Calendar of Events

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

Open 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Advance Tickets Required. Enjoy the wonder of the park dazzlingly lit for the holidays, with a nighttime train and more.

What happens when fossil fuels run out? How do communities and cultures survive?

Central Appalachia and south Wales were built to extract coal, and faced with coal’s decline, both regions have experienced economic depression, labor unrest, and out-migration. After Coal focuses on coalfield residents who chose not to leave, but instead remained in their communities and worked to build a diverse and sustainable economy. It tells the story of four decades of exchange between two mining communities on opposite sides of the Atlantic, and profiles individuals and organizations that are undertaking the critical work of regeneration.

The stories in this book are told through interviews and photographs collected during the making of After Coal, a documentary film produced by the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University and directed by Tom Hansell. Considering resonances between Appalachia and Wales in the realms of labor, environment, and movements for social justice, the book approaches the transition from coal as an opportunity for marginalized people around the world to work toward safer and more egalitarian futures.

Tom Hansell is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has been broadcast on public television and screened at international film festivals. Hansell has more than two decades of experience working with coalfield residents to create collaborative media projects. He began his career at the Appalshop media arts center, and he currently teaches at Appalachian State University.

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

Mark Warren, owner of Medicine Bow Wilderness School in Dahlonega, GA has been teaching the survival skills of the Cherokee for more than 45 years. Finally, all those years of teaching have culminated into his highly anticipated series of books called “Secrets of the Forest.”

Mark believes today’s society can — and should — learn some valuable lessons and skills from the Cherokee people who inhabited the southeastern part of the United States hundreds of years before European explorers ever landed on its shores. He will be discussing how some of the most common native plants and trees were used by the Cherokee for food, medicine, shelter and fire and he will bring along a few of his handmade crafts.

Quote from Mark, “All of us who live in the Southern Appalachians reside on land that once belonged to the Cherokees. While these native people led lives of intense daily interaction with their natural surroundings, most folks today have reduced nature to a backdrop of scenery. The great deficit in this scenario is our lack of understanding that we still depend upon nature. That dependency is largely hidden to us, especially to the new generations that come along to take over the ‘rules’ of how we behave with nature — air to breathe, water to drink, energy to consume for our daily actions. These are commodities that are easy to take for granted. If taken for granted, humans will have no reason to respect and conserve the pieces of the puzzle we call ecology”

Mark wrote the “Secrets of the Forest” books with three purposes in mind:
1) To provide clear instructions in primitive survival skills for anyone wanting to better his/her self-sufficiency in wilderness . . . by learning the old Indian ways of living comfortably in the forest.

2) To offer parents, teachers, scout leaders, and outdoor educators a guide to engage their students in Nature . . . at a time when our young ones so desperately need this connection, as does Nature itself.

3) To win over a new generation of environmental advocates who will look after this world.

Praise for “Secrets of the Forest”:
“If you’ve ever wondered how to transfer lost knowledge and skills to our next generation, this book series is your guide. Mark is no newcomer in the world of primitive skills and nature study. He’s been passing on his knowledge to young and old for over a half century. I’ve had the pleasure of attending several of his classes in Dahlonega, Georgia. Mark is a walking encyclopedia of earth-lore and the skills required to call Nature home.” ~ Todd Walker from Survival Sherpa

“Secrets of the Forest is an invaluable teaching tool for my staff at Buffalo Cove Outdoor Education Center. Countless times, I have seen them visit our library in the office and pull this volume off the shelf to aid them in planning classes. The structure and phrasing of Mark’s work really speaks to the experiential educator. The content, and breadth of knowledge, contained within the pages is a true gift to anyone seeking a greater understanding of the natural world and really nurtures a connection with the earth!” ~Nathan Roark, Executive Director Buffalo Cove Outdoor Education Center

“Mark Warren is an authentic educator who links his vast knowledge of plants and animals to skills necessary for survival, a combination that creates an active and exciting experience for children and adults. The series has begun to take our school in directions we never imagined possible.”~O.J. Morgan, Head of School at The Bright School, Chattanooga, Tennessee

“Through Mark Warren’s Secrets of the Forest, educators, leaders, stewards, interpreters, learners, and students of connecting with and through nature have access to his spirit, insight, and generosity. These [books] are a ‘must have’ for anyone wanting to inspire, and to be inspired by, ancient wisdom and knowledge based in a deep reverence for the Earth.” ~Joseph A. Pate, PhD Department Chair – Outdoor Leadership Assistant Professor Young Harris College

Check out this review for Secrets Volume 1 by Survival Sherpa: https://survivalsherpa.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/secrets-of-the-forest-the-best-outdoor-education-book-ive-read/

The “Secrets of the Forest” book series will be available for purchase and signing at the event as well as “Two Winters in a Tipi” a memoir, and his historical fiction series “Wyatt Earp, An American Odyssey.”

