This year’s winner will be drawn on Tuesday, December 1^st, and can choose any 2020 Volvo or Subaru from Hunter Automotive Group in Fletcher, North Carolina with an MSRP up to $50,000!

Though we were unable to have students on campus and present live performances this summer, we continued to support their education needs during the pandemic, providing masterclasses, lectures, streaming performances and more, available at no charge.

Buncombe County has opened the 2020-2021 application cycle of the Community Recreation Grants program. The grants are part of other countywide initiatives that help make Buncombe County a place everyone from infants to retirees has the opportunity to be strong, healthy, and successful. The program is intended to help community nonprofits make immediate improvements and jump-start long-term progress that align with the Buncombe 2025 plan. Grants range in amounts from $500-$6,000, depending on the number of qualifying applicants.

Eligibility

Eligible entities include Buncombe County nonprofits focused on providing equitable access to recreational, fitness, cultural, and wellness activities to the public at no- or low-cost. These funds are intended to be a leveraging tool that promote partnerships between the County and area nonprofits and are not a donation, funding stream, or sponsorship opportunity. Programs applying for funding should align with the Buncombe 2025 plan’s focus areas, as well as embody the spirt of Buncombe County Recreation Services’ mission: Connect Communities. Preserve Culture. Change Lives.

Projects funded in the past have included creative placemaking, increasing safe connections to a wider range of play and wellness activities for underserved residents, supporting access to experiences that preserve regional and international cultures, improvements to public athletic fields and fitness courses, expanding environmental education, building food security through community gardens, and establishing multigenerational outdoor spaces for neighbors to connect with each other and foster community pride.

Want to apply?

Application, guidelines, and a list of 2019-2020 recipients are available online. Questions should be directed to [email protected].

The grant application deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. Late applications will not be accepted. The Community Recreation Grant Committee will notify all applicants via email no later than Friday, Nov. 15, 2020.

Brevard Music Center: Staff Picks From Around the Web

Discover Alvin Ailey
Through “Revelations”
Join the Kennedy Center for a behind-the-scenes look at Revelations, Alvin Ailey’s dance masterwork.

Digital BMC

Selected past performances by BMC orchestras, faculty, and guest artists on YouTube, SoundCloud, and Open Air Brevard.

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9
III. Adagio molto e cantabile
Brevard Music Center Orchestra
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Recorded live on August 7, 2016,
at the Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium at the Brevard Music Center.

DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto
III. Finale. Allegro Moderato
Johannes Moser, cello
Brevard Music Center Orchestra • Keith Lockhart, conductor
Recorded on July 28, 2017,
at the Porter Center at Brevard College.

Brevard Music Center:

Staff Picks From Around the Web

Explore The Stars With
The October Night Sky
The Space Tourism Guide shares a list of must-sees this month, including a stunning meteor shower.

Through our efforts of informing Buncombe County about Reappraisal 2021 so far, we have received many questions from community members. So, we decided to compile them into this FAQ. Do you have more questions that aren’t covered here? You can email them to [email protected]. Otherwise, visit buncombecounty.org/MyValue2021 for everything you need to know about the reappraisal process.

WHY IS BUNCOMBE COUNTY REAPPRAISING PROPERTY?

North Carolina law requires counties to reappraise all real property once every eight years but also allows Counties to advance the reappraisal to less than eight years. Buncombe County Commissioners voted to conduct reappraisals every four years. The county must assess 127,000 parcels. The effective date of the reappraisal is Jan. 1, 2021.

The Asheville Independent Restaurant Association (AIR) is a group of independently owned restaurants that serve the flourishing food scene of Asheville, NC. As one of the largest organization of independent restaurants in the country, AIR is dedicated to keeping Asheville’s food scene eclectic, authentic and flavorful.

Please click below to view current Takeout/Delivery and Dine In options for Asheville’s Independent Restaurants. These lists are constantly changing and being updated so make sure to check back for what’s new. If you are a restaurant owner and need to update or add your restaurant, please email Jane Anderson at [email protected]

Thank you for supporting our independent restaurants!

