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.

 Blue Ridge Honor Flight has teamed up with AdventHealth Hendersonville to administer vaccinations to veterans who have not yet received a shot. 

We will not be doing a drive-thru event. They will be greeted in the parking lot/front portico and directed through the process to receive the shots inside the clinic.

People have a new opportunity to enroll in health insurance for 2021 on HealthCare.gov, but only for a limited time. This new COVID-19 Special Enrollment period starts on February 15, 2021 and ends on May 15, 2021. Pisgah Legal Services (PLS), and its enrollment partners of WNC, are once again offering free assistance helping people in the 18-county mountain region review their options and sign up for ACA health insurance.

With job losses continuing to mount amid the COVID-19 resurgence, and millions of people having lost their job-based health insurance since the start of this public health and economic crisis, the Biden Administration has opened up HealthCare.gov to give people who need health insurance a new opportunity to get covered, but they must act quickly. For free help locally, with trained assisters, make an appointment at pisgahlegal.org/aca or call (828) 210-3404.

“More than 535,000 North Carolinians enrolled in a health insurance plan during the last Open Enrollment period,” said Shannon Cornelius, Pisgah Legal’s Health Justice Program Director. “This is a new chance for people to sign up, and anyone who needs health insurance should visit HealthCare.gov today, or contact Pisgah Legal Services if you need assistance. Don’t delay.”

Health insurance is more affordable than many people think. In North Carolina, 83 percent of current marketplace consumers had plans available for 2021 that cost less than $50 per month, after financial help. Nine out of 10 marketplace enrollees in North Carolina received financial help that lowered their monthly health insurance premiums last year. In addition, 57 percent of enrollees also qualified for lower out-of-pocket costs for health care services.

“With this new Special Enrollment Period, both new and existing marketplace consumers can shop for marketplace pans, compare options, costs and even make changes. It opens up the ability to get health insurance outside of Open Enrollment. Our certified application counselors can help answer questions and get you enrolled in the plan that works best for you and your family,” said Cornelius.

Consumers enrolling in a plan on HealthCare.gov are guaranteed to receive comprehensive coverage, with no pre-existing condition exclusions or markups. 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,” said Cornelius.

Make a Free Appointment Today

The health insurance landscape can be confusing, but free, local help is available. Appointments can be made online at www.pisgahlegal.org/aca or by calling (828) 210-3404. For the safety of consumers, staff and volunteers, all Pisgah Legal Services appointments are currently being conducted by phone, some community partners may offer in person assistance.

You’ve heard that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s especially true at
Bargain Hendo located on the corner of
 They recently had a couple of rough-looking bicycles that were dropped off – tires flat,
dusty and starting to rust. But a volunteer named Sawyer saw something beautiful
underneath the dull chrome. He spent a few hours restoring the old bikes and advertised
them on Facebook where they quickly sold.
 Proceeds raised will help support WCCA programs like Apple Country Transportation here
in Henderson County. Apple Country helps people get to doctor appointments, food
shopping, congregate meal sites, school and work.
 Bargain Hendo needs more volunteers who want to help their community by helping out at
the thrift store. Go to www.WCCA.org or call (828) 435-6880 for more information.

The Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville is proud to announce “An Evening with The Avett Brothers” on November 19, 2021, in the ExploreAsheville.com Arena. Tickets for the event will go on publicly on Friday, March 5 at 10:00am via Ticketmaster.com. A select number of tickets will be available via The Avett Guild for members. For more information about this event, please click here.

EVENT: An Evening with The Avett Brothers
WHEN: November 19, 2021 at 8:00pm (Doors at 7:00pm)
WHERE: ExploreAsheville.com Arena at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville | 87 Haywood Street
TICKETS: Public tickets go on sale begins on Friday, March 5 at 10am

The Avett Brothers made mainstream waves with their 2009 major label debut, I And Love And You, landing at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 & garnering critical acclaim. In 2012, The Carpenter hit #4 on the Billboard Top 200 & was followed by Magpie And The Dandelion (2013) which debuted at #5 on Billboard’s Top 200. True Sadness (2016) achieved The Avett Brothers’ highest career debut to date hitting #1 on Billboard’s Top Albums Chart, #1 Top Rock Albums Chart, #1 Digital Albums Chart, #3 on Billboard Top 200 & scoring 2 Grammy noms. That same year, the band was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. In 2017, documentary May It Last: A Portrait of The Avett Brothers (co-directed by Judd Apatow & Michael Bonfiglio) was released. The film followed the band as they wrote their Grammy-nominated album True Sadness. The film was released theatrically & on HBO to rave reviews & is now available on DVD/Blu-Ray/VOD. In November 2018, the band headlined a concert for Hurricane Florence Relief, raising $325,000 to help those affected by Hurricane Florence. In 2019, the band released their 10th studio album Closer Than Together feat. single High Steppin’ which reached #1 on the Americana Radio Chart. New album The Third Gleam (August 2020) debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Americana/Folk Albums Chart, with the vinyl debuting at #1 on the Vinyl Albums Chart. Single “Victory” hit #1 on the Americana Radio Singles Chart. The Avett Brothers played two drive-in shows at The Charlotte Motor Speedway in the span of three months and ended 2020 on a high note with a livestream of their 17th annual New Year’s Eve concert. An estimated 150,000 fans watched the show, which featured a full-band performance and an impressive lineup of special guests. Coming in 2022: Swept Away – a musical inspired by & featuring the music of The Avett Brothers.

