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School system sets makeup days

Henderson County News

NCDOT awards contract for landslide repair

Transportation officials recently awarded a contract to repair the landslide on U.S. 74A in Gerton.   Read Story »

Mills River News

In a first, Sierra Nevada buys a brewery

Sufferfest Beer Company of San Francisco will join Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. of Chico, California, and Mills River, the breweries announced on Monday. Sierra Nevada will acquire 100 percent of Sufferfest, which is the company’s first-ever acquisition. The breweries stated shared values, commitment to innovation, and common goals as the root of the partnership. “While still in its infancy, Sufferfest is at the front of the wave of ‘functional’ alcoholic beverages,” said Sierra Nevada President and CEO Jeff White. “By joining with Sierra Nevada, Sufferfest will be better positioned to grow and continue to lead the way in a rapidly growing and highly competitive space.” Sufferfest, which launched in 2016, is beloved by athletes for its gluten-removed line of beers like its 95-calorie Kolsch brewed with bee pollen and its FKT (Fastest Known Time) Pale Ale brewed with salt and black currant. “The complementary nature of our offerings and their position at the cusp of this emerging category are not the only reasons Sufferfest made sense,” said White. “From the moment we met, it was clear that our two companies are deeply aligned in our values and our commitment to do the right thing.” Sufferfest is a Certified B Corporation and a values-driven company. Founder and CEO Caitlin Landesberg, a long-distance trail runner, started the company with a vision to create the perfect post-sweat beer for herself and fellow sufferers. “I’ve always craved a beer after a race, but when I couldn’t find a beer that agreed with my dietary and performance needs, it left a genuine void in the post-race social experience,” explained Landesberg. “The finish line is where we get to celebrate the ail, anguish and suffering we’ve all been through together. I so wanted to continue to be part of this occasion, but didn’t want to keep compromising on taste or ingredients.”   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Housing starts surged by 40 percent in 2018

Reflecting a booming construction economy, new construction surged by 27 percent while remodeling work spiked by 62.5 percent in 2018, according to values reported to the Henderson County Inspections Department.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Mourners remember Ron Metzger as 'the ultimate giver'