Beginning Sunday, September 27, and continuing throughout the month of October, the front lawn of Grace Church will once again be filled with pumpkins! And as in years past, proceeds from pumpkin sales will benefit our friends with Consider Haiti.

Annually, the Pumpkin Patch is Consider Haiti’s biggest fundraiser. A year ago, we netted $10,000 that supported programs in community health, sustainable nutrition, clean water and medical care. Consider Haiti’s single most urgent goal is promoting the health and welfare of Haitian children. This year, they will impact the lives of more than 2,000 children and their families. Through the Pumpkin Patch, Grace Church has an opportunity to raise both funds and awareness for the work Consider Haiti is doing, even in the midst of a pandemic. We hope we have made participating as safe and risk-free as possible for you. And we thank you in advance for your on-going support.

For the safety of our volunteer sellers, we have developed a method of no-touch electronic payment that will hopefully eliminate a lot of cash transactions that involved handling money. Wheelbarrows will be on hand for shoppers to load their own pumpkin selections. The idea is to handle money and pumpkins as little as possible. Wipes, masks and disinfectant will be available for use as needed within the Patch

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​One Network of Trails. One Hundred Counties.

​The Great Trails State Plan will draw upon existing plans and new recommendations to identify a network of shared-use paths and trails that connect​​​ every county in North Carolina, with a focus on connections between population centers and North Carolina State Parks.

The primary outcome of this planning process is to develop a statewide trail map coupled with an action-oriented network plan and 5-year implementation strategy.

The Great Trails State Plan is being led by the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Integrated Mobility Division, in coordination with the NCDOT Transportation Planning Division and North Carolina State Parks.​​​

Help us Win $100,000 for Urban Forestry Give during A Community Thrives’ fundraising window through October 16th and GreenWorks could receive a grant of up to $100,000! Your $10 donation will make an incredible difference! Asheville GreenWorks will continue to adapt and grow with the challenges of 2020, and beyond. We hope to give away and plant more trees to the community, collect more litter and recyclables, and engage and educate more volunteers. Your support encourages us to work harder for a better Buncombe County. If you are unable to give at this time, follow us on Facebook and Instagram and share this information with your family and friends.

Buncombe County is diverse. Playgrounds should be, too. The spirit of inclusion is straightforward in a recent partnership that has brought swing access for persons of all abilities to the three largest parks in the County’s Recreation Services system.

With support from Dogwood Health Trust, Sand Hill Lions Club, and the citizens of Buncombe County, wheelchair swings can be found at Buncombe County Sports Park, Charles D. Owen Park, and Lake Julian Park that adhere to Americans with Disability Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design. Front and rear ramps allow easy access onto and off a 32 inch wide platform (the same as standard doorway entries). Wheelchairs can easily navigate on specially engineered mulch that also acts as a safety feature in case a user should fall.

Living Room Live Rebroadcasts
Relive this summer’s concerts from Living Room Live! Viewers can stream past performances by a wide variety of artists including harpsichordist Bridget Cunningham, violinist Rachel Podger, cellist Colin Alexander, pianist George X. Fu, and many more. Watch these programs anytime you want from home!

Create, share, and discover with Buncombe County Public Library’s newest resource, Biblioboard.

BiblioBoard Library is an easy-to-use platform of high-quality digital content. Biblioboard offers books, articles, documents, images, audios, and videos. BiblioBoard Library is host to content from traditional publishers, indie authors, cultural institutions, and local thought leaders. Users can access BiblioBoard Library through the library’s website or on the device of their choice.

Some features of Biblioboard:

• No waitlists or holds
• Streaming audio and video are available on a wide variety of topics
• Check out curated collections of the best indie authors.
• Available for desktop, iOS, and Android devices

Local authors can submit their work for inclusion in the library catalog or publish books with Press Books. You can submit and share your work locally or nationally.

The North Carolina Forest Service is accepting tree seedling orders as part of its annual sale.

Each year, the NCFS Nursery Program produces millions of quality seedlings for nearly 50 species of conifers, hardwoods and native understory plants, including eastern and Carolina hemlock seedlings, as well as an expanded selection of genetically improved third cycle loblolly pine seedlings.

