Kids in parks events

Four new TRACK Trail adventures for children open at Chimney Rock State Park, NC on Saturday, June 5, in conjunction with National Trails Day. The festivities begin at 11:00 am and kids, ages 6 through 15, receive free, all-day admission to Chimney Rock State Park.

TRACK Trail adventure opens at Pisgah District Headquarters, on Saturday, June 12. The Grand Opening of the Pisgah National Forest’s TRACK Trail begins with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:15 am. There will be children’s activities, guided hikes and family fun from 10:00am to 12:30 pm.

The public is invited to both events.

North Asheville Tailgate Market cake walk

Release from Slow Food Asheville

$1 Just like the good ol'days-win something yummy for a buck! Join us at the North Asheville Tailgate Market Saturday, May 29 for our Strawberry [short] Cake Walk. Donate a dish or walk and win. Cost per walk is $1. Walk as many times as you like for a chance to win something delicious! All ages are welcome. Funds raised will go to the market and Slow Food Asheville's educational programs.

The market is at the UNCA campus on the lower level of the two-level parking lot "C" just southeast of Owen Hall.

The North Asheville Tailgate Market is the area's oldest farmers' market in its 29th year of operation. For information on the North Asheville Tailgate Market and directions, go to http://www.northashevilletailgatemarket.org

To learn more about our programs and other events, please visit www.slowfoodasheville.org.

Update on Barnardsville Church Softball League

Tuesday's results
Game 1: Jesus Freaks win battle of Piney Mtn. in 16-7 win over the Posse.
Game 2: Timmy Littrell leads "The Posse" in 8th inning win over 1st place DP Blue!

Thursday's matchups
The Posse will face Dillingham Gray. Dillingham Gray beat the Posse earlier in the season 26-16.
DP Blue will face Jesus Freaks who won the last contest 18-11.

Updates
Congratulations to Locust Grove - Winners of 1st Annual BCSL Invitational
Alex Penley is the BCSL Invitational Homerun champion.

For more information, go to www.bcsleague.org

Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy workshop

What: Stream Ecology Workshop
Who: Gary Barrigar, SAHC Board Trustee, Kristina Tarasan, PR and Outreach Americorps Member
Where: Roan Mountain State Park
When: Thursday, June 10 at 1 pm
Cost: Free
Description: Join SAHC members and friends to learn about the living community of a mountain stream. Help collect and identify creek critters in the Doe River in Roan Mountain State Park. Wear clothes and sneakers.
Please RSVP by June 9 to SAHC at kristina@appalachian.org or 828-253-0095 x 205.
Directions will be sent upon RSVP.
Check out http://appalachian.org/news/hikes.html for SAHC’s schedule of upcoming guided hikes and events this spring.

Latest MPAC 4th of July music schedule

Main Stage 2010

12:00pm T-bone's Kids
1:30pm Buyaka
3:15pm Galen Kipar Project
5:00pm Chris O'Neill , Jay Sanders and Billy Cardine
7:45pm Afromotive
8:30pm Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band
10:00pm Richard Schulman Jazz & Allyson MacCauley

Local graduates from Christ School

Rick Martin is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Kipling Martin of Weaverville. Rick played varsity football for the Greenies. He will attend the University of Alabama in the fall.

Founded in 1900, Christ School is an all-boys college preparatory boarding and day school, grades 8-12. The school is affiliated with the Episcopal Church and serves young men from 14 states and nine foreign countries. It is located on a 500-acre wooded campus near Asheville.

This week at NBHS

Tuesday
TBA - Boys' varsity tennis - NCHSSA-Sectional

Thursday
TBA - Boys' varsity tennis - NCHSSA-Regional

Friday
9 am - Coed varsity track - NCHSAA Championships @ N.C. A & T-Greensboro

Saturday
TBA - Boys' varsity tennis - NCHSSA-Finals

New name for local catering, delivery service

Blue Ridge To Go LLC (http://www.blueridgetogo.com) is pleased to announce that as of July 1 its new business name and brand will be Valet Gourmet.

According to Kenan Hopkins, founder of Blue Ridge To Go, the name Valet Gourmet represents our commitment to world-class customer service, our response to customers' demand for additional menu services, our desire to become a more socially responsible corporate citizen and a dynamic shift in our core values. “We chose to re-name Blue Ridge To Go to better reflect our focus on customer service and the convenience of having locally prepared, gourmet meals delivered to your home or office,” says Hopkins. Valet Gourmet will focus on providing the most efficient means of catering and home delivery while ensuring the expectations of its customers and staff members are met and exceeded.

