March 14, 2023 Beech Mountain, NC – North Carolina’s Beech Mountain Resort is pleased to announce the return of its annual outdoor concert series this summer. This year, programming will take place on June 10, July 15, and August 12, and will feature The Revivalists with Son Little, Amos Lee with Langhorne Slim, and Grace Potter with Morgan Wade, respectively.
March 1, 2023 BEECH MOUNTAIN, NC – Friday evening, March 3rd, will be a special one at Beech Mountain Resort, as the ski area hosts its first-ever Not So Gala, Gala to benefit the Colon Cancer Coalition, and honors the winner of the inaugural KG Ripple Effect Award. The award recognizes someone with ties to colon cancer – a survivor, healthcare worker or volunteer – who exhibits strength, compassion and a commitment to community. It is named for Kelly-Grier Costin, a Beech Mountain Resort family member who passed away on March 19, 2021, after a spirited three-year battle with colon cancer.
February 9, 2023 Beech Mountain Resort’s Runs for Buns, an annual fundraiser benefitting the Colon Cancer Coalition, expands in 2023 with an evening of music featuring cancer survivor and bluegrass legend Sam Bush. Bush performs at the inaugural Not So Gala, Gala on Friday evening March 3, kicking off a weekend in which skiers and snowboarders hit the slopes on Saturday, March 4, to raise funds and awareness to defeat colon cancer.
February 1, 2023 BOONE, NC –The 2023 class of the Watauga Leadership Institute kicked off their coursework with an all-day retreat at Valle Crucis Conference Center January 25th. The event marks the beginning of a 12-week community development program that includes 44 total participants between two cohorts. Courtesy of Boone Area Chamber of Commerce
January 2, 2023 Details have been disclosed by the Town of Beech Mountain Police about a man who fell and died recently after he went searching for his missing dog. But the identity of the man has not been released due to privacy of the family and the standard protocol for such, according to Police Chief Tim Barnett. By Tim Gardner
September 29, 2022 It’s FALL Ya’ll! The Town of Beech Mountain will be holding its Fall Farmers Market on Friday, October 7th, 2pm to 6pm, at the paved parking lot across from Fred’s General Mercantile. In addition to fresh organic produce there will be vendors with honey, baked goods, cut flowers, plants, hemp products, gourmet dog treats, farm raised beef, poultry, eggs and a wide assortment of fabulous fall favorites!
July 28, 2022. With summer in full swing, local produce is in abundance! The Town of Beech Mountain will be holding its first Farmers’ Market on Friday, August 5, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the paved parking lot across from Fred’s General Mercantile. In addition to fresh organic produce, there will be vendors with honey, fresh breads, flower arrangements and plants, baked goods and even fresh pasta! All local farmers, beekeepers, cheesemakers, gardeners, etc. are welcome to participate.
November 26, 2021. Beech Mountain Ski Resort officially opened for the 2021-22 season on Friday morning with a good crowd of holiday weekend skiers and snowboarders on hand. “We have had a strong crowd today and we were able to open with four lifts and five trails,” said Talia Freeman, the Director of Marketing for Beech Mountain. “We’re still making snow and the customers seem really excited. The lifts opened at 8 a.m. for season pass holders. A DJ was out there playing music and there were even some prizes given away for people to take home from their first day on the slopes. Freeman said that the plan is to keep making snow with their new snowmaking equipment with the hopes of being able to open more trails next week as well as the terrain park. By Nathan Ham
September 30, 2021. Municipal elections are about a month away and early voting begins in two weeks on October 14 for town council seats in Boone, Blowing Rock, Seven Devils and Beech Mountain. Boone’s town council will be made up of at least four brand new members and possibly all five seats could have new representation from the previous council. Only Jon Dalton George, who was appointed to fill a vacated seat left by the resignation of Dustin Hicks, and Virginia Roseman, who was appointed to fill a vacated seat left by the retirement of Loretta Clawson in February, are seeking to return to the council. Roseman, George, Todd Carter, Benjamin Ray, Adrian Tait and Eric Woolridge are all running for three open town council seats. Eric Brown, Christy M. Cook, Rebecca Nenow and Edie Tugman are all running for two unexpired terms that will end in 2023. Connie Ulmer, Sam Furgiuele and Nancy LaPlaca all chose not to seek re-election. Blowing Rock’s town council has three open seats with four people on the ballot. Nancy Pitts Collins, Pete Gherini, Doug Matheson and Melissa Pickett are seeking election to the town council. By Nathan Ham
