Community News

LOCAL BRIEFS: Pardee employees, Hunger Walk, Sandburg folk music

Pardee UNC Health Care hosted a service appreciation banquet to honor 122 employees June 25 at Point Lookout Vineyard.

By Bill Moss, Published: July 15, 2019

Pardee honors employees for service

Pardee UNC Health Care recently hosted a service appreciation banquet to honor 122 team members representing nearly every service line on June 25 at Point Lookout Vineyard. The event honored employees who have worked for Pardee for five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years. The longest-serving team members are Frieda Hudson and Patty Praytor, who have both been with the hospital for 40 years. Honorees and their guests were treated to hors d’oeuvres, a buffet and the recognition ceremony. Johnna Reed, chief operating officer, and Jay Kirby, chief executive officer, led the award ceremony and presented each recipient with a “badge buddy” for their corresponding years of service.


Icard exhibits work 
at Flat Rock gallery


The Gallery at Flat Rock is excited to present an exhibition encompassing 20 years of work by artist Carol Beth Icard, opening this week.
Icard, who lives in Landrum, South Carolina, has established herself as a painter whose colorful, ethereal oils reveal expressive abstractions that convey a world beyond everyday expectation. The “Map of my Self” exhibition includes an Artist Talk at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 27, at the Gallery at Flat Rock. Both events are free and open to the public.
Carol Beth Icard’s ‘Map of my Self’ exhibit is currently at The Gallery at Flat Rock. “As a child I loved spending time in the woods behind my home, letting my imagination carry me away,” Icard says. “As I grew up, my fanciful notions led to introspective thinking, seeking meaning beyond the visible, and a growing trust in my instincts. Now in my 70’s, reflecting on my creative path these last two decades, I realize that my paintings don’t represent places or experiences, but they are an internal response to who I am. My art threads through many doorways searching for my essential self.”
Originally a basketmaker, Carol Beth returned to college in 1991 to study painting. Just a few months following her graduation, she traveled to Italy, which she says had an “unexpected impact on my life and my art.”
In the 1990s she gravitated toward abstraction because of what she calls “the connection between color and emotion. With abstract art viewers bring their own life experience to it.”
The Gallery at Flat Rock, in Flat Rock Square at 2702-A Greenville Highway in Flat Rock, is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday; or by appointment. To learn more, visit galleryflatrock.com or call 828-698-7000.

Downtown tours
 highlight history

Mary Jo Padgett will lead guided history walks along Hendersonville’s meandering Main Street at 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 22 and 29. The walks will be about 90 minutes and will be held rain or shine. Cost is $10 per person 10 years and older. Children under 10 are free with a paid adult. Reservations are suggested. Meet in the lobby of Hendersonville City Hall at the entrance to the Police Department to begin the walk. City Hall is at the corner of Fifth Avenue East and King Street. Free parking is available at the Police Department entrance.
The tour covers the Historic Courthouse, Skyland Hotel, City Hall, historic shops and other buildings on Main Street. Private tours are available for groups of eight or more of Main Street as well as Historic Oakdale Cemetery and the Historic Seventh Avenue District. call Mary Jo at 828-545-3179 or email to maryjo@maryjopadgett.com to make arrangements.

Hunger Coalition hosts Hunger Walk

The Henderson County Hunger Coalition will host its annual Hunger Walk on Sept. 21.
Established in 1982 by clergy members to help feed needy families, the coalition is now made up of 15 representatives from different denominations. The first non-profits to receive support were Interfaith Assistance Ministry, a Soup Kitchen operated by First Presbyterian and St. James Episcopal churches, Council on Aging, Western Carolina Community Action, Ministry Seven, Manna Food Bank, Mainstay, Salvation Army, and Blue Ridge Health Center. Today the Soup kitchen is still in operation. Ministry Seven is now Hendersonville Rescue Mission. Mainstay is now Safelight.

Today more agencies and food banks have been added providing emergency food to needy families and individuals facing crisis situation in Henderson County. This year coalition helps fund IAM, Meals-On-Wheels, Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry, Western Carolina Community Action, the Salvation Army, Rescue Mission, Blue Ridge Heath Center, Fishes and Loaves Food Pantry, The Storehouse, Edneyville Food Pantry, St. Barnabas Catholic Church Food Pantry (Henderson County residents) and Safelight.

For more information about the Hunger Coalition, how to contribute, how to participate in the Hunger Walk Sept. 21 or have a speaker come to your organization, contact Dick Ranges at rroost@bellsouth.net or Pat Fisher at lefpfisher@yahoo.com or visit hendersoncountyhungercoalition.org.

St. Gerard receives Melvin R. Lane grant

St. Gerard House announce that it will receive funding through the Melvin R. Lane capacity building grant, awarded by the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. St. Gerard House, which offers evidence-based treatment for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, is among six nonprofits that will receive $150,000 over three years.
“The support from the Lane Fund will allow St. Gerard House to hire a director of development and purchase software to help us expand both programming and community outreach,” Executive Director Caroline Long said. “Taking these steps will ultimately allow us to offer our services to more children and adults with autism and their support groups.”
Saluda organization
hosts volunteer fair
Saluda Downtown Foundation Inc. will hold a volunteer fair Sunday, Sept. 22, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Saluda Senior Center. All non-profit and governmental organizations are invited to participate in the fair. 
The purpose of the volunteer fair is to allow potential volunteers to learn about different Saluda organizations in a low-pressure, casual environment so that they can better determine the organization that’s the best fit for their interests and skills.
All organizations participating in the fair will need to staff a table and provide information about their mission and accomplishments, volunteer job descriptions, and time commitment of volunteer positions. Organizations will be urged to contribute door prizes as enticements to bring out potential volunteers. Saluda businesses are encouraged to contribute a door prize for the event. 
For more information or any organization wishing to participate in the volunteer fair should contact Lynn Casey at caseysaluda@gmail.com or 828-772-1504. 

Sandburg Sing-alongs celebrate folk tradition

To celebrate Sandburg’s love of folk music, Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site will offer new, monthly Sandburg Sing-alongs. Musicians will lead the audience in fun songs, with lyrics provided. Sing-alongs will be held in the park’s new amphitheater and are free and open to the public.
The next sing-along, at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 20, will be led by Cindy Carpenter and Emily Reasoner. The duo has delighted many audiences with folk music at the Cradle of Forestry and local festivals. They will share traditional old-time folk music. 

On Sunday, Aug. 11, from 3 to 5 p.m., the summer series concludes with a sing-along led by Lucy Allen and Marshall Goers, who have played bluegrass and folk music across the region and enjoy using music to tell stories.