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Today’s Email Announcements

Watauga Sanitation and Convenient Centers Closed Dec. 24-25

The Watauga County Sanitation Department(including All Convenience
Centers) will be Closed on December 24th and 25th. All Convenience
Centers, and the Transfer Station will be open on December 26th. The
Landfill Convenience site will also be closed on (Sunday) New Year’s
Day .
For more information, please call 828-264-5305.

Give the Gift of Flight This Christmas with Wilkes Discovery Flights

wilkes

Caldwell Graduates Truck Drivers, New Programs Start in January

Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute celebrated eight students from the Truck Driver Training program during a completion ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 8 at the J.E. Broyhill Civic Center in Lenoir. The participating students included Jason Kennedy of Hickory, Douglas Blair of Hickory, Jericho Coffey of Boone and Charles Stephens of Morganton; Heinz Spitzky of Taylorsville, Devon White of Conover, Matthew Cheek of Hamptonville and James Dula of Lenoir.
The next Truck Driver Training classes for the Caldwell Campus in Hudson start Jan. 4 (day class), Jan. 27(weekend class) and Feb. 6 (evening class). CCC&TI Truck Driver Training classes also are available in Gaston, Iredell, Richmond, Rowan, Rutherford, Union and Yadkin counties. Tuition assistance is available for those who qualify. For more info about Truck Driver Training at CCC&TI, call 828-726-2380

Casting for Hope Winter Music Fest Dec. 17

Regional 501(c)3 nonprofit Casting for Hope based in Morganton, Asheville, and Bakersville, North Carolina is incredibly excited about its upcoming 4th Annual Winter Music Fest at CoMMA Auditorium in Morganton, North Carolina.  This year’s festival sports a broad soundscape of local, regional, national, and internationally-touring artists—headlined again this year by the renowned Chapel Hill-based renegade bluegrass band Mipso.

The performers for the festival’s 12:00-5:00 set include Michaela Pittman and Friends (12:00-1:00), Sweet Revenge (1:15-2:15), Bob Sinclair and the Big Deals (2:30-3:30), Carolina Blue (3:45-5:00), and local favorite Sarah Sholar between sets.  The 7:00-10:00 performances will be held by Jon Stickley of Jon Stickley Trio, Travis Book of The Infamous Stringdusters, and Mipso.

The Winter Music Fest also includes two additional events beyond the music: a benefit dinner at First Baptist Church of Morganton and the After Party, serviced by Countryside BBQ of Marion, Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Cidery of Boone, and Brown Mountain Bottleworks of Morganton.  Entry to these VIP and Deluxe ticketed events are only available through Casting for Hope co-founders John Zimmerman (john@castingforhope.org) and Taylor Sharp (taylor@castingforhope.org).

Food and drinks will be available at the event during the day—food trucks from Hunter’s Chicken and Waffles and Aloha Gourmet Hotdogs will be available as well as drinks from drinks will be serviced by multiple vendors.

All proceeds from this event will go toward Casting for Hope’s work to serve women and families in western North Carolina who are battling an ovarian or other gynecological cancer.  Casting for Hope’s service arc focuses on financial assistance to offset the financial obligations its patients are facing as a result of their diagnoses and treatment and retreat programming to provide patients and caregivers long weekends at the Casting for Hope Retreat Center far away from clinical settings and oncology offices.

Casting for Hope would like to thank our event sponsors:  Presenting Sponsor John Greene Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Ram; Stage Sponsors Morganton Eye Physicians and an anonymous donor who wished to sponsor the stage in memory of Amy Sharp; and all other sponsors:  Burke County Tourism Development Authority, Mountain Burrito, Gragg Orthodontic, Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Cidery, Brown Mountain Bottleworks, Countryside BBQ, SYB Cosmetics, Garden Gate Downtown, Tanglewood Acre Farms, The Old Armory Building, Food Matters Market and Café of Morganton, Citizen Earth Media, The Locals Market, Bower’s Nationwide Insurance, ALM Building and Design, Morganton Animal Clinic, Burke County Young Democrats, Sain’s Barber Shop, Aloha Hotdog Company, CoMMA of Morganton, Hunter’s Chicken and Waffles Shack, Upper Creek Angler, and Photography by Suzie Boatright.

For quotes for articles from the organizers regarding the deployment of the event and other Casting for Hope events, or to get in touch with musical acts, please e-mail Casting for Hope co-founders John Zimmerman and Taylor Sharp at john@castingforhope.org and taylor@castingforhope.org.  For quotes for articles concerning Casting for Hope patient services, please e-mail Casting for Hope Executive Director Kathy Haney at kathy@castingforhope.org.

Sled Report: Sled Hill at Beech to Open Friday

Great news for the Beech Mountain Town Sledding Hill! With the great snow making
 weather this week we will be blowing snow starting Wednesday night through Saturday morning. The sled hill will be opening Friday with normal operating hours.
Sled Hill hours are as follows:
Monday – Friday
Saturday – Sunday 9am – 5pm
*Sled hill will remain open as long as conditions allow. Due to safety concerns,
 the hill may close when  bare spots appear on the hill or other issues the town
 identifies as unsafe occur.