Buncombe County is excited to announce the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022 is now available.

The ACFR offers an in-depth analysis of Buncombe’s financial process and contains an independent auditor’s report from the audit firm CliftonLarsonAllen LLP.

Go to the full report.

We invite you to come downtown and experience one or more temporary installations from the Art in the Heart program. Share your thoughts on the artwork by clicking on the second tab below. Art in the Heart is a temporary art program specifically designed to help stimulate conversations about themes like identity, community, inclusion, healing, unity, and resilience. It’s also a way to start conversations about how public spaces can, or don’t, help reflect or express a community’s past, present, and future.

You can find more background and information about the Pack Square Visioning Project here.

Asheville Asks: How do I get an issue addressed or find out about services in my neighborhood?

Our new Neighborhood Resources web page is a “one-stop-shop” resource to answer residents’ questions, from development projects to trash pick up. 

This webpage gives you quick access links to some of the most frequently requested community resources and information.

Residents have a variety of questions and opportunities to get involved, and having the answers and information all in one place empowers residents to stay informed and help the City make improvements that the community wants to see.

The Neighborhood Resources web page can be accessed at ashevillenc.gov/neighborhoodresources.

Did we miss something? Let us know how we can improve this page by contacting us at [email protected].

From 11/15 – 12/31, we’re offering a Holiday Special on our subscriptions! Get tickets at a discounted price, AND get a free ticket voucher for our next play, Native Gardens! Check our website on 11/15 to purchase this limited-time deal!

The Asheville Fire Department is conducting a survey this month to understand how residents like you feel about the services provided by the City of Asheville Fire Department.

It’s a quick 2 question survey which allows you to rate service and make suggestions as to how AFD can better serve the community.

Have thoughts?

It’s the Season for Giving Join us in helping to ensure members of the WNC community have enough nutritious food to eat this holiday season. In partnership with MANNA Food Bank, we’re hosting a holiday food drive and requesting donations of healthy, non-perishable food items as well as personal hygiene products. Donations will be delivered to MANNA, weighed, and distributed to those in need. Collection barrels are set up inside the lobbies of REI Co-op and Regal Biltmore Grande through December 19th.

We want everyone to Experience More Joy this season so while you’re out shopping this weekend, find the giant, pre-lit ornament located in the median of Town Square Blvd. Not only is it a festive and fun photo backdrop but just by following a few simple prompts and entering our photo contest, you could win a $100 gift card to one Biltmore Park Town Square business of your choice. So, gather your friends, family, beloved pet, or just yourself and get creative! How to enter the Instagram Photo Contest: 1. Take a photo at the ornament 2. Follow @biltmoreparktownsq on Instagram by December 18th 3. Post your photo on Instagram 4. Tag your photo using the hashtag #MoreJoyBPTS *Contest ends December 18th and the winner will be randomly selected and notified on December 21st.

We’ve got so many reasons to give thanks! In each of our program areas, we see ordinary people taking heroic action to protect our home from the pressures of a changing climate.   This year-end, we’re highlighting stories that inspired us and sharing how we’re planting seeds to create a climate-resilient future for all of us.   With our native pollinators, more is more. The more habitat we plant, the more easily our native pollinators can find shelter and food, the more resilient they become to the challenges posed by pesticides and extreme heat—the more stable our entire food ecosystem becomes.

SAHC is thrilled to be selected again this year to participate in the MountainXpress Give!Local Campaign. Our generous partners at Wicked Weed Brewing will MATCH donations up to $10,000! PLUS, anyone donating at a level of $100 or above will receive a $10 gift card from Wicked Weed.

Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy

• Donate $25+ and get a day pass to the WNC Nature Center.
• Donate $50+ and get an animal sticker and a day pass.
• Donate $100+ and get an animal tracks necklace, animal sticker, and a day pass.
• Donate $250+ and get a a guided tour of the Nature Center with animal enrichment for two people, plus the necklace, sticker, and day pass. PLUS, you’ll be entered to win a chance to go on habitat with red pandas Leafa and Phoenix in 2023!

Santa and Mrs. Clause will be there to see the children! Hot chocolate and cookies will be served for everyone. All aboard!

Purchase tickets on the day of the event. Reservations recommended — seating is limited!

