We love the Smoky Mountains. Wish you were here!

Archive for July, 2009

Great Smoky Mountains – An International Biosphere Reserve

Centipede

This centipede is just one of thousands of species present in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Park is known for its biological diversity with over 10,000 documented species of plants and animals. The Smokies have such a great diversity because of the range in altitude, the abundant rainfall and glaciers that invaded the continent over 10,000 years ago. These glaciers didn’t reach as far south as the Smoky Mountains, and many species from farther north found refuge here.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been designated an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations.

Photo by Aaron Morgan

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Bryson City Theatre Group Attempts to Hide Murder

murder-cast

Ever try to throw a party an hour after the host has been murdered? That’s the dilemma facing the Wings Publishing Company in the mystery-comedy “It’s Murder in the Wings” now on stage at the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre in Bryson City. Remaining performance dates are Friday, July 24; Saturday, July 25; Sunday, July 26; and Monday, July 27.  All shows start at 7:30 PM.  Ticket prices are: $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for students ages 6 to 18, and free for children under six.

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Volunteers Work to Keep the Tuckasegee Clean

river-cleanup

When people litter, much of it eventually washes into our streams, rivers and lakes. As Roger Clapp, Executive Director of WATR (Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River) puts it, “With our steep slopes and intense rain storms, road litter quickly becomes river litter. No one has figured a way to repeal the law of gravity.”

To combat the problem, local civic groups, businesses and volunteers throughout the Smokies often group together in organized river cleanups — just as this group did in late June. Organized by the Nantahala Gorge Association, WATR and the Green Women of Swain County, half of the volunteers worked the banks and roadsides. Others worked in rafts supplied by Wildwater, Ltd. Rafting and Endless River Adventures. The end result was a trailer-load of trash that will never reach Fontana Lake.

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Local Residents Get Sneak Preview of New Cherokee Central School

elk-at-school

The three Elks wandered out of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for an impromptu tour of the new Cherokee Central School scheduled to open in September. Architect Scott Donald of Padgett and Freeman took the photo while the animals were checking out the new football stadium.

Scott said “someone left the gate open and I and two other folks corralled them all over the field to various open gates, but they only wanted to go out the gate they came in …scoring 7 points on the way out, with the extra point, of course.”

Scott and associate Maggie Carnevale designed the state-of-the art facility which will consolidate all of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ schools into a single 473,000 square-foot Pre-K – 12 campus. It includes a new elementary, middle, and high school, as well as a 1000-seat performing arts facility and the 3500-seat football stadium. For more about the new school, visit the Padgett and Freeman web site.

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