THE IRISH GOT IT RIGHT...

Over 200 years ago, this beautiful region in the mountains of western North Carolina was settled almost exclusively by Scotch-Irish immigrants as they arrived from northern Europe.  Most of them found themselves traveling into the backwoods of colonial America and the Appalachian region, extending from western Pennsylvania to Georgia. They came by foot, wagon, or horseback, entering the area through gaps such as Swannanoa, Hickory Nut, Gillespie, and Deep Gaps. 

Scotch-Irish settlers brought with them the agricultural, music, craft, and storytelling traditions of their homeland. Living in small, relatively isolated communities, Scotch-Irish settlers sustained their cultural ties through the preservation of these traditions and had a profound influence on shaping the distinctive agricultural, music, storytelling, and crafts of the Southern Appalachians.

Today we strive to preserve those cultural traditions as well as the beauty of the area; much of what they contributed remains deeply rooted in our surroundings.  We boast of having one of the highest concentrations of craftsman and artists per capita then anywhere in the county.   Here at the Cove at Celo Mountain the beauty of the land remains much the same, our mountain views are what those early settlers experienced as they arrived here.                                     

 

We invite you to visit our pristine community – once home to the Scotch-Irish immigrants, home to us, and perhaps home to you.  Call our sales office to arrange your visit, we can’t wait to show you those views and maybe we’ll see a shamrock! 

               

 866-378-4769

 

 

The following events are planned to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this week:

Friday March 15^th    -     Yancey County Humane Society 

        St. Patrick’sBenefit Dinner    

Burnsville Town Center

Saturday March 16^th  -     Irish Beer Tasting at Burnsville Wine and ...

                                                    O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale and Irish Stout.

                                                      Tasting is from 4-6.

                                             

                                             

  For Event Details:   YANCEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

 

For each petal on the shamrock.
This brings a wish your way
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

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".

Culture Thrives in the Mountains

By Amber Deen

Toe River Arts Council

A great many towns in America have an arts council to promote their resident artists, because a thriving cultural climate is important for attracting visitors and new residents. The chances of finding an arts council guiding the cultural vitality of a community is more likely in towns with a good number of residents in the mid to high socioeconomic level to support it. Usually, the larger the city, the more prominent is its arts council and its cultural life.

It’s surprising, then, to find a strong and immeasurably effective arts council in our little village of Burnsville, NC with a population of less than 18 hundred, 18 thousand for the entire county.  Our Toe River Arts Council (TRAC) is one of the oldest and most innovative, effective, and respected of any in the 100 counties of our state. It’s the only arts council in NC serving artists in three counties, each with a small population yet high density of artists. As a matter of fact, this immediate area has more artists per capita than any similar size area in the country.

Most arts councils have a gallery and gift shop to showcase and sell the work of their resident artists, and we do too. We maintain two actually, one in Burnsville and another in Spruce Pine. More than that, though, TRAC enjoys a reputation as a leader in its field because of the number of innovative and successful programs it has developed during the 36 years of its existence.

Studio Tours                                                  
Our Council, for instance, pioneered studio tours two decades years ago, where people drive themselves to artist’s studios sprinkled throughout the nooks and crannies of the region, meet and watch the artists working, and buy directly from the maker. There were no studio tours then. Now it seems, every city and town in the country stages them. Cities have multiple tours in different geographical areas, and more tours in their suburban communities.


TRAC facilitates two studio tours a year, the second weekend in June and the first weekend in December. There are around 100 artists participating either in their own studios or sharing another artist’s studio. People come from all over the country again and again for our TRAC tours. They are the most popular studio tours in the nation. If you’ve never been on our premier tour, you might think about coming up for this next one November 30th to December 2nd. See the listing below under “Upcoming Events.”

Community Orchestra & Chorus
Another unique TRAC-supported program is our community orchestra. The Toe River Chamber Ensemble is composed of about 20 resident musicians of all ages from ours and surrounding counties. The eldest member is an 80-something year old violinist from Boone. The youngest is a teenage violinist from Yancey County.

About the time school starts, orchestra members begin gathering weekly to play and rehearse music – from classical and contemporary to Broadway show tunes. They recently presented their annual fall concert for the public, free as always, and are now in weekly rehearsals for their annual Christmas Concert December 11, when they combine their talents with the Toe River Community Chorus. And around Easter will be the orchestra’s annual spring concert.

