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There are so many great articles in the pages of The Laurel Magazine, sometimes you want to read them again. You won’t miss a thing. Use these helpful search parameters and find just what you’re looking for about Highlands, NC and Cashiers, NC.
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Camp Is Calling & I Must Go
When a nine-year-old child on a Friday afternoon, completely unsolicited and out of the blue, looks up to you and says, “This has been the best week of my life,” well… you just know you’ve done something extraordinarily special in someone’s world. That’s what Critter Camp at the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society does for local animal-loving children. The quote above is …
The Tip of the Spear
Spring on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau is truly magical with the emergence of our diverse assemblage of wildflowers. This emergence almost seems like it happens overnight but it is a process that has been underway since the fall. There is a race to emerge, flower, get pollinated, and set seed before the light disappears with canopy closure. However, this race cannot …
Modern Farm Resort Julep
There’s a special energy that rolls through the gentle foothills and valleys of Dillard, Georgia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Delicately perched in one of these mystical valleys is the area’s newest and most exciting Resort and Wedding Venue, Julep Farms. This “Modern Farm Resort” is like nowhere else you’ve been. You can sleep in luxury and gather fresh farm …
Bird Seed Physics
Catherine Taylor’s arrival in the Tessentee community in Macon County 94 years ago wasn’t terribly auspicious. Born critically premature, she weighed in at two-pounds, two-ounces, and looked, in the words of her father, “like a skinned squirrel.” The attending doctor could offer her parents no reassurance, simply stating that if she could survive through the night then it was possible …
Spring Forward Well Rested
After rock climbing with my husband around the country, we were called to Highlands by the vertical and timeless granite domes. The nature of the tall rock and trees make an interesting study on light, which reveals itself differently than light on a horizontal coast. The Cherokee called this area “Nantahala” (“Land of the Noonday Sun” or “The Place Where …
Supporting Our Healthcare System
Tom Neal was named chief executive officer and chief nursing officer for Highlands-Cashiers Hospital in December. He brings more than 30 years of progressive healthcare experience and a diverse skill set in acute care, behavioral health and post-acute operations. Tom most recently held CEO positions at hospitals for Community Health Systems (CHS). During his time with CHS, he served as …
How Mighty Are Your Mitochondria?
The mitochondria are the powerhouse of each and every cell and are very important to your life in general. Most cells have many (over 800) mitochondria inside of them, providing the necessary energy, or ATP, for function. This process involves using glucose from food or stores in the body and oxygen to complete the process of cellular respiration. Mitochondria have …
When Panthers Roamed These Hills
Many generations back in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, people were outnumbered by the wild animals of the forests. Several times a year, every homesteader had to deal with monstrous six-foot long black panthers with a tail as long as their body. Sheep, piglets and fowl had to be cooped up at night for safety, or one …
Highlands First Mayor
In the late 1870s Highlands was still struggling to get a solid footing on the Plateau. But in 1878 a powerhouse came roaring up the mountain from Horse Cove in the guise of Stanhope W. Hill and wife, Celia Edwards Hill. Stanhope lived in Horse Cove over 30 years before heading for Highlands. While a resident of the Cove, he’d …
The Appalachian Dulcimer
If you’ve been to the Cashiers Farmers Market at the Village Green during the summer, chances are you’ve seen a band of good ol’ country folk filling the air with harmonious bluegrass melodies. Everyone is familiar with the stereotypical bluegrass instruments: fiddles, banjos, the occasional cello. The most beautiful of them is the mountain dulcimer. There is no instrument …
Rare Oconnee Bells
Among the large diversity of native plants in the Botanical Garden of the Highlands Biological Station, Oconee Bells (Shortia galacifolia), is quite possibly the most fabled wildflower of the region. It was first described by the French botanist, Andre Michaux in 1787 and not found again until 1877. The 19th century American botanist Dr. Asa Gray described it as “perhaps …
A Fine Flyer Filled
The Carolina Wren, State Bird of South Carolina, produces some of the loudest, most distinct vocalizations in the forest. Its various calls and songs, intoning dozens of phrase patterns, have been described by Sibley as “a rolling chant of rich phrases pidaro pidaro pidaro or TWEE pudo TWEE pudo TWEEP and other variations.” Calls are “a harsh, complaining zhwee zhwee …
