Raffle: Trip to NYC 2023

Enter to win a fabulous trip for two to New York!

Raffle tickets on sale through Sunday, August 6, 2023!

Tickets are $50 and only 500 will be sold.

Travel package for Thanksgiving 2023, with check-in on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 and check-out on Sunday, November 26, 2023.

Prize includes:

• Two round-trip Business Class tickets to New York from Asheville Regional Airport
• Transfers to and from the airport to your hotel
• Accomodations for four nights in Midtown at The Lotte New York Palace, with a choice of one king bed or two double beds
• VIP Macy’s Parade Day experience, including brunch and complimentary drinks, access to indoor and outdoor VIP viewing areas, and access to the Inflation Celebration of parade balloons on Wednesday afternoon
• Orchestra seating tickets to the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular
• Tickets to a Broadway show
• Up to $500 to spend on guided tours or additional theatre tickets
• Personal consultation with Foothills Travel to customize your trip
• On-site concierge provided through MyBucketListEvents

The drawing will take place the week of August 7, 2023. Winner will be notified by phone call and email.

Edge, the newest exhibit showing in the airport art gallery, is open to the public now through July 21, 2022. The local art is unique, bold and is sure to capture the imaginations of its viewers.

The local artists’ work featured in this exhibit consist of many different mediums. Diane Bronstein creates complex and mesmerizing pieces with photographs, embroidery floss and other materials. Susan Devitt uses bold colors and vivid details to capture the beauty and possibilities of nature with her acrylic paintings. Jen Pacicci crafts peaceful and majestic collages of landscapes using watercolor and torn paper. Kurt Ross designs clay vessels of varying materials and glazes that are each unique in their thoughtful and clean design. Paul Silverman presents ceramic figures of various tools and vintage items that trick the eye in their realistic appearance and awe with their attention to detail.

“The Edge exhibit welcomes travelers and residents to Asheville with a vibrant and unique display this spring at AVL,” said Alexandra Ingle, Brand and Experience Designer at AVL and curator of the gallery. “We are excited at each gallery opening to bring a fresh taste of our talented WNC art community into the airport.”

Artwork can be purchased from the gallery by emailing [email protected]. Details about the program and how to apply can be found on the airport’s website at flyavl.com.

Since 2018, the Arts Build Community grant supports innovative, arts-based projects that inspire diverse groups of participants to be more active, involved, and civically-engaged by creating together. Grants range from $1,000-2,500.

Arts and culture are a fundamental part of our community. They help us connect with one another and better understand history, people, and new ideas. When people become involved in the design, creation, and upkeep of places, they develop a vested interest in using and maintaining these spaces. When neighbors have a true sense of “ownership” or connection to the places they frequent, the community becomes a better place to live, work, and visit.

Description & Eligibility

Spring at Biltmore, one of the estate’s most glorious seasons, invites you to experience a spring break mountain escape with all the charm of a European retreat. Immerse yourself in thousands of colorful tulips as Biltmore Blooms transforms our gardens and grounds. Explore Italian Renaissance Alive and Ciao! From Italy. Savor our Winery’s award-winning vintages and, of course, the timeless elegance of Biltmore House.

• Daytime access to 8,000 acres of gardens and grounds, including:
  • 75+ Acres of formal and informal gardens
  • 20+ Miles of hiking, biking, and walking trails
• Antler Hill Village & Winery
• Complimentary Wine Tasting
• Complimentary Parking

Gardens & Grounds admission does NOT include Biltmore House entry.

Grab your colleagues, your friends, even your family, and celebrate workplace wellness in this fun 5k. You might walk every step or sprint to the finish – either way we know you’re up to the challenge! Register by April 2 for early registration rates, and by April 16 to get your race shirt. Join us for free trainings starting March 21st Hosted by the YMCA of Western North Carolina Tuesdays starting March 21st • 5:30-6:30 p.m. Meet in the Asheville Chamber parking lot top level (36 Montford Ave.) • Open to everyone: share this info with co-workers or another business and encourage them to join a training. • All fitness levels welcome: from first-time 5k walkers to active runners who want to improve.