The Community Chorus is formed each year about this time just for the Christmas performance. Anyone who loves to sing is invited to come to weekly rehearsals. They will perform Vivaldi’s Gloria as part of this year’s concert, a favorite of mine. See the listing below under “Upcoming Events.”


Art in the Schools
Denise Cook, who plays in the orchestra and was the guiding light in its creation, has been TRAC’s executive director for over 20 years. She has worked tirelessly to generate funding for the Council’s incomparable programs to bring a variety of multi-cultural and curriculum-based art instruction and performances into Yancey and Mitchell Counties’ school systems.

My favorite is the Traditional Arts Program for Students (TAPS) which teaches 5th to 8th graders the traditional mountain instruments – guitar, banjo, dulcimer, and fiddle – both during school and in after school programs, with the goal of keeping the musical heritage of the region alive and thriving in today’s community. A student who has no instrument and cannot afford to buy one, may borrow one from TRAC.

These special programs are funded by the NC Arts Council - a state agency, the United Way of Mitchell County, United Foundation of Yancey County, and Mitchell and Yancey County Schools.


Paint-Out

Six or seven years ago, another program was launched, the Paint Out. Around 35 artists come to TRAC’s gift shop and gallery in Burnsville early on a Saturday in May to register. Most are from this area with a few from other states. They then disperse throughout the town, some going further afield into the hills and valleys of the county to paint in a variety of mediums. (Most have pre-scouted the scenes they plan to paint). They work most of the day. A number of artists paint multiple pictures. By 3 o’clock, they begin bringing their work back to the gallery and frame it. Then it’s hung. Everyone returns for a rousing reception at 6 o’clock when a visiting artist jurist announces the winners. It has been a very popular, successful program.

And More
Other successful events and programs include Music in the Mountains, our tribute to local music traditions; ongoing special exhibits in the Burnsville and Spruce Pine galleries, each with a free opening reception to which the public is invited; and the Blue Ridge Fine Arts Guild (BRAG), a TRAC-sponsored group of painters and photographers who meet once a month to socialize and support and learn from one another. There is usually a guest artist who demonstrates his or her technique.

Art at The Cove at Celo Mountain

From the magnificent entry gate depicting mountains in layered metals, and the large, colorful quilt square sculpture nearby, to the artful design of the pocket parks beside the creek and the landscaping throughout the community, The Cove at Celo Mountain is itself a work of art. It’s obvious from first glance that the beauty of Nature’s art has been magnified by skillfully marrying the natural setting with artful landscape and home design.

Come see for yourself. Plan to spend a weekend. Tour the Cove and attend one or more of the holiday happenings listed below. Call us at 866 378-4769 for details on our Mountain Renewal getaway package.

Upcoming Events

Penland School of Crafts Auction
An auction of student and instructor donated art at this world-renown crafts school, November 15 at 8pm in Penland’s Northlight Building. Details: info@penland.org or 828-765-2359.

10th Annual Christmas Ornament Festival
A chance to buy showcase of local artists holiday-themed work, November 17 from 10 to 2 at Burnsville Town Center. Free admission.

TRAC Holidaze Exhibit

An exhibit of holiday-themed artwork by resident artists, November 23 to December 31 with an opening reception the 23rd from 5 to 7 at the Burnsville Toe River Arts Council gallery and gift shop. Details: www.toeriverarts.org.

TRAC Studio Tour                                                           

The premier studio tour in the country, begins at noon, Friday November 30 and runs Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2 from 10 to 5. There is a free public reception at 4 o’clock on Friday at the Spruce Pine TRAC gallery to meet participating artists and see an exhibit of their work. Free guides/maps are available at both TRAC galleries, and all participating studios. Details: www.toeriverarts.org.

Burnsville Christmas Parade

A wonderful small town American style parade with antique tractors and cars, horses, the high school marching band, and Santa, December 1 beginning at 3 o’clock on West Main St. Details: www.yanceychamber.com or email info@yanceychamber.com .

Annual Christmas Concert
Toe River Chamber Ensemble and Toe River Community Chorus present for the public their annual Christmas Concert December 11 at First Baptist Church on Town Square. It is free. Details: www.toeriverarts.org.

Our hearts were saddened by the destruction caused by Super Storm Sandy this past week.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, businesses and all those touched by this tragic event.  We applaud everyone who is reaching out by contributing, either money or man hours, to the aid, relief and recovery efforts.