How can you order tree seedlings from the NCFS Nursery Program?

• Tree seedlings can be ordered from the online seedling store at www.buynctrees.com.
• Tree seedlings can also be ordered by phone at 1-888-NCTREES (1-888-628-7337).
• Tree seedlings can be ordered using the order form found in our current catalog. Complete the form and mail to Seedling Coordinator, 762 Claridge Nursery Road, Goldsboro, NC 27530.
• A user-friendly catalog is available at the “Tree Seedlings & Nursery Program” link located at www.ncforestservice.gov. Catalogs are also available at local NCFS offices located in all 100 North Carolina counties. Inside the catalog, landowners can find information about the types of tree species, quantities and costs to order. Each tree description includes information about ideal planting locations and whether a species is typically used to benefit wildlife, restore habitats or as marketable timber.

Distribution of tree seedlings will occur December through mid-April, depending on weather conditions. Seedling orders can be shipped to one of 12 distribution centers statewide for a small fee or via UPS for a charge. Seedling orders are also available for pickup from the NCFS Claridge Nursery in Goldsboro or the Linville River Nursery, near Crossnore. For information on planting trees, people are encouraged to contact an NCFS county ranger. Contact information for your local NCFS county office and nursery locations is available at www.ncforestservice.gov/contacts.

Vulnerable North Carolinians can request free PPE as they head to the polls.

We are all in this together.

In response to the unique economic challenges of COVID-19, a consortium of public, private, and nonprofit partners have come together and launched an innovative recovery-lending program to help support entrepreneurs like you and stabilize North Carolina’s small business sector.

BallotTrax by i3Logix is a unique, patent-pending solution that tracks the status of every mail-in ballot and sends a series of proactive alerts to voters telling them where their ballot is in the election process from printed to accepted! This gives voters peace of mind knowing their vote remains private and has been counted!

Another Cuba Trip! We’re excited to announce we have scheduled a second trip to Cuba for June 22nd – July 1, 2021 In the case of trip cancellation, a full refund or roll over of funds paid to future trips will be offered to all registered participants. Flexible payment plans are available.

As part of the EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems Project in the seven western counties of North Carolina, including the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Mountain Food & Farm Apprenticeship Program brings education and workforce development opportunities to the region in partnership with Western Carolina University, Haywood Community College, Southwestern Community College, and Tri-County Community College.

Pandemic Arts is a series “where performing artists from various genres discuss how the global pandemic is affecting their careers, their creativity, their finances, and their plans for the future.” The FRP episode is live and features a candid interview with Lisa K. Bryant about the history of the Playhouse and the challenges of running a theatre during the COVID-19 pandemic. You’ll also see performances by beloved Vagabonds Matthew Glover, Bill Muñoz, and Scott Treadway. Click here to watch the video!

The Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary RBG, directed by award-winning filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, chronicles the inspiring and personal story of Ginsburg’s rise to the nation’s highest court while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. “From her Supreme Court chambers to her exercise room, what a privilege and a joy it was for us to train our cameras on RBG, and capture the story of this feisty, determined, brilliant woman who used her talents to make our world a better place,” said West and Cohen.

“What makes it memorable is its portrait of a woman with an exceptional intellect, to be sure, but also a lifelong capacity for staggering amounts of minutely detailed, unswervingly purposeful work.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

“The movie’s touch is light and its spirit buoyant, but there is no mistaking its seriousness or its passion. Those qualities resonate powerfully in the dissents that may prove to be Justice Ginsburg’s most enduring legacy, and RBG is, above all, a tribute to her voice.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times

In addition to owning the film, you’ll also have access to a long-form Q&A with the directors from earlier this summer.

BMC saxophone faculty members Joseph Lulloff and Henning Schröder share a new work, Saxology, by Marc Mellits. The piece was commissioned and recently premiered by the Arizona State University Saxophone Choir, including the Capitol Quartet, helíos_, and the Seyon Quartet.