great uncles were employed by the lumber mills during the lumber boom of the early 1900s.

He resides in Etowah, North Carolina with his wife Julie. He and Julie have 3 children and are grandparents to Shannon and Clark Ledford. In retirement, he enjoys hiking old railroad grades. He has been researching the logging railroads in western North Carolina for over 45 years. With Ron Sullivan, he is co-authoring a planned eight volume book series of the history of logging railroads in western North Carolina titled, If Rails Could Talk….. The first 5 volumes are currently in print. He has also provided information and photographs for several authors as well as the Ken Burns Public Television series, “The National Parks; America’s Best Idea.”

Winter Lights returns to the gardens November 19-January 1

Tickets are now sold PER VEHICLE, not per person.

We are thrilled to announce that the 2021 Winter Lights holiday event will welcome members and guests back into the gardens as it returns to the traditional outdoor walk-through open-air show format. The famously tall 50-foot lighted tree and the Quilt Garden will be back, outfitted with new designs in lights, while throughout the gardens, popular arrangements will mingle with ones never seen before.

You can find everything you need to know about Asheville’s Brightest Holiday Tradition at the tabs above, and be sure to secure your tickets now.

We hope you will join us this holiday season!

Winter Lights is the Arboretum’s largest annual fundraiser, and supports many parts of its mission driven programming.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November.  Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand-new novel.

If you are doing NaNoWriMo this year, the Buncombe County Public Library wants to support you in your endeavors. Join us for the following virtual events throughout the month to keep you invigorated and motivated. All events are free, but you do need to register. To sign up, visit the Library’s event calendar and click on the event on the calendar. Additional events may be added, so be sure to check back throughout the month.

Virtual Come Write-In
Thursday, November 4, 7-8pm

Come Write-In virtually with encouraging BCPL librarians and other writers! We would love to write with you in a Zoom Room.  We’ll have some prompts and space for discussion and encouragement, but mostly this will be a time to schedule yourself for some dedicated writing time while others on the call do the same.

Virtual Come Write-In
Tuesday, November 9, 7-8pm 

Come Write-In for this librarian-led, hour-long, writing sesh! We’ll have timed word sprints, optional word prompts, and overall good vibes as we all work toward our NaNoWriMo word counts. So drop in, hang out, and get those creative juices flowing!

Virtual Come Write-In with Author Rebecca Petruck
Tuesday November 16, 7-8pm          

Come Write-In with local author Rebecca Petruck. Rebecca Petruck is a Minnesota girl, though she also has lived in Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, England, Connecticut and, currently, North Carolina. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UNC Wilmington. Petruck’s novels are published by ABRAMS/Amulet. You may visit her online at www.rebeccapetruck.com and on Twitter at @rebeccapetruck.

You Wrote a Novel, So Now What?
Tuesday November 23, 7 pm 

Imagine that it’s December 1. You’ve finished NaNoWriMo and you have a book that’s ready to get out into the world. Congratulations! What do you do next? In this webinar, BiblioLabs Community Engagement Manager Emily Gooding will show you how to format your novel by using the PressBooks resource available to you for FREE from the library.  You will also learn how you can submit your novel to the Indie Author Project and have a digital version of your novel available to readers in the Library!

Virtual Come Write-In
Thursday, November 30, 7-8pm

This will be our final Virtual Come Write-In event for 2021. The focus of this online writing session, hosted by local author and librarian Alexandra Duncan, will be writing sprints and last-minute support.

THE POLAR EXPRESS™ with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is back in 2021! The 1¼ hour round-trip passenger excursion comes to life as the train departs the Bryson City depot for a journey through the quiet wilderness for a special visit at the North Pole. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, guests on board will enjoy warm cocoa and a treat while listening and reading along with the magical story. Children’s faces show the magic of the season when the train arrives at the North Pole to find Santa Claus waiting. Santa will board THE POLAR EXPRESS™, greeting each child and presenting them with a special gift as in the story, their own silver sleigh bell. Christmas carols will be sung as they return back to the Bryson City Depot.

