Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 5

LOCAL NEWS ASHEV1LLE CITIZEN-TIMES SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2007 A5 BRYANTS: Retired Eere PARADE: Bands, costumes abound A JOHN FLETCHER Dancers from Angle's Dance Academy participate in Saturday's Asheville Holiday Parade. TIMELINE 4 p.m. Oct 21: Someone uses Irene Bryant's cell phone to call 9 11. The signal is lost, and the call never reaches an emergency call center. The provider is unable to lock onto a position using GPS.

Oct. 21: Irene Bryant killed, authorities later say. 7:35 p.m. Oct. 22: Bryants' bank card used to withdraw $300 from a machine at a Ducktown, bank.

Nov. 2: Bob Bryant tells the Henderson County Sheriffs Office his parents are missing after not being able to reach them by phone or e-mail for two weeks. Neighbors noticing newspapers piling up outside the Bryants' home also alert authorities. Morning, Nov. 6: Search for John and Irene Bryant begins.

1:45 p.m. Nov. 6: Bob Bryant, after traveling from home in Texas, finds his parents' Ford Escape on the side of Yellow Gap Road in Transylvania County. Nov. 8: Law enforcement begins search of couple's financial records for recent activity.

Nov. 9: Authorities determine couple's bank card used. Nov. 9: Sixty-five people join another 40 already searching for the couple. Searchers find body, which is sent for autopsy and identification.

Nov. 12: Search for couple suspended. Nov. 13: Police go public with information on the bank card use, releasing photo from bank video. Medical examiner identifies body as that of Irene Bryant Franklin: 3 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 25. Hendersonville: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1.

Highlands: 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1. Hot Springs: 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec.

1. Maggie Valley: 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1. Marion: 3 p.m.

today. Mars Hill: 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8. Marshall: 11 a.m.

Saturday, Dec. 1. Murphy: 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1.

Spruce Pine: 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24. Theme is 'Traditions of Christmas." Sylva: 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec.

1. Begins on Scotts Creek Road and ends at Mark Watson Park. Theme is "Home for the Holidays." Tryon: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12.

Waynesville: 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26. Weaverville: 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec.

1. Continued from Al Bryants' only daughter, said from her home in Florida. None of the Bryants' four children live in Western North Carolina. Their Darents picked the area by chance. Jack Bryant, 80, had hiked the Appalachian Trail from end to end, stepping off one day to call his wife with news that he had found the place where they would Perfect neighbors Both natives of the Pacific Northwest, Jack and Irene Bryant met in Missoula, where she was a veterinarian.

After their marriage, the two moved to New York, where Jack Bryant attended law school at Cornell University in Ithaca. He later graduated with honors. The two settled 50 miles away in Skaneateles, near Jack Bryant's Syracuse practice. Irene Bryant opened a veterinary clinic there, studied Judo and karate and completed graduate-level course work in plant biology, all while raising a family. In addition to his private practice, Jack Bryant served as the Skaneateles town attorney and championed a state-of-the-art waste management system, Holly Bryant said.

"He was just very ecologically inclined," she said. "We used to go out as a family on Earth Days and pick up trash to take care of the environment. We were brought up that way." The Bryants left New York in 1990 for retirement life in a one-story brick house along Raintree Drive in Horse Shoe's Tamarac subdivision. "If you could pick neighbors that you want to move in next to you, we would sure like the opportunity to pick someone like them," said Rollie Walk, who lived near the Bryants. Walk and his wife, Marilyn, remembered the Bryants as a gracious couple.

After an ice storm, the Bryants helped remove a downed tree on the Walks' yard, Rollie Walk said. The Bryants were well known for their world travels. So when newspapers started piling up in their driveway last month, the Walks assumed the couple had taken off on short notice. Missing hikers The Walks were sure their neighbors had been hurt, but never thought they would have been deliberately harmed, after learning the Bryants were missing. AREA HOLIDAY PARADES If you missed Asheville's parade Saturday, there are plenty more opportunities to catch a holiday parade, including one in Marion1 today: Andrews: Saturday, Dec.

8. Theme is "A Small Town Christmas." Call 321-3113. Black Mountain: 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1.

Theme is "Christmas Around the World." Brevard: 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1. Bryson City: 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec.

1. Burnsville: 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1. Canton: 6 p.m.Thursday, Dec.

6. Theme is "A Hometown Christmas." Cherokee: 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1. Columbus: 4 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 8. Parade and tree lighting. Fletcher: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec.

8. Along U.S. 25. Theme is "Christmas in Toyland." tor. That would add to the $20,000 the city already pays for costs associated with the parade, like emergency services and police.

"It's a 60-year-old tradition, and our community has come to know and love the parade," Porter said. The potential change would be one more in a gradual evolution of the mer NEED A LIFT? Ilandi-Lift 1-828-243-9340 Si. i i -ill "They would tell us about the people they met on the trails and the ones they hiked with. Most of the people you meet on the trails are friendly," Walk said. "This is just the most horrible thing you could imagine." The Bryants' family also had a feeling something was terribly wrong.