August 27, 2021. The eagerly-anticipated Hi-Lo Adventure Trail in Beech Mountain will add lots of new stops and destinations to the list of things for tourists to do when they come to town. The town officially introduced the driving trail at a merchant expo at the Buckeye Recreation Center on Thursday. The trail features three different driving loops, the 100-mile Mountain 2 Mountain Loop, the 105-mile Lakeside Loop and the 85-mile Tasters Loop. Each driving trail gives visitors a full day’s itinerary of places to stop all while getting to enjoy a beautiful drive through the High Country. The trails will include stops in Watauga County and Avery County as well as Carter County and Johnson County in Tennessee. “Last year we were able to pave Buckeye Creek Road on the backside of Beech Mountain. It also opened an economic corridor to Tennesse on the other side of the mountain. It makes a great partnership and should improve the area for all of us,” said Beech Mountain Mayor Barry Kaufman. By Nathan Ham
July 16, 2021. The window for candidates to run for office in this November’s election officially closed at noon today with 23 people running for office in Boone, Blowing Rock, Beech Mountain and Seven Devils. The most hotly contested seats will be in Boone where six people are running for one seat held by Virginia Roseman and three open seats on the town council. Four others are running to complete the unexpired term on the council left after the resignation of former councilperson Dustin Hicks. Nancy LaPlaca, Connie Ulmer and Sam Furgiuele are not seeking re-election. Roseman is the only incumbent seeking re-election to her seat that she holds after being appointed to replace Loretta Clawson. Clawson decided to retire earlier this year on January 31. Todd Carter, Jon Dalton George, Benjamin Ray, Adrian Tait and Eric Woolridge are also running for council seats. In the election to complete the unexpired term, Eric Brown, Christy M. Cook, Rebecca Nenow and Edie Tugman are all running for the open seat. By Nathan Ham
July 14, 2021. The Beech Mountain Bourbon Society invites everyone to come out to its annual Bourbon and Bacon fundraiser this Friday, July 16, starting at 6 p.m. Bourbon and Bacon is a yearly fundraiser of the Beech Mountain Bourbon Society. Beech Mountain Bourbon Society hosts a Premium Tasting Room at the Inn where guests can purchase a $75 ticket of which all proceeds go directly to charity. The room features bourbons that are difficult or impossible to find in North Carolina. The Beech Alpen Inn Restaurant will feature Bourbon and Bacon Tasting tickets of four bourbons from their top shelf. Tickets for this tasting are $40 with $5 going to our charity. Guests in attendance will also be treated to live music from The Sinners outside at Beech Alpen Inn’s gazebo. In case of inclement weather, the music will be moved inside. The Sinners are from Winston-Salem and play a wide variety of music. Bourbons donated by society members for the room include: Elmer T. Lee from Buffalo Trace, Makers Mark 101, Revival made from heirloom Johnny Red Corn from High Wire Distillery out of Charleston, South Carolina, and Heaven Hill 7 Year only found in the state of Kentucky.
March 6, 2020 The Beech Mountain Town Council met last Tuesday and unanimously approved a plan that would pull water from the Watauga River to act as a water supply for the town as needed. The discussion came about after the town has been working on putting a plan together in case of drought. The town’s main water supply, Buckeye Lake, has had dips in water levels during dry spells that have forced residents to cut back on water usage during those periods of dry weather. According to interim town manager Bob Pudney, he felt like the meeting went well. “The purpose of the meeting was to bring the town council up to speed on the issues facing the town related to water supply. We touched on everything from various options for water including wells, increasing the dam, purchasing water from somewhere else and purchasing water tankers during drought,” Pudney said. “The perception is that it is a water grab and we were doing this for growth. That’s not the case. It’s not a daily supply for the town, it would be used only in drought. We estimated 60 days out of the year that we would draw water out of the river through this intake.” By Nathan Ham
December 11, 2019. Beech Mountain Town Manager Tim Holloman was fired from his position during Tuesday’s town council meeting. “We had a change in our town council and the new council decided to go a different way. They voted 4-1 to dismiss Tim Holloman,” said Kate Gavenus, who is the Director of Tourism and Economic Development for Beech Mountain. Beech Mountain Volunteer Fire Department Chief Robert “Bob” Pudney was appointed interim manager by a 5-0 unanimous vote. According to Gavenus, the meeting was recessed until Monday, December 23 at 4 p.m. to continue the rest of the agenda with Pudney serving as the interim town manager. Pudney has been the chief of the Beech Mountain Fire Department for 10 years. By Nathan Ham
July 16, 2019. Summer is in full swing at Beech Mountain with round two of the Summer Concert Series happening on Friday night. Galactic will be the featured act with Asheville’s own The Get Right Band opening the show. Gates open at 6 p.m. and tickets are $35 in advance and $45 the day of the show. Children five and under get in free. Talia Freeman, the director of marketing at Beech Mountain Resort, was excited about how the first concert went and thinks this week’s show will be excellent as well. “Our June concert was a huge success. We had a strong crowd and our patrons left happy,” said Freeman. “Galactic is a funk-driven jazz band from New Orleans. I know they will create a fun atmosphere.” By Nathan Ham
