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Today’s Email Announcements

1) Stoneman’s Raid, Watauga County, and the Final Days of the Civil War

On March 28, 1865, Federal Cavalry troops under the command of George Stoneman fought their way into Boone. The skirmish lasted just a few moments, but it left several Watauga County men dead or wounded. Stoneman headed east soon thereafter; however, in his wake came a brigade composed primarily of galvanized Yankees, under the command of Col. George W. Kirk. They built forts in the area, and for the next couple of weeks, tormented local citizens. Join historian Michael C. Hardy in a discussion about the events surrounding Stoneman’s Raid, Watauga County, and the final days of the Civil War. Watauga County Public Library, March 31, 2015, 5:30 p.m.

2) The Lucile Miller Observatory Open For Public Observing

The Lucile Miller Observatory will be open twice in April for public observing. We will be open on the first and third Fridays, April 3 and April 17, 2015 from 8 until 11 p.m.  The observatory is located on the campus of Maiden Middle School (the old high school) in Maiden, North Carolina.  These are a free events, all ages and interests are welcome, and no reservations are needed. April 3 will be open rain or shine with an indoor presentation if needed. April 17 will be clear sky only with no indoor presentations.

Weather permitting, our telescopes will be available to will observe Jupiter, Venus, the Moon and the spring sky.  Light refreshments will be available.  Visitors are encouraged to bring their own telescope if they have questions on how to use it or if it needs adjustment.

These events are sponsored by The Catawba Valley Astronomy Club. Please visit our website at www.catawbasky.org for driving directions to the observatory.  You may contact Jeff Whisenant at 828-850-6433 or clubinfo@catawbasky.org for additional information.

3) Five Guys Burgers and Fries  Supports the Winter Warmer Project

Five Guys Burger and Fries is hosting a Community Week Monday, March 30th through Sunday, April 5th.   Anyone that dines at Five Guys Boone that week and mentions they are there to support the Winter Warmer Project, Five Guys will donate 20% of their purchase to the Project.

The Winter Warmer Project was started by BSG (Blood Sweat and Gears Bike Ride) this past December as a coat and blanket drive and has expanded to include replenishing the food pantry at the Hunger and Health Coalition, support to the We Can program to prevent utility shut offs, and the purchase of cots for the Hospitality House.

Just recently a BSG rider/alumni, who lives “off the mountain”, learned of the Project.   He donated approximately 700 sets of thermal underwear that has been distributed to agencies in Watauga and Avery counties.

According to Scott Nelson of BSG, “The Winter Warmer Project lends support to those agencies that help keep people warm during these cold months.   As we know winter in the mountains can last a while.    With donations typically slowing down this time of year, raising awareness and funds is important to help those in need year round.   Five Guys – Boone contacted us to see how they could help.   They have hosted Community Nights in the past raising thousands of dollars each year for local schools and organizations, but this is their first time to host an entire week.  We really appreciate their support.”

“We have raised about $25,000 towards the project.    While dollars are important, the best measurement of success is how many coats, blankets, pounds of food get to the people who need it most or fewer days in homes without heat.”

So how can you help?   Nelson says, “that’s easy …. go to Five Guys for the week starting March 30th and tell them you are there to support the Winter Warmer Project.   20% of what you purchase is donated to the Project.”.

Five Guys Boone celebrated its third anniversary serving the Boone community in February, 2015 and has been voted the Best Burger in Boone for 2013 and 2014 by readers of the Watauga Democrat.  Five Guys is located at 1435 Blowing Rock Rd., Boone, NC.  Five Guys fresh cut, never frozen burgers and fries are available seven days a week 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The store can be reached at 828-386-1058 or orders can be placed online at www.gofiveguys.com

4) Western Watauga Community and Senior Center Free Adult Classes and Activities

Attention People age 55 + looking for something fun to do on weekday mornings and early afternoons.

The Western Watauga Community and Senior Center in Sugar Grove, NC has many free adult classes & activities including beading & jewelry making, various art classes, pottery, woodcarving, knitting, quilting, basic sewing, loom weaving, and rug hooking.  Other activities are: Bridge and Rook games, exercise and nutrition programs, parties, support groups and more. There are also volunteer opportunities! Make new friends and improve your life. Call Toni Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4 p.m. for more information 828-297-5195

5) Heritage Hall News from Mountain City

Thursday, April 2, 7 p.m.,  Barter Players’ Anne of Green Gables has been rescheduled. At just $5 per seat, this is a must-see classic for the entire family.

Marilla Cuthbert and her brother Matthew are determined to adopt an orphan boy to help them run Green Gables, their farm on beautiful Prince Edward Island. But their well-ordered lives take a surprising and hilarious twist when the boy they hoped for turns out to be a redheaded slip-of-a-girl named Anne Shirley, whose wild imagination leads her into countless scrapes, as well as a place in our hearts forever. Come join Anne and her friends in this timeless coming-of-age favorite! Because of the late booking, all patrons pay at the door for open seating.

