Bountiful Cities Project Urban Harvest Dinner- September 25!

On Friday September 25, 2009, The Bountiful Cities Project, Asheville’s Urban Agriculture and Food Security organization, will host the first of a series of “BCP’s Urban Harvest Dinners,” at the Pearson Drive Community Garden in Montford. The dinners are elegant, on-garden evenings to raise funds for BCP’s ongoing outreach and education programs in many community gardens and urban farms throughout the city of Asheville.

BCP’s September 25th Urban Harvest Dinner features a line-up of top-notch local businesses donating their time, talents and resources; including Shay Brown Events, Artisan Catering, Chef Mo, Short Street Cakes, Mountain Foods & the Fresh Quarter, East Coast Entertainment, the Wine Guy, Naomi Johnson Photography, and many others. The menu will feature ingredients grown at Bountiful Cities Gardens throughout Asheville, as well as other local food from other sources. There will be a cocktail hour with a demonstration on using the community wood-fired bread oven to bake fresh foccacia appetizers; salads, sides and fantastic entrées prepared by Chefs Mauricio and Mo; local sweet potato cupcakes from Short Street Cakes for dessert; and ample opportunities to learn about BCP’s work in the movement towards true food security for everyone in Asheville, as well as opportunities to get involved! Tickets are $60 each and are available for online purchase at www.bountifulcitiesproject.org. Tickets are limited.

What is food security? It is the right we all have to clean, healthy, accessible, affordable food. BCP thinks the best way to ensure true food security is to make our food systems more sustainable by growing food in the city. The Bountiful Cities Project has been working “on the ground” to connect communities to their food in Asheville’s diverse neighborhoods for almost a decade. Committed to urban agriculture, BCP has transformed urban land into community food production spaces, helped communities such as Montford, Stephens-Lee, Shiloh, Burton Street, Joyner Ave, Vance Elementary, Hall Fletcher Elementary, and Pisgah View develop their own community gardens and has contributed resources and programming to education regarding food security. BCP’s demonstration gardens- the Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park in the Stephens-Lee Community, and the Pearson Drive Community Garden in Montford- continue to be the flagship gardens of the organization’s work. To learn more go to www.bountifulcitiesproject.org.

WestAsheville: Help Find This Dog, Please!

The owner of this dog was out in my neighborhood putting out flyers and stopped to speak with me about Snoopy. If you are in West Asheville, please keep an eye out for Snoopy!

From the Asheville Citizen-Times:

"Snoopy Girl,” the Australian hound mix who got spooked and escaped from her collar near Malvern Hills Park on Aug. 9, has been spotted by three individuals near the Deaverview Park ball fields, and a second search was held today in hopes of bringing her home to her owners.

A first search was held Wednesday in neighborhoods near the National Guard Armory off Brevard Road after spottings in that area, with volunteers from West Asheville coming together to lend a hand even though they had never met Snoopy or her owners, Jean and Bill Cook. The Cooks, of Hendersonville, have been in Asheville for up to 12 hours each day searching for their dog.

Today’s search focused on the area across Patton Avenue from the Malvern Hills neighborhood.

The family asks that anyone who sees or is able to capture Snoopy call Elisabeth at 776-2116, or the Cooks at 891-4007."

Downtown After Five

Downtown After Five, Asheville’s best “entertainment stimulus package” that keeps on giving, is back Friday, August 21 on Lexington Avenue between Hiawassee and the I240 underpass. This month’s lineup includes locals Silas Durocher and Everybody Knows, Toubab Krewe side project Radasaurus Rex, and headliners Pimps of Joytime. The music gets started at 5:15pm; come prepared for a night of dancing and fun.

Bridging many styles, Silas focuses primarily on combining classical music with both funk and rock n’ roll to create “music for the head, the heart, and the hips.” With his band Everybody Knows, Silas brings that combination to musical fruition. Catch them at 5:15pm. Get a sneak preview of the band on the MY40 (WMYA) Morning show Thursday, August 20 between 7-8am.

Radasaurus Rex, a new side project featuring most of the members from the nationally-touring local sensation Toubab Krewe, will hit the stage at 6:20pm. Expect the musical adventure that comes with the Krewe along with a unique spin on fusion rock n’ roll blended with West African rhythms.

Described as “pure fun, without a dull moment,” San Francisco and Brooklyn-based Pimps of Joytime perform at 7:45pm. While they could certainly be dubbed a funk band, Pimps of Joytime blend blues, reggae and even a bit of Latin in their songs. Imagine Prince and Sly Stone deciding to have a Latin funk project together.

Proceeds from wristband sales at each Downtown After Five benefit a local charity. August’s recipient is Downtown Asheville Residential Neighbors (DARN). DARN’s mission is to serve as the contact point where residents of the Central Business District connect to each other and the community, and to give strength to their voice in neighborhood issues and solutions.

YWCA Neighborhood Appreciation Day

The YWCA of Asheville, located at 185 S. French Broad Ave., will hold it's annual “Neighborhood Appreciation Day” on Saturday, August 29th from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm.

The YWCA encourages neighbors to stop by for snacks, tours, and coupons for free swim lessons. Visitors will be able to try out YWCA fitness equipment and classes including yoga and cardio circuit. water aerobics and family swim will be offered in the YWCA’s solar-heated pool.

In addition, the joining fee for Club W: The YWCA Health & Fitness Center will be waived for anyone who signs up that day.

The mission of the YWCA is eliminating racism and empowering women. The YWCA offers a wide variety of programs aimed at bridging gaps in health care, childcare, earning power and education.

For more information visit the YWCA website, http://www.ywcaofasheville.org/.

I Got Your Change Right Here!