The upcoming Journeyperson course is now available AT NO COST! Due to some timely grant funding, we can offer this in-depth farmer training for farmers in years 3-7 with no associated tuition fee! The course consists of monthly cohort meet-ups and 2-3 in-depth workshops, plus mentorship!

In addition, a select number of participants will also receive matched FUNDS for your farm savings account (Savings Incentive Program) and money to spend on a professional development opportunity of your choosing! Want to attend a workshop on livestock management? OGS will contribute towards that fee! Are you saving money for a farm asset? OGS will contribute up to a certain amount to that investment.

The Journeyperson Program is for farmers who have been independently farming for three or more years and are serious about operating farm businesses in the Southern Appalachian region.

Oral History Resources

 

Why Oral History?

 

 

“You don’t have to be famous for your life to be history.” -Nell Sigmon

 

 

The words above serve as the unofficial motto of the Southern Oral History Program, a project that has inspired and guided the development of Buncombe County Public Libraries’ oral history collecting initiatives.

 

 

History doesn’t just live in public records, letters, maps, or photographs. Many people aren’t well-represented in documented history, especially those that have been historically excluded from power or property.

 

 

Oral histories gives people the opportunity to tell their stories in their own words and allow their voices to endure through times. Oral histories fill in the gaps of the historical record, and deepen our comprehension of the past and present by showing us how lives are experienced on an individual level.

 

 

Through conducting, facilitating, and collecting oral histories, we hope to help bond generations, build understanding, and strengthen community.

 

 

Oral History Backpack Loan Program

 

 

You can now check out an oral history backpack from Buncombe County Public Libraries!

 

 

Call your local library or 828-250-4740 to request a backpack. You will receive a phone call when the backpack is ready to be picked up. There is no cost to borrow a backpack!

 

 

Your oral history backpack will include everything you need (and more) to record a successful oral history interview, and (if you choose) to donate the recording to a collection where it can be made available to the public and preserved for future generations. Donating your oral history recording is not a requirement of checking out a backpack. Accepted donations must meet specific donation conditions and criteria; see “Donating Oral History Recordings” below.

 

 

Borrowing Rules and Procedures

 

 

• Only one backpack may be checked out per household at a time.
• Borrowers must be 18 years or older, with a Buncombe County library card in good standing.
• The loan period is four weeks.
• Backpacks can be picked up at any Buncombe County library.
• Backpacks must be returned during normal library operating hours, either inside or using curbside service. NO OUTSIDE DROP BOX returns.
• Files must be saved by the borrower before returning. All data on returned devices will be deleted and may not be recovered.
• Backpacks will be considered lost when 10 days overdue. The charge for lost items is: voice recorder $100; backpack $30; headphones $20; microSD card, adapters, windscreen, or hard-shell cases $10 each.

 

 

Forms and Documents

For borrowers:

• Borrower Agreement (must be signed when checking out a backpack)
• Oral History Manual (includes list of backpack inventory, guidelines, and basic tech guide)
• Video Instructions [COMING SOON]
• Oral History Question Cards (ideas to get you started)
• H1n Handy Recorder Quick Start Guide & Safety Manual
• H1n Handy Recorder Complete Operation Manual

We have curated a selection of amazing raffle prizes to raise funds for our growing non-profit and the rollout of our sliding scale pricing for the 2023 Spring Conference! All you need to do to enter is donate $10 to Organic Growers School! Every $10 entry gets you one ticket. The winner will be picked December 30th.   This gift basket is valued at $395 and includes: A special breakfast set from East Fork Pottery consisting of two Tracksmith mugs and two Utah breakfast bowls from East Fork Pottery. Two cases (24 – 8oz cans) of your choice flavor Buchi Kombucha. Pantry items from Mother Earth Foods @motherearthfoods, which include: Dynamite Coffee, the Well Seasoned Table Mountain Sunset Tea, Big Spoon Roasters Maple Cinnamon peanut & pecan butter, Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon Blueberry Burbon Jam Four different varieties of tea from Asheville Tea Company $75 worth of Gardening supplies from Fifth Season

Downtown Hendersonville
Peppermint Bear takes you on a fun-filled bear hunt in downtown Hendersonville in search of her lost cubs. Hint: the cubs are hiding in downtown businesses.

Once you have found a lost cub in at least 12 of 26 participating businesses and the shopkeeper has punched your brochure, you are eligible to win scavenger hunt prizes. Complete the entry form in the brochure and drop it in Peppermint’s mailbox in front of the Welcome Center, by Dec. 23.