Sat, April 25 at 7 p.m., An Evening with Fiddlin’ Carson Peters, sponsored by H & R Block and Hux-Lipford Funeral Home, Carson Peters, or “Fiddlin’ Carson Peters,” as he is also known, started playing the fiddle at the ripe old age of 3 when his parents bought him a 1/8 size fiddle. By age 4, he was playing in fiddle competitions and jamming at musical festivals. Carson has continued to hone his fiddling and singing talents with which he feels so fortunate to have been blessed and has won many competitions along the way. In fact, in September of 2014, Carson performed “Blue Moon of Kentucky “ with Ricky Skaggs at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. He is quickly making a name for himself in the music industry. This will be a great show and local patrons will one day  be able to say, “I saw him when…” Adv $10/ Door $12/ All Youth $5

Heritage Hall is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the area with great shows and pricing. For more informatio , visit heritagehalltheatre.org. Most tickets are $10 advance and $12 at door. Most youth seats are $5. For tickets, or reservations, call 423-727-7444 and leave a message. The Box Office is open on Tuesday – Friday, 12 – 2 p.m. at 126 College Street.

6) Musical Fun Presented March 30 in Broyhill Music Center

Faculty from the Hayes School of Music will present “An Evening of Musical Merriment and Foolishness!” March 30 at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall at Appalachian State University. Admission is free.

The program title is indicative of the music to be performed. The lighthearted “Fugue in Sea(sic) Major” will be performed by bassoonists Jon Beebe, Kim Wangler and Frank Wangler. Karen L. Robertson and Bair Shagdaron will perform Alan Civil’s “Serenade.” Instead of performing on horn, Civil wrote the piece to be performed using a water hose. Shagdaron will provide piano accompaniment.

Clarinetists Douglas Miller, Andrea L. Cheeseman and Lynn Beebe combine for a performance of “Trio Québécois” by Lucio Agostini, which is based on Quebec folk songs.

Also on the program is “Scars and Scrapes Forever” by Kenneth Laufer featuring Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham on piccolo and Aaron Ames on piano. Based on the popular “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Laufer is known for “doing strange things with music,” according to his website, including musical mashups where he combines tunes simultaneously,

Richard Strauss’ “Till Eulenspiegel-Einmal Anders!,” known as a frolic for five instruments, will be performed by Nancy Bargerstock, violin, Andrew Hannon, bass, Douglas Miller, clarinet, Jon Beebe, bassoon and Karen L. Robertson, horn

Trumpet players James Stokes, Brent Bingham and Bill Harbinson, will perform “Three Mosquitoes find they are reunited after a convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.” The trumpets evoke the sound of conversing mosquitoes, until a slapstick reduces their numbers.

Accordion player and vocalist Lauren Hayworth performs Jack Strachey’s 1935 composition “These Foolish Things.” Hayworth will be accompanied by guitarist Andy Page and bass player Ron Brendle.

The evening concludes with P.D.Q. Bach’s “Echo Sonata, for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments” in which a trio of woodwinds plays opposite a trio of brass instruments. The musicians are Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham, flute, Alicia Chapman, oboe, Jon Beebe, bassoon, Karen L. Robertson, horn, James Stokes, trumpet, and Drew Leslie, trombone.

7) Promoting Poetry in the Community

It is heartwarming to sit in a room with lots of people and share the same interest – in this case, poetry readings.

On Saturday, April 18, 2015, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the annual “Favorite Poem Event” will take place in the Watauga County Public Library. Poets of all ages are invited to read a favorite poem by a published poet, one of their own, or be the audience.

Please come at 10:45 if you want to read.

The event is cosponsored by the Friends of the Watauga County Public Library and Behind the Stacks, a local poetry group.

For more information call Paula at (828) 963-1164.

8) Weekly Events at Lost Province Brewing Company

Tuesday March 31

Cheap date night at Lost Province. Dinner + A Movie only $25 6-10 p.m. Movie starts at 7 p.m. No charge to come and watch the movie. Movie feature this week is “Batman Returns” (1992).

Thursday April 2

$3.00 Thursday-$3.00 pints on all Lost Province brewed beers (except high gravity)

8:00 p.m.-Closing Live Music: Redleg Husky. Redleg Husky is an Americana/folk band from Boone, North Carolina that captures the sounds of a long drive, a well-worn record, and boots on a dusty floor.

Friday April 3

Freakin’ Ferkin Friday at Five continues with Fermentation Fun! We are releasing three varieties of our German Alt Beer each fermented with a different strain of yeast. Come sample all three and pick your favorite.

8:00 p.m.-Closing Live Music: Swing Guitars. Boone’s own gypsy band “Swing Guitars” has been active for almost a decade performing acoustic “Hot Club” style jazz in area restaurants, music festivals and civic concert series. Playing a mix of gypsy jazz standards, swing classics, originals and modern jazz tunes, the acoustic group focuses on the music of Django Reinhardt and other early jazz pioneers. Guitarists Andy Page, Jim Schaller and Jay Brown along with Ben McPherron on bass are experienced musicians widely known to High Country music fans. An evening with Swing Guitars promises a variety of sounds perfect for socializing, eating, drinking and dancing!

