Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 10

Communities Suburban editor: John C. Stevenson, 232-2935 or Page B2 ASHEVIIJLE CITIZEN-TIMES Monday, Nov. 29, 1909 BRYSON CITY or dues to aeoDdDgo sts dig mm tBue i Gold (G ampin) snte i -tit Send in your calendar items to WNC CALENDAR, co Asheville Citizen-Times, P.O. Box 200, Asheville, N.C. 28X02 or fax to (8rk) 251-0585.

Please postmark ddiis prior to event ARTS i HOLIDAY STUDIO TOUR: The Toe River Arts Council's 1999 Holidjiy Studio Tour will be from 10 a.rrr;-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The works of more than 78 artists willie represented. A map and studio signs will direct visitors in this self-guidpd tour to participating studios and galleries. Call 682-7215 or access httpv7main.nc.usrRAC.

1 COMMUNITY EVENTS PINE CONE CREATIONS: Asheville Parks and Recreation and The Murphy-Oakley Community Center are offering a class called "Pine Corie Creations" from 9 a.m. to noon beginning today. The class will meet every Monday for 10 weeks. "She class will feature making holiday decorations, including wreaths, can-dleholders and swags. Fees are $25 for non-residents and $20 for residents.

Call 250-0093. CERAMICS: Asheville Parks and Recreation and the Murphy-Oakley Community Center will offer a class in ceramics from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning Tuesday. The class will meet every Tuesday.

Fees are $3.50 per month for non-residents and $2.50 per month for residents. Materials are sold separately. Call 250-0093. LIBRARY CHRISTMAS PARTY: Friends of the Macon County Public Library will have a Christmas parly at 2 p.m. Dec.

5 in the library. Folklorist Charlotte Ross will speak on "An Appalachian Christmas." The event is free and open to the public. KENILW0RTH KAFFEEKLATSCH: I Wrecks abound as holiday weekend ends ASHEVILLE As thousands of motorists returned home Sunday after the Thanksgiving weekend, congested roads contributed to multiple accidents on area highways. Across Interstate 40 through Haywood, Buncombe and McDowell counties, for example, the N.C. Highway Patrol responded to seven wrecks within a period Sunday afternoon.

During the early evening Sunday, however, troopers had reported no fatalities. "We've had several rear-enders involving multiple cars," Sgt. Tim Drake of the highway patrol said. He said vehicles had backed up on eastbound 1-40 because of road construction around the 50 mile marker where traffic was reduced to one lane. Hendersonville principal earns honor HENDERSONVILLE Bobby Wilkins, principal of Hendersonville Middle School, has been selected the 2000 Wachovia Principal of the Year for Henderson County Public Schools.

Wilkins will now move on to compete with other local award recipients from the western region of the state in a program sponsored by Wachovia Bank and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. One principal from the six regions in North Carolina will be selected as principal of the year. The winner will be announced in May. Local winners receive $200.

The regional winners receive $2,000 for their school and $2,000 for their personal use. The state winner receives $3,000 for his or her school and $3,000 for personal use. Wilkins has been involved in education for 21 years. He taught PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THI; CITIZEN-TIMES ABOVE: Workers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and Appalachian State University carefully work in the grid sections of the Cold Canyon site to remove soil and sift through it to look for evidence of human use of the area.

RIGHT: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service employ ees Pam Bowman and Rod Kindlund of the Southern Research Station sift dirt removed from the archaeological site to look for small artifacts, primarily flakes of stone from the tool-making process. material that is collected is painstakingly catalogued and taken back to the university's lab for further analysis. To date, the site has yielded intact rock hearths, projectile points and tools, textile impressions preserved on fired clay, charred wood, and seed and nut remains. Work is expected to be completed by December.

To help meet this 4' Ml A wmmmm.mmw 0 j. 1 i in deadline and get a wider perspec- tive on public forest management, Forest Service employees from the Southern Research Station WW Into a single incident or object several epic stories can sometimes converge. The Scots-Irish, Smithls people, persevered through two centuries of prejudice and persecution to make the exodus from Scotland to Ulster to Pennsylvania and finally down the wagon road to Western North Carolina, where they found their promised land. Sondley, scion of two of the founding families, Davidson and Alexander, was so conscious of his history, he traced his lineage back to 12th century Scottish clans, Alexander the Great, and even semi-mythical gods. At the time of Samuel Davidson's death and Smith's posse, the Cherokee were suffering as the result of an alliance with the British, who, only one generation before, had been their enemy in the French and Indian War.