In addition, Valet Gourmet will maintain a comprehensive and updated Web site (http://www.valetgourmet.com) of Asheville restaurant menus, with the ability for the end customer to order delivery, catering and eventually takeout, from within the local vicinity. “We are extremely excited to have partnered with so many of Asheville's finest restaurants and will continue to build our network over the upcoming months” says Hopkins in reference to the new brand, adding that “Asheville is an amazing community and we are so grateful for the support in which we have received over the last six and a half years from local restaurants and customers alike.”

The new Web site will take effect with the name change on July 1, 2010. In the meantime, Blue Ridge To Go will continue to operate business as normal with the original website.

Founded in 2003 by Kenan Hopkins, Blue Ridge To Go provides corporate catering and residential delivery from 25 plus of Asheville's best restaurants. Blue Ridge To Go provides a website of all restaurant partners' menus (http://www.blueridgetogo.com) and receives 75 percent of its delivery orders through the web. Many of Asheville's largest employers and residents of Buncombe County rely on Blue Ridge To Go to arrange, deliver and setup their catering and residential delivery orders.

Over the past six and a half years, Blue Ridge To Go has grown from a small start-up with three staff members to a staff of 20; delivering over 1,500 locally prepared meals per month.

Volunteer opportunities

Volunteer opportunities from Land of Sky Regional Council. Go to www.landofsky.org for more.

* The Special Needs Registry provides vital information to emergency responders in the event of a 911 call and/or during a widespread disaster (hurricane, flood, blizzard, extended power outage, disease outbreak). Volunteers are needed to assist with calling those on the list from and update information on a spreadsheet (hand-written updates are okay).

* Listening Heart Crisis Center in Asheville provides free, confidential, compassionate support to anyone seeking emotional support. This new non-profit is scheduled to go live June 1. Volunteers are needed to man the crisis line, administrative support, webmaster and/or fund-raising volunteers. Their next spring training session starts May 13th from 7-10pm.

* Helios Warriors Health Care Program for Veterans in Asheville offers complementary and alternative therapies to veterans in our community. Volunteers are needed for administrative support on Fridays and Saturdays.

* The Salvation Army’s Center of Hope in Asheville needs volunteers to make bagged lunches for individuals and families in need. Cooking skills are not required!

* ABCCM Day Program serves people in transitional housing and the homeless population by providing classes in many areas that will improve their employment opportunities. Volunteers are needed to teach classes, serve lunch or simply be supportive to the teacher and the men and women attending classes. Training and class curriculum is provided.

* Hospital Volunteers needed. RSVP has a variety of volunteer opportunities at Park Ridge, Mission and the VA hospitals such as volunteering with the Information Desk, Surgery Information, administration and the Gift Shop.

Take the first step to volunteering by calling Patti Cameron, RSVP Coordinator at the Land-of-Sky Regional Council 828-251-6622, or drop us a line at rsvp@landofsky.org.

This week at NBHS

Monday
TBA - Varsity baseball - MAC @ McDowell
TBA - Boys varsity golf - State Finals-1st Round
4 pm - Junior varsity softball @ A C Reynolds High School
4:30 pm - Varsity softball vs. A C Reynolds High School

Tuesday
TBA - Boys' varsity tennis - NCHSSA-District
TBA - Boys' varsity golf - State Finals-2nd Round

Wednesday
TBA - Varsity softball - MAC

Thursday
TBA - Varsity softball - MAC
7 pm - Varsity baseball @ Hickory - NCHSAA playoffs

Friday
TBA - Boys' Varsity Tennis - NCHSSA-Individual finals

Family Farm Tour

Release from Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. For more go to www.asapconnections.org.

The 2010 Family Farm Tour will open 37 outstanding farms in six Western North Carolina counties to the public on June 26 and 27. Destinations on the tour range from century farms cultivated by the same family for generations, to certified organic farms, to urban gardens. Whether you want to learn who grows your food or get ideas for producing your own, go on an outdoor family activity or taste our area’s finest foods, you can plan a tour to suit your interests.

Tour traditional farms, as well as innovative, new farms that are diversifying agriculture in the area. Observe livestock, spinning, cheese making, and cooking demonstrations. Make your own pizza in a wood fired oven, pick blueberries and raspberries, and eat a meal on a farm. Learn about practices such as rotational grazing, cover cropping, biodynamic methods, and seed saving, and farms protected by conservations easements. See hops, medicinal plants, and Christmas trees, as well as food crops.

