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November 3, 2020 President Donald Trump stopped in Hickory to speak at a ‘Make America Great Again’ campaign event on Sunday, Nov. 1, which will be one of his last election rallies during his presidency. Trump Campaign officials made the announcement of the rally just a day before it took place. This event followed Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Boone to attend a Sunday worship service at Alliance Bible Fellowship on the same day.  By Harley Nefe

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October 23, 2020  While there are some colors still hanging around in areas of the High Country, the place to be in the next week are areas with an elevation at 3,000 feet and below, according to the latest update from Dr. Howard S. Neufeld, Appalachian State’s own Fall Leaf Guy. “I think you will have one more good week and the next weekend to see good colors in the High Country. After that, you’ll have to focus on sites located at lower elevations, like Stone Mt. State Park, Chimney Rock State Park, Hanging Rock State Park, and Gorges State Park. The Smokies should also be good this week and next, as will be places north on the Parkway up into Virginia,” said Dr. Neufeld. “Once you get above 3,500 feet though, the colors quickly drop out and by 4,000 feet, most of the leaves are gone or barely hanging on.” Some leaves have been able to hang on to their color a little longer than usual due to the unseasonably warm temperatures this week according to Neufeld. By Nathan Ham

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October 14, 2020  A new business startup created by an Appalachian State alumnus hopes to boost technology careers and help start businesses right here in the High Country. Robert Huddleston, a member of Appalachian State’s graduating class of 2000, moved back to Boone about two and a half years ago and brought along with him his own IT consulting company, Avoda Group, from Raleigh. “We moved it here because we wanted to see if we could chase App State students and bring them on board, train them up in Cloud Technology and get them in our consulting group,” Huddleston explained. Not long after this came the idea of Boone Underground, a 4,000-square-foot facility on State Farm Road with modern technological upgrades to offer clients meeting spaces, high-speed internet, private desks, and numerous valuable resources to develop business plans and ideas.  By Nathan Ham

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August 28, 2020  Beech Mountain’s recreation center has a new name honoring two of the town’s most avid supporters. The Buckeye Recreation Center is now known as the Fred and Marjorie Pfohl Buckeye Recreation Center after a surprise event honoring Fred and the memory of his late wife Margie. “It was a great surprise. There are a lot of other people that deserve similar and there are a lot of other people that got me to the point I got to. I’ll accept the honor for all of the folks that have helped make Beech Mountain what it is,” said Fred. “I’ve enjoyed the Buckeye Rec Center, I was around when it was built and I helped initially with a lot of different things. Fred remembers back to when the recreation center was completed, the parking lot doubled as a basketball court and they started adding landscaping and planting to make the area stand out even more. By Nathan Ham

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August 28, 2020  A newly-paved scenic drive will connect people in Beech Mountain to neighboring Tennessee much quicker and easier than in years past after Thursday’s special ribbon cutting celebrating the paving of Buckeye Creek Road. The 2.7-mile road has 40 curves and takes drivers across the back of Beech Mountain into Tennessee near Watauga Lake. This project has been discussed multiple times in years past, but finally happened this summer. “At one time the DOT wanted to extend N.C. 184 through here and they said they’d pave it, but there were people that didn’t think that was best at the time,” said longtime Beech Mountain resident and business owner, Fred Pfohl. “Now it’s all done and it’s wonderful. We’ve got the town council and especially Bob Pudney (town manager) to thank for all of this. This road got paved in such a short period of time it was amazing.” By Nathan Ham

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August 12, 2020  The Gamekeeper Restaurant will officially reopen on Wednesday night with a new deck, additional outdoor seating, and a beautiful new rock retaining wall to add to the rugged look that so many customers have become accustomed to over the year. Owners Ken and Wendy Gordon are excited to reopen and see their favorite customers and hopefully some new guests that want to venture out and try the unique food offerings at The Gamekeeper. “All the wonderful things we have wanted to do for 20 years, we finally did them,” Ken said. “It never seemed to be the right month and when it was the right month, it was always wet and rainy.” The downtime from the COVID-19 pandemic allowed crews to come in and be able to work through the spring and early summer to get the new looks completed. Nathan Ham

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August 10, 2020  It took a little longer than expected, but the transition from the Louisiana Purchase to LP on Main in Banner Elk is finally complete for Laurie and Patrick Bagbey. LP on Main combines the storied history of the Louisiana Purchase restaurant and the Bagbey’s initials to create a new dining spot in the High Country. “It’s a spin on who we are and who we have grown to be and who we used to be,” said Laurie. “We have been a fixture in the Banner Elk community for three decades, going on four.” The Bagbeys previously owned Louisiana Purchase for 14 years and made the decision to close the location at the end of 2019 to focus on opening their new spot. LP on Main is located at 171 Main Street East in Banner Elk, which is about a block away from the old Louisiana Purchase location. By Nathan Ham

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