Looking to get involved, stay active, and meet some new friends? Sand Hill Community Garden workdays take place on Wednesdays (6-8 p.m.) and Saturdays (10 a.m.-noon) from Feb. 27-Oct. 30, 2021, at Buncombe County Sports Park. The garden is located on 16 Apac Dr. in West Asheville/Enka-Candler.

Join friends and neighbors as they come together on common ground to raise fresh, organic vegetables and fruits for the Enka community.

Expect to wear a mask and maintain social distance throughout. Tools and hand sanitizer are available, but any gloves, loppers, pruners, or gardening tools you can bring will decrease the amount of contact between volunteers. Please wear work clothes to get dirty and closed-toe shoes. Sunscreen, water, and a hat are also handy items to have on hand.

Sand Hill Community Garden has been growing fresh produce since 2011 and raised over 1,200 lbs. of organic produce last year.

NOTE: Community workdays are weather dependent. Please join the community garden email list (send your info to [email protected]) to stay up on workday tasks and other garden news.

To receive the I Heart Parks monthly newsletter, sign up online. Follow Buncombe County Recreation on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced the opening of a Business Recovery Center at the Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College Enka campus to assist all businesses and residents with one-on-one assistance in submitting a disaster loan application for remnants of Tropical Storm Fred on Aug. 16-18.

Physical disaster loans are available to businesses of all sizes, nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters in the primary counties of Buncombe, Haywood, and Transylvania counties in North Carolina.

Economic injury disaster loans are available to small businesses and most nonprofit organizations in the primary counties and in the following adjacent counties: Henderson, Jackson, Madison, McDowell, Rutherford, Swain and Yancey in North Carolina; Greenville, Oconee and Pickens in South Carolina and Cocke and Sevier in Tennessee.

Location and office hours

SBA Business Recovery Center, Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College, 1465 Sand Hill Road, Suite 1054, Candler, NC  28715

Opens: Noon to 6 p.m. Thursday, September 16

Normal hours:  9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Friday; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturdays; closed on Sundays.

“Shine and Dine” on the railway! We cordially invite you to hop on board The Carolina Shine, GSMR’s All-Adult First Class Moonshine Car! We will be proudly serving hand crafted, triple-distilled, craft moonshine. Some of the smoothest tasting moonshine in the Carolinas!

Offered on the Nantahala Gorge excursion, this shine and dine experience begins in a renovated First Class train fleet car, The Carolina Shine. The interior features copper lined walls filled with the history of moonshining in North Carolina. Learn about the proud tradition that the Appalachians established when bootlegging was an acceptable way of life and local home brews were the best in town. Read about Swain County’s very own Major Redmond, the most famous mountain moonshine outlaw of the 19th century.

The exhibit was developed as part of the celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Juan Pardo expeditions. Several years ago, archaeologists identified a site near Morganton as the location of Joara, one of the largest Native American towns in what is today Western North Carolina.

Joara was occupied from approximately 1400-1600 A.D. Two Spanish expeditions led respectively by Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo visited the town in the 1500s. The Pardo expedition was part of a larger effort to establish a string of forts from the coast of present-day South Carolina all the way to Mexico. In 2013, archaeologists confirmed that Joara was also the site of Fort San Juan, established by Pardo in 1567, nearly 20 years before the English settlement at Roanoke on the coast of North Carolina and 40 years before the settlement at Jamestown.

Through various artifacts uncovered by the archaeology, the exhibit showcases the Spanish occupation of Fort San Juan and the lives of the native people who lived in the Joara area.

The exhibit is on loan from the Exploring Joara Foundation Inc. Exploring Joara engages the public in archaeology in the Carolinas, and emphasizes the discovery of the Native American town of Joara and Fort San Juan. The exhibit will be on display at the Western North Carolina Historical Association’s gallery inside the Smith-McDowell House through December 15.

The gallery is open for visitation Thursday, Friday, and Saturday between 10:30am and 4:00pm. Reservations are recommended.

Continuum Arts Gallery will host its first, curated gallery show beginning on September 18th, 2021. Titled ‘Haec Culti’, the group show will run from September 18 – November 9th, featuring artists Kat Knutsen, Kevin Yaun, Frank Lombardo, and Conrado Lopez. For our opening day, light horderves will be served and live music will be showcased throughout the day. Miami Gold, a local Asehville band, hits the stage at 7pm! This event is free and open to the public.

Open Sun-Tues by appointment only

Contemporary art, interdisciplinary research communities, and the inspiration of Appalachia converge in Rural Avant-Garde: The Mountain Lake Experience. This exhibition showcases a selection of collaborative creative works that emerged from nearly four decades of the Mountain Lake Workshop series, a program sited in rural southwestern Virginia.