In 1782, Old Tassell of Echota, a Cherokee chief, had begged Col. Joseph Martin, brigadier general in charge of North Carolina's militia in the west, to appeal to the governors of North Carolina and Virginia to restrain settlement because the chief could not prevent Cherokee raids. See Settlers on page B3 Urn yMjf SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES Data-recovery excavation at the Cold Canyon archaeological site on the Nantahala National Forest in Swain County is taking place. Under a cooperative "Challenge Cost Share" agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and Appalachian State University, professional archaeologists, archeology students and volunteers are slowly excavating intact portions of the site.

They are documenting the preserved and stratified cultural layer and features at the site, and systematically collecting the artifact remains. The excavation is being directed by Scott Schumate and Larry Kimball of ASU and Forest Service Archaeologist Rodney Snedeker. The Cold Canyon site was first evaluated for eligibility to the National Register for Historic Places in 1993 because of a proposed land exchange between the Forest Service and The Trust for Public Land. When a site leaves federal ownership and protection, the responsible agency must first recover any significant information about past human use in the area. Artifacts from the Cold Canyon site indicate prehistoric human use from the Woodland and Archaic periods, possibly dating back years.

"It's very exciting and important to have discovered such a well-preserved, intact archaeological site of this time period in Western North Carolina. This site offers opportunities for dating, and refining previously obtained radiocarbon dates, for these cultures and the chance to better understand their life ways," Snedeker said. ASU archaeologist Larry Kimball said, "The Cold Canyon site exhibits unexpected integrity for an upland site. Because of this and its contents, we will be able to compare it with other significant archaic period sits in the southern Appalachians." Archaeological data recovery is very labor intensive and time con suming. Dirt must be removed carefully and each piece of evidence must be identified by its location horizontally and vertically.

All VISITING OUR PAST Early settlers viewed local area as 'the Promised Land' By Rob Neufeld SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES The "Land of Eden" is what Captain William Moore called the area now named Buncombe County after having ridden through with General Griffith Rutherford in pursuit of Cherokee in 1776. Moore also called it "the Promised Land," something the Indians knew well. The Cherokee maintained the mountain-ringed basin at the heart of the east-west and north-south gaps as a hunting ground, and, according to archaeological guesses, battled the Shawnee over its usage in the mid-1700s. The area's reputation among Europeans had begun with gold-seeking Hernando De Soto in 1540, and got a big boost when world-famous botanist William Bartram described it in his travels of 1776. Bartram created a romantic yet authoritative account of founts, frolicking maidens and floral variety.

He also stopped to note Indian graves (some lie below where the Kress building stands downtown) and native hunters "extremely jealous of white people especially if they should be seen peeping in amongst the rocks or digging up their earth." In the early 1780s, North Carolina began rewarding Revolutionary War veterans with tracts of land west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Then, in 1785, the Treaty of Hopewell made it official the floodgates to settlement of Cherokee land were open. When Samuel Davidson crossed over to Christian Creek in the Swannanoa River valley in 1784, the treaty had not yet been signed. In perhaps the most central tragedy in Buncombe County history, Cherokee hunters passing along There will be a Kenilworth kaffeeklatsch and dessert potluck at '7 p.m. Dec.

9 at the Kenilworth Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall. Topics will be Y2K neighborhood preparedness and community watch. Attendees may bring '-'a dessert. i DANCE AND CONCERT: The Asheville Allemanders will celebrate its 36th anniversary with a Red Boot Boys Dance and Concert beginning at 7:30 p.m. Dec.

3 at the Family Life Center, Woodland Hills Baptist Church, Weaverville. Tickets are $8 per person at the door. For details, call 298-2870. NINE LESSONS AND CAROLS: The Brevard College Chamber Chorale and Concert Choir will present "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the First United Methodist Church, Brevard.

The program is free. Call 966-5504 for details. OLDE FASHIONED CHRISTMAS: An Olde Fashioned Hendersonyijle Christmas will be from 5-9 Friday along Main Street. The evqnt will feature shopkeepers in Victorian costumes, merchants' open houses, carriage rides, carolers and more, MERRY CHRISTMAS MARKET: The French Broad River Garden Club will hold its annual Merry Christmas Greens Market from 8:30 a.m.-l p.m. Friday, Dec.

10 and 17 at Clemmi's Cabin, 1000 Hendersonville Roaji, Asheville. The event will feature handmade wreaths, roping and tabje decorations, blooming potted papier whites and more. MEETINGS GOLDEN KIWANIS: The Asheville Golden Kiwanis Club will meet' at 11:30 a.m. today at Ryan's Famjly Steakhouse, 1053 Patton Avende. Kim Sears, director of public relations for the Asheville Smoke, and players Jon Pirrong and Shawn Ulrich will speak.

