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Email Announcements We Are Receiving Today: See What’s Going On Around The Community

1) Banner House Museum

The 2013 Season for the Banner House Museum runs from June 15 through Oct. 18, Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the final daily tour beginning at 3:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, and $1 for children between the ages of 6 and 12. The Banner House Museum is located at 7990 Hickory Nut Gap Road in Banner Elk. For more information, call 828-898-3634. Take a guided tour through time in this home built circa late 1860 by Samuel Banner, one of Banner Elk’s founding families. 

2) Tom Dooley: A Wilkes County Legend

Tickets are now on sale for the 13th season of Tom Dooley: A Wilkes County Legend, produced by Bleu Moon Productions. Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling 336-838-4278 (leave a message and a representative will return the call promptly) or they may be purchased at the gate on the night of each performance. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors and group rates are available for groups of 10 or more upon request. Look for your special county night in your local paper to receive 1/2 off the $15 ticket price. Then request a special discount at the gate when purchasing tickets on the night of each performance, or you pay purchase tickets in advance and request the special rate by calling 336-838-4276. The show will be presented outdoors at the Forest’s Edge Amphitheater off of NC 421 North in Historic Fort Hamby Park, 1534 South Recreation Road in Wilkesboro. Tom Dooley: A Wilkes County Legend is produced through a partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers and Friends of the Lake. Performances begin at 8:30 p.m. each evening and the gates begin selling tickets and accepting advance tickets at 7 p.m. Seats are not assigned, but staff will reserve seats by phone for groups of 10 or more upon request. The show opens on Friday, July 5, and show dates are July 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 20, 25, 26 & 27. All performances begin at 8:30 p.m. “This is live, quality entertainment that brings to life some of Wilkes County’s rich history with humor, excitement and drama,” said co-director David Reynolds. “This famous lover’s triangle, made famous by the Kingston Trio’s internationally famous ballad “Tom Dooley” is performed under the stars in a natural setting at one of North Carolina’s beautiful state parks. Ft. Hamby Park provides the perfect setting and makes the audience feel that they are right there as the story unfolds.” Concessions will be for sale beginning at 7:30, including soft drinks, chips, popcorn and candy. 

3) Boone Chamber of Commerce

The Chamber is looking for annual award nominations to help us honor those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership. Awards available include The Alfred Adams Award for Economic Development, which recognizes individuals and organizations who have worked for the development of Boone and Watauga County (Sponsored by Wachovia-A Wells Fargo Company), The Ben Suttle Special Services Award for Volunteer Leadership, which recognizes the spirit of volunteerism in the community, named for the late Ben Suttle who was the Chamber’s chief volunteer leader in 1992 and was a well-respected merchant in the town, the Sue W. Wilmoth Award for the Advancement of Tourism, named for former Chamber Director Sue Wilmoth whose unique success in tourism promotion was her ability to capitalize on the regions natural resources while balancing progress with preservation consistently focused on initiatives that improved the quality of life for our residents and visitors, the Wade Brown Community Recognition Award, which is the Chamber’s oldest award going back to 1979, which recognizes significant contributions through community involvement (sponsored by the Boone Golf Club) and finally the everGREEN Award for Leadership in Sustainability which is presented to a business, organization, project or person who has furthered the inclusion and integration of the vision/mission of the everGREEN committee into the business community of the community at large in some measurable or discernible way during the previous year. The vision is to promote the adoption of practice of sustainable development principles which foster broadly shared economic prosperity while preserving the environment for future generations. 

4) Grandfather’s Attic Hike

Grandfather Mountain’s summer guided hike series continues July 13 with Grandfather’s Attic Hike. Guided hikes at Grandfather Mountain offer guests the unique opportunity to tackle one of the Mountain’s famously wondrous hiking trails with an expert. “A trip to the Attic” provides an exciting hike to Attic Window Peak and Indian House Cave over the most rugged terrain on Grandfather Mountain. As with any good trip to the attic, Interpretive Rangers will be sharing many great stories about Grandfather’s history with guests along the way. During the hike Gabriel Taylor, Grandfather Mountain’s chief interpretive ranger and guide for this particular hike, will share the story of Grandfather and past historic and significant events seen along the trail that help tell the story of Grandfather Mountain. Participants will explore interesting hgh elevation flora and fauna along this incredibly rich landscape. “It’s a challenging, but rewarding hike,” said Taylor. “We’ll travel all across the ridge line ending in a spot in which many artifacts have been discovered.” Participants will gain nearly 600 feet in 1.2 miles of hiking, using ladders and cables while traversing over large boulders to reach the destination of Attic Window Peak. Grandfather’s Attic Hike will cost $25 per person in addition to regular park admission. Space is limited and advanced reservations are required. For reservations, call 828-737-0833. Registered participants will meet at Black Rock Parking lot at 9 a.m. on July 13. The Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation established to preserve Grandfather Mountain, operate the nature park sustainably in the public interest, provide an exceptional experience for guests and inspire them to be good stewards of the earth’s resources. 

