Laurel Magazine

Dementia Caregivers Support Group at Albert-Carlton Community Library
2025-07-10 15:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Albert-Carlton Community Library, 249 Frank Allen Rd, Cashiers, NC, 28741, United States
Join a welcoming group of people that understand what you are going through. We come together to offer each other support, resources, and a listening ear.
The group is a safe place for judgement free discussion.
2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

Kids Zone at Hudson Library
2025-07-10 15:30, 2025-07-17 15:30 | Hudson Library, 554 Main St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Kids Zone features a variety of fun and interesting programs where kids can explore art, nature, science & more! Best for ages 5 and up.

Paint your Pet with CHHS at Sapphire Valley Resort Community Center
2025-07-10 17:00, 2025-07-11 17:00 | Sapphire Valley Resort, 127 Cherokee Trail, Sapphire, NC, 28774, United States
Cashiers Highlands Humane Society and PAWS Bryson City announce our second annual joint fundraiser to support the animals at our no-kill shelters!
No painting skills necessary! Chances are, the less artistic you feel you may be, the more fun you will have! Just send us a head shot photo of your pampered pet when you register below and our artist partner with Be a Light Painting will have customized for you that evening a line drawing sketch of your pet on a 16” x 16” canvas ready for you to paint! Brushes, paints and aprons will all be supplied.
Join us for a fun-filled two hours of creativity and love for the four-legged members of our family! Attendance is limited, so register early! Or show your support and get in on the fun becoming a Sponsor of one of the events.
To give our awesome artist partner with Be a Light Painting time to prepare your customized line drawing sketch of your pet based on the photo you submit, the deadline to register for Paint Your Pet is Friday, June 27th for the July events in Sapphire and Monday, July 21st for the August event in Highlands! Reservations come in hot and fast for this wonderful event and attendance is limited, so don’t delay!
Net proceeds from this event will be split 50/50 with the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society and PAWS Bryson City, both 501(c)3 non-profit no-kill animal shelters rescuing, caring for, and finding forever homes for abandoned and neglected animals in western North Carolina.
RAFFLE PRIZES: Thanks to our generous partners, there will be some awesome prizes we will raffle during Paint Your Pet! So bring some extra bucks (raffle tickets are $10 each) to support the shelter pets and a chance to win some great prizes!
Check-In: 4:30pm | Event: 5:00-7:00pm
Early check-in is encouraged so you have the full two hours to paint your pet!

Zahner Conservation Lecture Series | Cohabitate; Living with Nature at Highlands Nature Center
2025-07-10 18:00 | Highlands Nature Center, 930 Horse Cove Rd, Highlands, NC, 28741
Sonya Carpenter, Co-founder and President of Co-habitate Inc.
The Highlands Plateau is rich in biological diversity and appreciated for its natural beauty. Development pressure is increasing in Highlands, and threatens to have a negative impact on our natural resources. Therefore, neighbors must work together to ensure the natural resources we all appreciate such as clean air and water are protected. We as a community must create a culture in which native species are celebrated, encouraged, and harmoniously integrated into public and private landscapes. This is the vision for the new community-based organization, Co-habitate, which is dedicated to engaging and educating our neighbors on the intrinsic value of our ecosystem and seeking solutions to environmental degradation due to the pressures of development. Co-habitate co-founders Sonya Carpenter and Canty Worley have a vision for this work and hope to ensure that our plateau is a place where we can all reap the health benefits of nature. In this talk Sonya will introduce some of the activities, projects, and opportunities of this new initiative and offer ways that each of us can promote a healthier environment for humans and all of the other species who share the Highlands Plateau.
Sponsored by Jennie Stowers.
FREE | No registration required

Carolina Concert Series at Trailborn Highlands
2025-07-10 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-07-17 18:00 - 21:00 | Trailborn Highlands, 96 Log Cabin Ln, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Join us in the Trailborn Highlands backyard for live music and drinks during our Carolina Concert Series!