Mark Warren is also a Western historian,and has researched the Frontier West and especially the life of Wyatt Earp for more than 63 years. His trilogy, Wyatt Earp, An American Odyssey,” has met with the approval of a discerning group of Western historians as well as lovers of the historical fiction genre.

Synopsis for “Born to the Badge:”
In Wichita, Kansas, Wyatt Earp answers his most innate calling and returns to law enforcement, where he excels by sheer force and an utter lack of fear. When town leaders become disenchanted with his hardline methods, he moves to a place where an iron-rule is needed – Dodge City. With him comes Mattie, a runaway prostitute, who, like Wyatt, is searching for a chance at a new life.

As assistant marshal in Dodge, Wyatt stands at the center of a volatile arena, which pits celebratory cowboys against the economic security of the merchants. Wyatt’s performance as a proficient officer earns him respect among the citizens, but it does not provide the social standing he desires.

After a disappointing venture into the gold fields of Deadwood, Dakota Territory, Wyatt returns to Dodge to find no marshal’s job waiting for him. Mattie has fallen back into prostitution. Regressing to foot-soldier status, Wyatt takes a job as detective for the A.T. & S.F. Railroad to hunt down train robbers. Heading south from Kansas he once again tries to outride his failures.

In Texas he meets a man whose name will be forever linked with his own. Doc Holliday is a testy, Southern ex-dentist turned gambler, who is dying from tuberculosis. By giving Wyatt information about the train robbers, Doc offers the first thread in an unlikely friendship that will weave the two men’s lives into a common story that will be told through the ages.

READ CHAPTER ONE of “Adobe Moon” for free, now! www.wyattearpanamericanodyssey.com

Reviews:
“In 1896, Ed Colburn, who had been a Dodge City attorney during that town’s turbulent early years, remembered Wyatt Earp: ‘While there (Dodge City), I saw Wyatt Earp do things you wouldn’t undertake for a million dollars, and yet he did it every day just as a street car conductor rings up fares or a banker receives deposits.’ In Born to the Badge Mark Warren follows Earp through the Kansas cow-towns where he first makes a name for himself. They still talk about Wyatt Earp in Wichita and Dodge City. After reading this book, you’ll understand why.” ~Jeff Morey, Historical Consultant for the movie “Tombstone.”

Mark Warren is the first writer to illuminate the Earp story from the inside. Adobe Moon and Born to the Badge show you why Wyatt Earp became a legend and what that legend was born out of. ~Allen Barra, author of Inventing Wyatt Earp, his Life and Many Legends.

“Not every writer understands that the most important line in any book is the hook – that opening sentence which grabs your attention and makes you eager to read on. Born to the Badge opens with the following line: ‘Wichita, Kansas,was hell in the making…’ and there I went – engrossed for hours…Warren is able to convey scenes with a cinematic clarity. In this way, I can see the store room lit by the warm glow of a single lantern; and the prairie crossing at night, guided solely by the stars above and the subtle shapes of the land smudged on a distant horizon” ~Peta Stevalli, New Zealand Booklovers

“Warren’s novel paints a vivid picture of the lawlessness of the American Frontier…Although this book is a fictionalized account, its dedication to facts will keep history buffs satisfied, and its colorful similes will put a smile on any genre-fiction lover’s face.” ~ Booklist

“Historian Mark Warren’s second volume in his trilogy on the life and times of Wyatt Earp is an excellent story of Earp’s adventures and misadventures in Kansas, the Dakotas, and Texas. The dialogue is virtually true to life and gives the feeling the author must have been present when the words were originally spoken. This volume has been anticipated and meets all expectations. Whether one is new to the story of Wyatt Earp or a seasoned historian of the Wild West, there is something here for everyone who loves stories of adventure, law and order, and life on the western frontier of the 1870s. A most worthwhile contribution to the story of “Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp, Brave, Courageous, and Bold!” ~ Roy B. Young, author and Western historian, Wild West History Association

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

P-I-N-G! Paddle on down and have a ball! Ping pong starts at 8 pm! 1st place gets you a FIFTY DOLLAR bar tab. Every second Thursday at Noble Kava! Meet us in the back room!

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

2:00 p.m. Ticketed Magic Show ($8 per person, all ages)
3:00-5:00 p.m. Drop-In Pop-Up Adventure Playground (free and open to the community)

Join us to celebrate the Week of the Young Child and support young children in Buncombe County!

Children ages 2+ will enjoy The Professor Whizzpop Magic Show, which placed in the Mountain Xpress “Best of WNC” poll for 10 years.

Afterward, drop in for a FREE Pop-Up Adventure Playground where kids build their own place space using imagination, loose parts, and in collaboration with their peers. There is no charge to join the playground.

Roots Hummus will be served at no charge and sweet treats from The Hop Ice Cream Cafe will be available for purchase.