JANUARY 14, 2010 ISSUE
What a Year!
2009 in Review—Part 2 of 4: April through June
April ‘09
This aerial photograph depicts a mountaintop removal mine near Rawl, West Virginia. The EPA moved to suspend and review permits for new mountaintop removal coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky. Photo by Kent Kessinger
Brent Beach was recognized in April for carrying the mail more than 30 years without causing an accident.
• VICTORY: Boone-based Appalachian Voices celebrated a decision by the EPA to suspend and review permits for new mountaintop removal coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky.
• MOURNING: Howard Wellington “H.W.” Mast, Jr., the last member of the Mast family to own and operate the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, died at age 83.
• NEW FACES: Randy Feierabend was named the new town manager of Beech Mountain.
• DETOUR: A landslide forced the closure of the Blue Ridge Parkway between Phillips Gap Road and Highway 221.
• CELEBRITY: World-renowned spiritual author Starhawk visits the High Country for a pair of public lectures.
• UNEMPLOYMENT: The reported unemployment rate in Watauga County reached 8.6 percent—the highest rate in 20 years.
• SIGNS: The Watauga County Commissioners extended a moratorium on billboards and off-premise electronic signs until October 23.
• THIEVES: Horn in the West and Hickory Ridge Homestead were the victims of burglary and vandalism. Thieves stole two computers, keys, thumb drives and CDs and destroyed the last piece of antique glass on the Coffey Cabin.
• LEADERSHIP: Jim Deal, the Watauga County Commissioners chair and former chair of the ASU Board of Trustees, was one of eight people elected to serve on the UNC Board of Governors.
• PROGRESS: The Hospitality House secured enough funding to begin planning a groundbreaking on its new 18,500-square-foot homeless shelter facility to be located off Bamboo Road.
• PRESERVATION: Gov. Bev Perdue authorized the creation of Grandfather Mountain State Park on March 31. The state purchased the 2,601-acre undeveloped portion of the park from Grandfather Mountain Inc. for $12 million.
• RELOCATION: Mr. Original Gyros moved across the street to 2968 Highway 105 South in Boone.
• POLITICIANS: U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) visited ASU to learn about the university’s renewable and alternative energy projects.
• DONATIONS: The High Country United Way came about $100,000 short of its 2008 fundraising goal of $625,000.
• KUDOS: Boone Postal Service letter carrier Brent Beach received the National Safety Council’s Million Mile Club recognition for delivering the mail more than 30 years without causing an accident.
• FOR SALE: On April 21, the Watauga County Commissioners declared the old Watauga High School as surplus property. The new high school is scheduled to open in fall 2010.
• POLITICS: The Boone Town Council voted to extend the mayoral term to four years.
• DONATIONS: The annual Celebrity Serve event raised $35,000 for the Hospitality House at area restaurants.
• CUTS: Gov. Bev Perdue mandated unpaid furloughs for all state employees and a pay cut of 0.5 percent.
• GOODBYE: Clyde Jones closed his 55-year-old auto parts store on Highway 421 because its building was scheduled to be demolished as part of the 421 widening project.
• ABUSE: A community assessment conducted by OASIS found that 81 percent of survey respondents said they knew at least one victim of sexual violence.
May ‘09
Toyota dealership owner and humanitarian Norman Cheek (center) died in late April 2009.
ASU hosted a simulated active shooter scenario to test the school’s new emergency plans on May 13. Photo by Sam Calhoun
The High Country Conservancy secured a conservation easement on this 95-acre farm bordering the Pisgah National Forest in Avery County.
Boone Drug celebrated its 90th anniversary by hosting a birthday dinner for people who had been born in the old doctors’ offices above the store. The youngest “baby” at the dinner was born in 1945, and the oldest was born in 1933. Photo by Tommy White
The historic Green Park Inn closed in late spring 2009 and was listed for sale in a public auction.
• MOURNING: Norman Cheek, local philanthropist and long-time owner of Toyota of Boone, passed away in late April at the age of 70.
• HERITAGE: The Elk Knob Community Heritage Organization was designated as a nonprofit.
• KUDOS: ASU’s Renewable Energy Initiative received a Leadership in Sustainability Award from the State Energy Office of North Carolina.
• NEW FACES: Ed Evans was hired as the new town manager of Seven Devils.
• STREETS: The Boone Town Council approves an encroachment agreement with ASU that allows the university to construct the town’s first roundabout at the intersection of College and Howard streets.
• TWISTERS: Two tornadoes were reported in Alleghany County on May 8. One was an F2 tornado with estimated winds of 110 to 120 mph. The tornadoes damaged buildings, and four people suffered injuries.
• PREPAREDNESS: More than 100 law enforcement, emergency and university personnel participated in a May 13 simulated active shooter emergency exercise on the ASU campus.
• KUDOS: The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce named Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock as its 2009 Business of the Year.
• WOMEN’S RIGHTS: Pinky Hayden, a former state legislator, called for nominations for a steering committee to organize a national conference on the Equal Rights Amendment in Boone in 2010.
• KUDOS: Bonnie Shaefer, owner of Westglow Resort & Spa, received the Ms. Foundation Woman of Vision and Action Award in New York on May 21.
• CONSERVATION: The High Country Conservancy secured a conservation easement on 95 acres that border the Pisgah National Forest in Avery County.
• CELEBRATION: Avery County Habitat for Humanity completed a new home for the Buchanan family in Elk Park.
• TAXES: The Watauga County Commissioners postponed the scheduled 2010 property tax revaluation.
