Come out to Appalachian Mountain Brewery and support Watauga Special Olympics this evening with a BBQ Plate!
It isn’t cheap to send local athletes to state and national competitions, buy equipment and uniforms. Every bit helps.
Roachel Laney will be cooking up some amazing BBQ. Get a plate and money goes to these beautiful athletes! Plates are $5 and that includes BBQ, roll and 2 sides. Take outs available and you can get your ticket at the door. There will also be live music by Will Easter and the Nomads.
Free Health and Wellness Expo this Sunday in Banner Elk
The Banner Elk Seventh Day Adventist Church will be hosting a FREE HEALTH AND WELLNESS EXPO on Sunday, April 15th from 1-4 p.m. Come out for your free professional health screenings, massages, healthy food samples, hearing tests and much more. Health Professionals will be on site.
The church is located at 1551 Tynecastle Highway; Banner Elk, NC 28604
High Country Audubon Society to host Presentation on Plants for Birds
High Country Audubon Society invites you to hear a presentation, “Plants for Birds” at its meeting on Tuesday, April 17, 6:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express on Blowing Rock Road in Boone.
Kim Brand, Field Organizer for Audubon North Carolina, will include information on the very important role that native plants play in providing the food birds need to survive and thrive in a way that nonnative plants cannot do. Your yard can make a real difference for birds year-round: plant shrubs that provide the high-fat berries birds need to fuel up for long migration flights; plant trees that host the caterpillars that become baby-bird food; and plant flowers that provide nectar for hummingbirds.
Kim has been working on bird conservation goals with Audubon for five years in various roles, first as a volunteer and then as a staff member leading Bird-Friendly Communities efforts and creating the Audubon Ambassadors, a climate volunteer program that has generated 300 trained volunteers and has expanded to 10 other states.
Kim studied the threatened Florida Scrub-Jay for her master’s thesis at the University of South Florida, and is now a resident of Winston-Salem. Kim takes every chance she gets to head to the Yadkin River with her daughters, aged 14 and 11, enjoying the Chimney Swifts overhead and all the native wildflowers along the way.
Audubon NC has many resources to help you find plants to help your favorite birds, and, if you make a small donation to Audubon, you will receive a beautiful Plants for Birds sign which will encourage your neighbors to help the birds, too. For more information on native plants visit: nc.audubon.org/bird-friendly-p
Ashe County Wordkeepers to meet Saturday, April 21
The next Wordkeepers event will be held Saturday, April 21, from 4-6 p.m. at the Ashe County Arts Council in West Jefferson (303 W. School Street). Wordkeepers Salon is free and open to the public and refreshments are provided.
Wordkeepers features writers reading their latest works in five-minute open microphone time slots. Writers interested in reading from their writing should email Chris Arvidson at [email protected] to secure their first-come, first-served 5-minute slot on the bill. Wordkeepers was created by local writers Chris Arvidson, Julie Townsend and Scot Pope who are also the editors of the anthology “Reflections on the New River” from McFarland Publishers, which features many regular Wordkeepers readers.
Vocal Music Scholarship Opportunity for Adults and Youth
The Watauga County Arts Council (WCAC) is once again offering scholarships to promote training in the vocal arts. The Arts Council will consider granting awards to individuals of high school age, adult vocalists, and vocal teachers who would like to attend workshops or programs which will help in their vocal music development and performance. Applications for funding in the range of $100 to $500 will be considered.
An example of a typical adult recipient is Patricia Lanno. In 2017, Lanno received the Watauga County Arts Council Vocal Music Scholarship which helped her attend the Summer Music Conference and Choral Directing class at Virginia Wesleyan College. She recently retired from teaching music at a public elementary school in Ashe County and is now the Director of Music at Deerfield United Methodist Church. She was able to use the class to complete her Certificate in Sacred Music from Virginia Wesleyan College. She also hoped to improve her skills as the choral director at her church.
When asked about the scholarship Lanno said, “I received my vocal music scholarship from the Watauga County Arts Council in the summer of 2017. The scholarship funds allowed me to complete the Certificate in Church Music program at Virginia Wesleyan University. After retiring from full time teaching in 2016, I enrolled in the Church Music program to enhance my role as Director of Music at Deerfield United Methodist Church. The first two courses were taught online, however the choir directing course was taught on campus in Norfolk, VA. The WCAC Scholarship helped defray the cost of tuition, travel and hotel expenses for the week on campus. Thanks to the WCAC, my Church Music Certificate is hanging proudly on the wall next to my piano and my church is reaping the benefits of an improved music ministry.”
Scholarship applications are available at the WCAC office at 377 Shadowline, Drive in Boone, on their website at www.watauga-arts.org, and by email requests sent to [email protected]. The application deadline is Tuesday, May 1st.
Registration Now Open for Wayne Henderson Guitar Competition
Registration is open for guitarists who wish to compete in the 24th annual Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival and Guitar Competition at Grayson Highlands State Park. The winner will be awarded a handmade Henderson guitar.