Founded by artist and scholar Ray Kass in 1980 and co-organized with influential art critics Dr. Donald B. Kuspit and Dr. Howard Risatti, as well as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), the Mountain Lake Workshops integrated the arts and sciences in a dynamic experimental creative process that pushed past the traditional boundaries of art, dance, and performance.

Community-centered from its inception, the Mountain Lake Workshop demonstrated the relevance of the arts across disciplines, as well as social and participatory learning. This exhibition offers a focused look at art that investigated new conceptual limits, born of the region in southwestern Virginia, just a few hundred miles north of Asheville, NC. Works range from large-scale watercolors and photographic installation to relics of performances and other experimentations in artmaking.

Highlights include composer and conceptual artist John Cage’s New River Rocks and Washes(1990). A significant late-career work by Cage, this rarely exhibited watercolor extends nearly 30 feet in length, produced using methods of chance to trace stones gathered from the workshop’s natural surroundings.

This exhibition was organized by the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts at Longwood University. Generous funding was provided in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Artist Walter B. Stephen (Clinton, IA 1875–1961 Asheville, NC) contributed to Western North Carolina’s identity as a flourishing site for pottery production and craftsmanship in the early 20th century. Walter B. Stephen Pottery: Cameo to Crystalline features art pottery and functional vessels from each stage of Stephen’s career, from his origins discovering the medium alongside his mother Nellie C. Randall Stephen in Shelby County, TN from 1901 through 1910 to his multi-decade production just outside of Asheville. This exhibition will be on view in the Asheville Art Museum’s Debra McClinton Gallery July 28, 2021 through January 17, 2022.

In 1926, Stephen founded his third and last pottery studio, Pisgah Forest, in Arden, NC, which he operated until his death in 1961. It was at this studio that the artist perfected the “cameo” decoration technique for which he became best known. His hand-painted images, achieved with layers of white translucent clay, often feature American folk imagery, from covered wagons and livestock to cabins and spinning wheels. A selection of works from the Museum’s Collection showcase his innovation in form and in decorative surface details, including experimentation with crystalline glazing.

The Friends of the Weaverville Library (FOWL) are excited to announce the opening of their used bookstore in Weaverville on Thursday, July 8. Located in the lower level of the Weaverville Library at 41 N. Main St., the store will be open Thursdays 1-5 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m.-2 p.m., with expanded hours beginning in September. The store is stocked with thousands of books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs, and more. All adult books are priced at $1.50-$3.00, children and teen books at $1.00-$1.50, audio and video at $2.00.

There is also a bargain-priced area and a collection of special finds that are priced individually. Please feel free to contact us at 828-641-1812 or [email protected]. All proceeds from the store will benefit the Weaverville Library.

Join us as we tour the Big Ivy Historical Park and then hike to the nearby Little Snowball Mountain.

Buncombe County’s Big Ivy region is a special place. Hemmed in by mountains and, more recently, national forest land, this valley which encompasses the communities of Barnardsville and Dillingham provides a chance to look at bigger trends in western North Carolina history, including perceptions of isolation versus connectivity, changing economies, and even the later influence of the CCC and federal land agencies.

Distance: 7.2-mile round trip hike on Snowball Trail, 2,000 ft elevation gain. Note: The Big Ivy Historical Park stop is easily accessible.

Difficulty Level: Strenuous

What to Bring: Backpack, plenty of water (64oz recommended), bagged lunch, trail snacks, sturdy hiking boots and comfortable clothing, hiking poles, sunscreen, bug repellent, any needed medications.

SCOUTS BSA & CUB SCOUTS OF AMERICA TROOP/PACK 17
SPONSOR ANNUAL BARBEQUE FUND-RAISER

Get your BBQ fix at the sixth annual Cub Scout Pack 17 and Scouts BSA Troop 17 barbeque dinner benefit will take place on Saturday, September 25, 2021. This year’s BBQ event is to-go only due to Covid-19. BBQ will be served behind the Riceville Fire Department and Community Center, 2251 Riceville Road, Asheville, NC from noon to 6:00pm.

The charge for to-go BBQ dinners will be $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children 12 and under. Reservations are not required.

After many years of offering dine in or take out BBQ dinners the decision was made to offer to-go only BBQ and follow responsible Covid-19 guidelines for the preparation and serving of BBQ.

Scoutmasters serve as BBQ pit masters as they work through the night to smoke premium pork shoulders for 12 hours. To-go dinners are $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children under 12 and include a generous portion of BBQ pork, homemade BBQ sauce, baked beans, BBQ slaw, rolls, dessert and bottled water.

The Scouts are also offering a large whole BBQ pork shoulder (average weight 12 pounds) with a pint of BBQ sauce for only $50.00. Supplies are limited so place your order for the pork shoulder on or before September 16, 2021 by calling (828) 298-1452 or email [email protected].

