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Taste the New Delights

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Chasing Sunsets and Waterfalls

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Happy News Year

While treating my growling stomach to a cheer-me-up lunch at a favorite cafe, I checked my cell phone to satisfy another hunger: a longing for a plateful of good news.  Lately, I’ve been grateful for an ant-sized crumb of it.  As I scrolled down the news reports I read about a school that won a national competition for Kindness.  Reporters …

The Indefatigable John A. Zachary

I n 1889, the Cullowhee Academy was founded in Jackson County with Robert Lee Madison as the school’s head.  By 1891 the school’s name had changed to Cullowhee High School, with a “Normal Department” whose graduates would receive a three-year, first-class teaching certificate qualifying them to teach anywhere in the state.   My grandfather, John Alexander Zachary, named for his …

Flower of love

W hen most people think of a flower of love, a rose is the first to come to mind, but the Dianthus caryophyllus has got to be a close second.  One record states the name comes from the Greek word dios meaning “divine” and Anthos meaning flower. Heavenly flower, or the flower of Jove.  In Greek mythology, Jove (aka Jupiter) …


Celebrating Nature’s Diversity

Highlands is wonderfully diverse area with more species of plants and animals than nearly any other temperate rainforest ecosystem.   The Highlands Plateau supports a variety of northern affinity species that are rarely found in the Southeastern United States, for example; Golden-Winged Warblers, Birch trees, and Spruce trees.  This tremendous diversity extends to our insects as well.  Highlands serves as …

Audubon’s Winter Bird Count

A udubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count or CBC occurred on Friday, December 14.  Check the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society’s website given below for more information.    The 2017 CBC involved 17 hale and hardy bird watchers who braved cold weather (26 to 34 degrees) and patchy snow accumulations to participate in this extensive inventory of local birds.  Part of a …

Winter Fishin’

M ost people assume that fishing season is over with the first frost.   Not so.   The truth is that you can probably catch more fish near the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau during January, February, and March than you can during June, July, and August.  For one thing, trout are more active in cold water and believe you me, the water …


High Falls Trail

Here we are, visiting a waterfall in the middle of winter again. High Falls on the West Fork of the Tuckaseegee River is a place I’ve heard about for years but only visited for the first time recently.  I fell in love and have already returned to it. It was a bright, chilly afternoon at the trailhead, but as we …

Chocolate Cook-Off

Like a blush of passion in the dreariest month on the calendar, Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library’s Friends of the Library is bringing back its Chocolate Cook-Off, from noon to 2:00 P.M. Saturday, February 16. This year’s cook-off, staged in the library’s Meeting Room, promises to offer all of the hallmarks of this annual event – newly-minted recipes that demonstrate an …

Acclaimed Chefs of the South

Highlands’ luxury country inn, Half-Mile Farm, is continuing the Chefs in the House series in 2019.  Attendees get up-close-and-personal with some of The South’s most acclaimed chefs while experiencing amazing cuisine from all over the nation.  Limited seating makes for memorable evenings amid the gorgeous lakeside setting of this unique historical property. The first Chefs in the House dinner in …


Cinema Awards Series

  Motion picture nominees and winners of The Golden Globes and Oscars are coming soon to a theater near you!  Hollywood can’t have all the fun.  The sizzle of movie magic is in our mountain air, too. To celebrate, you are invited to the Highlands Playhouse’s First Annual Red Carpet Awards Series. Starting in January, the Highlands Playhouse will screen …

Megan Makes Magic Happen

There are many unsung heroes in our area that make the magic happen.  These are people who go unrecognized for what they do to make our lives on The Plateau that much better.  Behind the Scenes will introduce you to a few of these folks. The Highlands Performing Arts Center’s Megan E. Greenlee Potts is a magician of the highest …

Art League Partners with Community

Although The Art League’s active season is over for 2018, behind the scenes, plans are underway for this year. It’s also a time when the League’s Board reflects on the year just ended.  We are proud of what we have accomplished and look forward to an even better season in 2019. There were six free quality public presentations given at …