News

LOCAL BRIEFS: Holiday pop-up shops, Sandburg anniversary, Turkey Trot

By Lightning Reports, Published: October 5, 2020

The Blue Ridge Mall named four local businesses as winners of its inaugural search for Hendersonville’s Next Great Pop-Up Shop. The winners are:

• Embroider Up, an online boutique offering customized handbags, luggage, baby items, bridal gifts, clothing and housewares.
• Fired Up! Creative Lounge, a pottery studio offering paint your own pottery, glass fusing, clay building and canvas painting, which has a location in Asheville.
• Four Seasons Christmas Garden Décor and More, a popular shop downtown and specializes in beautiful holiday and seasonal decorations.
• Merch on Main, a women’s clothing boutique in downtown Hendersonville offering trendy and affordable clothing for the everyday woman.

Each winner will receive a six-week pop-up shop in the mall this holiday season. The search for Hendersonville’s Next Great Pop-Up is a partnership with the American Dream Project, an initiative that connects entrepreneurs with brick and mortar spaces. Official opening dates will be announced soon and the shops will operate throughout the holiday season.

Carl Sandburg Home celebrates anniversary

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site will offer three special programs during the park’s anniversary this month.
Authorized on Oct. 17, 1968, the park celebrates 52 years this fall. The Virtual Writer Slam will be held throughout the month of October on social media. The Community Poetry Reading will be shared via Facebook on Oct. 17, and The Writing Workshop will be hosted via Zoom on Oct. 18.
Everyone can participate in the virtual writer slam by sharing works from their favorite American authors on social media. Post favorite short excerpts to your own social media and use #WriterSlam to tag your content.
The community poetry reading this year invites anyone to video or audio record themselves reading a portion of Carl Sandburg’s book “Smoke and Steel,” which was published 100 years ago in 1920. The recordings will be shared on the park’s Facebook page at 10 a.m., on Saturday, Oct. 17.
To participate in this virtual community reading, please RSVP to carl_administration@nps.gov so we can send you a 3 minute excerpt from “Smoke and Steel” to video or audio record. Then, email a recording back to carl_administrations@nps.gov, by Oct. 10.

Poet and spoken word artist Glenis Redmond will lead a virtual poetry workshop on the “Healing Power of Poetry,” from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18. Redmond will guide participants through a series of exercises to foster creative space and to delve deeply into finding their own voice. Then participants will take to the page to write meaningful and healing poetry. The workshop is hosted by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara and will use Zoom for the virtual connection. Space is limited to 15 participants. Visit the 52nd anniversary events page to sign up at nps.gov/carl/planyourvisit/52nd-anniversary-events.htm.

A Kennedy Center Teaching Artist, Redmond has completed poet-in-resident posts at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts in Greenville, South Carolina,
and at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She believes that poetry is a healer, and she can be found in the trenches across the world applying pressure to those in need, one poem at a time.

City’s Turkey Trot still on, with changes

The Wellness Committee of the City of Hendersonville will host the 8th Annual Turkey Trot 5k Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 26. Participants will notice changes aimed at promoting social distancing, but the focus of keeping active and having fun will remain the same.
“We realize our numbers will be smaller this year, but we still wanted to offer a chance for families to come out and participate in this fun community tradition,” city Human Resources Coordinator Lu Ann Welter said. “If people are feeling up to it, mentally and physically, we invite them to bring the kids and the dog and have a nice walk or run before sitting down to their Thanksgiving meal.”
The biggest change for the event in 2020 is an open start window. Participants are invited to begin the walk/run anytime between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. There will be no race clock or official start time, eliminating the need to congregate at the beginning of the course. Walkers and runners should plan to be off the course by 10:30 a.m.
The 5k course begins in front of City Hall at Fifth Avenue East and King Street, travels through downtown, and ends back at City Hall. Participants should wear a mask when they are unable to remain socially distanced from others.
In order to further promote social distancing, no prizes will be awarded this year and there will be no water station offered on the course. Individuals who register may also choose to complete the course on their own on an alternate day and time.
Participants and volunteers may register for the Turkey Trot at www.hendersonvillenc.gov/turkeytrot. The entry fee is $12 and includes a long sleeve t-shirt and race packet. The event will take place rain or shine, sleet or snow; however, the event is subject to cancelation depending on state mandates and public health recommendations in place on the day of the event. Registrations received by Nov. 1 will be guaranteed their preferred t-shirt size. Volunteers receive a free shirt and can register at www.hendersonvillenc.gov/turkeytrot.
Race packets may be picked up on Tuesday, Nov. 24, or Wednesday, Nov. 25 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the City Hall lobby, 160 Sixth Avenue East. Please wear a mask and wait six feet apart when visiting the lobby. For more information, contact Welter at (828) 233-3204 or at lwelter@hvlnc.gov.