Dave’s family is proud and honored to create the Dave Hart Scholarship Fund in honor of his dedication to, and passion for the students and families he served and adored. The funds will be used to support full and partial scholarships for Studio 52 students beginning this fall. You can click below to donate or you can mail your donation to PO Box 310, Flat Rock, NC. 28731. Please include Dave Hart Scholarship in memo-line / letter.

Buncombe County Public Libraries have free wifi hotspots available outside any library building. To use the wifi, look for the LibraryGuest network and use the password readmore. The wifi is available all day every day, whether the library is open or not. Please observe all Buncombe County social distancing and gathering requirements while using the wifi. Questions? Call (828) 250-4700 or email [email protected].

Presenter: Kay Green, Extension Master Gardener^SM Volunteer

The amount of sun or shade in your garden will change as the sun moves across the sky during the day and with the seasons.  By knowing how much sun the garden gets, you can better plan where your plants will thrive.  In this video, Kay shows you how to create a “Sun Map” and a “Sun Chart” to record the sun and shade patterns in your garden.  Using these simple tools will help you make better plant selections and reward you with better results.

Video access:
To access these videos on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website, click on the link below:
Sun to Shade—Changing Light Patterns in Your Garden 

Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org, click on the ‘Resources’ tab at the top of the page, and select ‘Gardening Videos’ from the drop down menu.

Great pay and benefits, medical coverage, PTO, and more. Join the Goodwill team and make a difference in your community.  We are hiring for retail and donation processing positions at locations across northwest North Carolina. To learn more and to view a list of available jobs, visit jobsatgoodwill.org.

The Battery Park end of the Grove Arcade is home to the Makers Market, an outdoor bazaar with a dozen stalls filled by artisans selling their craft directly to the public. The market is now accepting vendor applications for local artist to sell their wares, and the application fee is currently waived due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about the process and vendor regulations, as well as how to apply, here.

As families are looking to start the 2020/2021 school year with remote learning, Henderson County Public Schools is addressing the need of families without access to internet in their homes. Families without internet access can request hotspots from HCPS. Spanish form available.

100% grassfed ground beef. Balanced at a perfect 80% lean, 20% fat blend, every bite of this ground beef is delicious and flavorful. Whether you’re spending the day out at the grill, or perfecting your signature spaghetti sauce recipe, Hickory Nut Gap Farm’s ground beef provides an exceptional and nutritious staple to your cooking adventures.

Always 100% grassfed, always 100% hormone and antibiotic free.

Ground Beef is cryovac packed and frozen. If kept frozen, maintains a 12 month shelf life from pack date.

Child Care Hotline Available to Help Families with School-Age Children Find Care Families have experienced an interruption in child care plans due to the COVID19 pandemic and North Carolina has responded with a hotline that can help connect families with child care options. Families and caregivers in need of child care for children up to age 12 can call the child care hotline at 1-888-600-1685 to be connected directly to care options in their community that meet their families’ needs. As of Aug. 10, there are about 30,000 slots available for school-age children in licensed child care programs across the state.

The first in our series of videos empowering you to make your own endless kombucha from scratch- follow along as we use a bottle of live, active Buchi kombucha to grow our own SCOBY for fermenting kombucha! Questions? Check out our FAQ: http://www.drinkbuchi.com/blog/make-y… Follow us on insta! http://instagram.com/drinkbuchi

The City of Asheville is looking for input from the community on a report prepared by the I-26 Aesthetics Committee.  Read more and weigh in on the report at https://t.e2ma.net/click/nkulzj/jl0fq2/j5zs7ee

Classic Family Adventure in Western North Carolina

North Carolina’s shimmering Nantahala River, located just outside Bryson City, NC, at 13077 Highway 19 West, Bryson City, NC 28713. This location offers river rafting through family-friendly rapids that are mild but exciting. The Nantahala features eight miles of practice on easy Class II rapids before splashing through the exciting Class III whitewater of Nantahala Falls.

The Nantahala is also headquarters of the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Founded in 1972, NOC is located at the intersection of the Appalachian Trail and the Nantahala River in the Nantahala National Forest. Originally a roadside inn, the company has evolved into one of the largest outdoor recreation companies in the nation, hosting well over one million guests each year.

NOC’s 500-acre adventure center offers whitewater rafting, four aerial and zipline activities, mountain biking on nine miles of private trails, and stand-up paddleboarding on Lake Fontana. In between activities, you can shop at one of NOC’s four retail stores including NOC’s flagship Outfitter’s Store, eat at NOC’s two riverfront restaurants, and even stay in a cabin adjoining the Appalachian Trail.

Equity underlies everything we do. We serve immigrants, low-wealth, and disadvantaged individuals of every age. We know that literacy is the primary determinant of health, employment, income levels, and constructive self-expression. In 2017, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that sixty percent of children nationwide are not reading proficiently. Without intervention children who do not read proficiently become adults with low literacy and the cycle continues. Our one-on-one and small group tutoring is free and based on students’ schedules, making it accessible to those who would otherwise be unable to afford or attend traditional classroom settings.

Our Ideal Volunteer Tutor

The ideal volunteer tutor is someone seeking to make a one-year commitment of two hours per week to help someone else make the change of a lifetime. For our volunteer tutors, an education background is helpful, but not necessary. The most important qualities are patience, an open mind, and resourcefulness. Tutors also need to be non-judgmental and sensitive to cultural differences. A GED or high school diploma is required. Ideal tutors enjoy seeing concrete outcomes from their efforts and sharing in the life-changing successes of others. See our full tutor position description here.

