1) October Programs at Elk Knob State Park
Trail Work Days: Every Saturday through the middle of November (except October 11), staff and volunteers will meet at the Summit Trailhead at 9:00 a.m. and work until approximately 2:30 p.m., weather permitting. Tools are provided but volunteers should wear close-toed shoes and bring work gloves, lunch and water. If you would like to be involved in a fulfilling project that will fill you with a well-deserved sense of pride, then join us on Saturdays at Elk Knob State Park. For more information please call 828-297-7261.
Fall Color Hike: Hike to the summit of Elk Knob with a ranger to see the surrounding beauty of fall splendor in the Appalachians. Meet at the trailhead parking lot at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 5.
Beech Tree Trail Opening: Come help us cut the ribbon on the new Beech Tree Trail Saturday, Oct. 11, a one mile loop trail which will also serve as the permanent home of the Kid’s TRACK Trail. Join us for a short ceremony followed by a short hike to “break in” the trail. Please meet at 10 a.m. at the trailhead of the Beech Tree Trail which takes off from the Trailhead Parking Lot at Elk Knob.
Animals of Elk Knob: Learn about the animals that call Elk Knob home and what they are doing this time of year. A table will be set up at the trail head parking lot from 2-3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12. Program is weather dependent.
The Opossum: The opossum is a strange looking animal and is our country’s only marsupial. Come get a closer look at this nocturnal animal Saturday, Oct. 19. We will learn through a PowerPoint presentation at 2 p.m. at the Park Office.
Halloween: The opossum is a strange looking animal and is our country’s only marsupial. Come get a closer look at this nocturnal animal Saturday, Oct. 19. We will learn through a PowerPoint presentation at 2 p.m. at the Park Office.
2) Wilkes Agricultural Fair Starts Sept. 30
The Wilkes County Agricultural Fair will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 30, and will run through Saturday, Oct. 4. The Rotary Club of North Wilkesboro will sponsors the event, which is held at the Rotary Fairgrounds beside of West Park in North Wilkesboro. On Saturday a special event at the fair will be a lawnmower race. Practice for the race starts at 3 p.m. Racing begins at 6 p.m. A fairground admission ticket will also admit you to the lawnmower race. This year’s fair will feature more than 25 rides, a bicycle give away, E-Z ride, petting zoo, Buffalo Barfield’s unheard of style of music and comedy shows, miniature bull races (yes bull races), 4-H exhibits, and games and food on the midway. N.E.W. Wrestling will be held on Thursday and Friday. No Joe’s Circus Clown and Trapeze act will be performing every day. The 4-H exhibits, coordinated by Wilkes Cooperative Extension Service, will be on hand in the Exhibit Hall A. This year, the fair will also feature a hay bale decorating contest. On Tuesday, there will be junior lamb show. On Wednesday there will be a junior goat show. On Thursday there will be a car show and a tractor driving contest. Gates are open weekdays at 5 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday. Ride bands are available every day. On Saturday, ride bands are good from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. or 6 p.m. to closing.
3) State Employees’ Credit Union CEO Jim Blaine to Speak Oct. 9 at Appalachian
Jim Blaine, president and chief executive officer of the State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU), will be the speaker at this year’s fall Harlan E. Boyles Distinguished CEO Lecture at Appalachian State University. The event, sponsored by the Walker College of Business, will be held Thursday, Oct. 9, at 2 p.m. in the Holmes Convocation Center on Appalachian’s campus. A reception will follow at 3:15 p.m. The lecture series is named for the late Harlan E. Boyles, who served for 24 years as N.C. state treasurer. The lecture and reception are open to the public. For more information, call 828-262-2057. Blaine has served as CEO of the State Employees’ Credit Union since 1979. SECU is the second largest credit union in the U.S., with $28 billion in assets and 1.8 million members through 250 branches. It has six call centers and a 1,200 unit proprietary ATM network, called CashPoints, with locations in all North Carolina counties. Membership in the credit union is limited to North Carolina state employees, public school employees and their families. SECU, which is headquartered in Raleigh, is a not-for-profit cooperative association that employs 4,200 individuals. Blaine is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and holds an MBA from Duke University. He has served on various advisory boards, including CUNA Roundtable Advisory Committee, the Thrift Institutions Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., the National Credit Union Advisory Board of Fannie Mae, the Credit Union Council Board of the National Association of Credit Union Supervisors in Washington, D.C., the Board of First Carolina Corporate Credit Union in Greensboro, the Latino Community Credit Union in Durham and the Board of the National Cooperative Business Association, among others.
4) Blue Ridge Parkway Programs
Civil War Firearms will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Linville Falls Campground Amphitheater. In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, learn about the weapons used by both sides during engagements like the Raid on Linville Falls and others throughout the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
5) Launch Party for Sharyn McCrumb’s Christmas Novella Held Oct. 6 at Appalachian
Area residents and fans of Sharyn McCrumb are invited to a book launch for her Christmas novella “Nora Bonesteel’s Christmas Past” Monday, Oct. 6, at Appalachian State University. The event begins at 6 p.m. in Room 114 in Belk Library and Information Commons. The launch party will feature readings and stories by McCrumb and Charlotte Ross, the inspiration for the main character of Nora Bonesteel. A book signing and reception will follow. For more information, call Lynn Patterson at 828-262-2087. McCrumb is known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers “The Ballad of Tom Dooley,” “The Ballad of Frankie Silver” and “Ghost Riders.” Her Revolutionary War novel, “King’s Mountain,” was published in September 2013 by St. Martin’s Press. Ross, known as the “Legend Lady,” has collected or composed more than 3,400 tales of legends and laughter from Appalachia. She has performed at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Corn Island Storytelling Festival, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina Storytelling Festival, The Great Aunt Stella Center, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Ireland, and for the Smithsonian Institution Folklife Programs. She also has been a featured storyteller on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” McCrumb’s first-ever holiday novella brings back her most popular characters, Nora Bonesteel and Spencer Arrowood, in a heartwarming story of a ghost of Christmas past and a felon of Christmas present. The book finds Nora happy to see some life brought back to the old Honeycutt mansion, even if it is by “summer people.” But when her new neighbors decide to stay through Christmas, they find more than old memories in the walls. The New York Times Book Review wrote, “Ms. McCrumb writes with quiet fire and maybe a little mountain magic….She plucks the mysteries from people’s lives and works these dark narrative threads into Appalachian legends older than the hills. Like every true storyteller, she has the Sight.”