5) Town of Beech Mountain Annual Kid’s Fishing Derby

One fish, two fish, go fish at Beech Mountain’s Kid’s Fishing Derby! This is a wonderful way to get outdoors with the family. Prizes will be awarded for the numerous categories. Fish on on Saturday, June 29 at 9 a.m. at Lake Coffey in Beech Mountain. 

6)Wilkes Community College News

Wilkes Community College will be offering a Nurse Aide I evening class beginning July 16. Students need to register as soon as possible as seating for the class is limited to 14. Certified Nurse Aides work on the front lines of patient care in hospitals, nursing facilities and medical offices. The Nurse Aide I course prepares graduates to provide personal care and perform basic nursing skills. Additionally, most nursing programs require applicants to complete the nurse aide class as well as being listen on the NA-I Registry in Raleigh. The class runs from July 16 through Dec 12, meeting on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4-8 p.m. The class will also meet on a few Thursdays during clinical rotations. Upon satisfactory completion of the 192-hour training course, graduates will receive instructions concerning their state competency test for listing on the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services NA-I registry. 

7) Lees-McRae Earns Three Spring Sportsmanship Awards

The Lees-McRae College Athletic Department continues to be a leader, both on and off the field, in Conference Carolinas, receiving three Sportsmanship Awards in the sports of men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse and softball this spring. “I am glad to see our peers recognize our sportsmanship and character,” expressed Director of Athletics Craig McPhail. “As fans of sports, we all want the games to be played with the highest of regards. This is a tribute to our quality coaching staff, and the student athletes that wear the green and gold.” Belmont Abbey College was honored with the Messick Sportsmanship Award for the second year in a row after receiving seven of the league’s 20 team sportsmanship awards. King University earned four team awards during the 2012-13 academic year, followed by Lees-McRae’s three. The sport-specific Sportsmanship Awards are determined using a voting process implemented by Athletics Directors, which calls for a coach and student-athlete representative to vote together and evaluate the sportsmanship exhibited by conference opponents’ players, coaches and fans during the regular season. After votes have been submitted, the conference office averages the results and the institution with the highest average for each conference sport is awarded the respective Sportsmanship Award. “Any time you receive this recognition, it makes everyone involved proud, as we all want to be perceived as good sports and honor the opportunity we have been given,” said McPhail. 

8) Blue Ridge Parkway Special Ranger Programs

On Friday July 4, at 7 p.m. will be the Civil War in the Mountain program. One of the greatest tragedies of the Civil War was how it divided families, pitting brother against brother. Nowhere was this more true than in the Appalachian Mountains. Join the Ranger to learn now the hard hand of war touched the region. On Saturday, July 6, at 7:30 p.m. there will a program called Wilderness Skills: What to do When… While out hiking you may become lost, get injured, encounter wildlife or endure a thunderstorm. What do you do then? Come and find out about these and other situations. Both of these programs meet at the Linville Falls Campground Amphitheater at Milepost 316.

9) High Country Watermedia Society Meets July 13

The High Country Watermedia Society welcomes members and guests on Saturday, July 13, at Cheap Joe’s art Stuff in Boone at 10: a.m. All artists from beginners to professionals are invited. The club meets the second Saturday of each month. Refreshments are served at 9:30 a.m. “Painting with Gouache,” will be presented by Linda Dallas. Gouache (which rhymes with squash) is an opaque watercolor medium. Dallas is a signature member of the Watercolor Society of North Carolina and serves on the Board f Directors. She is featured in the 2012-14 NC Arts Council’s Traveling Artist Directory. In 2012 she was appointed to the Raleigh Arts Commission and is currently Assistant Professor of Visual Art for Saint Augustine’s University. Registration for workshop is $35 for members are $75 for non-members (non-refundable). Please make check out to HCWS with artist’s name in the memo area, along with your phone number and email address. Mail check to Nell Kline, 7041 Globe Road Lenoir, NC 28645. The 2013 schedule includes Sharron Burns on Aug 10, Kate Worm on Sept. 14 and Therese Ferguson on Oct. 12. Blowing Rock resident Sarah Gilley, president of HCWS said “We offer one of the most affordable workshops in the High Country. There are now 100 members and we invite seasonal visitors.”