March is Red Cross Month, and for more than 130 years, heroic American Red Cross volunteers have provided hope and urgent relief to families in communities across the country.
This March the community is invited to join in the lifesaving mission of the Red Cross and be
someone’s hero by rolling up a sleeve to give blood.
According to the Red Cross, someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds to respond to
patient emergencies. Accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients,
and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease may all require blood.
All blood types are needed.
Be a hero in your community by rolling up a sleeve….

To make an appointment or to learn more, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor
App, visit RedCrossBlood.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enable the Blood
Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device. Completion of a RapidPass® online health history
questionnaire is encouraged to help speed up the donation process. To get started, follow the
instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App. A blood donor card
or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who
are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh
at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High
school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height
and weight requirements.

Welcome to your new home, Samson and Bonita!  The two red foxes will be joining the other residents of the WNC Nature Center and are coming to us from Izzie’s Pond Sanctuary in Liberty, S.C.

Samson and Bonita have something more in common than their new home.  They are both less than a year old and were both injured as a result of being caught in leg-hold traps and each has three legs, which means they would not be able to survive in the wild but can live safely in a zoo environment.

“The Nature Center has long provided excellent care for animals that, for one reason or another, could not live in the wild,” said WNC Nature Center Director Chris Gentile. “We are so excited to be able to welcome red foxes back to our Center.”

Come say “Hi!” to Samson and Bonita at the WNC Nature center beginning Feb. 11, when they’ll enter their new habitat for the first time.

The Asheville Art Museum announces Meeting the Moon, an exhibition featuring prints, photographs, ceramics, sculptures, and more from the Museum’s Collection. This exhibition will be on view in the Asheville Art Museum’s McClinton Gallery February 3 through July 26, 2021.

2021 marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Apollo space program at NASA, but its inception was hardly the beginning of humankind’s fascination with Earth’s only moon. Before space travel existed, the moon—its shape, its mystery, and the face we see in it—inspired countless artists. Once astronauts landed on the moon and we saw our world from a new perspective, a surge of creativity flooded the American art scene, in paintings, prints, sculpture, music, crafts, film, and poetry.

This exhibition, whose title is taken from a 1913 Robert Frost poem, examines artwork in the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection of artists who were inspired by the unknown, then increasingly familiar moon. Meeting the Moon includes works by nationally renowned artists Newcomb Pottery, James Rosenquist, Maltby Sykes, Paul Soldner, John Lewis, Richard Ritter (Bakersville, NC), and Mark Peiser (Penland, NC). Western North Carolina artists include Jane Peiser (Penland, NC), Jak Brewer (Zionville, NC), Dirck Cruser (Asheville, NC), George Peterson (Lake Toxaway, NC), John B. Neff (NC), and Maud Gatewood (Yanceyville, NC).

“Meeting the Moon offers the opportunity to combine science and popular culture with works of art in the Museum’s Collection,” says Whitney Richardson, associate curator. “I think all visitors will find something that draws them into this exhibition, whether it’s the artwork, poetry, music, or science of space travel. It’s such an affirmation of humanity to find these mysteries, like the moon, which enchant us all.”

This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Whitney Richardson, associate curator. Visit ashevilleart.org for more information about this and other exhibitions.

This exhibition features archival objects from the Theodore Dreier Sr. Document Collection presented alongside artworks from the Museum’s Black Mountain College Collection to explore the connections between artworks and ephemera. This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by lydia see, fall 2020 curatorial fellow, with support from a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant through the Council on Library and Information Resources.

The Asheville Art Museum presents Fantastical Forms: Ceramics as Sculpture on view at the Museum November 4, 2020 through April 5, 2021. The 25 works in this exhibition—curated by associate curator Whitney Richardson—highlight the Museum’s Collection of sculptural ceramics from the last two decades of the 20th century to the present. Each work illustrates the artist’s ability to push beyond the utilitarian and transition ceramics into the world of sculpture.

