Fletcher gets a food truck park. Plus, the WNC Farmers market holds an event on canning and preserving; Avenue M welcomes a new chef; and more.
![](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_3824-330x440.jpg)
Fletcher gets a food truck park. Plus, the WNC Farmers market holds an event on canning and preserving; Avenue M welcomes a new chef; and more.
Western North Carolina bustled with electoral intrigue in 2021. From Woodfin, Asheville’s neighbor to the north, to the Jackson County seat of Sylva in the west, challengers bested incumbents in many nonpartisan town council and commission races.
If Asheville City Council approves the annexation agreement, Fletcher officials will promise not to claim a 2-acre piece of unincorporated Buncombe County for 20 years, clearing the way for Asheville’s newest addition. The property’s current owner is seeking voluntary annexation by the city.
Incumbents were vulnerable in all five of the races in which they were challenged, with Democrats ousting Republicans in the city governments of Hendersonville and Saluda (which also lies partially in Polk County). Henderson County turnout was 18.4%, with 4,766 of 25,897 eligible voters casting their ballots.
Xpress reached out to candidates across the two counties to understand their motivations for participating in the municipal elections. Many of the topics the hopeful elected officials raised — diversity, transportation planning and preservation of small-town character — may give WNC politicos a sneak peak at what will be important to area voters in 2020.
Last month marked the 400th anniversary of the introduction of slavery to North America, triggering a new round of national soul-searching about human bondage and its complex legacy. And closer to home, Lost Cause-era monuments to Confederate figures at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher also raise significant questions about the country’s troubled history and this region’s place in it.
The Henderson County brewery hosts the second Fletcher Firefly Festival on Saturday, June 24, in its new Firefly Field.
MG Road hosts a Persian feast to support Hadaya Toys, Coffee for Champions project partners with local coffee shops to raise money for Buncombe County Special Olympics, Corner Kitchen rolls out a summer menu and the 1LUV Food & Music Festival offers 25 food trucks and local beer along with four days of music and fun.
Chef Kris Edwards and his team from the 550 Tavern Grille snagged two of the top prizes at the town of Fletcher’s 14th annual Chili Cook-off held Jan. 24 at Veritas Christian Academy. The Airport Road restaurant won first place in both the Best Overall Chili and People’s Choice categories. The winner in the Best Individual Chili […]