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LOCAL BRIEFS: Butcher a chicken, leaf pickup, farm grants, Habitat event

Have you ever purchased a whole chicken, cooked it and then cut it up in a way that left meat on the bones or was just really messy? Now is your chance.  Joe and Linda Brittain of Brittain Farms will demonstrate the right way  to butcher a chicken at the Mills River Farmers Market on Saturday. They will repeat the demonstration each hour beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The Mills River Farmers Market is located at 94 School House Road, Mills River, on the campus of Mills River Elementary School. The market supports local farms and farmers supplying high quality, local, and sustainable produce, dairy, meat, and handmade goods; most vendors are within 20 miles of Mills River. Mills River Farmers Market is the only market in Henderson County that accepts SNAP/EBT benefits allowing lower income families to have access to a variety of quality produce, meat, and dairy.

The market is held each Saturday from May through October from 8 a.m. to noon. A special “Holiday Market” is held in November highlighting local crafts, late fall/early winter produce and seasonal items.

City leaf pickup starts Monday

The city of Hendersonville will begin fall leaf collection for city residents on Monday, Oct. 17. Collection will continue until the end of December. Residents are asked to rake their leaves as close to the street, curb or sidewalk as possible without placing the leaves in the road or on the sidewalk. Residents do not need to call for this service. Leaf piles are picked up from homes about every 10 to 14 days but depending on the volume of leaves placed out for collection the piles could be picked up sooner or later than that time. Leaf pickup is separate from the city brush collection so residents need to keep the brush and leaves in separate piles. Residents are asked to not bag their leaves. For information call the Public Works Department at (828) 697-3084.

Contractor to remove dead trees on greenway

Work will begin on the Oklawaha Greenway Trail on Oct. 12 between Patton Park and Seventh Avenue to remove some dead trees and hazardous limbs over the trail. Trees that have been evaluated by a certified arborist and deemed unsafe will be removed. Epperson Tree Service of Saluda won the bid to complete the work. The project is expected to span five working days or more. That stretch of the trail will be closed while work is under way.

New EMS station opens in Fletcher

Henderson County’s new Emergency Medical Service (EMS) station is now open in Fletcher. The station is currently scheduled to operate 12 hours a day/seven days per week and was approved by the Board of Commissioners in the FY16-17 budget to handle the increasing number of emergency medical calls occurring countywide.

The new ambulance and crew are based at the Fletcher Fire & Rescue Main Station thanks to the cooperation of the department. Locating the new ambulance in Fletcher will help address overall EMS call volume and decrease response times to emergency calls, EMS officials said.

Farmers can apply for Ag Options grants

WNC Agricultural Options is now accepting grant applications from farmers diversifying or expanding their businesses. The program helps offset farmers’ risk of starting ventures or growing new operations with $3,000 and $6,000 grants. The application deadline is Nov. 14.

The N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has notified WNC AgOptions leaders that the program will be funded for another two years. The commission expects to increase the amount of funding so that WNC AgOptions can give more farmers grants in 2017 and 2018 than in recent years.

Since 2004, WNC AgOptions has awarded more than $2 million to 456 farmers. The program serves a diverse array of farmers, including many noteworthy agritourism projects.

As a result of their grant-funded greenhouse, Randy and Carol Edmundson in Henderson County can now grow all their own vegetable starts for their 100-acre vegetable farm. The project saved them thousands of dollars and ensured they have healthy, disease-free transplants, which they could not guarantee when purchasing from other sources. This year they have also produced more vegetables than in the past and increased overall sales.

Applicants should contact their Cooperative Extension agents by Oct. 14 to set up an appointment to discuss their projects. Applications are available at www.wncagoptions.org or at local Cooperative Extension Centers. Extension Agents remain a resource for farmers throughout the year as they complete their projects.

Potential applicants are encouraged to attend grant information sessions in which program coordinator Jennifer Ferre explains the application and answers questions about the grants. Locally a session will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station.

Habitat to dedicate Dodd Meadows center

Henderson County Habitat for Humanity will celebrate the grand opening of the new Community Center at the Habitat subdivision in East Flat Rock on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows and Henderson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tommy Thompson will cut the ribbon during the ceremony from 4 to 6 p.m. in Dodd Meadows at East Blue Ridge and Crest roads. Tours of Habitat homes under various stages of construction will also be offered.

The project was completed through a Community Development Block Grant with the North Carolina Department of Commerce in collaboration with Henderson County. Complete with a meeting room and a fully equipped kitchen, the community center will be made available as a meeting facility to Henderson County non-profit organizations and will become the center of activity for Habitat homeowners. Additional plans for the community include a nature trail, community gardens, playgrounds, and sidewalk systems.
Sponsored by Park Ridge Health, the event, from 4 to 6 p.m., is free and open to the public. Please RSVP at 828-694-0340.