Beth Poindexter Luxe Trunk Show at Josephine's Emporium
2025-07-11 11:00 - 17:00, 2025-07-12 11:00 - 17:00 | Josephine’s Emporium, 40 Burns St,, Cashiers, NC, 28741, United States
“Vintage Fashion At Its Best”
THURSDAY, July 10, FRIDAY, July 11, SATURDAY, July 12 11a – 5p
at Josephine’s Emporium at 40 Burns St., Cashiers. bwpoindexter1217@gmail.com, 336-420-6054

Youth Adventure Camp at The Literacy & Learning Center
2025-07-11 12:00 - 15:00 | The Literacy & Learning Center, 675 S 4th Street, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
1st – 4th Graders
Join Kara Long and Carolyn Middlebrooks for an action-packed Adventure Camp! Kids will explore Highlands on small walking field trips, play exciting outdoor games, and enjoy a day full of fun. Please make sure to pack a lunch.

Friday Night Live Concert Series with Nitrograss at Town Square
2025-07-11 18:00 - 20:30 | Town Square, Main Street, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Friday Night Live  Showcasing Traditional Mountain Music and Local Talent
Nitrograss, both sonically unique and visually appealing in their performances, provides a carefree and exciting atmosphere of pure acoustic ear-fodder.

Pickleball on the Plateau Tournament at Highlands Rec Park
2025-07-12 08:00 - 17:00, 2025-07-13 08:00 - 17:00 | Highlands Recreation and Civic Center, 600 N 4th St, Highlands, NC, 28741
Get ready for an exhilarating weekend of competition, camaraderie, and community spirit at the Second Annual Pickleball on the Plateau tournament, hosted by the Mountaintop Rotary Club and many of our local sponsors!
Join us on July 12 & 13 at the Highlands Rec Park. Play will be going on from 8am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Sacred Sundays at Unfurl Wellness Spa
2025-07-13 13:00 - 14:30 | Unfurl Wellness Spa, 454 Dillard Rd, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Sacred Sundays is a 90 minute class of mindfulness movement and poses accompanied with an acoustic sound meditation held by Robert John Malone.
This is an all levels class focused of a variety of wellness practices to assist in raising our mind/body awareness through conscious movements and poses (1:00 – 2:30 each Sunday this season)

StoryTime at Highlands Nature Center
2025-07-15 10:30 | Highlands Nature Center, 930 Horse Cove Rd, Highlands, NC, 28741
Join local storyteller Ms. KK at the Nature Center this summer as she reads fun books & sings silly songs all about the great outdoors.
This program is geared towards elementary-aged children, but all nature explorers are welcome!

Nature Center Nights | Salamander Meander at Highlands Nature Center
2025-07-15 20:00 - 21:00 | Highlands Nature Center, 930 Horse Cove Rd, Highlands, NC, 28741
Join our Naturalists on a nighttime search for our secretive salamander friends.
All ages welcome
FREE | Registration required
(Weather dependent)

Origins of Rock and Roll - The Early 1960s (Part 1) at Center for Life Enrichment
2025-07-16 10:00 - 12:00 | Center For Life Enrichment, 348 S 5th St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Focusing on the early 1960s, prior to the British invasion by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and others, this twopart presentation will look at the slow demise of Rockabilly, whose stars included Ricky Nelson, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, The Everly Brothers, and Jerry Lee Lewis. We will listen to the “safe” performers like Fabian, Bobby Darin, Frankie Avalon, Annette, Paul Anka , Connie Francis, and Neil Sedaka. These performers did not represent the “threat” to our teenage years and ears that Little Richard, Link Wray, and Bo Diddley did with their raucous sounds and questionable lyrics.
We will trace the rise to prominence of Berry Gordy’s Motown sound, “The Sound of Young America”. William Robinson, Mary Wells, The Primettes, The Temptations, Martha and The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and other Motown acts brought a fresh sound to white America. Rhythm and Blues performers like James Brown, B.B. King, Albert King, Jackie Wilson, Little Richard, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, and the Mar-Keys and Bar-Kays performed on the Chitlin’ Circuit and in major venues around the world. R & B, once known as Race Music, Sepia Songs, and Bronze music made its presence known in homes across the country.

