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Today’s Email Announcements

Casting for Hope Winter Music Fest Dec. 17

Regional 501(c)3 nonprofit Casting for Hope based in Morganton, Asheville, and Bakersville, North Carolina is incredibly excited about its upcoming 4th Annual Winter Music Fest at CoMMA Auditorium in Morganton, North Carolina.  This year’s festival sports a broad soundscape of local, regional, national, and internationally-touring artists—headlined again this year by the renowned Chapel Hill-based renegade bluegrass band Mipso.

The performers for the festival’s 12:00-5:00 set include Michaela Pittman and Friends (12:00-1:00), Sweet Revenge (1:15-2:15), Bob Sinclair and the Big Deals (2:30-3:30), Carolina Blue (3:45-5:00), and local favorite Sarah Sholar between sets.  The 7:00-10:00 performances will be held by Jon Stickley of Jon Stickley Trio, Travis Book of The Infamous Stringdusters, and Mipso.

The Winter Music Fest also includes two additional events beyond the music: a benefit dinner at First Baptist Church of Morganton and the After Party, serviced by Countryside BBQ of Marion, Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Cidery of Boone, and Brown Mountain Bottleworks of Morganton.  Entry to these VIP and Deluxe ticketed events are only available through Casting for Hope co-founders John Zimmerman (john@castingforhope.org) and Taylor Sharp (taylor@castingforhope.org).

Food and drinks will be available at the event during the day—food trucks from Hunter’s Chicken and Waffles and Aloha Gourmet Hotdogs will be available as well as drinks from drinks will be serviced by multiple vendors.

All proceeds from this event will go toward Casting for Hope’s work to serve women and families in western North Carolina who are battling an ovarian or other gynecological cancer.  Casting for Hope’s service arc focuses on financial assistance to offset the financial obligations its patients are facing as a result of their diagnoses and treatment and retreat programming to provide patients and caregivers long weekends at the Casting for Hope Retreat Center far away from clinical settings and oncology offices.

Casting for Hope would like to thank our event sponsors:  Presenting Sponsor John Greene Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Ram; Stage Sponsors Morganton Eye Physicians and an anonymous donor who wished to sponsor the stage in memory of Amy Sharp; and all other sponsors:  Burke County Tourism Development Authority, Mountain Burrito, Gragg Orthodontic, Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Cidery, Brown Mountain Bottleworks, Countryside BBQ, SYB Cosmetics, Garden Gate Downtown, Tanglewood Acre Farms, The Old Armory Building, Food Matters Market and Café of Morganton, Citizen Earth Media, The Locals Market, Bower’s Nationwide Insurance, ALM Building and Design, Morganton Animal Clinic, Burke County Young Democrats, Sain’s Barber Shop, Aloha Hotdog Company, CoMMA of Morganton, Hunter’s Chicken and Waffles Shack, Upper Creek Angler, and Photography by Suzie Boatright.

For quotes for articles from the organizers regarding the deployment of the event and other Casting for Hope events, or to get in touch with musical acts, please e-mail Casting for Hope co-founders John Zimmerman and Taylor Sharp at john@castingforhope.org and taylor@castingforhope.org.  For quotes for articles concerning Casting for Hope patient services, please e-mail Casting for Hope Executive Director Kathy Haney at kathy@castingforhope.org.

Still Seats for Chuck Brodsky at the Jones House Friday

There are still a limited number of seats available for the Chuck
Brodsky workshop and performance this Friday at the Jones House.

“If Mark Twain were reincarnated as a musician, his name might be
Chuck Brodsky,” says Florida Today.  And the Asheville Citizen Times
calls Brodsky, “One of the greatest storytelling artists we know.”

Singer song-writer, Chuck Brodsky, brings his tunes and talent to the
Jones House Cultural and Community Center on Friday, December 9, for a
song-writing workshop and an evening performance.