For more details about the Scavenger Hunt, watch this video or stop by the Welcome Center at 201 South Main Street. Peppermint Bear Scavenger Hunt brochures are available at the Hendersonville Welcome Center.

Organic Growers School is seeking experienced farmer mentors. OGS has three ways we offer mentorship to beginning farmers, through our year-long farmer training, Farm Beginnings, Journeyperson Program, and our Mentor Services. Students receive 15 hours of mentorship from February to September/November, a mix of in-person and remote support. Each farmer is provided with a $500 honorarium upon completion of mentorship.   If you are interested, please fill out the application so we have the information to let me know if you would be a good fit to be a mentor and what you are interested in mentoring on.  Please feel free to share this with other farmers. This year, we will need many farmers to serve our diverse student body in Farm Beginnings, particularly seeking experienced Black, Indigenous, and Farmers of Color and any who may speak Spanish. Thank you!

Make A Wish Come True This Holiday Season

Buncombe County is excited to announce the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022 is now available.

The ACFR offers an in-depth analysis of Buncombe’s financial process and contains an independent auditor’s report from the audit firm CliftonLarsonAllen LLP.

Go to the full report.

We invite you to come downtown and experience one or more temporary installations from the Art in the Heart program. Share your thoughts on the artwork by clicking on the second tab below. Art in the Heart is a temporary art program specifically designed to help stimulate conversations about themes like identity, community, inclusion, healing, unity, and resilience. It’s also a way to start conversations about how public spaces can, or don’t, help reflect or express a community’s past, present, and future.

You can find more background and information about the Pack Square Visioning Project here.

Asheville Asks: How do I get an issue addressed or find out about services in my neighborhood?

Our new Neighborhood Resources web page is a “one-stop-shop” resource to answer residents’ questions, from development projects to trash pick up. 

This webpage gives you quick access links to some of the most frequently requested community resources and information.

Residents have a variety of questions and opportunities to get involved, and having the answers and information all in one place empowers residents to stay informed and help the City make improvements that the community wants to see.

The Neighborhood Resources web page can be accessed at ashevillenc.gov/neighborhoodresources.

Did we miss something? Let us know how we can improve this page by contacting us at [email protected].

From 11/15 – 12/31, we’re offering a Holiday Special on our subscriptions! Get tickets at a discounted price, AND get a free ticket voucher for our next play, Native Gardens! Check our website on 11/15 to purchase this limited-time deal!

The Asheville Fire Department is conducting a survey this month to understand how residents like you feel about the services provided by the City of Asheville Fire Department.

It’s a quick 2 question survey which allows you to rate service and make suggestions as to how AFD can better serve the community.

Have thoughts?

It’s the Season for Giving Join us in helping to ensure members of the WNC community have enough nutritious food to eat this holiday season. In partnership with MANNA Food Bank, we’re hosting a holiday food drive and requesting donations of healthy, non-perishable food items as well as personal hygiene products. Donations will be delivered to MANNA, weighed, and distributed to those in need. Collection barrels are set up inside the lobbies of REI Co-op and Regal Biltmore Grande through December 19th.

The Buncombe County Health Promotions Team requests feedback from residents to help inform strategies to improve our health priorities. Over the summer, Buncombe County’s latest Community Health Assessment was released. With the help of key informant surveys, community listening sessions, and existing data, the following health conditions were selected as a focus priority for the next three years: Birth Outcomes, Mental Health and Substance Misuse, and Chronic Conditions (Heart Disease and Diabetes).

We are now requesting community input to inform strategic planning for the upcoming Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The survey results will be used to determine how and what our community can do to address and improve Buncombe County’s health priorities. Let your voice be heard by taking the One Key Question Survey! All responses are anonymous.

We need participation from residents of Buncombe County to help us create a healthier community for everyone. Your response to the One Key Question Survey is essential to make Buncombe County a better place to call home.

So here’s the One Key Question:

What is the most important thing for you and your family’s health and well-being?

CLICK HERE TO ANSWER

Once you are finished answering our survey, spend a few minutes exploring the many functions of the page. You can track responses from other locals, read about our assessment process, and learn how we use your answers to create community change. Be sure to check the page regularly to stay current on our new surveys, meeting schedules, process updates, and more.