• RELIEF: Although 1,100 GM dealerships were closed around the country, two High Country dealerships—Ross Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Mack Brown Chevrolet Pontiac Buick GM—received word that they would stay in business.
• BANNED: The General Assembly voted to ban smoking in bars and restaurants statewide in May, with the law taking effect January 2, 2010.
• KUDOS: Art teacher Dacia Trethewey was named the 2009-10 Teacher of the Year for Watauga County Schools.
• NEW FACES: Dr. Scott Colley, president emeritus of Berry College in Georgia, was elected to be president of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk beginning June 1.
• CONCESSIONS: The Blowing Rock Town Council approved an ordinance permitting dogs in town parks except the play area of Memorial Park, the playing surface of Davant Field and the Robbins Pool and play area.
• REOPENING: Banner Elk’s Wildcat Lake reopened to the public after nearly four years of closure for repairs to the dam.
• CELEBRATION: Celebrating 90 years in business, Boone Drug Downtown hosted a birthday dinner to honor people who were born in the doctors’ offices that used to be located above the store.
• GOODBYE: The historic Green Park Inn in Blowing Rock closed its doors after 127 years.
• GENEROSITY: A motorcycle ride was held June 13 to raise money for Bradley Swift, a 25-year-old Boone Police officer diagnosed with leukemia.
June ‘09
The Appalachian Skatepark closed in June 2009, one month short of its third anniversary.
Eighteen-year-old Will Dicus passed away after battling bone cancer just days before he was scheduled to graduate from Watauga High School.
The Watauga Humane Society held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new animal shelter on June 13.
NCDOT closed one lane of Highway 421 in Wilkesboro after floods washed away a section of the road.
• CLOSING: The Watauga County Commissioners voted to close the Appalachian Skatepark at the county Parks & Recreation Complex less than three years after it opened.
• COLLAPSE: The N.C. Department of Transportation worked to repair a section of Highway 421 South in Wilkesboro after heavy rains washed out a significant portion of the road.
• MOURNING: Will Dicus, 18, passed away after a five-year battle with bone cancer. He continued to play baseball at Watauga High School as his condition would allow.
• CLIMATE CHANGE: A group of ASU researchers launched a project called AppalAIR (Appalachian Atmospheric Interdisciplinary Research) to monitor air quality and atmospheric conditions and their impact on ecosystems and climate in the area.
• ANIMALS: The Avery County Humane Society Board of Directors approved plans for a new animal shelter.
• DOWNTOWN: The Boone Town Council voted to restrict the expenditures of the Downtown Boone Development Association (DBDA) to 85 percent non-administrative expenses and 15 percent administrative expenses and to consider new proposals for use of Municipal Service District tax dollars, the DBDA’s main source of funding.
• TV: All full-power television stations in the country ceased analog transmission and began broadcasting only a digital signal on June 12.
• PARKING: The Blowing Rock Town Council approved plans for the second two-level parking deck in downtown Blowing Rock, to be located adjacent to the planned Blowing Rock Art and History Museum.
• GREEN: Grandfather Mountain became certified as a Watauga Green Business by the Watauga Green Business Plan, a joint initiative of the Watauga County Economic Development Commission and the ASU Energy Center. Grandfather Mountain installed solar thermal panels, renewable bamboo floors, compact fluorescent lights and an energy-efficient air circulation system.
• CHANGES: The Avery-Watauga Association of REALTORS changed its name to High Country Association of REALTORS.
• ANIMALS: The Watauga Humane Society broke ground on its new 16,000-square-foot animal shelter off of Old Highway 421 on June 13.
• STIMULUS: AppalCART learned it would receive more than $6 million in federal stimulus funding to be used for a new 23,000-square-foot transit center in Boone.
• REBIRTH: Meridian Timberworks salvaged the 300-year-old white oak tree on Stacy Eggers, Jr.’s property that was cut down by NCDOT as part of the Highway 421/King Street widening. The company planned to make specialty furniture pieces from the wood and donate a slab or piece of furniture back to Eggers.
• WINE: A new wine vineyard was planted at The Lodges at Winkler’s Creek.
• GREEN: Ged Moody was hired as ASU’s first sustainability director. The position was created to coordinate the university’s progress toward the goal of being a world leader in sustainability.
• PARKING: Lease negotiations between the Southern Appalachian Historical Association, the Watauga County Farmers’ Market and ASU became heated over parking at Horn in the West. The farmers’ market objected to ASU students parking at the crowded Horn in the West lot on market days.
• GIVING: The family of the late Norman Cheek established a scholarship fund at ASU for high school seniors from Watauga, Ashe and Caldwell counties.
• KUDOS: Todd native Baron Fenwick, 15, won the first Leonard Bernstein Excellence Award at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
• EDUCATION: ASU announced it would offer a new undergraduate degree in environmental science beginning in August.
• WIND: The Renewable Energy Initiative at ASU successfully installed a 100-kilowatt, community-scale wind turbine at the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center, creating a new feature on the horizon in the downtown Boone area. The turbine is the largest in North Carolina.
• WATER: The Boone Town Council held a joint meeting with the Ashe County Commissioners to hear concerns and answer questions about the proposed 4 million-gallon-per-day raw water intake planned for the South Fork of the New River in the Brownwood area. The meeting was extended to four hours to accommodate all the attendees who wished to speak.
• RECOVERY: The High Country Workforce Board launched RecoveryInTheHighCountry.com, a website designed to help the region survive in a struggling economy.
Continue Reading:
« Part 1 of 4: January through March | Part 3 of 4: July through September »
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