The Chamber Challenge is designed to promote community wellness through friendly competition between businesses in the Asheville area. Encourage your co-workers, family and friends to participate. Whether you walk every step or sprint to the finish, we know you’re up to the challenge!

Register for the 2023 Chamber Challenge

Register by April 16th for your free race shirt. After April 16th, limited quantities of shirts may be available for $10.

Registration fee:

$35 – Early Registration until April 2rd

$40 – April 3-30

$45 – Late Registration May 1-5

Food Scraps Drop Off

The City of Asheville, in partnership with Buncombe County and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is offering a FREE Food Scrap Drop-Off program in two locations for all Buncombe County residents.  This organic matter will be collected and turned into good clean compost, keeping it OUT of our landfill and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Register for Food Scraps Drop Off

Need a handy kitchen countertop food scrap bin?  Let us know on the registration form! We’ll be having bin giveaways at city and county facilities and would love to give you one.

Locations

Murphy Oakley Community Center and Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the east side of the parking lot

749 Fairview Road, Asheville

• • Dawn – Dusk

Stephens-Lee Recreation Center “Food Scrap Shed” next to the Community Garden on the North side of the parking lot

30 Washington Carver Avenue, Asheville

• • Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
  • Sunday, 12 – 4 p.m.

West Asheville Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the south side of the building

942 Haywood Road, Asheville

• • Library open hours
  • Buncombe County Landfill – Convenience Center

    85 Panther Branch Road, Alexander

    • • Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
      • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 12:30 pm

Presenter: Craig Mauney – NC Cooperative Extension Agent

Fruit trees are a home garden favorite, and it’s challenging to grow good fruit in our WNC environment. It helps to carefully select smaller, more disease-resistant varieties and consider more unusual fruit like persimmons, bush cherries, mulberries, and pawpaws.

Our presenter, Craig Mauney, is an Extension Area Specialized Agent for commercial vegetable and fruit production in our western counties. He has years of experience growing small fruits in his own home landscape, and you’re sure to learn something new to help you grow those little gems of flavor.

Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteers will be staffing the Helpline as indicated in the schedule below. You may send an email or leave a voicemail at any time and an Extension Master Gardener volunteer will respond during Garden Helpline hours. When emailing, please include a photo if it helps describe your garden question. Soil test kits can be picked up at the Extension office, 24/7. The kits are located in a box outside the front door.

Three ways to contact the Garden Helpline

Call 828-255-5522
Email questions and photos to [email protected]
Visit the Extension Office at 49 Mt. Carmel Road during Helpline hours, listed below.

Garden Helpline Hours

March – (starts March 6)
Monday 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

April through September:
Monday 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Wednesday 12:00 Noon – 2:00 p.m.
Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

October – (ends October 26th) 
Monday 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

We are here to help and support you! Please contact us. We look forward to answering your gardening questions.

Minority-Owned Businesses, Nonprofit Organizations Encouraged to Apply for Kudzu’s $10K Brand Giveaway

The winner will be chosen through public voting on social media.

Kudzu Brands’ $10K donation includes brand story development, logo creation, and marketing collateral development. Past winners include Literacy Together and More To Love Consignment.

The contest timeline, rules, details, and updates are on Kudzu’s website, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The application, rules, and complete list of WNC counties permitted for entry are published on the agency’s website, too.

Kudzu’s $10K Brand Giveaway relies on the influence of social media to determine the winner. Once finalists are announced on June 7, they will need to use their social platforms to engage followers to vote them into the winner’s circle.

Kudzu Brands has extensive experience helping businesses and nonprofit organizations grow into memorable, profitable, and sustainable brands. Our full suite of brand and marketing services uses a proven and effective process that makes supporting you easy and effective.

If you’re behind on your water bill or afraid your water might get cut off, a new resource might be able to help you. On Jan. 4, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved more than $450,000 in federal funding for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). The initiative is aimed at preventing water disconnections and helping reconnect drinking and wastewater services.

