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LOCAL BRIEFS: Cradle of Forestry, Art on Main, 'Great Place to Work'

By Lightning Reports, Published: September 20, 2024

Cradle of Forestry announces fall events

FIND Outdoors and the Pisgah Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service invites the public to the Cradle for Forestry for these upcoming events:

• Saturday, Sept. 28: National Public Lands Day, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event for public lands. NPLD is also a “Fee-Free Day”—one of only five days a year when entrance fees are waived at national parks and other public lands. Additionally, the Cradle will host a special book signing with the author of “MOON TREE: The Story of One Extraordinary Tree,” by Carolyn Bennett Fraiser, fro m 1 to 2 p.m., with a book reading to immediately follow. Other fee free days for the 2024 season are Sept. 24, and Oct. 22.

• Saturday, Oct. 5: Forest Festival Day & Woodsman’s Meet, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Celebrate the forest heritage of western North Carolina during the annual Forest Festival Day and John G. Palmer Intercollegiate Woodmen’s Meet showcasing forestry and traditional craft. Collegiate competitors will descend upon the Pink Beds Picnic area and test their skills at a number of events including archery, axe throwing, crosscut sawing and pole felling. Attendees have the opportunity to make their own tree cookie and Smash NC will be on site serving burgers and more. General admission (ages 13 & up) $10; youth (ages 4-12) $6. Purchase on site only at the Cradle of Forestry or Pink Beds Picnic area.
• Saturday, Oct. 12: Camping in the Old Style, , 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The Cradle of Forestry in America invites the public to explore a re-created campsite of the early 1900s. A classic camping interpretive team known as the Acorn Patrol demonstrates the low-tech/high-skill approach as practiced in the outdoors during what some historians consider the Golden Age of Camping. Admission included with site admission.

• Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25-26: The Legend of Tommy Hodges Outdoor Drama, 7:30 p.m. During this unique and exciting outdoor performance, audiences will travel back in time to the early 1900s and hear Appalachian yarns about the mysterious and unknown once told by the legendary Tommy Hodges, a fictional student of the Biltmore Forest School. Guests will be led around the Biltmore Campus Trail by different characters and watch as the story unfolds around them from all sides. “The Legend of Tommy Hodges” is a homegrown amateur production presented by FIND Outdoors Team Members and Cradle of Forestry hosts. The play is not based on historical facts and the script changes from year to year. General admission $30; youth (ages 4-12) $15.  

For more information on events and programs at the Cradle of Forestry, visit gofindoutdoors.org.

Art on Main is Sept. 28-29

The Arts Council of Henderson County will present the 65^th annual Art on Main fine art and craft festival in downtown Hendersonville 10 a.m.-5 p.m. the weekend of Sept. 28-29.

“Art on Main 2024 promises to celebrate the amazing creativity and many talents of artists from across the region, making it a must-see event for art lovers and the community,” said Simone Wood, chair of the Arts Council’s Art on Main Committee.

One of Western North Carolina’s most popular outdoor arts festivals, the juried show will feature fine art and craft artists from as far away as Canada. More than 100 artists will line Main Street with art work in clay, drawing/graphics, fiber/leather, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, watercolor, alcohol ink, oil, acrylic, photography and wood. Prize money of $2,000 will be awarded to artists. Demonstrating artists will also be on hand to show and explain their creative processes.

New artists in this year’s show include Victor Field and Megan Huston from Ataraxia Designs. Their art work combines awareness and sustainability as two grounding principles, while they create using natural materials of clay and organic cotton, keeping the earth, its treasures, and future generations in mind.

Janet Leazenby, a popular local clay artist, is returning with her signature whimsical rabbits and much more. A former art teacher, she began working in clay when she was a teenager. From her desire to incorporate “organic” elements into her work that would retain the quality of living and dancing, she experimented and created her own processes that infuse her work with a permanent sense of movement.

The Art on Main Committee has selected “There is Still Time,” an acrylic painting by Erika Wilson, as this year’s marketing image. Based in Asheville and Salt Lake City, Wilson is known for work inspired by natural wilderness, as well as cultivated nature found in such urban spaces as gardens, houseplants and roadside tree tangles. Her artwork is an exercise in seeing with deeper curiosity as we navigate what may seem ordinary, and is an invitation to embrace belonging within the strange and unknown.

Many Art on Main artists are contributing works to the 2024 Raffle conducted by the Arts Council of Henderson County. There will be a raffle tent with the raffle items on display. Tickets will be available for $5 each at the welcome tents and the raffle tent. Winners will be announced Sunday night. 

Art on Main is free and open to the public. Children’s goody bags will be available at the Arts Council’s welcome tables, as well as maps and information about the show.

Please leave pets comfortably at home. Hendersonville city ordinance prohibits animals in the event area.

Presented by the Arts Council of Henderson County with support provided by Henderson County Tourism Development Authority (www.visithendersonvillenc.org) the city of Hendersonville and the North Carolina Arts Council, Art on Main is also sponsored by Benson & Babb Interiors, Boyd Chevrolet, First Citizens Bank, The Starving Artist, Beginnings Quilt Shop, Wild Birds Unlimited and WNCW 88.7-FM.

For more information contact the Arts Council at artonmain@acofhc.org or info@acofhc.org, visit www.acofhc.org or call 828-693-8504.

Father and son team honored as Farm Family of the Day

Flavor Full Farms, the apple growing, packing and slicing operation run by the father-and-son team of Jeff and Jerred Nix, has been named a Farm Family of the Day by the State Fair. The Nixes will be honored on Saturday, Oct. 19, during the State Fair in Raleigh.

“The N.C. State Fair’s earliest beginnings sought to elevate the understanding of new agricultural practices and technology,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said. “Today, one of agriculture’s biggest challenges is helping people make the connection between farming and the food they enjoy. Farm families tell that story the best because they are out there every day working hard to grow the food, fiber and fuel we need.”

Sponsored by Tractor Supply Co., the farm family recognition is returning for a fourth year to celebrate the rich agricultural heritage and the farm families behind the state’s $111.1 billion agriculture and agribusiness industry.

The families were nominated either by family or community members for their hard work and dedication to our state’s No. 1 industry, as well as their overall love for the N.C. State Fair. The lucky winners were chosen at random. Each farm family is assigned a specific day of the 2024 N.C. State Fair, taking place Oct. 17-27, where they will be honored through public address announcements and on-grounds signage, as well as features on both the N.C. State Fair and the NCDA&CS blogs and social media platforms.

Each family also receives an N.C. State Fair prize pack, including fair tickets to use on any day of their choosing.

The 2024 N.C. State Fair runs Oct. 17-27 at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. For more information, visit www.ncstatefair.org.&nbsp.

AdventHealth certified as Great Place To Work

AdventHealth has received Great Place To Work certification from Great Place To Work, an independent third-party organization, the hospital announced.

The recognition is based entirely on feedback from a random sampling of 5,000 team members across the organization who were invited to take part in the survey. A faith-based health system, Advent Health operates more than 50 hospitals in nine states including AdventHealth Hendersonville.

AdventHealth’s commitment to caring for its 95,000-plus team members — body, mind and spirit — is the foundation for its “feel whole” brand promise and is embodied in an array of resources designed to nurture professional and personal growth, equipping team members to deliver AdventHealth’s hallmark whole-person care to the communities they serve. At the heart of that care is a team invested in service standards that define every interaction with patients and each other: Keep Me Safe. Love Me. Make It Easy. Own It.

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