Weekly Village Update 10.12.17

Chamber Events & News

The LAST Farmers Market of the Season is TODAY! Thursday, October 12th, 4 pm - 6 pm Downtown Blowing Rock Join us on Park Avenue for the LAST Farmers Market of this season. It's your last chance to pick up local produce and goods from local farmers at this market! Rain or shine!

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Candidates Forum Monday, October 16th at 5:30 pm Blowing Rock School Auditorium Meet the candidates and hear their answers to the top challenges of Blowing Rock! Questions? Call the Chamber at 828.295.7851

MEGA Networking Event! Regional Business After Hours with FIVE Area Chambers of Commerce Tuesday, October 17th, 5 pm - 7 pm Blue Ridge Mountain Club (BRMC) BRMC welcomes the Ashe, Blowing Rock, Boone, Caldwell and Wilkes Chambers of Commerce to Business After Hours with a “Sneak Peek” of their amenity center! The event will be held on the “Event Terrace” of the new Village Center.  Appetizers and beverages will be provided. Shuttle available for Chamber members! Please consider bringing a donation for the canned food drive!

Facebook Event Questions & Shuttle Information: Call the Chamber at 828.295.7851

Holiday Cheer for the Rest of the Year! Need help with your holiday marketing strategy this season? Don’t miss this FREE webinar from Constant Contact! Learn how to plan, manage and execute your email marketing in a way that connects with your audience and drives better results.

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Welcome New Member: impressMEplease Simple. Modern. Ideal. "I use steel alphabet, number, design stamps, a hammer and a metal base block to impress personalized phrases or designs onto metal blanks. Each strike of the hammer creates a single impression onto the metal and therefore creates a unique piece each time. My product line includes items for children, women, men, pets and even luggage. The most popular creations are my personalized set of golf ball markers, my domed pet ID tags, the 'My-Granbabies' necklace and anything with a military flair. (I carry dog tags in several sizes!) I also create bracelets, earrings, suitcase tags, collar stays, tackle box rings, quote keychains and tons more...about 150 pre-made designs." ~ Katy Reisterer

Based in Boone. Products can be easily ordered from Etsy or the website. For more information, call 704.877.2667

Member Events & News

Fall Leaves Promotion at The Village Inns of Blowing Rock! It's everyone's favorite time of year again, Fall! From apple picking to pumpkin spiced everything, it's the time to relax and enjoy the simple things in life before the stress of the holidays takes our full attention. Trick-or-Treat yourself to the calm beauty of Blowing Rock at the Village Inn, Ridgeway Inn or Hillwinds Inn of Blowing Rock, and enjoy the famous foliage of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Grandfather Mountain. Use Promo Code FALL LEAVES to save 15% on your new favorite fall tradition. Available through November 15, 2017.

For more information, call 828.295.7660 Visit Website

SafeCall and Com-Tech Announce Partnership to Bring Proven "Cloud Based" Phone System to the High Country Area! Low cost, feature rich phone system solution for any size business!  ·  Works with your existing Internet connection! ·  Stay current with technology; upgrades are free and automatic! ·  Advanced voice mail, automated attendant, and after hours options! ·  Reports to track all calls to and from your business! ·  Integrate mobile phones with our mobile app! ·  Seamlessly integrate remote and home offices! ·  Re-route calls and make system changes with the click of a mouse! ·  On-site system training and ongoing local support! ·  No major components to fail, system support included!

For more information, call Com-Tech Communications at 828.264.0901 SafeCall, Inc. at 828.785.5243 Visit Website

Blooming Monday at Outback Any time Kevin Harvick®, driver of the No. 4 Ford Fusion, finishes in the top 10 in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, you get a free Bloomin' Onion® the Monday immediately following the race. Just say "Bloomin' Monday" to your server. Questions? Call 828.295.6283

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Fall Festival Saturday, October 14th, Noon until Sundown The Speckled Trout Restaurant & Bottle Shop Games, live music, new seasonal menu & brews and more! For more information, call 828.295.9819

Canned Food Drive October 14th - October 21st Appalachian State University Campus Markets Here, in Watauga County, 24.2% of children live in food insecure homes. Of the general population, over 8,000 people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Last year, the Appalachian Ambassadors raised over 30,000 pounds of food for the Hunger and Health Coalition. This year their goal, with the assistance of Gamma Iota Sigma, is to collect over 25,000 pounds of food for the Hunger and Health Coalition.  Additional drop off site! Donations will be accepted at Business After Hours at Blue Ridge Mountain Club on Tuesday, October 17th. Please consider bringing canned goods to this event or making a monetary donation to the cause.

Oktoberfest Saturday & Sunday, October 15th & 16th 10 am - 5 pm Sugar Mountain Resort Sugar Mountain has lots of reasons for you to grab your beer stein, put on your lederhosen or dirndl and bring your appreciation for local school-age band music! Oktoberfest features Bavarian music, German & American food, children's fun center (hayrides, corn hole, pumpkin bowling & more!) craft vendors, costume contest and barrels of beverages! Admission, parking and shuttle service are FREE!

For additional information please call 828.898.4521 or visit the website.

