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

1) Nature Journaling at Grandfather Mountain

On Friday, Oct. 18, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. join a park ranger on an easy 3/4 mile round trip hike on the lower Profile Trail where we will spend time quietly observing the natural world to sketch and write about the experience. No experience necessary. The journaling experience is weather dependent because we will be outside the entire time. Pre-registration for this event is required. 

2) Watauga Humane Society’s Bare Bones Boutique Brown Bag Sale

Watauga Humane Society’s Bare Bones Boutique is holding a Clothing and Accessories Brown Bag Sale Thursday and Friday Oct. 3 and 4 from noon until 5 p.m. and on Saturday Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Come fill a bag for only $5.33. Located at Old U.S. 421 next to Rutherford Church. Call 828-264-7339 for more information. All volunteer staff and proceeds go to the animals. 

3) NAMI Note

NAMI High Country (National Alliance on Mental Illness) welcomes all-those struggling with mental health challenges, family members, professionals, students, and anyone with a general interest. Our meetings are the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Watauga Human Services Building on West King Street just past Galileo’s coming from downtown Boone. Please go to our website for meeting details at www.namihighcountry.org.

4) Life Care Center of Banner Elk Earns Perfect Score on Annual State Survey

Life Care Center of Banner Elk, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility, recently achieved a deficiency-free state survey. “These results simply show that our associates are focused on quality of care for our residents,” said Chris Green, executive director. “These are tough-minded, caring associates living and working in the mountains of North Carolina. I am really proud of our team.” To pass the state survey each year, nursing facilities must meet hundreds of criteria. These address not only nursing care and resdident safety, but also patients’ rights, food services, administration and the physical condition of the building. Surveyors spend several days in the building reviewing paperwork, observing resident care and interviewing residents and associates. “The surveyors mentioned that they had never been in such a clean facility before,” Green added. “They also told us the residents could not say enough good things about the facility.” The survey took place in mid-September. Life Care Center of Banner Elk, located at 185 Norwood Hollow Road, is one of three skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities in North Carolina operated or managed by Life Care Centers of America. Founded in 1976, Life Care is a nationwide health care company. With headquarters in Cleveland, Tenn., Life Care operates or manages more than 220 nursing, post-acute and Alzheimer’s centers in 28 states. For more information about Life Care, visit. www.lcca.com. 

5) Lisa Mallory at Watauga Humane Society

Come join us at 3 p.m. on Oct. 5 at the Watauga Humane Society to learn how to interpret canine body language from professional dog trainer Lisa Mallory of Good Dog! Training, LLC. You’ll gain knowledge to understand the subtle signals and communication your dog and other dogs are sending every moment of every day. The cost is free, but donations to our Pet Food Pantry are happily accepted. 

6) Ski or Ride any North Carolina Ski Area this Winter Season with the Gold Card

If you would like to ski or ride any North Carolina ski area all day, every day this season you’ll need two things: lots of time and the Gold Card. Skiers and riders can take their pick of where and when to ski in the state of North Carolina with the purchase of the state association’s Gold Card. The Gold Card gives skiers and riders access to any of the six North Carolina ski areas throughout the winter season regardless of holiday or weekend rates. That means unrestricted slope access at Cataloochee Ski Area, Sapphire Valley Ski Area, Beech Mountain Resort, Appalachian Ski Mountain, Wolf Ridge Ski Resort and Sugar Mountain Resort. The exclusive pass is limited to 100 pass holders per season and is available for just $800 each. Purchase now before they’re all gone. For more information or to purchase a Gold Card, please go to www.goskinc.com/goldcard. 

7) Watauga American Legion Potluck Supper and Meeting

The Watauga American Legion Post #130 at 135 Bear Trail/Junaluska Town Park in Boone will have a potluck supper and monthly meeting on Friday, Oct. 4. Potluck supper will start at 6:30 p.m. with a short meeting to follow. All American Legion members and spouses are welcome to attend and bring a dish. Thank you for your support of veterans and veteran programs. 

8) High Country Writers Meeting Oct. 10

High Country Writers welcomes internationally known children’s author, artist, illustrator, puppeteer, and storyteller Gail E. Haley as presenter for our meeting, Thursday, October 10, at 10 am, at the Watauga County Public Library. She will speak on “The Totality of Creation.” We welcome guests and new members to join us for meetings. Gail E. Haley has written and illustrated over forty books for children. She is the only North Carolinian to have won the Caldecott Medal and is the only person world-wide to have won both The Caldecott Medal and the Kate Greenway Medal. In addition, she won the Kadai Tosho Award in Japan, Parent’s Choice Award for The Green Man, and the Kerlan Award for Lifetime Achievement. She was a writer in residence at Appalachian State University for fifteen years and has lectured extensively in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and South Africa. Her recent books include: Kokopelli: Drum in Belly, Mountain Jack Tales and Isabella Propeller. She is currently working on an historical novel based on women’s experience in an “asylum” in North Carolina in the early 1900s, her first full length fiction for adults. High Country Writers is an organization which fosters the growth and creativity of writers of all genres, offering its members support, constructive criticism and professional development.  The meetings are held 10 am to noon at the Watauga County Library on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.  Guests are welcome.  Meetings are cancelled when the Watauga County Schools are closed for inclement weather.  For more information about the organization, membership, and calendar of events, please visit the HCW website at http://highcountrywriters.tripod.com  