6) Heirloom Apple Tasting and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture Fundraiser
Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA) announces the first HomeGrown Workshop of the Fall: an Heirloom Apple Tasting will take place on Sunday, October 5 from 3-5pm at the Boone Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The HomeGrown Workshop Series consists of seasonal workshops that promote sustainable living and self-sufficiency in our High Country Region. Each workshop features a local expert in our area. All proceeds benefit Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA). On Sunday, October 5, join local apple farmer, Bill Moretz, of Mortez’s Mountain Orchard, for a tasting and discussion about the heirloom apples growing in our High Country region. Bill Moretz will share his knowledge and harvest of old apple varieties that are grown in the Appalachian region. In addition to explaining the history and the subtleties of each variety, apple samples will be available for tasting and comparing. Over time only a handful of apples have made their way into grocery stores, however at points throughout history there have been thousands of different varieties produced for eating, cooking, or fermenting. Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture and Bill Moretz are excited to share the varieties that have been made popular again. “We feel that this event is a wonderful opportunity to give people a chance to learn about the importance of preserving these varieties and a chance to compare them side-by-side,” said BRWIA Executive Director, Carol Coulter. Participants will sample multiple apple varieties as well as bread, cheese, and beer samples provided by Stickboy Bread Company, Heritage Homestead Dairy, and Blowing Rock Ale House. A donation of $15 for one person or $25 for two is encouraged for this class. It will take place from 3pm – 5pm on October 5 at Boone Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 381 East King Street. The event is sponsored by NC Cooperative Extension, Watauga. Go to http://www.brwia.org/homegrown-workshops.html to register and pay. Participation is limited, so act now to reserve your spot!
7) Award-Winning Conservationist Jay Leutze to Speak at Appalachian Oct. 6
Award-winning conservationist and author Jay Erskine Leutze will present a public lecture titled “Standing Up Mountains: The Challenge Continues” on Monday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in Room 421 Belk Library and Information Commons at Appalachian State University. The event is sponsored by the Center for Appalachian Studies, the Department of Nursing and the Department of Sustainable Development. For more information, contact the Department of Sustainable Development at 828-262-6926. Leutze is the author of “Stand Up that Mountain: The Battle to Save One Small Community in the Wilderness along the Appalachian Trail.” He will discuss several conservation challenges facing the Boone and university community. Raised in Chapel Hill, Leutze lives in the Southern Appalachian mountains on the North Carolina-Tennessee border. Trained as an attorney, he has become a leading voice for state and federal conservation funding for investment in public lands. He is a trustee for Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, one of the nation’s most established land trusts. He currently advises the organization on state and federal land acquisition. He is also a spokesperson for the Land and Water Conservation Fund coalition. In 2012, Leutze was awarded North Carolina’s highest civilian honor, The Order of the Longleaf Pine, for his contribution to the conservation of his native state. He is the winner of the 2013 North Carolina Governor’s Conservation Communicator of the Year Award. “Stand Up That Mountain” has won numerous awards, including The Reed Environmental Writing Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center, and was named the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Nonfiction Book of the Year. The American Bar Association honored the book at its Silver Gavel Awards dinner in July 2013, citing it as “a work of art that has added to the public’s understanding of the law.”
8) 19th Century Italian Music for Guitar Performed Oct. 6
Classical guitarist Marco Battaglia will present a guest recital Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Recital Hall at Appalachian State University. Admission is free and the public is invited. Battaglia specializes in the interpretation of 19th-century music and is considered an esteemed interpreter of Classical and Romantic period sources utilizing period guitars. His Boone performance will feature a 19th-century guitar that once belonged to Italian nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini, considered one of the patron saints of the Italian Risorgimento, the Italian unification of the mid-19th century. Battaglia will perform compositions by Niccolò Paganini, Mauro Giuliani and Johann Kaspar Mertz. Battaglia founded two different original period instrument groups: the 800 Musica Ensemble, a string quartet with guitar and other instruments, and the TrioQuartetto, a guitar ensemble featuring group members as soloists, in duo form and mainly as a trio or quartet, using original period guitars. He also is the artistic director of the 800 MusicaFestival, which is dedicated exclusively to 19th century European music.
9) Campus Emergency Siren Test Conducted Oct. 1
Appalachian State University will test its campus-wide siren warning system Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 11:55 a.m. The campus drill also will include a recorded message indicating the beginning and end of the test. To hear the tones that would be used during an emergency on campus, visit http://epo.appstate.edu/siren-warning-system. Also, in the event of an actual emergency, official university information will be posted at www.appstatealert.com.