Meta Gatschenberger Photo Exhibit October 15th - November 30th Cannon Memorial Hospital Award winning Macro Photographer, Meta Gatschenberger of Blowing Rock, will be exhibiting her framed prints of Western North Carolina at the Cannon Memorial Hospital Art Gallery in Linville. The exhibit will run from October 15th through November 30th, 2017. Framed Prints will be available for sale.

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Festival of Trees Registration Deadline: October 20th Be part of the 3rd Annual Festival of Trees at Chetola Resort this holiday season! Decorate a 3' - 6' tree and make a difference in your community. Your donation helps fill Western Youth Network's mission, “To build kids of character and confidence so that every person in the High Country reaches their full potential.” Themes are on a first come, first served basis. Registration deadline: October 20th

For more information, visit the website. Follow Festival of Trees on Facebook

Monster Mash 30 Year Celebration Bash Friday, October 20th, 5 pm - 7 pm Appalachian Brian Estates It's a celebration commemorating 30 years of service to the High Country!    Join us for a ghostly good time! Costume party, trick-or-treating, food, music and more! Free and open to public.

RSVP to 828.264.1006 so we can accurately order food!

Valle Country Fair Saturday, October 21st, 9 am - 4 pm Valle Crucis This fair is an authentic harvest-season community celebration that revolves around quality hand-made crafts, home-cooked food and mountain music. Admission is free! Parking is available adjacent to the fairgrounds for $10 per car. Sponsored by the Church of the Holy Cross and the Valle Crucis Conference Center, proceeds help people in need.

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High Country Home Movie Day Sunday, October 22nd, 2 pm - 4 pm Appalachian State University Belk Library Brought to you by a partnership between the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum and Appalachian State University! Movie Day is a nation-wide movement that celebrates amateur filmmaking and provides the opportunity for individuals and families to see and share their own home movies with a community audience.  Free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Library Deck.

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A Local Food Dinner Friday, October 27th Cocktails at 6 pm / Dinner at 7 pm The New Public House Join us for an evening with James Beard award-winning author Ronni Lundy and Appalachian chefs John Dean of the New Public House and Shelley Cooper of Dancing Bear Lodge. The locally-sourced dinner​ will feature dishes featured in Lundy's Victuals, a James Beard award-winning cookbook that presents a tapestry of stories, photographs, and recipes that documents the evolution of Appalachian Foodways. ​ Proceeds benefit Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture's work to strengthen our local food system.

Tickets: $75 dinner / $100 dinner & cookbook Purchase Tickets

Food Summit Saturday, October 28th, 10 am - 4 pm Appalachian State University, Plemmons Union This year’s High Country Food Summit, a gathering of scholars, farmers and food lovers, explores the theme “Dynamic Traditions, Resourceful Communities.”  Highlights include a conversation with Ronni Lundy, author of Victuals, as well as an exploration of how communities are building economic and ecological wealth from food waste. The afternoon will examine the issue of food waste and how composting at the community scale can maximize and localize benefits. Other activities will encourage attendees to explore what makes High Country communities both unique and uniquely regenerative: self-healing, self-sustaining, innovative and resourceful.  Local lunch provided by F.A.R.M. Cafe.

Tickets: $30 general public / $15 student Purchase Tickets

3 rd Annual Masquerade Ball Saturday, October 28th at 6:30 pm Blowing Rock Country Club The Hunger and Health Coalition is bringing back the Masquerade Ball for year three! The last two have been downright stellar, raising over $20,000 for the Hunger & Health Coalition's programs to help those in need in our community. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served along with a cash bar! The costumes, dancing, drinks and performances from Appalachian Musical Theatre Ensemble will all be back too, plus visits with fortune tellers and tarot card readers and even more surprises and twists! Come in costume or buy a mask at the door!

Tickets: $55 individual / $100 for two Purchase Tickets To Volunteer or become an event sponsor, please call Elizabeth Young at 828.262.1628.

Be sure to visit our website calendar for information on other and future events!

Community Events & News

2018 Community Calendar Does your local organization have a public event planned for 2018? Send the date to Amanda at the TDA so she can include it in the 2018 Blowing Rock Community Calendar! This is the printed calendar that is distributed at Town Hall and at the Chamber of Commerce. This year's photos will be gathered from historical archives. Deadline: October 25th.

Hwy 321 Open House Thursday, October 12th, 4 pm - 7 pm Broyhill Center, Lenoir The NC Department of Transportation invites citizens and business owners to a public meeting regarding the proposed widening of US 321 between US 70 in Hickory and Southwest Boulevard in Lenoir. Read More

High Country Halloween Roundup There’s a lot of Halloween fun to be had in the High Country! Festivals, haunted houses, parades and kid friendly events galore! For a list of area Halloween happenings, click here!

Chamber Events, Information & Meetings

Blowing Rock Farmers Market: Thursday, October 12th at 4 pm, Park Avenue - Last one of the season! Candidates Forum: Monday, October 16th at 5:30 pm, Blowing Rock School Auditorium Five Chamber Business After Hours: Tuesday, October 17th at 5:30 pm, Blue Ridge Mountain Club Chamber Executive Board Meeting: Tuesday, October 24th at 8 am, Chamber Office Chamber Board Retreat: Wednesday, November 15th, Location TBD