Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 29

FRIDAY. MAY 28. 2004 D3 ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES THE SCENE Gladiator footwear ready for summer's trendy feet A -i v-v A Burlington Coat Factory. "This is probably the third year that we've had them in a big way. It comes from some of the high-end designers." And those designers don't appear to be loosening up on laceups.

Not yet, anyway. The style is all over the Web and retail stores, from flat casual sandals to day-wear stilettos to satin lace-up pumps and embellished sandals for evening wear. Some of the styles give the illusion of a warm-weather "boot" with airy cutouts. "They kind of unite the leg with a skirt," says Ellin Saltzman, fashion director at Bluefly.com, an on-line store that offers designer fashions at discount prices. "They're popular because there are so many mini skirts out," Saltzman says.

"They're great with bare legs and mini skirts. And they are available in the colors of the season the bright pinks, greens, blues and metallics. Along with blights, "a lot of (designers) are showing metallics in the way of accessories," says Toby Tucker, fashion editor of New York-based InStyle magazine. "Metallics are a very easy way to give your wardrobe a little spark," says Tucker, because it's much easier to pull off wearing metalic-colored accessories than apparel, such as gold lame pants. By Kathy Spence-Mentoi THE GREENVILLE (S NEWS It seems, another generation of women are snuggling up to gladiator sandals and lace-ups.

Ifs a sign of designer interest at the moment the feminine, sexy and flirty. Maybe you've seen them on the runways of Paris or the star-studded red carpets at awards shows. They've been sighted, hugging the calves and embracing the ankles of sculpted models and celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker and Salma Hayek. Or, perhaps you've spotted something akin to these zany and playful shoes on the legs of women an larger-than-life gladiator movies, not unsimilar to what you will see in Hollywood's newest epic Troy." Could be, you even remember seeing them the last time they were popular, way back in the 1960s and 1970s. Well, guess what? They're back, stepping straight from couture into the spotlight of ready-to-wear.

Strappy shoes are perennial favorites for spring, and when paired with those inescapable influences, the results are, well, foot-binding. "They've been popular for the past couple of years now," says Lori Carfagno, merchandise manager of shoes at New Jersey-based www.appalachian.org, for more information on current projects and how to become a member. To learn more about land trust activities in general, visit the Land Trust Alliance online at www.lta.org. Performances to benefit Transylvania arts BREVARD "A History of Music in Transylvania County, Part 1" on Thursday features Celtic and old-time music. The performance will benefit the Transylvania County Arts' Council and Communities in Schools of Transylvania County.

The event, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Porter Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Brevard College, will feature regional performers Bean Sidhe (Banshee) of Bryson City, Rutledge Leland and Paul Elwood of Brevard and Jay Taylor of Asheville. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and free for veterans. Tickets are available at Transylvania Community Arts Center, at 321 S. Caldwell Brevard, (884-2787).

They're also available at Rockin' Robin Records and CDs, at College Plaza, Brevard (862-3472) and Communities in Schools of Transylvania County, on Rosenwald Lane, Brevard (885-7390). The evening program' will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a viewing of pre-Depression-era photographs of Transylvania County and antique musical instruments on display in the lobby. For more information, call 884-2787. Call for artists A silent auction this fall will benefit Meals on Wheels in Henderson and Buncombe counties, and organizers are looking now for donations of high-quality art items to sell.

The auction will be held in conjunction with the Autumn In The Mountains British Car Show and is sponsored by the British Car Club of Western North Carolina Organizers are particularly interested in pottery, glassware, original jewelry, sculpture and framed art. The work will be photographed and previewed on the Meals on Wheels Web site, with a link to the artist's Web site. Deadline for submission of pieces to be included in the preview is July 1 Contact Carole Carter at fnpcarolemchsi.com or call 329-6786. The Web site is www.autumninthemountains.org. BWNC BENEFITS A roundup of social fund-raisers by area nonprofits: Bosnian exchange students hold art exhibit ASHEV11E Azra Causevic and Vladimir Tomic, Bosnian exchange students attending Asheville High School since January, wanted to leave a lasting memory before they left at the end of the semester.

The two 17-year-olds decided, for one evening, to sell their sculpture, paintings and drawing to raise money for needy kids in Asheville through Helpmate. "I wanted to do something to support the people here," said Causevic, who, when she was 5, saw her home destroyed by bombs during the war in Bosnia "We're hoping (proceeds) can go for toys and school supplies." The exhibition takes place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. today at Vadim Bora Gallery Studio, 30 12 Battery Park Ave. Both students are from Bcrko, a city that sits at the crossroads of Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia. Montford comes to Reed Creek's aid ASHEVILLE The Montford Community pitches in to help create a greenWay along Reed Creek with its Reed Creek fund-raiser from 3 to 6 p.m.

