News

LOCAL BRIEFS: Petree crowned, IAM concert Monday night

Jonnie Petree was crowned homecoming queen at Presbyterian College.

By Bill Moss, Published: November 4, 2018

Petree crowned homecoming queen

Jonnie Petree, the daughter of Andy and Patty Petree of Hendersonville, was named 2018 Homecoming Queen at Presbyterian College. A senior, she is an English major and a member of the Blue Hose softball team. A 2015 graduate of North Henderson High School, Petree started in all 46 games for Presbyterian last spring and led the team in hits, runs scored and stolen bases.

Warmth of Home concert for IAM is set for Nov. 5

Interfaith Assistance Ministry is presenting its ninth annual Warmth of Home Concert at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, at the Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown to raise money for heating assistance for needy families.
“With the prediction of extra cold winter weather and rising heating oil prices, we anticipate that Interfaith Assistance Ministry will help hundreds of struggling Henderson County families with their power and heating fuel bills this winter,” said Elizabeth Willson Moss, executive director of Interfaith Assistance Ministry. “By attending or helping to sponsor our Warmth of Home concert Nov. 5th, you will literally be helping area residents – children and adults – survive.”
IAM thanked the musicians who are donating their time and considerable talents to the Warmth of Home concert. Appalachian Fire includes Dwayne “Doc” Durham, Cliff Searcy, Tim “Pappy” Francis, Jim Fox and Bill McDonald. Greensboro-based Rachel & Co. features singer Rachel Snow and keyboardist Willson Moss, a 2009 graduate of Hendersonville High School who frequently music directs and plays and sings in Flat Rock Playhouse downtown shows. Also performing is Kyra Hewitt, an 11-year-old Flat Rock Playhouse actress and singer.
“We appreciate our compassionate and generous sponsors, the Flat Rock Playhouse, Chuck and Jean McGrady, Horizon Heating & Air, Southern Alarm and the Hendersonville Lightning,” Moss said. “We hope our caring community will join us for a memorable evening of music, food and the warmth of giving back.”
Besides live music, the event includes a raffle and reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres. Tickets are $35 per person. To purchase tickets or for information on sponsoring the event, call Interfaith Assistance Ministry at 828-697-7029 or visit www.iamhendersoncounty.org.

Elks Lodge hosts
 Hand-Crafted Fair

The Does of the Hendersonville Elks Lodge will hold an Autumn Hand-Crafted Fair from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2-3, at the Lodge Hall, 546 N. Justice St., featuring local artists, baked goods and a raffle. For vendor information and more information contact Patty Kitlasz at 828-808-0416.

Guided tour of Oakdale
 highlights famous figures

Mary Jo Padgett will lead a tour of Hendersonville’s famous and infamous during a guided walk in Historic Oakdale Cemetery at 2:15 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4. The walk begins at the octagonal building in the cemetery, on U.S. 64 West at Valley Street, about one-half mile from downtown Hendersonville. Cost is $10 per person 10 years and older. Children under 10 are free with a paid adult. The 90-minute walks are open to the public and are held rain or shine.
“The most famous grave marker in Oakdale is the large Italian marble angel which inspired Thomas Wolfe’s book ‘Look Homeward, Angel,’” Padgett said. “The angel has recently been freshened up and repaired, and we’ll learn more about her. Some of our town’s most interesting historic figures of various races and ethnic backgrounds, however, lie in rest at Oakdale, some with markers that whisper a few secrets and others with monuments that tell glorious stories.”
Created by the city during one of Hendersonville’s most prosperous periods between 1879 and the early 20th century, Oakdale now encompasses 22 acres with more than 8,000 burials. For more information or to arrange private group tours contact Padgett at 828-545-3179 or maryjo@maryjopadgett.com or visit www.maryjopadgett.com and click on Guided Walks.

Chamber Orchestra concert 
benefits victims of Florence

The Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra (4SCO) will play its debut concert at 7 p.m. Sunday evening, Nov. 4, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe St.
The 35-member mixed ensemble of professional, amateur and highly-talented student musicians will perform orchestral masterpieces by Beethoven and Monteverdi under the direction of Eric Scheider in a program celebrating the beauty and power of nature. Tickets are $10 at the door, and donations will be collected to support the many North Carolina communities devastated by Hurricane Florence.
The 4SCO grows out of the Hendersonville Community Orchestra, founded by conductor Robert Hudson in 2009. Hudson retired from the group in the spring of 2018, passing along the baton to Scheider. A conductor, cellist, and educator active in WNC for more than a decade, Scheider also directs the Jubilee! Summer Orchestra in Asheville, performs regularly in the Hendersonville Symphony, Spartanburg Philharmonic and Café String Quartet and formerly led the Echo Early Music Festival and the Hendersonville Symphony Youth Orchestras.
The fall program features Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” and orchestral selections from Claudio Monteverdi’s pioneering 1607 opera L’Orfeo, a remarkable re-telling of the Greek Orpheus myth of love, death, magic and the power of music. For tickets visit 4seasonsorchestra.org or call 828-490-7119.

PFLAG meeting focuses on transgender acceptance

The Flat Rock/Hendersonville chapter of PFLAG will hold a meeting at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe Street, at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 to discuss what faith groups can do to help transgender persons feel more accepted in the community.
Transgender neighbors are looking for affirming faith communities where they are fully welcomed. To that end PFLAG is inviting people in the faith community to explore ways that they can be more transgender friendly and more aware of the spiritual needs of these folks. 
Faith leaders from local congregations will participate on a panel to speak about what their local faith community and/or larger body is doing to create a welcoming and safe environment in which to worship and fellowship. They will also be sharing how scriptures inform us in coming to some positive conclusions. PFLAG has no religious affiliation as an organization, but recognizes that faith communities can play an important part in the lives of LGBTQ persons and their families.