June 11, 2019. The wait is almost over for the start of Beech Mountain Resort’s Summer Concert Series. This Saturday, the Steep Canyon Rangers will take the stage as the headliner for the first show of the summer. Gates will open at 6 p.m. and then the music will get underway at 7 p.m. with Acoustic Syndicate opening the show. Acoustic Syndicate considers themselves to be “newgrass legends” from western North Carolina. They have been playing songs and instrumental jams for 25 years. After a brief intermission at 8 p.m., the Steep Canyon Rangers will hit the stage at 8:30 p.m. and will play until 10 p.m. The Grammy-Award-winning Steep Canyon Rangers are from Asheville. In addition to winning a Grammy Award for their album “Nobody Know You,” the group also won the International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainer of the Year Award. By Nathan Ham
February 13, 2019 At Tuesday’s Beech Mountain town council meeting, Fred and Margie Pfohl were surprised with a proclamation celebrating the 40th year of Fred’s General Mercantile in the Beech Mountain community. Fred, who is a committee member for recreation in the town, came to the meeting believing there was an issue involving recreation that was added to the agenda. The event came as a total surprise for the Pfohls. Longtime friend and former employee Jim Brooks was there to speak about the store and its importance to everyone in the community. “It’s been fun following the store from the ground breaking and through the years. We are very lucky that Margie and her family moved here permanently to the vacation home on Pond Creek Road and married Fred,” said Brooks. Fred’s General Mercantile came into fruition after the couple noticed the high cost of food and the limited inventory of items available at the 7-11, which happened to the only store in town. Having to pay those high prices was hard on families, Brooks said. By Nathan Ham
March 28, 2018. Easter Sunday will take place on April 1 this year. For those who are deciding how to celebrate Easter, here is a list of Easter Sunday Services and egg hunts to attend. Some egg hunts are taking place this coming weekend, others will take place on Easter weekend. By Kate Herman
Feb. 19, 2018. During the month of February, help W.A.M.Y have a heart for our community! For only one dollar, you can purchase a heart from one of the participating vendors. Your heart goes right back into supporting your community and helping to break the cycle of poverty in the high country.
Feb. 12, 2018. “Shamrock floats” take on a new meaning this March, as the Town of Boone’s Cultural Resources Department presents the inaugural St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Come celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Boone, and be part of a new tradition! Events begin Saturday, March 17, at 2:00 P.M. on King Street in Boone with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The parade will start at the Poplar Grove Extension traveling east on King Street through Boone.
Feb. 2, 2018. Last weekend, skiers and snowboarders gathered from as far away as New York state gathered at Appalachian Ski Mountain to brave the elements, and compete in the USASA Southeastern Series boardercross/skiercross weekend. Over the two days, there were 4 races. These competitions serve as the regional qualifier for the USASA National Championships to be held in April at Copper Mtn. Colorado. The Southeastern Series takes their show on the road over the next couple of weeks.
Feb. 2, 2018. Do you want to build a snowman? Grab your hat and gloves, head to Beech Mountain and get creative on Feb. 3 from 10 a.m.- 12 p.m., for the Buckeye Recreation Center’s annual snowman building competition and, new this year, the inaugural snow angel decorating contest!
Jan. 24, 2018. Looking to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in your neighborhood? Want to keep an eye on criminal activity in your area? Take a look at these recent incident and arrest reports from the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and the Boone Police Department.
Compiled by Kate Herman
Jan. 19, 2018. The Watauga County Public Library is in its eighth year of offering tax assistance for the 2018 filing season. The library program began in 2011 with Rao Aluri as the Site Coordinator; Tim Dannenfelser, a graduate student in Accounting at Appalachian State University, will be the new Coordinator. The (VITA) Volunteer for Tax Assistance program provides free income tax preparation and free electronic filing for eligible low to moderate-income Watauga County residents. The program operates in partnership with the Internal Revenue Service and receives financial support from the Friends of the Library and the IRS.
Jan. 17, 2018 Looking to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in your neighborhood? Want to keep an eye on criminal activity in your area? Take a look at these recent incident and arrest reports from the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and the Boone Police Department.
Compiled by Kate Herman