Things and Stuff: 03/27/03

Notes from our business community
- and everywhere else

RAY'S FLORIST...

is featured this week in our Business Spotlight. See the color ad on the back page of this section to see all the ways Ray's can help you improve your spring plantings.

YOUR HERBALIST...

is now open in the West Sylva Shopping Center. Offering the finest bulk herbs from around the world, Your Herbalist also offers private and public classes and lectures. Fine quality culinary herb blends are available by the ounce, and customers can save money by creating their own custom capsules. Owners are David and Gail Cirka.

A BLOOD DRIVE...

sponsored by the American Red Cross will be Friday, March 28, at the Community Service Center in Sylva from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. For more information, call the local Red Cross office at 586-2019.

A MARCH 28 DINNER...

planned by Smoky Mountain High School senior Mica Turpin was cancelled. Anyone who purchased a ticket may contact Turpin through the high school (586-2177) to obtain a refund.

MEDIACOM...

is moving its Sylva customer service office from East Main Street to a new office at 1134 Skyland Drive. They expect to be in the new office by Monday, March 31.

A COLORFUL GRAPHIC...

pictorial of the Sylva-Dillsboro area, including Western Carolina University, will be designed and printed in time for distribution this summer. The cartoon-like rendition is expected to include an artist's depiction of historical structures and locations of schools, churches, businesses and recreational areas.

Harry McCord, project coordinator for University Graphics, and advertising representatives Burney Keys and Mike Davis will visit local businesses with the opportunity to purchase a listing of the firm's names and facility on the map. "It will depict the personality of the community in a unique and fun way," McCord said. "This is a light way of looking at the very serious business of promoting the community."

University Graphics is bases in Hoover, Ala., and has been in business or more than 33 years. It has produced more than 900 similar pictorials for a number of communities.

The Sylva-Webster High...

Class of 1987 is planning a reunion for July 26, possibly in Dillsboro. All class members should contact Donna (Cunningham) McDonald with addresses or emails so information can be distributed. Those interested in helping with the event should also call McDonald at 631-0762 or email her at donna11169@msn.com.

THE JACKSON:

County Chapter of the American Cancer Society will have its Relay for Life kick off tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at the Golden Age Senior Center.

IN ADDITION TO...

the Southern Belle quilt featured in last week's Herald, Cullowhee Baptist Church will raffle the sports quilt currently on display at Livingston's Photo. The winner will be drawn next month during a fund-raising luncheon following services Sunday, April 6, at Cullowhee Baptist Church. All proceeds from tickets will fund the children's playground at the church. Tickets may be purchased at the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, Livington's Photo or at the church.

"THE SOUTHEASTERN...

Indians Then and Now" is the title of the first Sequoyah Symposium, which will be held Friday and Saturday, April 4-5, in the Natural Science Auditorium at Western Carolina University.

Sponsored by WCU and the Sequoyah Endowed Chair, the symposium's aim is to bring authorities on Indian culture to Western North Carolina to share their research, said Bill Anderson, director of Cherokee Studies at WCU.

Topics will include "Cherokee Folk Illnesses and Remedies," "Cherokee and Creek Captives," "A Cherokee Response to Allotment, Conscription and World War I," "Colonization, Communities and Conflict in the Southeast," and "Croatan Indian Migration to Bulloch County, Georgia."

The symposium will open with a traditional blessing by Amy Walker of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and former Chief Joyce Dugan will be one of Saturday's speakers.

Friday evening's program includes a book signing from 5:30 until 6:30 p.m. to be followed by a traditional dinner at 6:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Cherokee that will feature Cherokee dance and storytelling by Bo Taylor, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band. Cost of Friday's dinner and entertainment is $20, which must be paid by Friday, March 28. The rest of the symposium is free.

Participants are asked to preregister by writing Anderson at WCU's History Department, Cullowhee, N.C. 28723 or email anderson@wcu.edu.

For more information, call Anderson at 227-3838.