THE POLAR EXPRESS™ with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is back in 2021! The 1¼ hour round-trip passenger excursion comes to life as the train departs the Bryson City depot for a journey through the quiet wilderness for a special visit at the North Pole. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, guests on board will enjoy warm cocoa and a treat while listening and reading along with the magical story. Children’s faces show the magic of the season when the train arrives at the North Pole to find Santa Claus waiting. Santa will board THE POLAR EXPRESS™, greeting each child and presenting them with a special gift as in the story, their own silver sleigh bell. Christmas carols will be sung as they return back to the Bryson City Depot.

From November 10th to December 14th, Food Lion is hosting their Food Lion Feeds For the Holidays campaign. Customers have the opportunity to participate in the in-store food drive at Food Lion stores by purchasing and donating a Food Lion Feeds For the Holidays box of food, which will then be donated to MANNA. When you are next at Food Lion be on the lookout for their Food Lion Feeds For the Holidays food boxes.

A new partnership from Buncombe County and the City of Asheville aims to help reduce greenhouse gases and organic matter in the landfill by offering residents a place to drop off compostable matter. Starting Oct. 4, County residents can drop off food scraps and other compostable materials at the Buncombe County Landfill Convenience Center to be recycled into compost. The City of Asheville is operating a drop-off location at Stephens-Lee Recreation Center that also opens to the public on Oct. 4. Read more about that initiative here.

Organic waste in landfills generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By composting wasted food and other organics, methane emissions may be significantly reduced. For residents who are interested in composting but worry about bears or finding the space for backyard composting Buncombe County is proud to partner with the City of Asheville and Food Waste Solutions to open two compost drop-off locations for County residents.

In alignment with the Buncombe County Strategic Plan goals, the Landfill compost drop-off center is part of a pilot program designed to assess interest and engagement for food waste diversion and composting in Buncombe County.

How the compost drop-off works

• Collect compostable materials at home and make sure to remove all produce stickers, rubber bands, wrappers, ties, bags, and plastics.
• To collect materials use a compost pail, bucket, paper bags, or other certified compostable bag.
• At the landfill scalehouse let us know you would like to drop off your compostable materials and staff will direct you to the drop-off location.
• Empty food scraps and compostable waste into the cart on-site.
• Close and secure lid when finished.
• Do not overfill.

With the convenience of being open year-round, 7 days a week, the WNC Farmers Market offers a selection of farm-fresh produce at the lowest prices in Western N.C. Our popular retail buildings, providing a selection of non-perishables, fruits, vegetables, crafts and more, are open daily.

Fun Day Out: Youth
$5/child/day + field trip fees.
8:30am-6pm
Enjoy a day of games, crafts, special events
and field trips when youth are out of school for
teacher workdays. Must bring lunch and drink.
Monday, Oct. 4 County Schools
Location: Shiloh
Thursday, Oct. 7 City Schools
Location: Grant, Montford
Monday, Oct. 25 City Schools
Location: Grant, Montford
Monday, Nov. 1 County Schools
Location: Shiloh
Thursday, Nov. 11 City & County Schools
Location: Grant, Montford
Wednesday, Nov. 24 City & County Schools
Location: Grant, Montford
NOTE: No charge for Fun Day Out for
participants enrolled in Youth Afterschool or
Teen Leadership programs but registration
is required.

Trekking with the Teens
FREE
8:30am-6pm
Jump on the van and ride your way to a fun new
adventure. Bring a sack lunch and drink.
Location: Stephens-Lee
Maximum: 13 youth each session
Thursday, October 7
Monday, October 25
Thursday, November 11
Wednesday, November 24

Program_Guide_Fall_2021_FINAL_081921_Online.pdf (ashevillenc.gov)

Artist Michael Fowler creates evocative abstract landscape paintings by incorporating vibrant colors with subtle, complex details. His semi-large-scale approach invites viewers to step into his work and build a sense of wonder and contemplation surrounding the natural world. Fowler’s artistic response in contemplating nature is to capture something of a landscape’s pleasantness, which is often unexpected harmonies of color and shape. In his latest exhibit, Arbor Huescapes, Fowler highlights the distinctive vegetation – primarily trees – and topography of North and South Carolina’s midlands and piedmont regions.