The LIHWAP will be administered by Buncombe County-based Eblen Charities. The nonprofit will make payments directly to utilities on behalf of qualifying households. The program is slated to run through Sept. 30, 2023 or until funds are exhausted.

Eligibility requirements

Households that currently receive Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Work First services, or those that received Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) services from Oct. 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021, are automatically eligible to receive this benefit if their water services have been cut off or are in danger of being cut off.

For additional eligibility information or to apply, please contact Eblen Charities at (828) 255-3066.

Voted “Best Place to Learn” by Outside, NOC Paddling School has taught more paddlers than anyone else, with 50 years of experience going into every class. Our commitment to the sport and to providing the best possible instruction has not waivered. So come and let us be your respected and experienced instructor.

Paddling School Course Types

Whitewater Kayaking Instruction

Youth Paddling Programs

Specialty Paddling Programs

Professional Training for Paddlers

Canoe Courses

Bryson City, NC

We are introducing a new software system for our Playhouse Jr. families! This new system will make your life easier! Once you have registered you are in our system for good. That means that once you register all you have to do is access your account to purchase any classes and camps moving forward. No need to register every time!

To register for our new system and to enroll in classes please visit this link: https://app.jackrabbitclass.com/regv2.asp?id=548849

Questions? Please email [email protected]!

Want to register over the phone? No problem! You can call our Education Director, Lauren Hopkins at (828)693-0403 ext. 246 starting Monday March 6!

Registration is ongoing through the year. Get new updates and access all previous entries in a convenient online library.

The Curator’s Journal by Bonsai Curator Arthur Joura is a year-long course offering the ultimate insider’s view of bonsai at The North Carolina Arboretum. Regular entries chronicle growing an art and growing an enterprise. Some journal entries will be long and others more brief; some will be mostly words and others mostly pictures; some will be close-up studies of detail and others will step back to take in the wider scene. The path will not be linear, but all the entries will be steps along a journey.

You’re invited to come along.

In August of 2022 the President of the United States signed into law the PACT Act, the most sweeping legislation in regards to Veteran benefits in three plus decades. This legislation will provide healthcare and disability benefits to hundreds of thousands of Veterans who served in hostile locations across the globe. It is a new law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances and adds to the list of health conditions that are presumed to be caused by exposure to these substances.

On April 1, 2023, multiple veterans affairs groups organized a town hall at the A-B Tech Conference Center to help veterans in WNC. Charles George VA partnered with Vietnam Veterans of America and the North Carolina State Council to host a Toxic Exposure/PACT Act Veterans Town Hall. At the event, veterans received assistance with signing up for healthcare benefits, filing disability claims, and completing toxic exposure screenings.

According to the VA website, the PACT Act will bring these changes:

• Expands and extends eligibility for VA health care for Veterans with toxic exposures and Veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras
• Adds 20+ more presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures
• Adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation
• Requires VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every Veteran enrolled in VA health care

The PACT Act also includes benefits for surviving family members of a Veteran including a monthly VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (VA DIC) payment, a one-time accrued benefits payment, or a survivors pension. More information on the PACT Act can be found here.

Buncombe County residents who think that they could be eligible for the PACT Act should contact the Buncombe County Veterans Service Office (VSO). Buncombe County Veterans Services Supervisor, Heath Smith, gave a presentation about the PACT Act at the town hall event. Navigating benefits eligibility can be a challenge which is why Smith encourages people to contact their local VSO. Smith says, “If you think that a health condition is due to your time in service, get in touch with your local Veterans Service Office and they will guide you through the benefits that you might be entitled to. We encourage people to contact a Veterans Service Officer to learn more about this new legislation.”

In Buncombe County, Veterans Service Officers can be reached by calling (828) 250-5726. Our Veterans Services team will be happy to assist you with questions you might have about the PACT Act and other benefits that you and your relatives could qualify for.

Click here to watch the video of Heath Smith’s presentation at the Town Hall.

Click here for WLOS coverage of the event.

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”