Happenings this week in the Swannanoa Valley

Dollywood Players return to libraries

The Dollywood Players will present "Old Bear and His Cub" by Olivier Dunrea at 3:30 p.m. May 11 at Black Mountain Library and at 10:30 a.m. May 13 at Bee Tree Fire Station, 510 Bee Tree Road. In the play, Little Cub doesn't want to be told what to do, yet he always listens because he knows Old Bar loves him. But when Old Bear catches a cold, it's Little Bear who knows how to make him feel better. "Old Bear" is a lively 20-minute production filled with sing-along songs, including music written especially for the show by Dolly Parton. Call the libraries for more.

Local student makes Mars Hill Dean's List

Emily Marie Peek of Swannanoa made the Fall 2014 Dean's List at Mars Hill University. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must earn a grade-point average of 3.5 on a minimum of 12 semester hours, and carry no grade below a C.

LEGO Builders meet at BM Library

LEGO Builders will meet at the Black Mountain Library, 105 Dougherty St. at 4 p.m. May 8. This is fun for ages 5 and up.

Black Mountain Knitters to meet

The Black Mountain Knitters will meet at 4 p.m. May 15 at Black Mountain Library, 105 Dougherty St. It is a casual knitting and needlework group for all skill levels. Call 250-4756 for more.

BM Mystery Book Club to meet

The Black Mountain Mystery Book Club will meet at 7 p.m. May 19 at Black Mountain Library, 105 Dougherty St. The book to be discussed in "One False Move" by Harlen Coben. All interested readers are welcome to attend.

BBQ proceeds help Christmas shoeboxes

Grove Stone Baptist Church will hold a barbecue fundraiser from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-7:30 p.m. May 8. All proceeds will go toward Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Plates are $8 and include barbecue, coleslaw, baked beans, bread and dessert. The pork barbecue will be cooked and chopped fresh that morning by Ronnie Fink. For more, call Jennifer at 275-3382.

Zen nun to speak at Cloud Cottage

The Venerable Simone Chimyo Atkinson, a Zen Buddhist nun and head of practice at Great Tree Zen Temple in Alexander, will offer a spontaneous lecture known as a Dharma talk at 6 p.m. April 29 at Cloud Cottage Community of Mindful Living, 219 Old Toll Circle, Black Mountain.

Those who are able to walk up the drive are asked to park at the bottom and enter the meditation hall via the outside staircase. The public is invited. Rev. Atkinson will be installed as a lineage holder by Abbess and Zen Buddhist monk Teijo Munnich at a ceremony to be held in May at Great Tree Temple. Rev. Munnich is a Dharma heir of the late and well-known Katigiri Roshi of Minneapolis.

For more, call 669-6000.

Sign up for Owen Middle yard sale

Reserve space now for the community yard sale that Owen Middle School Career Club is hosting from 8 a.m.-noon June 6. Drop off the $10 fee at the school. For more, email amanda.venturella@bcsemail.

White House staffer delivers address

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association chief of staff Ken Barun will be keynote speaker at the Montreat College Spring Commencement at 2 p.m. May 9.

Barun reports to association president and CEO Franklin Graham. Prior to joining the ministry, Barun spent more than 20 years with the McDonald's Corporation. He held the position of president/CEO and board member of Ronald McDonald House Charities Worldwide.

In 1982, Barun was asked by President Ronald Reagan to join the White House staff, where he served for three years as a director of projects and policy to First Lady Nancy Reagan. He has served in three presidential administrations, under Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Barun and his wife Sethea live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Givens Highland Farms recognized

Alliant Quality, the Medicare Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization for North Carolina, has recognized Givens Highland Farms as improving the quality of health care for North Carolinians and has identified and trained them and members of their staff as "peer coaches" for other nursing homes, due to their high performance.

Peer coaches represent diverse levels of nursing home staff, both administrative and direct care, provide best-practice support for other nursing homes participating in the collaborative, assist the QIN-QIO to instill quality improvement methodologies, and along with the QIN-QIO, foster the creation of quality centric nursing homes among their peer nursing homes.

Yarn shop joins WNC Yarn Crawl

Join the Black Mountain Yarn Shop and several other local yarn shops for the WNC Yarn Crawl May 7-10. The shop at 203-A W. State St., will raffle off prizes, serve refreshments and have yarn crawl specials. Stop by the store for details.

New SVFAL show to open at Red House

"This land is your land, this land is my land," the new show by the Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League, opens with a reception from 5-7 p.m. June 5. SVFAL shows at the Red House next to the Monte Vista Hotel rotate every two months, and artists exhibit as well in the hotel. Founded in 1967, SVFAL is one of the oldest art organizations in the area. Red House Studios and Gallery opened in late 2012. The show runs through the beginning of August. Red House hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.

Celebrate Recovery now 10 years old

May is a very special month at Celebrate Recovery. Come celebrate its 10th anniversary at 6:15 p.m. May 19 with worship, praise, a supper and small groups starting at 6:15 p.m. Celebrate Recovery meets 6:15-9 p.m. every Tuesday at Mountain View Church, 2221 North Fork, Right Fork Road, Black Mountain. Dinner and childcare are free, and there is worship, music, open share and 12-step study groups. For more, call Connie at 669-1981.

