“Lots of insight into helping us transplanted urbanites comprehend the ongoing support for our current president, whom many of us consider an amoral charlatan, even when they are voting against their own interests.”
Tag: Madison County
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Letter: Confederate monuments and phony culture wars
“For years now, Americans have engaged in culture wars, typically over gay rights, abortion, feminism, an imperiled Christianity, bathrooms and Confederate monuments, all perhaps as contrived as the ‘winners,’ usually declared to be ‘leftists’ and ‘lie-braes,’ and ‘losers,’ the poor victimized ‘right and righteous.'”
Beyond stereotypes: portrait of the rural mountain community of Spillcorn
“White, rural communities like Spillcorn are ignored at the risk of misunderstanding their agency and influence in America today.”
Artist Josh Copus builds community
On Saturday, April 7, artist Josh Copus will dedicate his latest installation from his Building Community Brick Project at the Woodson Branch Nature School.
Nonprofit promotes art and fellowship on Bluff Mountain
“From its earliest days, even before it took its more-or-less permanent form as a 501(c)(3), Azule was integral to the Shelton-Laurel and Bluff communities it existed in,” says the organization’s coordinator, Alicia Araya.
Local agencies work to improve water quality in Buncombe & Madison counties
This week, Xpress looks at the network of agencies and organizations working in Buncombe and Madison counties to improve water quality and position the French Broad as the region’s next great tourist attraction.
How interstate highways changed the face of WNC
As plans move ahead for the Interstate 26 Connector project through Asheville, community members look back to reflect on the profound impact major road construction projects have had on the region.
Rural Heritage Museum highlights history of WNC barns
From the Ani Katuah to white settlers and tobacco farmers, barns and buildings have played a central role in defining the culture of the Southern Appalachians. Shelter on the Mountain: Barns and Building Traditions of the Southern Highlands traces the evolution of local building practices.
Smart bets: Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival
Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival celebrates its 49th year of championing and preserving Southern Appalachian traditions at Mars Hill University on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Inaugural Pedal to Plate bicycle tour rolls out Sept. 18 in Marshall
Rolling out on Sept. 18, the inaugural Pedal to Plate event will offer tours of six Madison County farms along a 33-mile bike route, followed by a locally sourced farm dinner at Root Bottom Farm.
Murky future for Madison’s historic jailhouse
UPDATE [6/24/16]: Madison County Commissioners voted to accept the $99,800 bid for the old jailhouse property Thursday, June 23, at their monthly meeting by unanimous decision. Josh Copus, a local potter and founder of Clayspace Co-op, announced he and several partners are the purchasers on Facebook. Initial indications are the building will be utilized as […]
Letter writer: Silver Mine fire inspires poem
“Out of the ashes of her arsonist’s deliberate attack
She will rise in time and take her mountains back”
Celebrating Madison County’s farm buildings
Appalachian Barn Alliance hosts Barn Month 2016, a series of events surrounding the third annual Barn Day on Saturday, May 21. The festivities kick off on Friday, May 5, with the opening reception of The Barns of Madison County exhibit at The Madison County Arts Center.
Smoke and mirrors: the death of tobacco in WNC
Few crops have been as central to North Carolina’s economy and culture — or as controversial — as tobacco. Historically, its high market value and the relative ease of growing it made tobacco a staple for many Western North Carolina farmers. As late as 2002, 1,995 mountain farms grew tobacco. The crop’s prevalence, however, was […]
Blood in the valley: The Shelton Laurel Massacre’s haunting legacy
“Will the America of the future — will this vast, rich Union ever realize what itself cost back there, after all?” – Walt Whitman In January 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Confederate soldiers of the 64th North Carolina Regiment, composed mostly of men from the western counties, marched into Shelton Laurel. Their […]
Feeling Fancy: Madison Has Heart hosts 3rd annual Fanciful Flea fundraiser in Marshall Feb. 13
To help its neighbors in Madison County manage these costs, local nonprofit organization Madison Has HEArT is hosting its third annual Fanciful Flea event on February 13 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Marshall Island Studios in downtown Marshall.
United we stand: Let’s get serious about addressing addiction
” The disease of addiction feeds on isolation, and as long as we criminalize and condemn addicts, we will never make any true progress in addressing the problem.”
Deck the halls: Madison Has Heart holds Dec. 5 Christmas sale of vintage collectibles at historic Walnut church
Wintertime in the mountains, with its temperature variances and extreme weather conditions, can be a harsh season for residents of western North Carolina. For those with limited financial means living in isolated areas of the region, the cost of simply heating one’s home can be difficult to manage. To help support those in need of […]
Smart bets: Barn Raisin’ Concert
The concert to benefit the Appalachian Barn Alliance kicks off at the Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center in Mars Hill on Sunday, Aug. 23, at 3 p.m.
In photos: Root Bottom’s farm-to-table dinner
Madison County’s Root Bottom Farm welcomed guests to its first farm-to-table dinner on Saturday, July 11. The dinner — one of three that Root Bottom Farm will be offering this summer — combined produce from the farm with other locally sourced foods to create a unique seasonally menu for the evening’s 30 diners.
Down the road: The future of Future I-26
Identifying the challenges facing the Future I-26 project is fairly straightforward; implementing the needed improvements is more complicated. So how does an ordinary highway become an interstate? And when might the stretch north of downtown Asheville make the interstate grade?