1) High Country Home Builders Association Golf Tournament Held Sept. 13
The High Country Home Builders Association will host the 2014 Golf Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 13 at Mountain Aire Golf Club located at 1396 Fairway Ridge Dr. in West Jefferson. The tournament is a Captain’s Choice format with four player teams. Cost is $400 per team or $100 per player. Registration begins at 7:15 a.m. with a shotgun tee off at 8 a.m. There will be food, beverages, tournament prizes, hole-in-one contest sponsored by Alfred Glover & Boone Ford and more. Proceeds will benefit Habitat for Humanity, Scholarships and HCHBA. Please join us in raising funds for a great cause. Soft spikes and collared shirts required – no jeans! In event the tournament is cancelled, lunch is still on! Vouchers will be issued to each player for future play.
2) Girl Scout Recruitment
At the beginning of the school year, Girl Scouts of the High Country invites all of the girls in Avery and Watauga Counties to join in the fun they have every year in service, travel, science experiments and more. On Sunday, Sept. 7, the Girl Scouts will be hosting a fishing derby at Chetola and invites all girls to share in this fun.
3) Quilt Guild Meeting Sept. 4
The Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 1:30 p.m. We meet in the conference room on the second floor of the senior center on Poplar Grove Connector in Boone. We are very happy to have a great local artist, Barbara Elyea, present our program. She is from The Quilt Shop in Boone and will show us how to make beautiful fabric bowls. They will make wonderful gifts for family and friends. Call Dolores at 295-6148 if you need directions or have any questions.
4) Western Watauga Community Center Holds Book Sale Sept. 12
The Friends of the Western Watauga Branch Library will be holding a unique one-day book sale event featuring craft and fine art books, a silent auction of select art and gift certificates. Refreshments will be provided. The sale will be held from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12 at the Western Watauga Community Center which is located at 1081 Old U.S. 421 in Sugar Grove. Books will include a few rare finds and some popular standards about quilting, knitting, mosaics, woodworking and woodcrafting, sewing, photography and fine art. Some of the more valuable books include signed works by Georgia Bonesteel, Liberated String Quilts by Swen Marston, and Woven Shibori by Catharine Ellis. We will also have magazines and pamphlets for bargain hunters. A silent auction will feature works by Conni Pelley who has been quilting with Georgia Bonesteel for 30 years, and Ruth Gowell, a multimedia fiber artist from Virginia whose work appears in galleries in Boston, California and Wisconsin. We will also be auctioning a gift certificate from Sew Originals. Come stock up with ideas for your winter craft-making and art projects while supporting the library. Silverstone Fabrics of Zionville is sponsoring refreshments. All proceeds will go to support the Western Watauga Branch Library. For more information contact Jackie Cornette at 297-5515 or Toni Wait at 297-5195.
5) September Programs at Elk Knob State Park
Trail Work Days: Every Saturday beginning April 5 and running through the middle of November, staff and volunteers will meet at the Summit Trailhead at 9 a.m. and work until approximately 3:30 p.m., weather permitting. Tools are provided, but volunteers should wear closed-toed shoes and bring work gloves, lunch and water. Most of the time will be spent building our new one-mile trail loop, the Beech Tree Trail, although we may include some repair work on the Summit Trail. If you would like to be involved in a fulfulling project that will fill you will a well-deserved sense of pride, then join us on Saturdays at Elk Knob State Park. For more information, please call 828-297-7261.
Elk Knob Nature Hike: Come out for a beautiful nature hike and learn about the natural history of the area. Hiking attire to include boots is recommended. Meet at the trailhead parking lot on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 2 p.m. Program is weather dependent.
Elk Knob Community Heritage Day: On Saturday, Sept. 13, enjoy a day filled with live music, games, nature activities, hikes, wagon rides, craft and cultural demonstration, hands-on activities, history and food. Please bring a dish of food to share and join us between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. for our tenth annual Elk Knob Headwaters Community Day sponsored by the Elk Knob Community Heritage Organization (EKCHO). Enjoy a day of cultural heritage and pride. Please note that if you are interested in participating in the potluck, you should bring a dish of food to share and plan to be at the park by noon.
