Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
January 4, 2007 issue
Year in Review – October 2006
PROTEST: The NC Department of Transportation released the Final Impact Statement for widening the Highway 321 Bypass in Blowing Rock, thereby starting the clock on the comment period that ended November 27. A group in Blowing Rock has been fighting the widening plan for well over a decade.
PLAY: Organizers of the Tot Lot renovation campaign held a community day on October 1 to raise funds for new playground equipment. Toyota of Boone owner Norman Cheek challenged area businesses to donate $1,000 each to the project, with a stated goal of 100 participants.
LEARNING: Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs initiated Dictionary Project for Watauga County schools, distributing 715 dictionaries, atlases and thesauruses to students in all nine local schools.
ELECTION 2006: The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce hosted two political forums: one for local candidates and one for state candidates.
TRASHY: The Boone Town Council passed a resolution in support of a zero waste plan for the town.
GENESIS: Ground for the new Avery County YMCA was broken on October 8. The $6 million construction and renovation project will be completed in two phases, with a grand opening of the completed facility projected for January 1, 2008.
GENESIS: Local musicians Mark Welsh and Travis Reyes announced plans to start an independent record label based in Boone and called Fronteer Records.
BOOTS: The Boone Town Council held a summit to hear reports on the status of the parking situation downtown. Council members maintained, as they had for several months, that adequate parking is available downtown. Police Chief Bill Post reported that no recent complaints about private parking lot enforcement had been made, probably because the public was well aware of the consequences of parking illegally in some downtown lots.
CONSERVATION: Grandfather Mountain and the Nature Conservancy announced a conservation easement covering 73 acres that enclose the lower sections of the Profile Trail. The tract represented the final parcel in approximately 3,700 acres of land owned by Grandfather Mountain, Inc. and protected under agreements started in 1990.
PROGNOSTICATIONS: Dr. Ray Russell of Ray’s Weather fame predicted 120 to 130 percent of normal snow in the High Country this winter, translating into 50 to 55 inches of snow in Boone, 54 to 59 inches in Banner Elk, 34 to 38 inches in Jefferson and 100 to 108 inches on Beech Mountain.
TOP WORM: Woolly Worm Jerry Garcia, owned by Katie Berry of Boone, beat all competitors at the Woolly Worm Festival, winning his owner $1,000 and himself the right to predict the winter weather.
TOP ROCK: For the 13th year, Hound Ears hosted the opening event of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series, attracting climbers from all over the Southeast.
TOP WINE: Banner Elk Winery won an award for best blueberry wine in North Carolina at the North Carolina State Fair.
NEW FACES: Hugh Montgomery hired as town manager in Banner Elk.
ELECTION 2006: Citizens for Children, a group in favor of constructing a new high school in Watauga County, hosted a candidates’ forum for the six school board candidates.