Visit www.familyfarmtour.org for details on each farm, suggested routes, and listings of farms selling food, and to purchase admission. Passes cost $25 plus $2 shipping at www.familyfarmtour.org, or see the website for stores and restaurants selling buttons for $25. One button admits everyone in your car. You may also purchase buttons at farms on the day of the tour for $30. If you only wish to visit one farm, pay $10 on-site. Or, support the Family Farm Tour and get free admission by volunteering.

The tour is organized by the nonprofit ASAP as part of its work to develop and advocate strategies that help family farms prosper, connect the region’s farmers with markets and supporters, and provide fair access to healthy, locally grown food.

“Through the Family Farm Tour, people get to know our region’s farms and farmers, introducing them to sources of the freshest food, and giving them great reasons to support local agriculture,” says Peter Marks of ASAP.

Looking at the bottom line

Professional services -- such as lawyer and engineer fees -- are scheduled to cost the Town of Weaverville $135,000 in 2010-2011. Town council dismissed attorney Patsy Brison early during Thursday's (May 6) budget meeting to save some money and discussed whether an attorney's presence was needed at every municipal body meeting.

Building on Weaverville Town Manager Mike Morgan's suggestion about the importance of local funding in the face of looming state revenue cuts, the council will also consider an increase in permit and privilege fees. These fees have been stagnant since 1994. The town currently charges a business a $50 annual privilege fee to operate, meaning Walmart and a mom-and-pop store owe the same amount. A proposed idea is to make the privilege fees based on a portion of revenue.

Sandy Mush hike

What: Guided Bee Branch Farm Hike
Who: Terri Wells, Bee Branch Farm Family Member, and Kristina Tarasan, PR and Outreach Americorps Member, Hike Co-leader
Where: Sandy Mush Township, NC
When: Saturday, May 8 at 10:00 am
Cost: Free to SAHC Members; $10.00 Non-Members
Description: Join the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy to hike on Bee Branch Farm in the Sandy Mush Township of Buncombe County. The hike will be a three mile loop, including panoramic views of the entire valley. The 500-acre working farm adds to over 3,000 acres of farmland that SAHC has previously protected in Sandy Mush. Learn about conservation easements as a tool for protecting farmland, and a bit of the Bee Branch family history and Sandy Mush lore. The hike will be of moderate difficulty along the farm property and should take around three hours including a picnic lunch.

This week at NBHS

Tuesday
2 pm - Boys' varsity tennis - NCHSAA-1st Round
4 pm - Junior varsity softball @ Clyde A Erwin High School
4:30 pm - Varsity softball vs. Clyde A Erwin High School
4:30 pm - Varsity baseball vs. Clyde A Erwin High School
4:30 pm - Junior varsity baseball @ Clyde A Erwin High School
Wednesday
4 pm - Coed varsity track - MAC Meet
5 pm - Girls' junior varsity soccer vs. A C Reynolds High School
7 pm - Girls' varsity soccer vs. A C Reynolds High School

Thursday
TBA - Varsity baseball - MAC @ Higher Seed

Friday
TBA - Varsity baseball - MAC @ McDowell
TBA - Boys' varsity tennis - NCHSSA-Individuals
4:30 pm - Varsity softball @ Asheville High School

Saturday
TBA - Boys' varsity tennis - NCHSSA-Individuals

Big Ivy events

Knitting Club
Starts this Thursday, May 6, from 9:30 - 11:30. All you need to do is to show up!

Shelton Laurel Incident
The Big Ivy Mountain Guard Camp Sons of Confederate Veterans,will meet at the Big Ivy Community Center, Thursday May 6 at 7pm. The program will be on the Shelton Laurel Incident that happened during the War Between The States in the Shelton Laurel section of Madison County. Dan Slagle has done extensive research on this subject and has come up with some interesting and surprising documents. Anyone interested is invited to attend.

Feeding Big Ivy, Part 2
Monday, May 10th, 7 p.m. at the Big Ivy Community Center
An ongoing community discussion about growing more food for ourselves (and neighboring communities) in the future—and how our farmers can make a living at it.
Panelists include Big Ivy farmers Marvin, Brenda, and Justin Dillingham and Paul Littman, plus Peter Marks, Director of the Local Food and Farm Campaign at the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project and Melinda Roberts, Small Farms Agent at NC Cooperative Extension.
Please come and join in this discussion about the future of Big Ivy’s food resources and farmers.