Fowler received his Bachelor of Arts from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas with a focus in Advertising Design. He then attended the University of Nebraska where he received a Master’s degree in Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing with a minor in Art History. From there, he attended the University of Memphis where he earned a Doctorate in Higher Education. Based in North Augusta, South Carolina, Fowler is currently an associate professor of design and computer graphics and serves as the Mary Durban Toole Chair of Art at the University of South Carolina in Aiken. His paintings are in a number of public and private collections nationally, and he actively exhibits in regional and national shows.

Please note: Arbor Huescapes has been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 crisis and will now open in fall 2021. The exhibit is on display daily September 18, 2021 – January 9, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Baker Exhibit Center. All works are available for purchase and a portion of sales will be donated to The North Carolina Arboretum Society.

Healthcare.gov is Open with Record-Low Premiums
New Savings Mean More People Qualify for Quality, Affordable Health Insurance

Free Help Is Available
Trained navigators are ready to help local people – at no cost – who would like help reviewing the plans and signing up. Make an appointment at pisgahlegal.org/aca or call (828) 210-3404.

Consumers enrolling in a plan on HealthCare.gov (for Spanish-speakers Cuidadodesalud.gov) are guaranteed to receive comprehensive coverage and cannot be denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions. All plans cover essential benefits, including doctor and hospital visits, prescription drugs, mental health treatment, and maternity care. In addition, consumers receive free preventive care services, such as immunizations and health screenings. Testing and treatment of COVID-19 are considered essential health benefits and are covered by all HealthCare.gov plans.

Consumers should avoid insurance plans offered outside of HealthCare.gov that seem too good to be true. “Junk insurance” products and short-term limited duration plans pose huge financial risks to consumers. These products can refuse to pay for care for pre-existing conditions, charge consumers more based on their gender, and impose annual coverage limits. HealthCare.gov is the only website where North Carolina consumers are guaranteed to get comprehensive coverage.

Pisgah Legal and other enrollment partners of WNC participating organizations give local people free, unbiased health insurance information and enrollment assistance in the NC Health Insurance Marketplace. These organizations include: Council on Aging of Buncombe County, Blue Ridge Community Health Services, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Mountain Projects, Inc., Western Carolina Medical Society, and Pisgah Legal Services. Pisgah Legal Services is a member of the North Carolina Navigators Consortium.

Since 1978, nonprofit Pisgah Legal Services has provided free civil legal aid to help people with low incomes seek justice and meet their basic needs including preventing homelessness, stopping domestic violence and securing health care. PLS provides a broad array of free legal services. Last year Pisgah Legal served more than 20,000 people across the mountain region.

PLS has offices in Asheville, Burnsville, Brevard, Hendersonville, Highlands/Cashiers, Marshall, Newland, Rutherfordton and Spruce Pine. Pisgah Legal employs staff attorneys and relies heavily on the pro bono legal services of approximately 300 volunteer attorneys.

Closed Thanksgiving Day.

Things to do at Sky Top

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November.  Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand-new novel.

If you are doing NaNoWriMo this year, the Buncombe County Public Library wants to support you in your endeavors. Join us for the following virtual events throughout the month to keep you invigorated and motivated. All events are free, but you do need to register. To sign up, visit the Library’s event calendar and click on the event on the calendar. Additional events may be added, so be sure to check back throughout the month.

Sometimes it helps to be in the presence of like-minded people with a similar goal. With that in mind, we are hosting a virtual come write in quiet hour. All you need to do is log in, wave hello, or not, and get to writing.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and gratitude, we will have some gratitude related quotes and writing prompts available on screen to help inspire you. However, we promise there will be no ‘get to know you questions’ or participation requirements, just you in a virtual room holding yourself quietly accountable for achieving your novel writing dreams amongst others. One quiet hour before the holiday weekend to work on finishing NaNoWriMo strong.