“Local Packs and Troops raise funds to provide support for Scouts in their service area,” said Committee Chairman Dan Little. “Funds are used to provide assistance for Scouts from economically challenged communities by sending scouts to summer camp, provide scouting handbooks, uniforms and pay for the national Boy Scouts Of America annual recharter fee. Raised funds are also used to purchase flags for our veterans’ graves.”

On Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day Cub Scout and Scouts BSA Troop 17 honor our deceased veterans at Bethel United Methodist Cemetery by placing flags on their graves.

Scouts Serving Others: Since 1910, over 4,000 young men in Western North Carolina have earned the coveted rank of Eagle Scout. Through their Eagle Scout service projects, thousands of community service hours have been conducted to benefit our communities. Scouts in Western North Carolina will perform over 40,000 hours of community service in 2021.
_________________________________________________________________________

Media Contact: Dan Little, Committee Chairman (828) 298-1452

The past, present, and future of African-Americans in Asheville is a story of resilience. Join
DeWayne Barton and Hood Huggers International for a Garden Gathering in the Peace Gardens
& Market in West Asheville. Hood Huggers builds greater communication, connection and
wealth in systematically marginalized neighborhoods in the Affrilachian region through
the arts, environment, and social enterprise. The Peace Gardens & Market–a labor of love in
the heart of the Burton Street Community–is a sanctuary for positive action, designed to
create neighborhood food security, community cohesion, and a vibrant, sustainable local
economy. The Gardens are also a vibrant sculpture park, featuring installations created by
DeWayne Barton and other artists, telling a compelling story of social and environmental
justice and black history. The Gardens will be activated with food, drink, art, music, poetry and
performance

The Friends of the Henderson County Public Library knows how important books are to children and their parents. They are offering a special discount on children’s books at their bookstore in Hendersonville.

From Sept. 18 to Oct. 2, a box of children’s books is only $10. The Friends provides the boxes which are large enough to hold a lot of books.

For more than half a century, the Friends has been raising money to support the library system. They purchase books and equipment and sponsor programs.

The FOL bookstore is at 1940 Spartanburg Hwy (next to Dollar General) and is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Thousands of books, DVDs, and CDs are for sale, and knowledgeable volunteers are there to help. (The entrance is in the back).

Members of the Friends get a 10 percent discount on all purchases. (You can join the Friends at the bookstore). Anyone can donate books, CDs, and DVDs during the hours the store is open.

Everything is in excellent condition. Books are shelved by author or subject and are easy to find, and they are restocked throughout the week. The half-price table at the front of the store offers great bargains on books.

Join us for a fun art class at the LEAF Global Experience and see our Easel Rider Art Bar in action! Each Saturday we’ll have a different craft available that’s included with your admission. Drop-in from 1-3. We hope to see you there!

Hit the trails and learn more about the Arboretum’s botanically diverse forest with the return of guided trail walks in 2021! In response to COVID-19, new safety measures have been put in place to protect our guests, members, volunteers and staff: Walks will be limited to 10 people, including the guide, and all participants will be required to wear face coverings for the duration of the walk.

This free hiking program is led by trained volunteer guides who take small groups of participants along woodland trails and through a variety of forest types. Depending on the season, topics of discussion may include wildflowers, plant and tree identification, natural history and more.

Guided trail walks depart from the Baker Exhibit Center Lobby every Tuesday and Saturday at 1 p.m. through the month of October. Walks last 1.5- 2.5 hours and are approximately one to two miles in length, and as such are recommended for guests 14 years or older. Walks are held rain or shine, so all participants should dress appropriately for the weather.

Register In Advance

Space is limited and advance registration is encouraged. Pre-registered participants must check in at the Baker Information Desk no later than 10 minutes before the scheduled program to keep their spot. Unclaimed spots will be offered to other guests.

Guests may sign up for trail walks in the following ways:

• Pre-register online
• Sign up in-person at the Baker Information Desk.

Childe Hassam, The Old Elm, 1916, oil on canvas, 29 × 37 inches. Gift of Mrs. Charles M. Butler, 1991.14.1.21.

Outdoor Skills Workshops
FREE
Call, 828-350-2062 for more information
and to register.
September 11 | 5-6pm
Location: Carrier Park
Backpacking Essentials: Learning to pack a
backpack and necessary gear.
September 18 | 5-6pm
Location: Montford
Introduction to Indoor Rock Climbing: Knot tying
and belaying.
September 25 | 5-6pm
Location: Carrier Park
Backcountry Camping Basics: Safety, tent set
up, cooking and water treatment techniques.

This division is Machine Pitch for kids ages 7 & 8 years old. Age is determined their age as of December 31, 2019.
A league age 6yr old or 9yr old may be permitted by league approval.
For more information contact Maria Young at 251-4026 or Kim Turner 232-4526.

For ages 6 to 18.  Divisions include T-ball and coach pitch through junior and Senior leagues.  Registration is open now through July 27.  Practices begin August 16 and games start September 7