North and South Carolina artists featured include Elma McBride Johnson, Neil Noland, Norm Schulman, Virginia Scotchie, Cynthia Bringle, Jane Palmer, Michael Sherrill, and Akira Satake. Works by American artists Don Reitz, Robert Chapman Turner, Karen Karnes, Toshiko Takaezu, Bill Griffith, and Xavier Toubes are also featured in the exhibition.

March is Red Cross Month, and for more than 130 years, heroic American Red Cross volunteers have provided hope and urgent relief to families in communities across the country.
This March the community is invited to join in the lifesaving mission of the Red Cross and be
someone’s hero by rolling up a sleeve to give blood.
According to the Red Cross, someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds to respond to
patient emergencies. Accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients,
and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease may all require blood.
All blood types are needed.
Be a hero in your community by rolling up a sleeve….

To make an appointment or to learn more, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor
App, visit RedCrossBlood.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enable the Blood
Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device. Completion of a RapidPass® online health history
questionnaire is encouraged to help speed up the donation process. To get started, follow the
instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App. A blood donor card
or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who
are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh
at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High
school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height
and weight requirements.

The lecture will be followed by four additional virtual events featuring Woodford on Thursdays, March 11 and 25, and April 8 and 15 from 1-2 p.m.  Those free-to-the-public sessions, held under the theme “When All God’s Children Get Together:  Fostering Racial Justice Book Club with Ann Woodford,” will address several topics covered in the author’s new book.

Participants, who can register at https://aarp.cvent.com/AnnWoodfordBookClub, will discuss subjects listed below with facilitators and Woodford:

March 11–General Overview.  How African American people in this region compare to nationwide:  race relations and racial disparities.

March 25–History of Ethnic Cleansing in Georgia and how it led to African American people coming to Western North Carolina (includes other national cleansings, the Green Book and a coup in Wilmington, N.C.)

April 8–What is White Privilege and how it can make a difference; Using your power to make a difference.

April 15–Steps that can be taken to smooth race relations locally and beyond.

As a child in a segregated, one-room, one-teacher “colored/negro” elementary school in the small mountain town of Andrews, N..C. Woodward’s talents as an artist were discovered by one of her teachers.  Soon, she was using oils, pencil, charcoal and ink as she drew remarkable scenes of people, animals and landscapes, which has led to a long career as an artist.  Eventually, her creativity knew no boundaries, as she has excelled as a writer, designer, entrepreneur and speaker.  Learn more about Woodford at her website, https://anntree.com.

Event participants can find her book at the library, various local and national online sellers or on her website.  While the book is recommended, it is not required to participate.

https://www.aarp.cvent.com/AnnWoodfordBookClub

Join us for Animoday! Every Monday all day. Listen to anime music, play anime games, watch anime, and talk anime!

Spend your afternoons creating in the bright and spacious studio at the Museum! Explore a range of artistic processes using artwork on view from the Museum’s Collection and special exhibitions for inspiration. Space is limited to small groups of up to eight students; face coverings and social distancing are required. Generous support for this program is provided by Walnut Cove Member Association. More info and register by March 1 at

• At least one short Film, professionally produced
• Lesson by CNG’s certification specialist, an experienced farming instructor
• Expert Exchange, a live conversation between experienced CNG farmers
• Participant Q & A with the experts, plus
• Small group discussions to network with experts and other farmers

• Seed Selection
• Weed Management
• Pest Management
• Bed Prep 101
• Soil Management
• Disease Management

Come join the amazing Chris Martin on a fun filled improv journey through all of our favorite improv games and some new surprises. Don’t miss the chance for some hilarious and silly rounds of Waiter, Waiter!, Changing Channels, Night at the Museum, and so much more! The class includes fun warm-ups, “Yes And” exercises, and a showcase during the last class.

A limited number of scholarships are available for this class. CLICK HERE TO APPLY. Please do not purchase registration prior to applying. Applications must be received by 2:00pm on Monday, March 8, 2021 for consideration. Please contact Amanda at [email protected] with questions.

 January 25 – March 22

A play from away! Explore improvisation, characterization, voice and speech, costume design, and more as you create an original virtual play! With an emphasis on creativity and personal expression, students will meet in weekly live online classes to develop, memorize, and film their role in the play. At the end of the semester, each actor’s part will be edited together to create a virtual performance!

Mondays from 5:30 – 6:15 PM EST
Grades: 3rd – 5th
Virtual Platform: Zoom
Instructor: Tania Battista
Tuition: $150*
REGISTRATION OPENS DEC. 10
10% off before Jan. 1