Tinker Time for Tots at The Literacy and Learning Center
2025-07-16 11:00 - 12:00 | The Literacy & Learning Center, 675 S 4th Street, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
The Literacy & Learning Center is excited to bring back another season of engaging workshops tailored for preschoolers and their parents. The aim is to empower parents by demonstrating inventive ways to utilize everyday household items for their children’s educational benefit.
These sessions will showcase practical activities that parents can seamlessly incorporate into their daily routines, fostering a rich learning environment at home.

Garden Tour at Highlands Nature Center
2025-07-16 12:00 | Highlands Nature Center, 930 Horse Cove Rd, Highlands, NC, 28741
Join in for a free guided tour of the Highlands Botanical Gardens! Led by our Horticultural Specialist, a naturalist, or a guest expert, these weekly tours explore the fascinating native plants, ecosystems, and seasonal wonders of the Southern Appalachians. No two tours are ever the same!
Meet at the Highlands Biological Station Amphitheater. Come take a walk with us and see what’s blooming!

Roots of Conflict: The History Behind Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine at Center for Life Enrichment
2025-07-16 14:00 - 16:00 | Center For Life Enrichment, 348 S 5th St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 created a global shockwave which threatened the stability of Europe and created food and energy security risks globally. This lecture will focus on the twentieth-century history of RussianUkrainian relations with an eye to the deeper historical factors behind the recent conflict. Beginning with an assessment of Russia’s two main justifications for war— ideas about Ukraine in Russian nationalist ideology and the role of NATO in Eastern Europe—the lecture will review Ukraine’s Soviet history from the revolution to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
This more recent history—why the Soviets drew borders the way they did, why Ukraine suffered under Stalin, how Ukraine became an independent country in 1991, and where the West fits in—provides the critical context for the war.

Family Storytime at Hudson Library
2025-07-17 10:30 | Hudson Library, 554 Main St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Join us for stories, music, and movement at Family Storytime, every Thursday morning at 10:40AM.

Cashiers Quilters at St Jude's Catholic Church
2025-07-17 11:30 | NC
Come join us for lunch each Thursday at 11:30 at a local restaurant and then quilting at the church.
Held at St Jude’s Catholic Church in Cashiers.

Summer Writing Workshop at Albert Carlton Cashiers Community Library
2025-07-17 13:00 | Albert-Carlton Community Library, 249 Frank Allen Rd, Cashiers, NC, 28741, United States
Beginning on June 5 at 1:00 p.m. and continuing every Thursday until August 28, ACCCL staff member Michael Redman will lead a writing workshop that is free and open to everyone, regardless of previous writing experience.
The workshop will be a place to be introduced to techniques, perspectives, and exercises to help you develop your writing. It will also provide a safe,welcoming environment for you to share your own thoughts, ideas, and questions.

Revolution or Terror? Unpacking the Roots of Political Violence at Center for Life Enrichment
2025-07-17 14:00 - 16:00 | Center For Life Enrichment, 348 S 5th St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom-fighter”– so begins the debate about terrorism as a political concept and legal definition. While terrorism has plagued the modern world since the “long nineteenth century,” it remains deeply misunderstood. Seeking to understand terrorism as a sociopolitical phenomenon, this session investigates the full emergence of terrorism in Europe during the second half of the nineteenth century, when anarchist revolutionaries hoped that “propaganda by the deed” would inspire revolutions and create a new and more equitable and peaceful world.