Flora of Elk Knob: On Saturday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m., come wander through the park to see Elk Knob’s diverse flora before winter starts creeping in. Meet at the Park Trailhead.
Mushrooms: Come on a mushroom hunt with fungi guru Julie Mullis on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. and learn about this amazing organism. Meet at the park office.
National Public Lands Day Hike: Join a ranger Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. and hike the recently opened Beech Tree Trail. Participants will learn how the mountain people forged a grassroots movement to protect Elk Knob and establish a state park. Meet at the trailhead parking lot.
Awesome Autumn: Come enjoy the many changes of fall on a short hike on the Beech Tree Trail. A leaf rubbing activity will be included. Meet at the trailhead parking lot on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 2 p.m.
6) Latin American Film Festival Begins Aug. 28
A Latin American Film Festival will be held Thursdays beginning Aug. 28 at Appalachian State University. Admission to the films is free. The festival is designed to attract students, faculty and community members interested in Latin American studies. It has been organized by faculty in the Latin American studies program at Appalachian. The first film in the series, “The Violin” will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28, in Plemmons Student Union’s Greenbriar Theatre. Dr. Maria Ortiz-Owens will lead a discussion following the film. The international award-winning film tells the story of an elderly Mexican farmer and violinist who devises an ingenious way of smuggling ammunition to be used during the peasant revolts of the 1970s. “Motorcycle Diaries” will be shown Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. in Greenbriar Theater. Dr. Rene Harder Horst will lead a discussion afterward. The film follows the early travels of future revolution leader Che Guevara when he was a 23-year-old medical student exploring South America by motorcycle. The film “Una Estrella y Dos Cafes” will be shown Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Rough Ridge Room (415). Dr. Victoria Cox will lead a discussion. Set in Northern Argentina, the film is about a young girl’s friendship with an architect hired to design a house in her village. The 2002 film “Kamchatka” will be shown Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Rough Ridge room. Dr. Catherine Fountain will be the discussion leader. Set in Argentina, the film is a young boy’s point of view of his family’s efforts to hide from the military police following a 1976 coup d’etat. “In the Time of the Butterflies” will be shown Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Rough Ridge Room. Dr. John Craft will be the discussion leader. The film is based on the book by Julia Álvarez and tells the story of three sisters who were murdered for participating in a plot to overthrow Gen. Leonidas Trujillo who controlled the Dominican Republic government. Dance is the focus of “Tango Among Friends” that follows renowned pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim who returns to his hometown in Buenos Aires to explore the origins of tango. The film begins at 7 p.m. in Rough Ridge Room in Plemmons Student Union. Dr. Victoria Cox will lead the discussion afterward. The film for Nov. 6 is “The Official Story,” which will be shown in Rough Ridge Room in Plemmons Student Union. Dr. René Harder Horst will lead the discussion following the film. The 1985 Argentine drama tells the story of an upper middle class family who learns that their adopted daughter may have been stolen from the birth mother. The festival concludes Nov. 20 with “Central Station,” a 1998 Brazilian-French drama that tells the story of a former school teacher who makes a living by writing letters for illiterate people passing through Rio de Janeiro’s central train station, and the relationship between the teacher and a young boy who hopes to reunite with his father. The film will be shown in Room 201B Table Rock Room in Plemmons Student Union. Dr. Catherine Fountain will lead the discussion. The Latin American Film Festival is made possible by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of the Quality Enhancement Plan, Office of International Education and Development, Belk Library and Information Commons, Department of History, Department of Languages, Literature and Cultures, Appalachian@s, a university organization comprised of organization of Latino faculty and staff, John Craft, Donna Davis and the Latin American studies faculty.