Around Town

Kidding Around Downtown
Saturday, April 26 at 11:30 AM
Main Street, Hendersonville at the Gazebo between 4th and 5th Avenues Sponsored by Downtown Hendersonville, Inc.

This Saturday, April 26, 2008 come to Historic Downtown Hendersonville and see the new "kids" on the block as fifteen delightful, friendly, artfully decorated goats grace the downtown sidewalks for the next six months.  This year's exhibit is sure to "get your goat!"

Some may wonder why the move from bears to goats. 2008 marks the 40th Anniversary of  Connemara, the Carl Sandburg Home becoming part of the National Park System and we thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce folks to the heritage the prize winning Nubian Goats have with the historic site in Flat Rock.

The downtown family-friendly-fun public art exhibit began in 2003 with Bearfootin' in Hendersonville and this year we are pleased to introduce KIDDING AROUND DOWNTOWN.The festivities to showcase this year's KIDDING AROUND DOWNTOWN will begin at 11:30 am on Saturday morning at the Gazebo in the 400 Block of Main Street.  A ribbon cutting will occur, 15 beautiful goats will be unveiled for public viewing and a guided tour throughout the historic district will provide visitors a close up view and feature "Goat Quotes." Goat quotes will give visitors behind the scenes information and sponsors along with the artists will be available to give some insight on the design concept and materials used.

Sponsors for 2008 include: Shelley's Jewelry, Kilwin's of Hendersonville, Pardee Hospital, Private Mountain Communities, LLC, Macon Bank, Pinnacle Falls, The Perry Fisher Law Firm, Hannah Flanagan's Pub, Mast General Store, Four Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care, Carolina Ophthalmology, PA, Jane Asher Antiques, Community Foundation of Henderson County, Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, and Downtown Hendersonville.

Several folks work behind the scenes each year to make our public art display a success and often go unmentioned including The City of Hendersonville, Hendersonville Public Works Department, Hendersonville Police Department, Henderson County Travel & Tourism, Hendersonville Times-News and the Auto Body Repair Students & Faculty at Blue Ridge Community College.

The goats will remain on permanent display through Saturday, October 25 at which time a public auction will occur with a portion of the auction proceeds benefiting local Henderson County charities.

I received a call today asking me for the DirectBuy location in Hendersonville.  I thought - good question!  We all see their infomercials on TV.  The closest DirectBuy is DirectBuy of Greenville 

DirectBuy of Greenville
1327 Miller Road, Suite F
Greenville, SC 29607

CORPORATE WELLNESS PROGRAM
Presented by:

Please join us for the "Creating a Healthy Workplace" seminar series in April to be held at Pardee's Rehab & Wellness Center, 212-B Thompson St., from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. A healthy and delicious breakfast will be served. There is no charge for this series of seminars but space is limited, so please RSVP to the Chamber by March 27th.

April 3:   "Stress Management at Work and Home"
April 10: "Safety in the Workplace"
April 17: "Leading a Healthy Lifestyle"

These seminars will be presented by Pardee professionals in related fields. For more information on this series or to RSVP, call April at the Chamber - 828.692.1413.

SBA Disaster Loan Deadline is January 24

Small business owners in all North Carolina counties except Cherokee, Clay, Currituck, Graham, Granville, Pamlico and Vance, have until January 24, 2008 to apply for federal economic injury disaster loans as a result of abnormally low temperatures and freezing conditions April 6 - 9, 2007.  Interested business owners should contact the SBA's Customer Service Center by calling 1-800-659-2955 (for the hearing impaired 1-800-877-8339) Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.  Loan applications can be downloaded from www.sba.gov.

LAND TRANSFER TAX DEFEATED -WHAT  NOW?

After the overwhelming defeat of the Land Transfer Tax this past Tuesday (Nov 6, 2007), you may be asking what options will be discussed in order to produce the needed additional revenue for the county to complete capital projects to which it is already committed. A property tax increase of three to four cents per $100 is the first option.  As an example, if you own a $250,000 home there would be an additional $75 to $100 per year in your property taxes. For the second option, the county may decide to put a .25% sales tax increase on the May ballot.  This increase would be required to be approved by the voters (the state has allowed no more than a .25% sales tax increase). Even if the sales tax passes, there will probably be an additional small property tax increase as the .25% sales tax is projected to bring in 1.8 - 2.1 million dollars per year.  3.1 million dollars is what is needed on an annual basis to pay off the bond on the three schools the county has committed to building or remodeling.  These three elementary schools are Dana, Hillandale, and Mills River.

There is a world renowned Extreme sports Kayak race held the first Saturday of each November.  This is the annual Green River Narrows Race.  Small, but world famous among paddlers/kayakers.  Plan to hike a ways into the Green River Gamelands to get there - good for leaf viewing as well. This race is around the Polk County Henderson County line. 

Lake Eden Arts Festival, near Black Mountain, at Camp Rockmont, was successful again  in October 2007.   The Music was from a diverse range of cultures: African, Latin, Appalachian, Cajun, Celtic, Blues, Bluegrass, French, Texas Sounds and more.  Visit their site to see pictures and other information  The Leaf  Then, plan to attend next spring or the next fall Festivals.