CEDAR MOUNTAIN NEWS FOR THURSDAY JULY 4TH, 2024

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE – BE SAFE

POTLUCK AND BOARD MEETING AT CMCC

Cedar Mountain Community Center Board Meeting will be open to the public Tues July 9 @ 5pm. The meeting will be followed by monthly potluck at 6:15p

Following the pot luck will be our program presenter will be Yvonne McCall-Dickson. Yvonne McCall-Dickson is a local historian and published author. One of her main interests is the history of the Cherokee Indian. Yvonne has spent many years studying the Cherokee, learning the language, researching historical documents, and collecting artifacts. Yvonne will speak on the Seven Clans of the Cherokee, how their matrilineal society worked, and their relationship with Transylvania County.

HUNGER COALITION OF TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY

The Cedar Mountain Community Center will be a new food distribution location for the Hunger Coalition of Transylvania County.  They will distribute food every third Thursday of the month, from 3:00pm - 5:00pm, beginning Thursday, July 18, 2024, from 3pm to 5pm no questions asked.  You can even pick up food for someone else who needs it.

Volunteers are needed to help with the food distribution on those days.  If you are interested or need more information, please contact Ellen Meyer at 239-851-2767.

This is not just for Cedar Mountain Residents.  Absolutely everyone is welcome.  We hope this new distribution location will provide much-needed assistance to our communities.  Please share this with your neighbors and friends who may be interested in volunteering… or need occasional help getting food for their family. We are accepting donations to help defer the cost and there is a link on our website to make donations. https://www.cedarmountaincommunitycenter.com/blank

The following is shared by Cedar Mountain business owner, Sarah Dearbaugh

CEDAR MOUNTAIN SAFETY PLAN: ROUNDABOUT UPDATES AND BRIEF TIMELINE 

May 2023 - Community Roundtable Discussion with Secretary Marshall. Cedar Mtn business owners publicly discussed pedestrian safety concerns, the speed limit, parking infrastructure and tourism signage issues for Cedar Mountain.

Meeting 1-3 in Cedar Mountain with Larry Chapman and Vicki Eastland to further discuss concerns and simple solutions for our small area: caution light, lower speed limit, pedestrian crossing, flashing lights, etc.

End of year 2023 - Cedar Mountain is looped in on a Carbon Reduction Plan for Transylvania County. Not communicated by officials to the group. 

May 2024 - Cedar Mountain “downtown” property owners receive a letter from the DOT stating that engineers, surveyors and geologists would be collecting data for a future project on Cascade Lake Road and 276. The subject line was “Cascade Lake Rd - US276 Roundabout”. 

June 2024 - CM property owners directly affected by a future roundabout met with Barry Mosteller & design team about the project. The design team arrived with a preliminary aerial view rendering of where the roundabout was going to impact. To our surprise, the roundabout was set inside the dimensions of the existing intersection. It suggested speed calming medians, reflectors, pedestrian crossings, potential flashing signage for oncoming cars and is going to be designed in mind for larger trucks and buses to drive over/through the humped median, not around. They were calling it a mini roundabout—approx 80ft. CM Moonshine will lose main ingress. In this preliminary design, the fire station and other business’ ingress/egress should not be affected. 

What happens now?

We have sent a detailed follow-up list to the DOT design team of considerations to be made when creating the scope of this project. So far, communication with the DOT team and directors is open. They have commented that calls they are receiving from our concerned community are clearly coming from a place of love and protection for our special Cedar Mountain.

A public meeting is to be scheduled for late summer/early fall 2024 to present the project at its preliminary concept phase. There is no set date yet. ALL community members: full-time or part-time residents, business owners, property owners and even our friends in surrounding areas that love to visit us, are encouraged to participate and stay informed. Updates will be shared through the Cedar Mountain News column, emails, and social media pages to ensure transparency and promote educated discussions. IF this concept is acceptable, the project will be on track to begin Spring 2026. 

There’s a DOT open public survey taking place right now that needs high participation. Here is the link for that: https://www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/Transportation/stip/development/Pages/public-involvement.aspx

You can find REVISIONS TO THE 2024-2033 STIP ITEM Budget in this handout link. Cedar Mountain is mentioned on Page 7. https://www.ncdot.gov/about-us/board-offices/boards/board-transportation/Documents/ItemN_Handout.pdf#search=cascade%20lake%20road%20276

Please see the attached roundabout project rendering. Keep in mind; this is a pre-preliminary phase concept.  Thanks for your continued community support!

CEDAR MOUNTAIN CANTEEN

The Canteen is hosting a community picnic potluck on July 4th!  Doors open at 3 pm.

