By Tim Gardner
The Avery County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution honoring the Boone & Church Band during its regular monthly meeting on November 7 in the County Administration Building in Newland.
The commissioners-Chairwoman Martha Hicks, Vice-Chairman Tim Phillips, Wood Hall (Woodie) Young, Jr., Blake Vance and Dennis Aldridge– unanimously approved the resolution.
The band recently won the Future Farmers of America (FFA) National Convention Talent Competition in Indianapolis, Indiana, attended by more than 62,000, and which brought much positive national notoriety on the band and Avery County.
Based in Avery County and comprised of three high school students (Eli Church, Ethan Church and Jaxton Boone), one full-time college student (Walker Boone), another recent high school graduate balancing college courses with a full-time job (Colton Boone), plus a father (Lynn Church) who manages the group, the Boone & Church Band blends bluegrass, modern Southern Gospel lyrics and occasionally a few other musical styles into their sound. Depending on what song the group performs, there is various vocal (from tenor-to lead-to baritone-to bass) and musical instrument switching. Those instruments include banjo, mandolin, rhythm guitar, fiddle, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, upright bass, bass guitar, dobro and piano.
Its members competing in this year’s FFA National Talent Competition included sets of brothers: Walker and Jaxton Boone and Ethan and Eli Church. All are current or former Avery County High School students and members of its FFA club.
Hicks presented Walker Boone, Jaxton Boone, Ethan Church and Eli Church with a framed copy of the resolution.
They met the eligibility of competing in the talent competition by being FFA club members while still attending high school or are under the age of 21, not a college sophomore and still active in the club’s activities at the time of the competition. They decided to enter the 2022 talent competition this past summer. Ethan Church and Walker Boone had entered in 2021 and made it into the Top 10 during that year’s competition. This year, Walker Boone and Ethan Church were able to include their younger brothers, Jaxton Boone and Eli Church, respectively in the talent competition with them since they are currently high school freshmen.
The four put together an application including an audition video of their music in July. Then in August, they found out that they were accepted and invited to attend the competition. Thirty-two applicants were invited and participated in the preliminary round in the Indiana Convention Center on Tuesday, October 25.
Fifteen acts moved on to the second round of the competition, which met on the main stage in Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the National Football League’s Indianapolis Colts) on Thursday, October 27. The fifteen were narrowed down to the Top 3 acts for the final round of competition. The final round was also held on the main stage of Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday, October 28 when the Boone & Church Band members triumphed over all entries to capture the talent competition champions crown. The final round was broadcast live on RFD-TV and streamed live online via FFA.org. It marked the second time Boone & Church have appeared on RFD-TV.
The Avery Board of Commissioners Resolution reads of follows:
Whereas, the Avery County Board of Commissioners takes pride in recognizing the Student Scholastic & Athletic Achievement in Avery County; and
Whereas, the National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 735,000 student members as part of 8,817 local FFA chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico and FFA’s mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education; and
Whereas, Walker and Jaxton Boone and Ethan and Eli Church as musical group Boone & Church, qualified for the National FFA Convention Talent Competition in Indianapolis, IN; and
Whereas, they competed and won the National FFA Convention Talent Competition from over 30 competitors from across the United States; and
Whereas, the Avery County Board of Commissioners recognizes this great accomplishment; and
Whereas, this brings nationwide recognition and distinction to all of Avery County.
Now Therefore, Be It Resolved that the Avery County Board of Commissioners hereby publicly recognizes and congratulates Boone & Church on their outstanding achievements for the 2022-23 school year.
The commissioners also honored one of their own–Blake Vance–who concludes his tenure on the Board this month. Vance was commended by his fellow Board members and other county officials for his efforts on behalf of, and devotion to, Avery County as a commissioner and citizen. He was given a cake, which was shared with those attending the meeting along with other refreshments.
In other business:
*County Manager Phillip Barrier, Jr. started a moment of silence during the meeting in remembrance of, and to honor, former Avery County Manager Randall Fletcher, who passed away on October 10.
*Barrier, Jr. stated that the county’s efforts about workforce housing are ongoing and he is optimistic it will be obtained. He added that the GREAT Grant paperwork is still being processed and he expects it to be finished in December. The Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant is a competitive grant program that provides funding to private sector broadband providers to deploy last-mile broadband infrastructure to unserved areas of North Carolina.
Once the county’s GREAT grant paperwork is concluded, the county can pursue other grants, such as the Affordable Connectivity Program, a federal program in which subscribers can get up to $30 a month to help with their internet services bill and one-time assistance with upgrading its mandatory devices. Further details about this program can be accessed by logging onto that particular section on the county’s web site: https://www.averycountync.gov/news_detail_T3_R227.php.
*The commissioners unanimously approved two to serve on the Avery County Fire Commission-Matthew McClellan as the commissioners’ appointee and Scott Stansberry as the Avery County Firefighters’ Association representative.
*Barrier, Jr. expressed appreciation to Tara Gragg-Daniels, the county’s new veterans’ services officer and Avery Chamber of Commerce Director Anne Winkelman and her staff for their work with the Leadership Avery program.
*The commissioners will have a special meeting on Monday, November 14, to hold a public hearing about the community transportation program and to also address the Avery County Radio Communication System and what needs to be done to update it as needed.
The next regular monthly meeting of the commissioners will be on Monday, December 5.
Both meetings will commence at 3:30 p.m.
The commissioners’ meetings are held in their board room suite, located on the second floor of the County Administration Building, 175 Linville Street, in Newland.
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