Things and Stuff: 08/14/03

Notes from our business community
- and everywhere else

WATSON MOTORS, a full-service garage in Whittier, is featured this week in our Business Spotlight. The full-service garage offers free towing within a 20-mile radius and computer diagnostics. See their ad on the back of this section for more information.

BALSAM-WILLETS-OCHRE HILL Volunteer Fire Department will hold its 22nd annual ham supper Saturday, Aug. 16, starting at noon. The event will feature live music from the Carolina Crossmen, Fiddling Dills Sisters, Balsam Gap Dulcimer Players and Bound By Grace. The menu will include ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, yams, coleslaw, cornbread, rolls and dessert. Cost is $6 for adults; children under 12 eat for $4.

ANY FORMER FFA members from Sylva-Webster or Smoky Mountain High schools who would like to help charter or become a member of the SMHS FFA Alumni Chapter, please contact Nikki (Young) Toedtman, SMHS agriculture teacher, at 586-2177, Ext. 208, or Amanda or Sharon Dills at 293-9884 for more information.

ELIZABETH BUTLER, a Suzuki violin teacher who recently moved to the Sylva area, will offer a class for children ages 4-6 beginning in September. Butler has taught with the Suzuki method in both Durham and Chapel Hill. "Dr. Suzuki's successful formula of providing a musical environment, along with steady encouragement, has had a profound effect on both string instruction and basic educational philosophy," Butler said. For more information, call her at 631-0229.

DUKE POWER-Nantahala Area customers planning recreation on several local rivers and lakes can now use a toll-free number to learn reservoir levels and hydro plant generating schedules. The toll-free number is 1-866-332-5253, which provides information about generating schedules on the Nantahala and Tuckaseigee rivers. For the Tuckaseigee, there's also an estimate of when the water will arrive at various locations to help fishermen decide when to be in or out of the river. Recreational boaters, as well as national- and world-class athletes who train on the river, can plan their time more effectively. It will also help those planning kayaking classes from colleges in about a 150-mile radius. Many conduct their training from Dillsboro downriver, said Duke-Nantahala District Manager Fred Alexander. Lake level information for Bear, Cedar Cliff, Glenville, Nantahala, Queens Creek, Tanassee and Wolf will be useful to boaters and fishermen and help others move their docks in a timely manner, Alexander said. This information is also available at the Duke Power-Nantahala Area Web site at www.nantahalapower.com.

FRIENDS OF THE Smoky Mountains National Park invites television viewers to join them tonight (Thursday) for an educational, one-hour telethon to raise money for America's most visited national park. This year's telethon will take place from 7-8 p.m. tonight on WBIR-TV Channel 10 in Knoxville, Tenn., WLOS-TV Channel 13 in Asheville, and WPXA PAX 14 in Atlanta. During the telethon and throughout 2003, the Friends organization is celebrating the diamond anniversary of one of the most significant moments in the history of the Smokies. In the late 1920s, the states of North Carolina and Tennessee were working hard to buy land to create Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many people, young and old, pitched in to assist these state-financed efforts, but the task at hand far surpassed the available funds. The dream of a national park in the Smokies was cast into serious doubt. Then, in the early part of 1928, John D. Rockefeller Jr. made a gift of $5 million in memory of his mother, Laura Spelman Rockefeller, to match the funds provided by the two states. Adjusted only for inflation, the Rockefeller gift would be worth $53 million today! For the past 10 years, Friends of the Smokies has been raising funds to help preserve and protect the lands that were acquired so many years ago. Several of these efforts will be highlighted during tonight's telethon, including the acquisition of a new search-and-rescue vehicle and efforts to save the park's majestic hemlock trees from a deadly non-native insect.
"The park's needs are as great now as they have ever been," said Jim Hart, director of Friends of the Smokies. "The telethon provides a wonderful opportunity for local residents and visitors to learn more about their park and also do something to help protect it." Viewers have three different ways to make a donation during the telethon. They can call a toll-free "800" number during the broadcast and make a pledge over the phone; they can make a donation online on the Friends' secure Web site, shop.friends ofthesmokies.org/donations.html; or they can call Friends of the Smokies at (828) 452-0720 and ask that a donation form be mailed to them. However they choose to give, viewers will play an important role in preserving and protecting Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

SONIC OPENED IN SYLVA last Thursday and filled some 1,100 orders that first day, said General Mananger Richard Olsovsky, who has worked at Sonics for 17 years. The new drive-in located on N.C. 107 across from Wal-Mart is owned by Clarence and Jeff Ranier of Wharton, Texas. The Raniers (Smoky Mountain Restaurants) own several Sonics and plan another in Franklin. Sylva's Sonic already has some 70 employees and is still hiring, Olsovsky said. The restaurant features 24 parking stalls, four walk-up ordering stations and a "hop-thru" is open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily and may extend its operating hours on Friday and Saturday nights. Sonic, which specializes in made-after-you-order fast food, is known for its personal Carhop service. Menu items include toaster sandwiches (hamburgers and sandwiches served on thick Texas Toast), Cheese Coneys (hot dogs with chili and cheese), onion rings, Tater Tots and a variety of frozen and fountain favorites like cream pie shakes and cherry limeades.

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