Mountain Heritage Expo Center and 2011 Fall Foliage and Festivals in the NC Blue Ridge Mountains

I mentioned it in last week's blog, but the news is getting better every day for us at THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN.

Micaville Initiative

The Taylor Togs building is in Micaville just east of the OOAK (One-of-a-Kind) Gallery just a few miles from The Cove at Celo Mountain on the Micaville Loop before heading up 80 S, a NC State Scenic Highway. This is just off of NC State Scenic Highway 19 E (being made into a 4-lane). I hope to get renderings and plans from the Executive Director of the project in the next few days and follow with these and further details in the next Cove at Celo Mountain blog. Here is what she sent out in an email yesterday.

"A Press Release will be going out soon regarding the Mountain Heritage Expo Center, the 60,000 sf multi-use community facility (being converted from the former Taylor Togs Bldg). Renovations are underway, starting with energy upgrades funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds which include a photovoltaic system, a solar thermal system, insulation, and daylighting. The facility is being designed in cooperation with community partners with everything 'Local' in mind and will include:

• two restaurants
• an indoor live Crafters Village
• an indoor walking trail and gym
• office spaces
• retail space
• a community FDA kitchen
• a wholefoods site supporting our local farmers & foods
• a Children's Learning Center, Classroom & Meeting rooms
• an Expo area
• and more."

It is my understanding a "living roof" is also being planned. This is incredibly wonderful news for all of us that live in the area.

Fall Foliage 2011 Forecast and Festivals

If you have never experienced fall in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, you are missing the treat of a lifetime. Good Morning America just named this one of the 10 Most Beautiful Places in America and Fodor's named it one of Top 21 Places (in the World) to Visit in 2011. Fall is the most favored season for tourists. The Asheville Citizen-Times had a lead story this past week predicting beautiful fall foliage with perfect weather conditions. Peak foliage here in Burnsville, Boone, Blowing Rock area is predicted to be around Oct 4-14. However, any time in fall is fabulous here - firepits, festivals and foliage topping the list of favorites - all to be enjoyed in and around THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN. Here are Romantic Asheville's suggestions (and some of mine) for this year:

• FOLIAGE FROM THE RIVER Kayaking or Tubing near us
• FOLIAGE FROM ZIP LINE CANOPY TOURS list of favorites near us
• FOLIAGE FROM HORSEBACK list of favorites near us
• FOLIAGE FROM A BIKE OR HIKE list of favorites near us
• FOLIAGE FROM A HOT AIR BALLOON favorites near us
• FOLIAGE FROM THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY the perennial favorite

Remember: Dogwood: red; Sweetgum: red to purple; Red Maple: red to orange; Oaks: red to brown; Poplars: yellow; Birches: yellow; Mountain Ash: yellow

For: The Science Behind the Leaf Color Change and Asheville Area Leaf Watching Tips and More of the Above

Fall Flings and Festivals Near THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN

Aug 20 – Sept 24 BRAG (Blue Ridge Art Guild) Exhibit – 80N and 80S – see paintings of our state scenic highway – Spruce Pine TRAC Gallery

Aug. 26 to Sept. 03 - Parkway Playhouse Presents: World Premier – Along About Sundown

Sept 3 - Gold in the Hills Day at Emerald Village Mine Featuring live music, guided mine hikes special black-light night tours, contests, food, vendors, and more.

Sep 9 and 10 Carolina Mountain Literary Festival - a Top Event

Sept. 17 - Music Legend - John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire Songwriter and performer known famously for St. Elmo's Fire Contact: Burnsville Town Center 828-682-7209 burnsvilletowncenter.com

Sept. 24 - Old Timey Days on the Square Crafts, Music, Displays, Food and Fun... Contact: Yancey History Association 828-682-3671 – a Top Event

Sept 24 - 7th Annual Bakersville Creek Walk Arts Festival. A Top Event Sept. 30, Oct 1 and 2 – The Yancey County Animal Shelter Big Fall Flea – shop till you drop – Taylor Togs Bldg in Micaville Oct. 01 - Music in the Mountains Folk Festival 5 p.m. Burnsville Town Center, Burnsville Nc Contact: Burnsville Town Center 828-682-7209 -a Top Event Oct 14 and 15 - Dream Home Tour – A Top Event Oct. 15 - Town Square Scamper 5k, Fall Foliage Stroll and Downtown Ramble Contact: Martha Tyner 828-682-74210

Whale Rescue from the Blue Ridge Mtns, Going Green with Solar, New Health Initiatives for our Area

From Celo, NC

Just got back from Boston and the whale watch there and incredible "MIT +150 = Inventional Wisdom" being touted at MIT (150 MIT-related inventions that changed the world.) Well, we have our own it seems - of both - right here within 10 minutes of THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN. It sounds improbable, but the rescue of a young whale (the endangered humpback), was accomplished by one of our local citizens (Blue Ridge Mountains) while in the Sea of Cortez with friends. He has made the rounds of national TV programs - including 20/20. His YouTube video has had close to 4 million visitors.

And from Florida to the Pensacola area of Burnsville, NC

"A planned solar energy facility in Yancey County could provide more than 50 jobs for area residents if a joint effort between the county and three other counties becomes a reality. The proposed solar energy project is being developed by a Florida company on a tract of land already purchased in Pensacola. Part of the 14.7 acre location off Hwy 197-S would be used for non-reflective solar panels that would not distract from the surrounding landscape, according to Yancey County Manager Nathan Bennett who unveiled the plan to commissioners last week. The company, Nationwide Renewable Energy is working with Mayland Community College and McDowell Technical Community College to establish a certified education and jobs training program to support the solar energy business in Avery, Mitchell, Yancey and McDowell Counties. The high tech program will be based around four individual solar farms, one in each county and is estimated to cost around $65 million.(This is near the 450 acres the owners of THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN have for future development.)

