1) Watauga County GOP Christmas Party
The Watauga County Republican Party will hold its Christmas Party Dec. 12 at Chetola Resort. Social Hour starts at 6 p.m., dinner, music and festivities begin at 7 p.m. Cost is $35 per person. Call 828-963-4253 for more information.
2) Public Input Sought for Development of Appalachian National Scenic Trail Foundation Document
The national park service is starting the process of preparing a Foundation Document for planning and management of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, a unit of the National park Service. The trail would like to invite the public to join in this effort. A Foundation Document involves revisiting a national park unit’s core purpose and significance, most important resources and values, and the interpretive themes that tell the park’s important stories. Although the Foundation Document is not a decision-making document and does not include actions or management strategies, it describes a shared understanding of what is most important about the park. In this capacity, the Foundation Document will reestablish the underlying guidance for future management and planning decisions at Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Because many of the trail’s original planning documents are out of date, preparing the Foundation Document is the first step for considering the park’s future planning and study needs. The National Park Service invites you to play a role in charting the trail’s future by sharing your thoughts on what is most important about the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and to help identify its most pressing threats and its greatest opportunities. Your feedback will allow the park to take your thoughts into consideration as they prepare the Foundation Document.
3) 2014 Mountain Alliance Fine Dining Guides are Now Available
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the food connoisseur in your life? The Mountain Alliance Fine Dining Guide may be the thing. This coupon book features “buy one entree get one free” to sixteen of the tastiest, independently owned restaurants in the High Country. Certain restrictions apply, see individual coupon for details. 2014 participating restaurants include: Best Cellar, Blowing Rock Ale House, Bistro Roca, Canyons, Casa Rustica, Char, Coyote Kitchen, Daniel Boone Inn, Ensemble Stage, Gamekeeper, Louisiana Purchase, Makoto’s, Red Onion Cafe, Stick Boy Bread Company, Pepper’s and Twigs. Mountain Alliance Fine Dining Guides can be purchased for $50 from any of the following businesses: Stick Boy Bread Company, Footsloggers in Boone and Blowing Rock, Mast General Store, Rustic of Blowing Rock, Raysweather.com and MountainAlliance.Org.
4) Board of Education Meeting
The Finance Committee of the Watauga County Board of Education will meet Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. The meeting is for a preliminary discussion of budget priorities for the Watauga County Schools for fiscal year 2014-15. The meeting will be held at the Gragg Education Center/Board of Education.
5) Affordable Care Act Outreach Specialists
The Watauga County Public Library would like to invite the public to let Affordable Care Act Outreach Specialist, Eric Schneider, and Certified Enrollment Specialist, Dick VerEecke, help them enroll in an insurance plan through the new Healthcare Marketplace. To schedule an appointment with Eric Schneider, please call (828) 773-7297 or e-mail him at erichcch@gmail.com. To schedule an appointment with Dick, please call the library at (828) 264-8784 ext. 2.
6) ECRS Ranks 1st Overall
ECRS, a local company since 1989, has been ranked first overall on the 2013 RIS Leadboard, the retail industry’s most prestigious software survey. The survey included an international group of 87 leading retail software vendors. In addition to its number one rank in the Top 20 Overall, ECRS also placed first in six other leaderboard charts. Competitive companies included SAP, Oracle, IBM and NCR.