Bragging Rights

By Amber Deen

Yancey and Mitchell counties have a number of things distinctive to this area alone: the best overall weather in the country, the most artists per capita than any other area in the country, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi (Mount Mitchell), the legendary Penland School of Craft, and the premier art studio tour in the country.

We also have a global “first” - first in the world to recover and utilize methane gas from an old landfill to power artists’ glass furnaces and pottery kilns, and to heat an art gallery, greenhouses, education center, and offices in a facility known as EnergyXchange.        

Its mission is to apply the use of renewable resources and practices for educational opportunities and economic development in the fields of art and horticulture.

Because methane is a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more effective at holding heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s feasibility study, the environmental impact of the Yancey-Mitchell Reuse Project is equivalent to planting 14,000 acres of trees or taking 21,000 cars off the road in North Carolina each year.

It’s no wonder, then, that people come from all over the world to study the landfill gas recovery system at EnergyXchange and gain insights into developing similar projects. In the past half dozen years, two other such projects have been developed in Western North Carolina, one near Bryson City, and a more recent one in Asheville. Tours also provide information on wind energy, solar energy, horticulture and aquaculture. A visit to the EnergyXchange is quite an education.

The Craft Incubator
The Craft Incubator Program was established to support six talented artists – 4 potters and 2 glass blowers – at the beginning of their careers to further develop their skills in managing, and operating their own small businesses so that, when they leave EnergyXchange, they’ll have the “know how” and experience to succeed on their own.

There is an art gallery to showcase the resident artists’ work, and visitors are welcomed to watch the artists at work, and may even be invited to participate.

Project Branch Out

Project Branch Out was started with the goal of nurturing small agricultural activities in rural western North Carolina. The area boasts an unequaled array of native ornamental plants such as rhododendron and native azaleas – cash crops for local nurseries. But because many of our indigenous plants have experienced declining availability, Project Branch Out propagates endangered species and helps diversify local crops that once were predominantly tobacco. Several varieties of evergreen rhododendrons and deciduous azaleas are grown from seeds that have been collected locally, and sold in containers to local growers. The best-selling and best known native plant grown there is the Flame Azalea. The quilt block there is titled “Flower of the Woods” and depicts the range of colors possible in the flower of the Flame.

Public Observatory and Star Park
The icing on the cake of this fascinating facility is the new Blue Ridge Public Observatory and Star Park, a world class public astronomical observatory and astronomy park being built on the EnergyXchange mountain top.

The telescope will be a one-of-a-kind custom made 34” Dobsonian type computer controlled observatory telescope. It will be the largest observatory telescope in North Carolina, and the largest dark sky public telescope in the southeastern US. In addition to direct viewing at the eyepiece, live video can be shown from an ultra-sensitive camera system attached to the telescope. The telescope is nearly finished.


Adjacent to the main observatory is a star park area for hosting star parties – a place where visiting astronomers can set up their telescopes and share the skies with the public.

Until the telescope and observatory are completed, the Blue Ridge Astronomy Group is hosting another stargazing on the Town Square in Burnsville November 17th from 7pm to midnight. As always, there’ll be a variety of excellent, powerful telescopes set up, the lights on the square will be turned off, and the traffic will be detoured. Everyone is welcome to come and join in the free, fun, safe evening of stargazing in downtown Burnsville.

Stargazing from The Cove

You could have your own stargazing party on the deck of a similar custom home in The Cove at Celo Mountain. There are so many ways residents of The Cove entertain family and friends including strolls on the beautifully maintained woodsy trails, having cookouts and picnics in the little mini parks throughout the grounds or on their own deck, and playing with the grandkids in the creek, the treehouse, and the rope “bridge.”

So many possibilities exist for our residents. Come explore them. Call 866 378-4769 to set up your own personal tour of the property. You’ll be impressed!

                     

                     Coming Soon, A Holiday Treat!

For the 3rd year, The Read it and Weep Players, a collection of artists and other well known Burnsville characters, will ham it up reading the oldy but goody story, “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t” by Ogdon Nash. It’s a hoot, and always for a different charity. So plan to attend Friday, November 23rd at 10:30am, at the Burnsville Town Center. You’ll enjoy it.



Oh, By The Way..........Winter brings many new and exciting things to our mountain home - skiing, winter sports and a magnificent opportunity to experience clear views of our homesites with 3200 feet plus elevations at the Cove.  The town of Burnsville sits at 2600 feet, only 35 minutes to Asheville.  On Friday, Nov 2nd, Governor Beverly Perdue dedicated the first section of our four-lane highway.  Burnsville's promising future is opening up with this new, improved accessibility.

Please contact us soon to visit Western North Carolina and "Discover The Cove at Celo Mountain".