In Micaville - close to THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN
Mountain Heritage Expo Center, Burnsville, Yancey County will implement energy-efficient retrofits and upgrades to an existing center for small businesses. Measures implemented will include: improved insulation, daylighting, solar thermal hot water system, and a photovoltaic system to offset energy use. This project will create or two to four jobs and save 2,905 MBTUs annually. Total grant: $378,020.

In Spruce Pine - near The Blue Ridge Regional Hospital (part of Mission Hospital of Asheville)
East Carolina has selected Mitchell County as one of ten locations to locate a dental facility for 4th-year students enrolled at the University’s new dentistry school. The school recently announced that it will build a $3 million service learning center near the Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine. Full time dental school faculty members will staff the center that will provide a general dentistry office with 16 treatment rooms and classroom space for students in their final year of study. The center will serve Mitchell County residents and those of surrounding counties, providing lower cost dental care for those in need. The Samuel L. Phillips Family Foundation gift of three four year dental scholarships to Mitchell, Avery and Yancey County area students played a big part in ECU’s decision to locate the facility in the Tri-County area. The project should be up and running by 2014.

On the campuses of our award-winning middle schools
Yancey County Schools was awarded $500,000 through the Health Resources and Services Administration to fully construct and equip two 1,400 square foot facilities at East Yancey and Cane River middle schools. These facilities will become the new home for the school based health centers and will free up the space currently being used at each school to make new classrooms, offices, etc. The size and the layout of the new space used will be upgraded to provide for improved clinic staffing, enhancement of current services, and the addition of new services. “This project is a tremendous opportunity for our school system to improve the quality of care our students receive at our health centers,” said Superintendent Dr. Tony Tipton. “We are very appreciative both of this grant award and our partnership with the Toe River Health District which provides the staffing for the health centers. Through their work, our students are healthier and better prepared to learn.” These new facilities will be paired with telemedicine - the technology based on Internet videoconferencing and using specially equipped stethoscopes and camera so a health care provider can examine a student, listen to his or her heart and lungs, look into ears, eyes, nose and throat. Doctors would be able to assess the effectiveness of a newly prescribed asthma medication or determine if a child with a stomach ache needs to be seen urgently in the emergency room or could return to class. The intent is to promote healthier and happier students and ultimately improve attendance and graduation rates."

News featured from:
http://www.healthyyancey.org/telemedicine.html

http://www.wkyk.com/news.shtml

http://www.yanceytimesjournal.com/

KNIFE AND FORK WINS 2011 WNC CHEF CHALLENGE!

Chef Nate of Knife & Fork wins Chef Challenge.

Congratulations, Nate and Wendy!

WNC magazine

And the winner is....Chef Nate Allen and his team from Knife & Fork! Thank you to both teams for so many wonderful meals this year.

5 hours ago · Like · Comment

@mxeatmxeat

And the winner of the grand finale wnc chef's challenge it's knife and fork from spruce pine. Congrats!

Experience the people and places we love when you visit THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN. This is just one of our favorite places - a small, unpretentious ten-table restaurant highlighting local produce in our All-American Blue Ridge Mountain historic hometown. It's no longer a hidden gem.

And neither are we. We are excited about the momentum behind this small, sanctuary community outside of Asheville and want you to come see if it is something you might like as well.

THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN - in the Toe River Valley of the storied Blue Ridge Mountains

• informed by world-renowned arts and crafts
• nourished by incredible organic farms and the chefs that team with them to create culinary masterpieces
• surrounded on the north, south, east, and west by National and State Scenic Highways and Byways
• sustained by the salt-of-the-earth people that make our historic hometowns so well loved

Good Morning America just named this Asheville area one of the 10 Most Beautiful Places in America. Fodor's, of travel guide fame, named Asheville one of the Top 21 Destination Places in 2011 - along with places like the Amalfi Coast, Mozambique, and Marrakesh.

Come and experience for yourself the beauty of this place and its people with our Special Discovery Package - 866-378-4769.

Breathe the mountains... Live the Dream...

Photos: WNC Magazine, Knife and Fork website, and http://topsy.com/twitpic.com/65mprw

Western North Carolina - Best of the Best

CHECK US OUT!

WNC Magazine's August, 2011 issue highlights some of the best of our best in Burnsville, Spruce Pine, and Bakersville - and, of course, THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN.

Starting with page 5 our CABIN IN THE WOODS vs. the Castle in the Mountains layout.

Then, on page 16, THE COVE AT CELO MOUNTAIN Estate Owners highlighted in spread for Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

On page 20 - Spruce Pine artist and fiber sculptor, Anne Lemanski, whose art is informed from the news - a gorilla killed in the Congo, a seabird victim of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the near extinction of the hummingbird in Columbia and - my favorite - the coyote - made from a Mexican serape (can you guess what this represents? The article and the artist are amazing!)

Keep going... - page 22 - TEST YOUR ART SMART -

Question #2 of the quiz

"Which county has the highest concentration of artists in the country?
A) Buncombe
B) Caldwell
C) Avery
D) Yancey

Question #3

"How many works were up for bid in the 2010 Penland School of Crafts auction?
A) 121
B) 500
C) 234
D) 333"

And MY question - what famous glass blower from our county did the incredible glass in the photo by question # 3?

Answer these 3 questions correctly in our Blog Comment section and we will mail you a professional DVD of The Cove at Celo Mountain. (What? You expected an original Lemanski?)

pg. 61 - THE FINAL BATTLE - Our very own CHEF NATHAN ALLEN of KNIFE AND FORK vs. Chef Michael Gonzales of the Bistro on Biltmore Estates

AND the 2011 BEST BET - the Penland School of Crafts Benefit Auction - August 12 &13