Sunday. The event will be at the Montford Arts Center and Pyper's Place (233 and 235 Montford Local musicians David La Motte, Ben Scales, Tom Leiner and Rebekka Marks will be playing. A minimum donation of $10 will admit you. Photographs by the Carolina Nature Photographers Association will be up for bids at a silent auction. For more information, contact Sharon Fahrer at 777-1 01 4 or stop by the Montford Arts Center.

Hours are from 1 1 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

Mast store to donate a percentage of its sales WAYNESVILLE On June 5, Mast General Store in Waynesville will donate 15 percent of its sales to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. This is the second year the store has celebrated Land Trust Day, a "friend-raising" event encouraging new memberships in local land trusts. For more information on land trusts, stop by the information table June 5 in all Mast store locations. Visit SAHC's Web site, George GanlnerGANNErr photo network Strappy, gladiator-style sandals are the footwear accessory of the summer. Scene Join THE Saturday what you been doing in front of the bathroom minor all your life? Take it to Tribes (237 Haywood St) on Thursdays for open mic hip-hop.

Freestyle, spoken work and slam poetry fly through the air. Its $2 for guys, nothing for girls. Dance party with DJ Macon Beatz. KUDZU WISH: The guys in Kudzu Wish have quit their day jobs. They're serious about touring, serious about the music they make.

They toured the Midwest in the dead of winter.They do something that's somewhere between technical hardcore and pop-centric indie.Thell do it for you at Vincents Ear (68 N. Lexington Ave.) Thursday night Also playing is Valina. peace-through-art movement, holds its seventh arts show from 2 to 10 p.m. Sunday at Pritchard Park. Scheduled to per-.

form are spoken-word artists and slam poets Carrie Gerstmann, Roberto Hess, Matthew Mulder, Pasckie Pascua, Riley Schilling and Kapila Ushana, as well as bellydancer Sami Te and trance DJs KRI and Blue Spectral Monkey. For more, call 2524642. Wednesday HUMP DAK Tribes, a new club at 237 Haywood St, celebrates the middle of the week (Wednesday needs a celebration?) with a night of dance spun all around by DJs Ray Mak, Joshu, J. and Metaphyz. The evening starts out with chill beats, lounge, hip-hop and "nusoul," then segues into house and progressive.

No cover if you're female. Asheville'sYMI Cultural Center at 8 p.m., Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $12 and available at the memorial, beside Asheville Renaissance Hotel. GUINEA DANCE Through the art of African ballet.

Ash wile's Ballet Warraba and mas- ter drummers Lamine Soumah and Bolokada Conde will teach traditional and contemporary African music, dance, folklore, songs, choreography and drumming from 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Earthaven Ecovillage in Black Mountain.This intensive daylong workshop will offerthe rare opportunity to speak, with the help of an interpreter, with master musicians native to Guinea. The day will also feature a mini-African village market where visitors can browse booths featuring textiles, drums, hair braiding, African food, and kids' activities. Classes are $25, and pre-registration is necessary Tickets for Ballet Warraba's performance are register and get information, call 669-3937, ExL 2. FREE VERSE Words go flying, in verse and in song, during "Rhymin' and Rockin' at Across theTrax in Bryson City.

Performing from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. will be Hippie Shitzu, with Vanessa Boyd, and the poetry of Roberto Hess, Pasckie Pascua and Riley Schilling. CANT GO HOME: Thomas Wolfe wrote "Welcome To Our City" in 1923 while at Harvard, basing it on evenls he saw first-hand during a 1922 visit to Asheville, his hometown. The play tells the story of white developers in a thriving resort town, modeled on Asheville, who scheme to buy up properly in a centrally located African-American neighborhood.

As part of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial's grand reopening celebration, the play will be presented at SEND IN YOUR EVENTS: We want to know about benefits, social events and other happenings of note. Send information to Paul Clark, P.O. Box 2090, Asheville, NC 28802; fax 251-0585; or e-mail Deadline is two weeks before the event Please include a phone number with your submission. Thursday Sunday BIG MOUTH: Got it in for Eminem? He doing WORDS, NOT BOMBS: Bonfires for Peace, a SEND IN YOUR NEWS: Send submissions to reporter Paul Clark at It ENTAL RETIREMENT REGISTER FOR FREE TICKETS TO THE 2004 PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP. I flit I Apartment Homes NATIONAL Assisted Living 2EMOBIAL EMC At I I Recliner $549 CRESCENT VIEW A Lutheran Retirement Community 2533 Hendersonville Road Arden, NC 828-687-0068 contactuscrescentview.net LeatherVinyl Montana $649 $729 All Leather lviiJlVlU.iU.ii LJ Jiii.

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