Mourners filled the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church on Saturday to celebrate the life of Ronald C. “Ron” Metzger, a high school dropout who became a social worker and mental health administrator, a fulltime repairer of hurting humans, a "world-class" maker of cocktails and cookies and the “ultimate giver.”Metzger died on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at Carolina Village from complications from Alzheimer’s at age 79.Born in Sabetha, Kansas, he was one 10 children of Bertha and Philip Metzger. After dropping out of high school, he got a job as an apprentice baker, arriving at 1 a.m. to knead the dough, fire up the oven and bake bread, then setting out to deliver the bread, the Rev. Mark Ralls said. Metzer volunteered for the U.S. Army as a conscientious objector, assuming he’d be ordered to permanent K.P. “After all, he had lots of practice,” Ralls said. Instead, the Army made him a medic and assigned him to a psychiatric ward, “caring for soldiers struggling with mental illness.” One day, walking the down a street, he spotted a sign about getting a G.E.D. “And he would say years later it was that moment that changed his life,” Ralls said “He vowed to become a social worker.”After his discharge from the Army, he enrolled at Kansas State, where he met and fell in love with Sherri. When he left for graduate school at the University of Kansas, Ron and Sherri were “apart but never separate. Ron and Sherri wrote each other almost every day." Although they could only afford one long distance call a week that was enough. "All those letters and that phone call were enough to keep the fires burning,” Ralls said. Sherri saved Ron’s letters, sealing the more amorous of them in a plastic bag labeled “Open at your own risk.”Early in their courtship, Ron gave Sherri three roses. “One for him, one for her and one for their spirit together,” the minister said. “He continued the tradition throughout their long and happy marriage. Three roses for every anniversary.” Then came their daughter and the three roses represented mom, dad and Emily. When Ron and Sherri moved to Hendersonville in 1974, he started his career as a mental health counselor and later administrator. Over time the small mental health clinic “had grown to 250 employees in a building that bears his name,” Ralls said. “And all through those years of service Ron demonstrated again and again that the greatest gift any of us can give is to give ourselves.”In the early days, with space in short supply, “Ron the director of the program set up his office in the hallway,” a hanging cloth the only means of privacy. Although subordinates protested, “Ron insisted it was more important for our clients to have privacy and dignity.” Besides his degrees from Kansas State and Kansas, Metzger completed post-graduate work at UNC at Chapel Hill and at the National Institute of Mental Health. After he retired from Trend in 1997, he joined Sherri in real estate sales at Beverly Hanks & Associates. He was a member of the Rotary Club for 40 years and served on the board of the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce among other local boards.His daughter, Emily Freeman, remembered when her dad let her stand on his feet when they danced, when he opened the blinds every morning to wake her up, when he made breakfast every day for her and Sherri “and made sure we would all get our day started right as a family,” how he would “always make Mom and me feel like we were the center of his world.” Besides Sherri and Emily, he is survived by his son-in-law, Mark Freeman, and granddaughter, Kinley.Near the end of his career at Trend, Metzger was asked to sum up his philosophy.“It is to have and to give and to share with others,” he told the gathering.“This is not only how he lived,” the Rev. Ralls said, “this is also how he died.” Near the end of his days, as Sherri was leaving his room, Ron “absolutely insisted she take a small figurine on the table as a gift from him,” a giraffe. “Giraffes, you may know, are a symbol of peace. Perhaps Ron knew that in the weeks and months to come Sherri and all the family would need this gift,” Ralls said. “He said ‘I want you to have it, because when I go to sleep tonight I’m not getting out of this bed.’”He was right. That night he fell and never recovered from the fall. He never got out of that bed.“And yet who among us would be surprised to learn,” Ralls said, “that Ron Metzger’s final act was the giving of a gift.” * * * * * The family thanked the staff of Carolina Village and particularly thanked Dr. Peggy Noel of Memory Care, who “will forever remain in our hearts for her tireless compassion.” The family asked that memorial donations be directed to MemoryCare.org through the Community Foundation of Henderson County.       Read Story »

Henderson County News

Shopper at Hendersonville Publix wins $2 million Powerball prize

A shopper who bought a lottery ticket at the new Publix in Hendersonville won $2 million in Saturday's Powerball drawing, the N.C. Lottery reported. The winning numbers were 10-17-18-43-65 for the white balls and 13 for the red Powerball. The North Carolina win of $2 million was the largest prize won nationally in Saturday’s drawing. The ticket matched all five white balls drawn to win $1 million. Because someone added the extra $1 Power Play feature, the prize doubled to $2 million. The lucky ticket beat odds of 1 in 11.7 million. A second big Powerball win occurred in the small community of Ararat in Surry County. A $50,000 ticket was sold at the Lil Mtn Cupboard on Little Mountain Road in Ararat. That ticket matched four of the white balls and the red Powerball, beating odds of 1 in 913,129. Winners have 180 days from the drawing to claim their prize. Because no one won Saturday’s Powerball jackpot, the prize for Wednesday’s drawing will climb to $204 million, worth $124.2 million cash.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

County to take up agreement to create 'extraordinary revitalization' of HHS

The Henderson County commissioners on Monday night will take up a proposed agreement for the architectural services, construction management and other services for “an extraordinary revitalization” of Hendersonville High School at a cost of $59,175,605.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Injured climber flown to Mission after Looking Glass Rock rescue

One climber was flown to Mission hospital in Asheville and another emerged unhurt after the Transylvania County rescue workers responded to a call to Looking Glass Rock in Pisgah National Forest on Saturday night.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Mission sale creates gigantic nonprofit

With the sale of Mission Health System's to HCA Healthcare, Dogwood Health Trust is now officially operating as a private, nonprofit foundation whose purpose is to dramatically improve the health and well-being of all people and communities in Western North Carolina.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Prominent real estate agent charged with misdemeanor sexual battery

A prominent Hendersonville real estate agent has been charged with a misdemeanor sexual battery after an alleged incident that took place on New Year’s Eve or early New Year’s Day in the city.   Read Story »

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