9) Original Work “Promises” Presented Oct. 2-6 at Appalachian

The Appalachian State University Department of Theatre and Dance presents “Promises” an original work by theatre faculty member Joel Williams and directed by Derek Davidson. The play will be presented in the state-of-the-art Valborg Theatre on Oct. 2-5 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee performance on Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. Ticket prices start at just $8 for students and $15 for adults. Tickets are available at the Valborg Theatre Box Office Monday through Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. by phone at 828-262-3063 and online at www.theatre.appstate.edu. This play tells the story of 50-year-old Joseph who sets out on a journey to fulfill a request made by his dying mother and comes to understand the truth of his own personal history. Letters and artifacts, which once belonged to his parents, prompt flashbacks that reveal complex relationships and secrets hidden from Joseph for most of his life. The play deals with love, loss, betrayal, reconciliation and promises, both kept and broken. “Promises” is set against the historical backdrop of the years surrounding the wartime construction of Fontana Dam in Swain County. Playwright Williams states that “The original idea came to me around 2006 when I was researching day trips for my sons in western North Carolina and stumbled across something called ‘The Road to Nowhere.” Although the characters in this play are fiction, their story is inspired by history: the building of the dam, the incorporation of the North Shore into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and the ongoing traditions of Decoration Days that require excursions across Fontana Lake into the boundaries of the national park. The inaugural production of “Promises” is presented in conjunction with the North Shore Decoration Day Symposium, featuring educational programs. Williams entered “Promises” into the New Play Festival sponsored by Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre in 2012. It was chosen as a finalist and selected to have its professional premier at SART in the summer of 2014 at Mars Hill College. Valborg Theatre is located on the north side of Chapell Wilson Hall on Howard Street. The door faces the back of the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts on King Street. Parking is available in faculty lots after 5 p.m.and in the College Street Parking Deck near Belk Library and Information Commons after 5:30 p.m. Parking is also available in the Rivers Street Parking Deck and the Howard Street parking area adjacent to the Miles Annas Building. 

10) Tim Wise to Lecture on “Race in America” Oct. 14

Anti-racism writer and educator Tim Wise will address “Race in America” on Monday, Oct. 14, as part of the 2013-14 Diversity Lecture Series at Appalachian State University. His lecture begins at 7 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Ballroom of Plemmons Student Union. The event is free and the public is invited. In his talk, Wise will deconstruct and explore social power, conflict, and race in America as critical issues that affect and require engagement from everyone. The lecture will be followed by questions from the audience. Wise was named one of “25 Visionaries Who are Changing Your World” by Utne Reader in 2010. He has written six books, including the highly acclaimed memoir “White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son.” He has contributed essays to 25 books and is featured in “White Men Challenging Racism: Thirty-Five Personal Stories” from Duke University Press. He received the 2001 British Diversity Award for best feature essay on race issues, and his writings have appeared in dozens of popular, professional and scholarly journals. Wise has conducted anti-racism training for teachers nationwide, and trained corporate, government, entertainment and health care leaders and military and law enforcement officials on methods of dismantling racial inequalities in their institutions. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs and is a regular contributor to discussions about race on CNN. He has been featured in several documentary films, including “Vocabulary of Change,” a public dialogue with legendary activist and scholar Angela Davis. 

11) BRAHM Celebrating New Art Among Friends Book with a Party

The Blowing Rock Art and History Museum will debut their latest publication, an exhibition catalogue accompanying their current exhibit Art Among Friends: Four Collections of American Art, on Thursday, Oct. 3 at a book premiere party from 6-8 p.m. Months in the making, the hardcover, 96-page book features photographs and thoughtful interpretation of the 81 paintings and one bronze sculpture in the exhibit, comprised entirely from four private collections in the North Carolina High Country. Spanning one of the most dynamic periods of American art history, the works were created between roughly 1880 and 1940 and portray the evolution of American Impressionism to Urban Realism. Art Among Friends demonstrates the influence of friendship not only between the four collectors, but also the artists themselves. The depth and breadth of each collector’s holdings made it possible for guest curator Jonathan Stuhlman of the Mint Museum in Charlotte to trace the rise and fall of significant artistic movements and demonstrate the remarkable talents of some of this country’s most important artists. Each chapter opens with the interpretive text that can be found on the information panels throughout the exhibit. There is an introduction and explanation of how the show and book were organized by the curator. The book was edited by the Museum’s executive director Joann Mitchell and designed and published by Nathan W. Moehlmann of Goosepen Studio and Press in Conover. The first buying opportunity will be the night of the premiere party which will also feature music, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. After the party, the book will be available for purchase in the recently revamped gift shop of the Museum for $35 for BRAHM members and $45 for non-members. The exhibit will be on display at BRAHM until Nov. 2. For additional information, please call 828-295-9099 or visit www.blowingrockmuseum.org.