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 – December 2006
• PIONEERING: For the first time in years, Watauga High School fielded a championship football team that progressed to the western regional final but lost to the West Charlotte team on December 1.
• DOUBLES: The ASU Mountaineer football team went the distance this season, winning its second consecutive NCAA Division I-AA national championship by defeating the University of Massachusetts Minutemen 28-17 on December 15 in Chattanooga.
• CHANGES: Superior Court Judge Phil Ginn swore in all new Watauga County elected officials on December 4. Following the ceremony, John Cooper and Mary Moretz took their seats for their first commissioners’ meeting.
• CHANGES: Kevin Frye was sworn in as new sheriff in Avery County on December 4, along with new commissioners Scott Heath and Dan South.
• EXPANSION: The Wellness Center addition opened to the public, nearly doubling the size of the facility on Boone Heights Drive.
• BEGINNINGS: The Avery County YMCA began its charter membership drive.
• ORNAMENTAL: Ornaments from western North Carolina artisans adorned two Christmas trees at the White House, and a delegation of more than one dozen people representing the Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree project and Mitchell Country traveled to Washington, D.C. for a private tour of the West Wing.
• WINNER: Banner Elk Winery learned that its Cabernet Sauvignon won a double gold medal at the North Carolina State Fair, beating selections from Biltmore Estate and Childress wineries.
• WINNER: Georgia McLean of Banner Elk won the inaugural High Country United Way car raffle and drove home a new PT Cruiser for Christmas.
• SPEEDY: A rockslide closed one lane of Highway 321 south of Blowing Rock on December 6, but DOT crews had the slope stabilized and normal traffic patterns resumed by December 19. The DOT initially estimated that the work would not be completed until January 5.
• ASU: The ASU Board of Trustees approved student fee and tuition increases for the 2007-08 school year of more than $200.
• ASU: Jim Deal took office as the new chair of the ASU Board of Trustees, replacing Robert Fox.
• FINALLY: Repairs to the Sims Creek Bridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway that closed a section of the roadway and detoured traffic to Highway 221 all summer and fall were completed. The work was supposed to be completed in August.
• CONSERVATION: The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy purchased a 97-acre tract of land on Hump Mountain in Avery County, site of the headwaters of both the Elk River and Cranberry Creek.