Zahner Conservation Lecture Series | Lesser Known Medicinal Mushrooms of the Southern Appalachians at Highlands Nature Center
2025-07-17 18:00 - 19:00 | Highlands Nature Center, 930 Horse Cove Rd, Highlands, NC, 28741
Lesser Known Medicinal Mushrooms of the Southern Appalachians
Featured Speaker – Christopher Parker, Mycologist and Co-Owner The Forest Farmacy
Discover the medicinal properties of six lesser known mushrooms native to our eastern woodlands. A few mushrooms being discussed in this class are Schizopyllum, Maitake, and Birch Polypore where participants will learn what species have antibiotic, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory properties from an experienced mycologist.
Sponsored by Vicki & Donny Ferguson.

Shifting Alliances: Navigating the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changing World at Center for Life Enrichment
2025-07-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Center For Life Enrichment, 348 S 5th St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
The global world order is at a potential inflection point, shaped by a new U.S. presidential administration, a rising China, and a surge in global conflicts. What do these developments mean for the future of U.S. foreign policy, peace, and security? This presentation examines the critical issues that lie ahead, drawing insights from within and beyond the U.S. security community. Can the United States sustain its leadership on the world stage, and if so, what strategies will be most effective? Will the U.S. continue to wield its power as it has since the Cold War, or are we on the brink of a new paradigm?
Moving beyond partisan politics, Professor Matthew Auer will offer a forward-looking analysis of emerging flashpoints and areas of concern, providing a nuanced perspective on the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of the U.S. and the global community

Author Talk | Maggie Bailey at Hudson Library
2025-07-18 14:00 | Hudson Library, 554 Main St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Atlanta/Highlands author Maggie Bailey will introduce her recent cozy mystery, Quilty as Charged, on Friday July 18 at 2:00 PM. Books will be available for purchase and signing at this free program.

Lydia Barnes has made the picturesque town of Peridot, Georgia her home. As the new owner of the Measure Twice fabric store, she invites her regular customers to a sewing retreat at her friend Fran’s Cherry Log mountain home. In between sewing lessons and quick lunches, a severe winter storm approaches. When Fran’s body is discovered, murder is the only explanation, and the remaining six attendees are all suspects. In a daring plan to uncover the killer, Lydia must risk it all, including her life, before she is cut asunder and the bobbin runs out.
An enthusiastic sewist and maker, Maggie Bailey is a graduate of Stanford, Oxford, Brown, and Sewanee Universities. She has previously published two volumes of poetry and a previous Measure Twice mystery. Maggie lives in Atlanta and Highlands with her husband, two young children, her dogs, and a growing fabric stash she can’t help but add to on a regular basis. Quilty as Charged is her second mystery novel.
For more information or to request an accommodation, please call the library at 828-526-3031.

CLE | “The Canonic Phenomenon of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring: Primitivism, Myth, and Modernity” at CLE Lecture Hall
2025-07-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Center For Life Enrichment, 348 S 5th St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
Dr. Ben Arnold serves as the Acting Director of the University of Kentucky School of Music, a position he served in previously from 2003 to 2012. He has written extensively on music in response to war and the composer Franz Liszt. In addition to writing for and editing The Liszt Companion, he is the editor of the Journal of the American Liszt Society. Prior to UK, he taught at Emory University for sixteen years, serving as Director of Graduate Studies in Music and two terms as Chair of the Music Department.

The Canonic Phenomenon of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring: Primitivism, Myth, and Modernity at Center for Life Enrichment
2025-07-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Center For Life Enrichment, 348 S 5th St, Highlands, NC, 28741, United States
This course will explore arguably the most outstanding orchestral work of the twentieth century: Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Following the enormous success of his earlier ballets, The Firebird (1910) and Petrushka (1911), Stravinsky unleashed a new era of modernism with Le Sacre du Printemps and its primitive subject matter, barbaric dissonances and rhythms, and radical style.
This lecture will discuss the Rite of Spring’s controversial premiere and innovative musical characteristics that influenced generations of composers, choreographers, chroniclers, poets, and artists