Meet and Greet with Mayoral Candidate Shad Marsh (That's me!)
come on out and let me feel your pain!

Date:	Saturday, August 22, 2009
Time:	3:00pm - 6:00pm
Location:	My House
Street:	48 Raleigh Rd
City/Town:	Asheville, NC

Directions

Pertinent linkage:

Event page

Candidate page

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue Fundraiser

Animal lovers and foodies alike are invited to a sumptuous spaghetti dinner for a good cause. Funds raised support Brother Wolf Animal Rescue’s low- and no-cost spay-neuter assistance program, which works to reduce the number of homeless cats and dogs in our community and to help low-income pet owners improve the health and quality of life of their pets through spaying and neutering. Great food is cooked with love, and Mayfel’s has a lot of love for Asheville’s animals in need!

Featuring three course meal, silent auction and raffle, live music, and cash bar. Tickets are $15 per person, children 6 and under $5, and are available at the door, or in advance at Pet Soup Pet Services, 31 Glendale Avenue or online at www.bwar.org. For more info, email janinebitz@yahoo.com or call (828) 808-9435. Mayfel's is located next to Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville at 22 College Street. Easy parking available in the Wall Street parking garage just around the corner!

BlogSister Cities: Asheville, NC and Roanoke, VA

To the BlogAsheville Community:

It gives us great pleasure to introduce our Blogsister City - Roanoke, Virginia. The good folks there have started a blog collective called BlogRoanoke, and one of those founding members is a friend. We hope to engender some cross Blue Ridge Blogging, and perhaps a blog meetup between our respective cities in 2010. Please see the press announcement below and stop by to encourage and support them!

"Within the past two years, the number of active blogs in the Roanoke Valley has increased exponentially.

Valley residents are talking about everything from Roanoke’s booming bike culture to experiences on the front lines of the battle to leave no child behind in our local schools."

We welcome your comments and suggestions, regarding our new found friendship!

Gordon Smith for Asheville City Council

I canvassed for Gordon Smith today in West Asheville because I believe Gordon will make an excellent City Council member. You can learn more about Gordon tonight at The Boiler Room, or at his website, Gordon For Asheville!

Open Invitation

I would love to extend an invitation to you to come to the Asheville Arts Center’s Open House/ 5th year Anniversary weekend this weekend on Aug 14th and 15th! This will be a great opportunity for you to meet and talk with the four new drama teachers introduced in the release below and also with other educators and students in the AAC Community.

I am interested in setting up an interview with you and the AAC PR Director, Michael Wilson, and/or any of the new teachers if you’d be in to helping us make their introduction to the public. If you’d like a chance to meet and talk with the students & staff as well as many music, dance and theatre performers personally, come on out to the AAC anniversary weekend and get some snacks and mingle about!

On Friday, August 14th the open house will be from 5-9pm at the South Asheville Location on Summit Ave. On Saturday, August 15th The AAC will celebrate 10am-3pm in the main Merrimon Ave Location. Please come and check out the center while you talk with the staff, teachers and students! Directions are on the website www.ashevilleartscenter.com/location.cfm. Or call (828) 253-4000.

Cheers!


Erin Scholze

Dreamspider Publicity

www.dreamspider.net

dreamspidder@gmail.com

TEDxAsheville Confirms 2009 Speakers

From a press release:

LOCALLY ORGANIZED VERSION OF “ULTIMATE BRAIN SPA”

AT THE ORANGE PEEL AUGUST 30

Asheville, NC (August 7, 2009) Local fans of the TED conference present TEDxAsheville, an independently organized TED event, Sunday, August 30, 7– 11 p.m. at The Orange Peel.

Mix your favorite mind-blowing lecture in college with a hot night out at a club, add a few beers, and you've got TEDxAsheville, where smart is sexy and great ideas are the name of the game. Four Asheville visionaries join a sprinkling of all-local performance talent for a night of fun for your head that promises inspiration, excitement and ideas worth spreading.

Confirmed 2009 TEDxAsheville speakers include:

• Dee Eggers, UNC Asheville professor of environmental science
• Drew Jones of the Sustainability Institute, creator of interactive climate simulations
• David McConville of the Elumenati, multimedia artist, entrepreneur, inventor and community activist
• Caroline Yongue, Buddhist minister and director of Asheville’s Center for End-of-Life Transitions

TEDxAsheville 2009 also promises a few surprises.

Daniel Crabtree of Unifire Theater and Josh Batenhorst of ArtSpace Charter School split emcee duties in a 4-hour marathon conference event. Interested sponsors and prospective volunteers can contact TEDxAsheville at tedxavl@gmail.com.

This late-summer conference event is FREE, seats will fill QUICKLY. Arrive early if you can.

TEDxAsheville official website: tedxavl.com

TEDTalks sample videos: tedxavl.com/videos/

Facebook: search TEDxAsheville

Twitter: follow @TEDxAVL

ABOUT TEDx

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED created a program it calls TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxAsheville, where “x” = an independently organized TED event. At TEDxAsheville, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection within the audience.

The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

TEDxAsheville is a operated under license from TED. It is not being organized by the TED conference, and is an independently organized TED event.

Rally for Jenny Bowen

Jenny Bowen is one of the reasons Asheville is Asheville. Creator of the Faces of Asheville project, and the Asheville ABC series, she is now running for City Council. She has the kind of voice and vision we need in Asheville.
The Vortex Cabaret is proud to present a special edition of our show as a rally & fundraiser for the Jenny Bowen Campaign. It will be held at Eleven on Grove Street. Admission is $7. The doors open at 9 PM for a meet-and-greet with the candidate, with the main show starting at 10 PM. Please come out to support a much-needed progressive voice in Asheville city politics.