Furniture for sale at YMCA Blue Ridge

Historic YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly is having a one-day yard sale from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. May 9. Proceeds will help its expanding outdoor education program. Items to be sold include office furniture (desks, lamps, file cabinets), stacking chairs, wooden doors, antiques, appliances, and many more historic treasures. Be prepared to take your purchases with you that day. Rain or Shine. The assembly is at 84 Blue Ridge Circle, Black Mountain.

Job fair to fill jobs in Black Mountain

Friday Staffing is holding a career fair from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at 1944 Hendersonville Road, Suite A, Asheville. It has more than 70 open positions for jobs in the Black Mountain/Asheville/Hendersonville/Brevard/area. Jobs available are full-time positions, with benefits, in manufacturing, warehouse or industrial settings. Some administrative, accounting, and customer service positions are also available.

While experience is preferred, it is not always required, although those with previous manufacturing experience are strongly encouraged to attend. Open shift availability is a plus, with many 10- and 12-hour shifts, swing shifts, and rotating shifts available. Those attending the career fair can pre-register at Friday-Staffing.com, with the opportunity to apply to dozens of companies at once. For more, call 684-8700.

"Steel Magnolias" tickets are available

Tickets are still available for the Black Mountain Center for the Arts' production of "Steel Magnolias" by Robert Harling, directed by Stuart Williams. The performances will be in the center's Front Porch Theater.

"Steel Magnolias" performances will be at 7:30 p.m. May 8 and 9 and 3 p.m. May 10, Mother's Day. The following weekend, shows will be at 7:30 p.m. May 15 and 16 and 3 p.m. May 17.

Tickets are $15 plus tax and can be purchased by calling the arts center at 669-0930. The Black Mountain Center for the Arts is at 225 W. State St.

Tina Barr to present at BMCA

Poet Tina Barr will present "The Watercolor on the Wall" at a Brown Bag and Books Lunchtime event at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts from noon-1 p.m. May 22. The presentation is free. Bring a lunch and learn how a chance encounter in the BMCA Upper Gallery led Barr to the cover of her latest book, "Kaleidoscope." Barr will talk about the process of developing the book's cover, read poems that reflect its themes, and sign books. The Black Mountain Center for the Arts is at 225 W. State St. For more, call 669-0930.

Church holds car wash for donations.

Victory Baptist Church will hold a car wash beginning at 9 a.m. May 9 at State Farm agency on N.C. 9. Donations are accepted.

Post Office conducts its annual food drive

May 9 is this year's Stamp Out Hunger, the nation's largest one-day food drive put on by the U.S. Postal Service.

The Postal Service encourages customers to place a sturdy bag of nonperishable food next to their mailboxes before regular mail delivery on that day. Letter carriers will collect the food, which in the Valley will be donated to Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry. You can also drop the bag at the post offices in Black Mountain and Swannanoa.

Quilt raffle benefits town landscaping

A beautiful, heirloom-quality quilt handcrafted by Susan Chabot, formerly of Black Mountain (now living in Oxford, Ohio) will be raffled May 16 at the Black Mountain Garden Show and Sale at the Monte Vista Hotel. Tickets, $10, are available at the Monte Vista or through a member of the Black Mountain Beautification Committee, www.blackmountain

beautification.org. Only 400 tickets will be sold.

Warren Wilson is magazine's second 'greenest campus'

Warren Wilson College has been named second nationwide among College Magazine's "Top 10 Greenest Campuses."

In selecting Warren Wilson, College Magazine notes that much of the college's food and wood come from the sustainably managed farm, garden and forests on campus. Read more about the ranking at http://bit.ly/1KxJE7F.

The College Magazine ranking comes on the heels of Warren Wilson being named number one in the South on The Princeton Review list of "Top 50 Green Colleges."

New classes at Arrowhead Gallery

Arrowhead Gallery at 78 Catawba Road, Old Fort is offering ongoing art classes (any medium/subject) with Lorelle Bacon from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Tuesdays and ongoing hand-built clay classes with Jan Wheeler, as well as a May 9 sketchbook workshop with Miriam Hughes.

For prices and more, call 595-6007.

Annual rhodo show returns to Arboretum

The 56th annual Rhododendron and Azalea Flower Show will be noon-5 p.m. May 2 and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. May 3 at the North Carolina Arboretum. The juried event features hundreds of blooms and displays of rhododendron trusses as well as azalea sprays.

The show includes the full range of species and hybrids grown in this area. The N.C. Arboretum is home to the National Native Azalea Collection, and visitors are encouraged to explore the collection, located along Bent Creek, representing nearly every species native to the United States.

New theater program on Asheville radio

WPVM 103.7 FM, a community radio station in Asheville, has added the program "Asheville Theater Radio." The show will be hosted by local theater personality Jeff Catanese and will be broadcast live at 10:30 a.m. on Thursdays.

The show will also stream live on wpvmfm.org and be archived on that same site for listening anytime.

"Asheville Theater Radio" will seek to provide a voice to the growing Western North Carolina theater scene and will feature guests from the theater community, call-in segments, opinions, chats and a run-down of local shows, events and auditions.

Since moving to Asheville from New York City five years ago, Catanese has been a strong presence in the local theater scene, directing shows at Asheville Community Theatre and Montford Park Players, acting for those and many other companies, teaching acting to kids in area schools and producing and directing several plays with Attic Salt Theatre Company, a company he co-founded 17 years ago.