The couple had a lifetime of experience in the outdoors and was always prepared. "My parents wouldn't get lost and disappear," Holly Bryant said. "It made no sense at all." After not being able to reach his parents for weeks, Bob Bryant called the authorities on Nov. 2. Detectives obtained the couple's cell phone records and learned they had attempted to call 911 about 4 p.m.

Oct. 21. Because of a lost signal, the call never reached an emergency call center, but records showed the signal reached a tower on Rich Mountain. That allowed authorities to narrow the search to an area around the Pink Beds east of U.S. 276 near the Cradle of Forestry.

Bob Bryant flew to Asheville from his Texas home Nov. 4. He found his parents' Ford Escape off Yellow Gap Road Nov. 6. In the meantime, officials with the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office had run a search of the Bryants' financial records and learned someone had used their bank card to withdraw $300 from an ATM in Ducktown, just across the North Carolina border.

The Bryants' sons, Marc Bryant of Erie, Terry Bryant of Lawton, and Bob Bryant of Austin, Texas, are still looking for their father and hoping for his safe return. A wonderful quilter Neighbor Norene Goard had planned to teach a quilting class that would have been attended by Irene Bryant the day her body was found, but Goard had already canceled after learning of the search. Bryant, a member of the Western North Carolina Quilters Guild, also competed in area quilt competitions. She won honorable mentions in two categories in the 2007 Garden of Quilts competition. Her work also caught the attention of Material Things owner Andi Edwards, who displayed several of Bryant's quilts last year at her store.

"We had them all over, and everybody really enjoyed them," Edwards said. "She's to announce PRACTICE OF Continued from Al DeBruhl, who came with several carloads of family members, said her favorite float was the one shaped like a 1907 gramophone with the Firecracker Jazz Band playing on board. "It's one of the most entertaining and upbeat parades I've seen in years," she said. Members of Angie's Dance Academy danced in their Carolina blue Santa outfits to the tune of "Santa Claus is Coming to Towa" Students from ArtSpace Charter School rode in a makeshift ship with a sign reading, "Art floats our boat," on the side. The rhythmic pounding of bongo drums poured out the windows of a purple bus sponsored by LaZoom Tours of Asheville, followed by Shriners driving their dune buggies.

There was a huge Volvo front-end loader with antlers and a red nose pulling a red sleigh. The Owen High School marching band played holiday favorites as they marched, while Kara Martin, 2007 Miss Eastern Cherokee, waved from the back of a red convertible, and the Blue Ridge Rollergirls skated in circles. Riders on horseback were followed by the clowns of the "Poop Patrol," while Santa, of course, brought up the rear. "I like the baton twirlers and the little girls in the lavender and white. They were so cute," said Deonia Salters, of Asheville, taking in the parade for the first time.

"It's just good to see the kids doing something positive." City could take over parade The City Council will consider Nov. 27 whether to take over the annual parade from the Asheville Merchants Corporation, which has operated it since starting it six decades ago. The city would take on $35,000 to $40,000 in annual costs, said Melissa Porter, Asheville's festival coordina- on Many Select Items Village Asheville, NC 28803 www.estatfiiewelryltd.com I Carpet Cleaningl I Special I r2o 4 Rooms $158 Crrtn ftsnrBow MffA Bmo mm. iWw trwns. LAnf'viit rem cmlwitfnti Carpet Protectant FREE futsajrml ttn mem Imm Spotter with I ectan.

one of the better quilters in the area, I'd say." Bryant made quilts for everyone in her family, including her 11 grandchildren, Holly Bryant said. Shortly before her death, Bryant had done a demonstration on applique, which is her specialty, Goard said. "She does absolutely beautiful work." "Our hearts really go out to the family," she said. "We all hope that a resolution comes to this soon, and we're not forever waiting to find out what happened to John." Additional Savings 30 Ail Souls Crescent Biltmore 4.30 carat rubelite with 66 diamonds jf, 'J' Dr. James maddox and dr.

paige leahy ac oleased Mon-Sst 10-5 274-700? the association of chants' association, which once focused on marketing local stores and offering credit bureau services. With its more recent focus on charitable giving through its foundation, the corporation has shed its large staff and no longer has the resources for the parade, President Tom Hallmark said. leathers, cashmeres, tower level KosOs Building 4 i rem Multi'Million Dollar Store Closing Sale 20 30 OFF This may be your best opportunity ever to own a fabulous Kriegsman coat at incredible savings! Take advantage of these extra savings during our closing sale. Come early for the best selection of the latest fashions for ladies and WITH THEIR men's furs, shearlings, and fine woolen coats! Km I Jr'llTO I 'Cleaning Special' i (Chemi5ip 828.277.2778 828.274.2210 828.277.1977 OFF Upholstery I-SSSSM I Ueamng Cleaning I 1 jKRIEGSMAN fx- 600 alliance Court Suite a-1 ASHEVILLE, NC 28806 (828) 670-9894 run) uuicnnmn nttcaawnics I. Baflvt Prt Ml.

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