In 2007, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners authorized the preparation of a comprehensive plan for the County and appointed a seven member Plan Oversight Group to guide in the preparation of the plan, which has been entitled the “CITIZENS’ PLAN FOR WATAUGA”. In late 2007 and early 2008, the Plan Oversight Group sponsored a series of community meetings to hear public input regarding important community issues and priorities and agreed to convene future meetings to review the progress of this planning process with the public. These follow up meetings are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
• Cove Creek Elementary School November 2, 2009 6:00 PM
• Parkway Elementary School November 3, 2009 6:15 PM
• Watauga County Administration Building November 5, 2009 6:00 PM
Draft copies of the plan may be seen on the County’s website (www.wataugacounty.org) or at the offices of the Watauga County Planning & Inspections Department. Comments about the plan may be made on the County’s website. Following these meetings, the Plan Oversight Group will review the comments received, revise the draft plan as needed, and present it to the Board of Commissioners for their review and consideration.
We sincerely thank the citizens of Watauga for your input and support of this important planning initiative and we encourage your participation.
Wet weather didn’t dampen the spirits of a crowd of car
enthusiasts, members of the community, the Fleetwood Volunteer Fire Department
and Habitat for Humanity volunteers.Crown Point developers
invited the community to spend the day on Saturday October 10 at their lavish
facilities to enjoy the environment, tour the new homes, and help raise funds
for Ashe County Habitat for Humanity and Fleetwood Volunteer Fire Department.
The event, featuring a collection of Porsche and BMW sports
cars from across the southeast, was the second annual Fall Concours to benefit community
organizations.Judging of the cars is
usually preceded by hours of polishing and primping of the vehicles.This time, the process was pre-empted by
judges in raincoats watching the rain glisten on the cars.
The new Ashe County Habitat for Humanity affiliate, formed a
year ago, is a Christian housing ministry dedicated to the elimination of
poverty housing in the community.Habitat
is not a hand-out program, but rather a hand-up opportunity for members of the
community to earn their home through sweat equity….that is, physically working
on the building of their own home.Homeowners must qualify for and pay a mortgage for their home.The cost of the home does not include any
profit or the cost of the volunteer labor used to build it, thus making it more
affordable.Homeowner mortgage payments
are subsequently used to fund the building of additional homes for others.Habitat does not just build houses, but
rather a homes and community.
Community support for the event was overwhelming.Local businesses that provided door prizes
included Stephen Shoemaker Gallery, Everything I Love Gift Shop, Ashe County
Ford, Ana Maria Gift Shop, The Cutters Edge Salon, Pam’s Unique Boutique, Style
Depot, McNeill’s, The Cabin Store, Shatley Springs Jewelry & Gifts, Hobby
Barn, Spin A Yarn – Weave A Web, Deluxe Barber Shop, Reflections Hair Salon,
and the Cutters Edge Salon.
Scott Roberts, managing partner of Crown Point, has been dedicated both to
Habitat and the community.“We want to
make sure that we are part of the community by inviting our friends to
celebrate with us and by working side by side with community members to make AsheCounty
a better place for everyone.”
The Town of Boone’s “Fun in the Park Day” held on Saturday, October 3rd was a huge success with Mayor Clawson and the Beauti-Fly in tow. The event was an educational outreach program to teach children the importance of being good stewards of our planet by recycling, conserving water and keeping our community free of litter. Kudos to all who made this possible.
2nd ANNUAL CHANGE OF LEAVES FESTIVAL
A Fun Afternoon for the Whole Family at Crown Point!
Bring the whole family to Crown Point in West Jefferson, NC for a great afternoon of food, fun and friends designed to benefit the local Ashe County chapter of Habitat for Humanity and the Fleetwood Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department. The event will be held on Saturday, October 10 from 12 noon to 4 PM, rain or shine.
Editor's Note: We're running a multi-part story of the survival of
Jilly, a collie that was lost this summer in the High Country, and the
miraculous discovery of the dog over three weeks later. The WATA Pet
Patrol and Pet Patrol Page on GoBlueRidge.net followed the search and
offered our on-air and on-line help. Jilly's owner, Linda Plaster is
the writer.
FINDING JILLY (condensed version)
Part 3 of 3
Dr. David Linzey came out to my SUV, picked Jilly up and carried her to an exam table. Two vet techs, Caitlynne Garland and Patterson Gelok, worked to immediately shave her front leg and get an IV started. She seemed really happy to see people and to have us all around her – she just layed there while the team worked on her. They also quickly shaved Jilly’s behind right away as they could tell something was wrong back there – hair was completely missing on part of her tail. The flies had been all over her when I found her and Dr. Linzey told me that she had “fly egg casings and some mature larvae” (a euphemism for maggots) on her hindquarters. She had a wound and skin inflammation on her hindquarters that may have attracted the flies, or she could have been incontinent attracting the flies, or both. One of the vet techs cleaned the wounded area and Dr. Linzey examined Jilly and put her on the scale – she had gone from 57 pounds to 44 pounds. Incredibly, she shuffled off the scale and wanted to walk around. She was smelling around and I’m sure thinking – I’ve been through all this, now where’s the food – I really want food…
Editor's Note: We're running a multi-part story of the survival of Jilly, a collie that was lost this summer in the High Country, and the miraculous discovery of the dog over three weeks later. The WATA Pet Patrol and Pet Patrol Page on GoBlueRidge.net followed the search and offered our on-air and on-line help. Jilly's owner, Linda Plaster is the writer.
FINDING JILLY (condensed version)
Part 2 of 3
Then, on Sunday, 8/30, I had the car packed to go poster a 25 mile radius starting down in Lenoir (20 miles away) …had postering supplies, purse, cell phone, and had locked the front door…decided to go down the mountain behind our house one more time.
Unlike any other day since Jilly went missing, I just couldn’t get going…I didn’t get the car packed until around 4:00…I had taken some quiet time and had been contemplating going down the mountain behind our house one more time…. We had searched down the mountain 4 other times, twice with tracking dogs.
A few things led up to looking down the mountain again, but never really thinking that I was really going to find Jilly: (1) I learned that the little dog I found while searching for Jilly, which we were fostering and named Watson, was a Feist – a breed I’d never heard of until the tracker arrived with her dogs – one was a Feist. By chance, I gave him Jilly’s scent article 4 times within a minute or so and asked him to find Jilly. Later (can’t remember how much later), I saw Watson go down the mountain behind our house. He may have done it more than once; and (2) a friend had told us that a client’s dog had tried to dig its own grave the day prior to its death.
Girl Scout Workshop--Topic Instructors NeededHello, my name's Alex Cobert.
Myself and two others are in charge of planning and setting up a Girl
Scouting event called "The Girls Rock Junior Jam" for our Recreation
Program Planning class. We are looking for volunteers to teach these
girls some new things from dancing, cooking, the outdoors, etc. Anyone
that could help instruct any type of workshop beneficial for these
girls would be tremendously appreciated. The event will take place on
November 14th at the Holmes Convocation center from 9am-4pm. Volunteers
are definitely not required to stay the entire time; the day will be
broken up into 55 minute sessions so even a few hours will greatly
help. If you or anyone affiliated with your group can volunteer please
do so and just shoot me a reply E-mail.Full Story