Saturday April 4

NCAA College Basketball Final Four on the Big Screen

8:00 p.m.-Closing Live Music: BanDam. BanDam is a local group originating in Boone, NC. The band takes a little bit of everything into their sound, leaving no musical influence out of their playing and writing.

Sunday April 5

Closed for Easter

Monday April 6

NCAA College Basketball Championship Game on the Big Screen

Tuesday April 7

Cheap date night at Lost Province. Dinner + A Movie only $25 6-10 p.m. Movie starts at 7 p.m. No charge to come and watch the movie. Movie feature this week is “Batman Forever” (1995).

9) Wilkes Playmakers Present “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder, April 10-18

Wilkes Playmakers will be presenting the classic American drama “ Our Town” by Thornton Wilder on April 10, 11, 16, 17, and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and on April 12 and 19 at 2:00 p.m.   Performances will be held at historic Benton Hall, 300 D Street, North Wilkesboro, NC .

This year marks 25 years that Wilkes Playmakers have been providing quality community theatre opportunities and entertainment to Wilkes and surrounding areas.   “Our Town” was among the productions presented in the beginning years of Wilkes Playmakers and will now be presented to a new generation of community theatre supporters. This timeless drama is family entertainment for all.

Tickets are $5 – $10 (plus tax) and are available online now at www.wilkesplaymakers.com or may be purchased at the box office Both Sunday matinees ( April 12 and 19) have a special matinee price of $6 for all ages.   The Thursday performance ( April 16) is a Pay What You Can Night ( $2 minimum).   You may also find information on our Keep the Light on Benton Hall campaign on our website.

“Our Town” has been described as the greatest American play ever written. The story follows the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire through three acts: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage,” and “Death and Eternity.” Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, audiences follow the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually—in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre—die.

The history of Grover’s Corners between the years of 1901 and 1913 are played out on stage. Routine daily activity becomes the subject of drama, from the morning milk delivery to the town choir practice, from the quest for love to the transience of life. Our Town was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1938. It is one of the most frequently produced plays in American history and has long been on required reading lists in public school literature courses.

The cast of Our Town includes Lucas Matney, Meredith Tinnin, Gunnar Hunsberger, David Simmons, Erica Marsh, Ryan Walsh, Amanda Brookshire, Kaylee Simmons, Cameron Grimes, Garrett Griffin, Don Easterling, Justin Gambill, Cindy Smith, Grayson Parsons, Isaac Parsons, Brendetta Huffman, Dave Simmons, Jared Staley, Jeff Staley, Harold Bass, Melissa Meyer, Ted Edgerton, and Valerie Sink. Set design is by Lucas Matney and Paula Joines. Lighting design is by Nicole Collins.   The production is directed by Paula Joines.

For more information, please email wilkesplaymakers2013@outlook.com   Wilkes Playmakers is a 501©3 nonprofit organization providing quality community theatre experiences to the citizens of Wilkes County for 25 years.

10) Social Entrepreneurs Doc Hendley and Hannah Davis to Speak at Global Opportunities Conference

Wine to Water founder Doc Hendley will be the keynote speaker at the 2015 Global Opportunities Conference: Business for a Better World to be held Friday, April 10 at 9 a.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Grandfather Ballroom at Appalachian State University.

The conference is hosted by the Walker College of Business, with additional support from University College, the Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Department and the James E. Holshouser Jr. Ethics Endowment.

The conference and luncheon are free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, visit http://goc.appstate.edu/registration.  More information about the conference is online at http://goc.appstate.edu/schedule.

The Global Opportunities conference will explore the potential for innovative businesses to solve global social and environmental problems.

Hendley, a former bartender, founded Wine to Water to help address the serious problem of the lack of potable water in developing nations. His nonprofit organization commits funds raised through wine tastings to repair broken wells, install rain water harvesting tanks and other sanitation modalities to 250,000 people worldwide. His efforts have saved thousands of lives. Hendley was hailed as a CNN Hero of the Year in 2009.

Hannah Davis, founder and president of BANGS Shoes, will also speak at the conference. The canvas footwear company provides funds to entrepreneurs in 19 countries, including the U.S. Davis is a recognized advocate for social entrepreneurship and has spoken at two TEDx events during the past six months.

The conference also will feature a panel discussion on the role of innovative business in solving social and environmental problems. Conference attendees can submit a question to the panel online for the opportunity to win a gift certificate to University Bookstore and a signed copy of Doc Hendley’s book, “Wine to Water: A Bartender’s Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World.”

Appalachian students will share their experiences on Walker College of Business study abroad programs in Belize working on a sustainable cacao farm, in Costa Rica learning the dynamics of “fair trade” in the coffee industry, and in an Alternative Service Learning program partnering with Wine to Water in the Dominican Republic.