Hey Q Nation!  Here’s a way to wear the Q logo proudly AND support local businesses!  Thanks to Dave Riddell and Big Frog Custom T-shirts for the Love Local movement!  Order your WTZQ T-Shirt (link below) and WTZQ will use 100% of the profit to purchase gift certificates and gift cards from local businesses to give away as part of our Love Hendo prize packs!  It’s a win-win-win!  Order your Q-shirt today by clicking the link below.  JUST CLICK PICK UP AT BIG FROG —  We’ll get them delivered to the radio station and let you know when you can get them her at the Q!  These are high quality, ultra-comfortable T-shirts that you are gonna LOVE!  Thanks for supporting our local businesses!

Click HERE to order my Love Local WTZQ T-shirt now!!

If you’re able to volunteer, all of us at MANNA, as well as recipients of food boxes across WNC, would be incredibly grateful for your support. If you’re unable to volunteer, we would greatly appreciate you spreading the word and letting friends, family members and neighbors know of the need for food assistance that exists right now and how they can help by volunteering with us here at MANNA. Those interested in volunteering can sign up for a shift on MANNA’s website. Volunteer shifts are Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, and 1:00 – 3:00 PM.

MANNA NEEDS VOLUNTEERS Without Key Groups of Volunteers, MANNA is Straining to Meet the Food Needs for 100,000 People Each Month

Laura Brooks, co-chair of The Learning Garden’s vegetable plot located at the Buncombe County Extension office, highlights the three most common pests that were encountered last year in The Learning Garden: squash vine borers, flea beetles, and Mexican bean beetles. She describes the organic methods that Master Gardeners used to help ward off these pesky insects. Laura explains the life cycle of these insects, what they look like from larvae to adult stages, when they emerge, and effective treatments.

Friday, August 21, 2020 at 12 noon WNC Communities held the 30^th Western North Carolina Agricultural Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mountain Horticulture Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River. North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Steve Troxler, was inducted during a modified awards presentation. Due to current restrictions regarding public gatherings, the scaled-down ceremony was livestreamed and a limited number of attendees were present to substitute for the normal luncheon and gathering of peers, guests and friends. The ceremony can be viewed via the WNC Communities Video YouTube Channel accessible through a link at wnccommunities.org.

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.

Pardee Hospital Foundation is pleased to honor women in our community for sharing their story of courage, determination, and will as they have faced cancer and other diseases in their lives and in the lives of their families. Each year Women of Hope are honored as part of the Foundation’s Women Helping Women annual celebration. Nominees must be local residents. Preference is given to nominees who have survived any women’s health crisis (breast cancer and other cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, to name a few), and who have received their treatment at Pardee UNC Health Care. Nomination forms are available online or in person at: Pardee Hospital Foundation office 561 Fleming Street, Hendersonville, NC 28739 Deadline for applications is September 1, 2020. Contact the Pardee Hospital Foundation office with any questions, 828-233-2700.

What:  Local musicians, singers, callers, and technicians have given us joy as they shared their love of music and dance with us.  We now ask our community to return that joy as they struggle financially during this difficult time by donating to our “Spread the Joy” fundraiser.

Who:  All donations will be paid directly and equally to local talent.  Your contributions will support local callers, musicians, and technicians who participated, a minimum of 4 times, either in the past year (March 2019 – March 2020) or were scheduled in the near future (March – June 2020) for OFB events and who indicated a financial need to the OFB Board.

When:  The OFB will distribute donations on a regular basis while dances continue to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so please give early and often. Consider donating the price you would have paid for admission to the dances for you, maybe several friends, and remembering that the dances were cancelled back in early March.

How:  Click the link below to donate via Paypal and please add the note: “Spread the Joy fundraiser”. Donate conveniently via your credit card, debit card or your Paypal account.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PYS3WHNV76CWA&source=url

Now available as Video On Demand!

All tickets are $25.00 plus taxes and fees and benefit ACT.

Asheville Community Theatre’s annual fundraiser Costume Drama: A Fashion Show is a fashion show where designers create garments from unconventional materials. Twelve designers competed in this year’s challenge, four were chosen as category winners – and one was named the Best in Show winner.

As in years past, Best in Show will receive a $500 prize, and the other 3 winners will each receive a $250 prize. Winners are revealed at the end of the broadcast!

Costume Drama: A Fashion Show originally aired on Saturday, August 8, 2020. Video On Demand of this show will be available for purchase until September 30, 2020 at 11:59 pm.

The State Board of Elections and N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles now offer certain online voter registration services for existing DMV customers

If you are a DMV customer with a N.C. driver’s license or DMV-issued ID, you may now register to vote or change certain parts of your registration online. 

Using this service existing DMV customers may register to vote, update their voter registration address, or update their party affiliation. They may not change their name.

This is a standalone service that does not require the user to complete a DMV transaction (such as duplicate or license renewal) at the same time.

There is no fee for voter registration services.

Voter registration applications submitted fewer than 25 days before an election will not be processed until after the election. You may still register to vote in person using same-day registration in your county during the early voting period.

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.

The Pandemic Arts: 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 final video 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.