2008 – Issue 7 (December)
How We Talk Can Be As Important As the Problems We Talk About
By Kathy Mattea Kathy Mattea is a Grammy-Award winning country singer and songwriter whose most recent album, “Coal” was inspired by the Sago Mine Disaster of 2006. See www.mattea.com. I have come to believe that the future of Appalachia’s environment is directly related to the level of discourse we are able to have about the…
Read MoreBuilding on Character, Respecting the Environment
By Rep. Heath Schuler Congressional Representative of North Carolina’s 11th District As a native of Western North Carolina and the representative of the 11th Congressional District, I am proud of the shared history and cultural identity of the Appalachian region. From our forbears, we as a people have inherited an appreciation for strong work ethic,…
Read MoreInaugural New River Trail Race a Success
Runners of the first New River Trail 50K (NRT 50K) began their race with foggy 48 degree temperatures on Saturday, October 11, but finished with bright skies and sunny conditions. Of the 102 racers at the start of the 50K (31.1 miles) course—known as an “ultramarathon”—100 crossed the finish line and 96 finished in the…
Read MoreAppalachian Voices Is Earthfare’s December Friend of the Month
Appalachian Voices has always been a friend of the earth, but now we’re also a friend of Earthfare. For the entire month of December, Appalachian Voices will be the featured organization of Earthfare’s Friend of the Month program in Boone, NC. Throughout the month, special fundraising events will take place at Earthfare’s Boone location, all…
Read MoreiLoveMountains Launches Obama–First 100 Days
New Campaign Asks the President-elect To End Mountaintop Removal During the recent presidential campaign, President-elect Barack Obama pledged to end mountaintop removal coal mining. iLoveMountains.org is asking Obama to deliver on his promise. On December 3, 2008, iLoveMountains.org launched a major campaign asking President-elect Obama to end mountaintop removal coal mining – and to do…
Read MoreSunroots at Solstice Time
By R. Kelly Coffey As the sun weakens at the end of the growing season and flowering plants fade to brittle remnants, gardeners and wildflower lovers resign themselves to a few months estranged from nature’s brilliant colors. But one wildflower – the Jerusalem artichoke – can satisfy the appetite in winter if not the eye.…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor
Damascus is not the only town on the AT Dear Editor, I have very much enjoyed and learned from Appalachian Voices for a long time. I usually pickup issues at our local co-op, Tennessee’s only community-owned grocery store: Three Rivers Market in Knoxville, TN. Keep up the excellent work! I wanted to point out an overstatement in the article…
Read MoreA ‘Greener’ Christmas Tree
For most people, the quest for the perfect Christmas is not so different today than it was 150 years ago. People have been cutting their own Christmas trees since the 1850s. At the time, trees were chosen from forest, not farms. The first Christmas tree farm began in 1901 in New Jersey with 25,000 Norway…
Read MoreGreenest Holiday Gifts You Can Buy
/images/AppalachianVoices/AV-08dec/recycling-trees.jpg It’s enough to turn anyone into a Scrooge! So many potential gifts ignore concerns about natural ingredients, fair labor, the carbon imprints of production and shipping, wasteful packaging, and so on… Enter Appalachian Voice’s Green Gift Guide! With nine suggestions for eco-conscious giving, your Christmas tree won’t be the only green thing spreading the…
Read MoreHiking the Highlands: Hanging Out in Hanging Rock State Park
/images/AppalachianVoices/AV_08dec/hangingrock.jpg Among the picturesque plains of the North Carolina Piedmont, the Sauratown Mountains rise north of Winston-Salem. Capped by cliffs, these peaks on the east side of the Blue Ridge are known locally as the “mountains away from the mountains,” and take their name from the Saura Indians, who lived in this area as early…
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