Please bring a non-disposable place setting and a covered dish.  If you don’t have food to bring for any reason, we are happy to feed you.  We are a pack-it-in, pack-it-out public house and ask you to take everything you bring in, out with you.

Enjoy some time in the Little River, relax and listen to some music, meet some new friends and enjoy some time with existing ones.

We look forward to spending the day together.

The Canteen is currently showcasing the art of Cate Stevens and the late Guy Stevens (1947-2013).  Guy Stevens graduated from Furman University in 1970 with a major in Art, receiving the Maxwell Award for outstanding achievement. Guy was born and raised in Greenville, SC. In Guy's own words, he expressed his art as, "the interplay of light and texture." He stated, " I think of myself as an expressionist. I am an intuitive, expressive colorist, striving to give the viewer a sense of uplifting inner connection to my images." Guy painted all over the world and has sold paintings in forty countries. Cate Stevens is a painter working in acrylic. She states, "The Light is what I am most drawn to and this is why I paint: I want to express the light I experience within. I love to develop relations between texture and color." This colorful exhibition of Caate and Guy Stevens' paintings is not to be missed! Stop by The Canteen to admire their work and possibly purchase an art piece to enhance your home. 

SHERWOOD FOREST MEN’S GOLF LEAGUE

It was a memorable day in every way on the links today!  Dan Ellis, pictured below, scored his first hole-in-one after a lifetime of golf.  Tim tells the story of Dan stepping up to the tee box on the 9th hole asking if either Andy or he liked #9.  We didn’t say much, but Dan piped up saying he quite liked it proceeding to tee up first.  Well it was a textbook swing and ball flight, high and arching right at the pin.  We see the ball drop to the green and then vanish. As we walk up to the #9 green we’re not seeing Dan’s ball.  Tim tells Andy it’s either in the hole or off the back.  Andy scurries up the bank over to the hole and jerks out the pin with Dan’s ball flying sky high!

Results on the day’s three man scramble are as follows:  1st place with a net score of 37:  Roger Bryan, Shelby, and Bill.  2nd place with a net 38: were Nick, Ken, and Laddie.  The low gross was a 50 carded by Roger, Shelby, and Bill.  Three teams came in with gross scores of 53, and one with a 54.  Roger Bryan cleans up the putting contest with 4 birdie putts on the day!  Rick picks up yet another closest to the pin (8’9” on hole #17)

SHERWOOD FOREST LADIES GOLF LEAGUE

Today, July 1, twenty three, players participated in our best ball Ribbon Cutting Scramble, a four-person team game. Each foursome was given the same length of ribbon that could be used on the green to advance their putt or hole out. Winning team: Peggy Baldwin, Carol Mitchell, Mary Law and Mo Kitchens-Law. Next week’s game will be played on the back 9. It is an individual game, Par- 4s. Each player plays their own ball throughout. The winning score will be added from the Par 4s only. 

Please be at the course by 8:30 a.m. for our 9 a.m. start. If you're running late, call the clubhouse at 828-884-7825 to let us know you're on your way. Follow us on Facebook (Sherwood Ladies Golf) to see photos and more information about our league.

Of course Wednesday, June 26, 2024 was all about Dan!  Sharing in one of the games most longstanding traditions, Dan bought rounds of beer for all to end a very special day in June on the Sherwood Forest Links.

FAITH MEMORIAL CHAPEL

The Faith Memorial Chapel welcomes folks of all denominations to our services, held on Sundays at 11:00 AM.  We meet only in the summer and have no membership roll, so you won’t feel like a guest.  Each Sunday, we have clergy from different churches that visit us to lead the service and we are blessed to also have great music to accompany the great message!

On July 7th, we welcome Dr. Steve Eason.  Steve is a retired Presbyterian (USA) pastor, author, pastoral counselor, teacher and consultant.  A graduate of Duke Divinity School (’79), Steve served churches of all sizes over his 40 years of ministry.  From 2002 to 2015 he was the Senior Pastor of Myers Park Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.  

SEE OFF HOMESTEADERS COMMUNITY CENTER

A TC 2050 Comprehensive Plan presentation will be held at the Center on July 9 from 1 – 3p.  Please make plans to attend this important session to learn more about the TC 2050 Comprehensive Plan to have your input heard and included in the process. 

AROUND THE HOUSE by Linda Packer Young

We are currently on a fishing trip in Wisconsin and planning a side trip to visit our newest great grandsons in Illinois.  Recently both my grandson and granddaughter added little boys to their families.  We can’t wait to meet them. 

Today was a washout.  We had planned to fish, but the rain didn’t let up until afternoon.  We rented a golf cart and plan to “tool” around this big campground a bit tomorrow before visiting the great grandsons.