Applications must be received between April 1 and May 1. To register, send a completed application form and a $20 fee by personal check or money order payable to the Wayne C. Henderson Guitar Competition. Download the form from www.waynehenderson.org and mail it to: Wayne Henderson Guitar Competition, c/o Herb Key, 1423 Dragway Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697.
Twenty contestant applications and 10 alternate contestant applications will be selected. The first 20 will be drawn at random and approved as contestants by the contestant selection committee. The next 10 will be drawn at random and approved as alternates. Other prizes are second place, $250; third, $150, fourth, $100; and fifth, $75. (These winners also will be eligible for the 2019 contest by simply sending in an application and fee.) All competitors receive free passes to the festival.
The family-friendly festival will be Saturday, June 16, rain or shine, at Grayson Highlands State Park in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. Performing will be the Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White, the Gibson Brothers, Rachel Eddy, Richard Smith, the Jane Kramer Band, and Wayne Henderson and Friends. Free children’s events and music are scheduled, too. Admission is $20, and children 12 and younger get in free. There is a state park parking fee.
Since the festival began in 1995, more than $198,500 has been awarded to aid young, local, traditional musicians in continuing their music exploration and education. Details at www.waynehenderson.org.
Fifth Annual Wine for a Reason Fundraiser set for April 28
The Wine for a Reason Fundraiser, hosted by Rebecca and Eddie Hurst, returns for a fifth year at the Linville Falls Winery on Saturday, April 28 from 12-6 p.m.
Enjoy a fun, family-friendly afternoon with music by The Johnson Brothers. The Cardinal Burger Truck will be there as well as local vendors and a silent auction.
All donations, proceeds from auction items and a portion of the sales that day go directly to the Autism Society of North Carolina, an organization committed to providing support and opportunities that enhance the lives of those living with autism.
For more info, to donate online, or to donate items to the silent auction, go to autismisthereason.org or call Rebecca at (828)773-4502. Email: [email protected]
Boone Calls on Volunteers to Spread Joy to Children in Need Overseas
During National Volunteer Week (April 15 – 21), Boone residents have an opportunity to join a local volunteer team making a difference in children’s lives around the world in Jesus’ Name.
Each year approximately 150,000 U.S. volunteers help transform empty shoeboxes into tangible expressions of God’s love by packing them with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items. Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, partners with local churches worldwide to deliver these gifts to children suffering from poverty, natural disaster, war, terror, disease and famine. For many of these children, this is the first gift they have ever received.
“National Volunteer Week is a great time to consider how you can be a part of sharing the love of Christ with children in need around the world,” said Lindsay Tunnell, an Operation Christmas Child regional director who oversees the Boone area. “Without our team of dedicated volunteers, we could not reach millions of children each year with the hope of the Gospel.
If you are interested in joining a local team or applying for a leadership opportunity in the Boone area, visit samaritanspurse.org/volunteerwithOCC or call (704) 583-1463 .
Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than 157 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 160 countries since 1993. This year, the local High Country NC Area Team hopes to collect 24,500 shoebox gifts to contribute to the 2018 global goal of reaching more than 11 million children in need.
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Tri-Cities Region Will Graham Celebration Enters Final Weeks of Preparation
In a matter of weeks, the Tri-Cities Region Will Graham Celebration will officially kick off in Johnson City, Tenn. More than 235 churches from across the region are working together to host the Celebration, which will take place April 27-29 at theFreedom Hall Civic Center.
“To say God is moving in the Tri-Cities is an understatement. The level of enthusiasm we’re seeing for the Celebration is almost unprecedented,” said Bob Hickling, who is directing the effort on behalf of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. “We hope and pray that this is just the beginning of God doing something incredible in this area later this month and beyond.”
The final major event before Celebration weekend is the 1Prayer Gathering, which will take place on Sunday, April 22, at the Freedom Hall Civic Center. Beginning at 6 p.m., area Christians and churches will gather together for a community-wide time of prayer as the week of the Celebration arrives.
The Tri-Cities Region Will Graham Celebration will begin just days later, with free, family friendly programs taking place nightly throughout the weekend, and KidzFest – a special event tailored just for children – on Saturday morning, April 28. Every meeting will include music and a message of hope from Will Graham.
Though Graham has held evangelistic outreaches around the world for several years, this will be his first multi-day campaign since the passing of his grandfather, Billy Graham, in February. “I think all of them will be very emotional,” Graham said recently of his upcoming events, remarking that the Celebration in the Tri-Cities area will be the first time that he will not give an update on his grandfather’s health to his audience.
In advance of the Tri-Cities Region Will Graham Celebration, Graham has been invited to lead the invocation for the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 NASCAR XFINITY race on April 14. Tickets for the race are still available at www.BristolMotorSpeedway.com.
For more information about the Tri-Cities Region Will Graham Celebration, including a full calendar of events, please visit www.TCRCelebration.org.
About the Tri-Cities Region Will Graham Celebration
The Tri-Cities Region Will Graham Celebration will be held at the Freedom Hall Civic Center, April 27-29, 2018. Will Graham is the third generation of Grahams to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ under the banner of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Will is the grandson of Billy Graham and the oldest son of Franklin Graham. He has shared the hope of Christ on six continents since beginning his evangelistic ministry in 2006.