Buzzworm news briefs

Buncombe 1, Asheville 0

A Wake County Superior Court ruling earlier this month dismissed the city’s attempt to overturn state legislation that prohibits Asheville from charging different water rates for customers outside the city limits. But the ruling by Judge Howard E. Manning Jr. also lambastes state legislators for giving Buncombe County preferential treatment, which he said “goes against the very fiber of the concept of due process that is required in [such] disputes.”

At press time, City Council had not yet decided if it would appeal the Feb. 2 decision. But in writing his 16-page ruling, Manning occasionally shifts from dry legalese into scorching critique.

“This Court, while holding its nose, has reached the conclusion that in the legislative theater of conflict, the legislature has the power and authority to act in the manner in which it did,” reads the document. In other words, no harm, no foul.

The General Assembly passed Sullivan Acts II and III in 2005—the day before the Asheville/Buncombe Water Agreement expired. The laws also dictate how the city can use water revenues. The original Sullivan Act was passed in 1933.

While the court document affirms that the General Assembly has the power to enact such restrictions, Manning took issue with the way the matter was handled. Referring to the fact that the acts were rushed through the state Senate and House in one day, the judge called the process a “speeding Teflon coated bullet.”

“It is fair to say that in this matter, Buncombe County had the political inside track in the General Assembly and as such, there was no robust, fair fight before the railroad train carrying Sullivan II and III from Jones Street to the City of Asheville left the station at warp speed,” Manning wrote.

—Brian Postelle

Roycroft lives at Asheville Art Museum

Simplicity of form, careful craftsmanship and the belief that a functional item can be as artistically meaningful as a painting or sculpture are some of the core values of the modern American arts-and-crafts movement. But in the late 1800s, the industrial revolution had brought cheap, uniform goods into the marketplace, and the individual craftsperson appeared to be joining the town crier and manuscript illuminator in fading into the fog of history.

When Elbert Hubbard founded the Roycroft community in East Aurora, N.Y., then, many people thought him to be a dreamer. A return to crafting? In 1895? It was the eve of a new century—no time to resurrect the glories of the past.

And yet, Hubbard’s vision sparked a resurgence in the arts-and-crafts movement. Roycroft became a thriving haven for furniture makers, metal smiths, leather workers, small-press printers and traditional bookbinders. The high quality of the work produced by the Roycrofters, as they were known, was lauded across the country, and their pieces adorned some of the most elegant homes and businesses in the country.

In fact, when Edwin Grove’s son-in-law Fred Seely was inspired to build a health retreat in a valley in Western North Carolina, he turned to the Roycrofters to design its light fixtures and several items of furniture. Today, the Grove Park Inn still keeps a substantial collection of pieces from Roycroft craftsmen, and continues to promote the arts-and-crafts movement with an annual conference.

The Asheville Art Museum will soon close its display of Roycroft goods, Love, Live and Work: The Roycroft Legacy, but there’s still a chance to learn more about the movement’s many ties with the Asheville area. On Saturday, Feb. 17, the museum will present “Roycroft and the Asheville Connection,” a slide lecture and tour by Lynne Poirier-Wilson. The event takes place at Diana Wortham Theatre and the AAM from 5 to 7 p.m.; admission is $20 for museum members, $25 for nonmembers.

For more information and reservations, call 253-3227, ext. 120, or visit www.ashevilleart.org.

– Steve Shanafelt

Growing, naturally with the Organic Growers School

Forget that groundhog business. The surest sign that spring is just around the corner is the annual Organic Growers School, which pops up like narcissus every March. Beginning in 1994 with a gathering of about 100 local enthusiasts, the school and its reputation have grown like weeds. Last year, more than 1,000 students from 15 states signed up for the event.

The 14th annual OGS will be held at Blue Ridge Community College, near Flat Rock, on March 10. Preregistration ends March 1, and the event is always a sell-out, so organic wannabes oughtabe signing up now.

The school offers a full day of workshops covering multiple aspects of private and commercial growing. This year there are 69 different sessions, with topics as diverse as Beginning Gardening, Livestock in the City, Stonescaping your yard, Medicinal Herb Production, and Biodiesel, Solar and Wind Energy Systems. Participants must select four among the dozens of classes, or sign up for half-day hands-on workshops. Slots in the half-day sessions are particularly limited, so early registration is important.

At the same time, the school will again offer a daylong program for children ages 7 to 12 (with a registration limit of 30 participants).

Those who register early can sign up for a $10 catered lunch provided by cosponsor Greenlife Grocery. Rosetta’s Kitchen, West End Bakery and Urban Burrito will also be on site selling food items.

A follow-up session—Hot Pile Composting: The Hands-On, the Realities, the Nitty-Gritty—will be held the following day at Warren Wilson College from 1 to 5 p.m.

Cost for Saturday’s classes is $40 (early) and $55 (after March 1) for adults, $30 for children, $10 for optional lunch and $25 for the Sunday session. There is an additional $5 charge for half-day sessions and cooking classes.
For more information or to register, visit organicgrowersschool.org. To request a registration form, e-mail info@organicgrowersschool.org or call 342-5333.