Brodsky is a storyteller, troubadour, and a modern day bard, imploring
excellent musicianship on acoustic guitar with his down-to-Earth
warmth and quirkiness and finely crafted songs.  Using wit and irony,
and intriguing melodies, Brodsky tells stories of oddball and underdog
characters.  His songs often celebrate the goodness in people.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Brodsky was attracted to music at a
young age, teaching himself piano and guitar.  During his college
years, he started writing songs, before spending several years
hitchhiking across America and singing on the streets of Europe for
tips.  Brodsky honored with the “Emerging Songwriter Award” at the
1992 Napa Valley Folk Festival, which helped launch a more
professional career.  Since then, Brodsky has performed at festival
and concerts all across the USA, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, England,
Israel, Lithuania, Latvia, Wales, and the Shetlands Islands of
Scotland.

Brodsky has released more than 10 albums of his songs since 1995,
including his latest recording, Tell Tale Heart, which was released in
2015.  Brodsky is a prolific song writer, who is perhaps most
well-known for his baseball-theme songs.  He has two albums full of
songs about the national pasttime, and 20 of his baseball story songs
have been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame’s sound recording
library.

Brodsky will be offering a song-writing workshop at the Jones House,
starting at 4:00 p.m.  The workshop is free for participants of the
Jones House music lessons and anyone attending the evening concert.
If others are interested in participating in the workshop, please
contact Mark Freed at mark.freed@townofboone.net or 828.268.6282.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 9, in the
Mazie Jones Gallery of the Jones House.  Tickets for the concert are
$20 per person.  The venue can seat 40 people, and due to the limited
seating, advanced reservations are recommended.  All open seats will
be available at the door, which opens at 7:00 p.m. on the night of the
concert.

The Jones House is located at 604 W. King Street in downtown Boone.
For more information on the community center or the Indoor Concert
Series, including a complete schedule of performances, please visit
www.joneshouse.org or call 828.268.6280.

Third Thursday Movie: “No Country for Old Men”

Audience: Adults (18+)
Location: Watauga County Public Library – Meeting Room

The Watauga County Public Library’s movie group invites you to join us for
a viewing of “No Country For Old Men” on December 15th from 6:30 pm – 9:00
pm.

The Coen brothers’ 2007 film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, “No
Country For Old Men”, tells the story of Llewelyn Moss who, while on a
hunting trip, discovers the remains of several drug runners that have all
killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report
the discovery to the police, Moss decides to take the money for himself.

This film has an MPAA rating of R and an approximate run-time of 122
minutes.

For more information please call (828) 264-8784 ext. 2

High Country Lifelong Learners Movie: “Hail, Caesar!”

Audience: Adults (18+)
Location: Watauga County Public Library – Meeting Room

High Country Lifelong Learners in association with the Watauga County
Public Library invite you to join us for a movie viewing of “Hail, Caesar!”
on December 12th from 2:00 pm – 5:30 pm.

The Coen brothers’ 2016 film, “Hail, Caesar!”, follows a day in the life of
Eddie Mannix, a Hollywood fixer for Capitol Pictures in the 1950s, who
cleans up and solves problems for big names and stars in the industry. But
when studio star Baird Whitlock disappears, Mannix has to deal with more
than just the fix.

Stars: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich

This film has an MPAA rating of PG-13 and an approximate run-time of 106
minutes.

For more information please email: high.country.lifelong@gmail.com,
Attention: Deb Gooch.

Shop for Holiday Gifts Dec. 9 in Blowing Rock

Tired of Christmas Shopping Online Or At the Mall?

Think About Choosing From Among Blowing Rock’s Favorite Things

BLOWING ROCK, N.C. (December 2016) – There’s nothing quite like the twinkle
and warmth of North Carolina’s Prettiest Small Town when it’s decked out for
Christmas, and with Blowing Rock’s Favorite Things festive promotion now
underway, you can get virtually everything for under the tree with a visit
(or, if you must, a click). From apparel and accessories to that perfect
keepsake, more than two dozen of the town’s unique shops are offering great
prices on items selected especially for gift-giving.  And there’s a Holiday
Stroll shopping event with extra hospitality on Friday, December 9.
(blowingrock.com/holidaystroll)

So forget about the big boxes; instead, explore a wintry world of gifts of
every shape and size in Blowing Rock. To see a list of stores participating,
go to blowingrock.com/favoritethings. You can link to the stores’ web sites
from there and see what’s available.then buy online or do it the
old-fashioned, fun and scenic way by visiting. It’s worth the time.