For details, call 687-9069. MINERAL SOCIETY: The Southern Appalachian Mineral Society wjll have a Christmas party and potluck dinner at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at t(ie Murphy-Oakley Community Center. Officers for 2000 will be installed, VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES SANTA PALS: The WNC Santa Pal headquarters will open today at 162 Coxe Ave (formerly Factory Sales and Surplus).

The organization needs volunteers and donations. The Asheville Optimist Club and Santa Pal volunteers collect toys and gifts for more than 100,000 needy children and their families. Call 254-7309 tor 252-2852. ONGOING -10 TOYS FOR TOTS: Siegcl Chiropractic Center and the U.S. Marines are asking the public to bring a toy during the month iJdf December and receive a consulta-tionexamX-rays (one area if needed) for $19.95 value).

For those who would just like to donate a toy, the same site may be used. For call 681-5681. PRINTS FROM PORTRAITS OWNED BY MRS. J.I). F.AR1.E.

COURTESY OP PACK MEMORIAL LIBRARY James Alexander and his wife, Rhoda Summerville Alexander, were the first settlers in the Swannanoa Settlement. Communications Group recently spent a day working with National Forest and ASU archaeologists to assist in the excavation. ASHEVILLE Grant sought to buy new van for parks, recreation department By James Lewis STAFF WRITER Asheville's Parks and Recreation Department is looking for some new wheels. Last week, Asheville City Council approved a grant application seeking money from the state's Department of Health and Human Services to purchase a 15-passenger van. Parks and Recreation Department Director Irby Brinson explained that the department currently has three such vans which are used to transport residents to recreation program sites.

If the grant is approved, the city would replace one of those vans with the new one at no cost to the taxpayers of Asheville. The exact cost of such a van was not disclosed. The city's older adults, adults with disabilities, at-risk children and youth and families are eligible to use the service and it has proven popular. "We get a lot of wear and tear on them from all the stop and go in the city," Brinson said. The vans allow the city to transport an estimated 1,180 participants each week to recreation activities in the city.

"They're out and about all day," Brinson said Wednesday, noting the vehicles also are used by other city departments to transport residents who otherwise cannot attend activities. Brinson said the state will not make a decision about the grant application until after Jan. 1. Call James Lewis at 232-2936 or e-mail al Jl and coached at Hendersonville High School for 11 years. He became an assistant principal in 1991 and he became principal of Hendersonville Middle School in 1993.

Fletcher Elementary gets donation FLETCHER Officials at the Bi-Lo store in Fletcher recently presented Fletcher Elementary with a check for more than $580. The money, which was raised through the Bi-Lo Boosters program, will be used to buy playground equipment for the new Fletcher Elementary School planned for construction on Howard Gap Road. Barry McCracken, Bi-Lo store manager and Melanie McDonnal, assistant manager, presented the check to Cindy Lively, Fletcher PTO president. WCU trustees schedule meeting CULLOWHEE The board of trustees of Western Carolina University will hold its quarterly meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, in the board room of the H.F.

Robinson Administration Building. The Citizen-Times wants your community news, and you can help. Schools, civic groups, churches and volunteer fire departments in Western North Carolina are invited to submit information on: civic officers fund-raisers public meetings contest winners school events We are here for your group and events. Send contributions to Community News, Asheville Citizen-Times, PO. Box 2090, Asheville, NC 28802, or fax the well-traveled ridge above Samuel Davidson's cabin, used the bell on Davidson's nocturnally feeding horse to lure him into an ambush.

His wife heard the fatal shots and fled with her daughter in one direction as her slave took off in another. They all reached Old Fort with the news, prompting a retaliatory mission by friends and relatives, including Col. Daniel Smith. Smith was a legendary soldier in the warfare between cultures. Legend has it that the Cherokee thought him invincible, for numerous traps and attacks had failed to hurt him.

Also, Smith carried an extra-big, smooth-bored musket he named Long Tom, and patrolled the vulnerable ridge above the Swannanoa Valley. In later years, he patrolled the streets of Asheville, mounted on a white horse, Long Tom in hand. When in 1913, a monument to Samuel Davidson was unveiled at his gravesite on a mountain above Warren Wilson College, Davidson's descendant, historian Foster A. Sondley, exhibited Long Tom. The gun now resides at the Smith-McDowell House and Museum, certainly one of our most resonant artifacts..