When Dr. Gamil T. Arida arrived in the United States from his homeland in Egypt, he brought more than his knowledge and passion for medicine. From his youth, he was an artist at heart who loved to spend his free time drawing and painting. His enthusiasm for art was so significant that later in life he committed to finding ways to lift up both the arts and other artists. That commitment ultimately became the genesis of the annual Arida Arts Symposium hosted each year by Blue Ridge Community College.

Nestled among the trees and adjacent to a thriving community garden with a serene lake view, Highland Lake Cove is evolving as a place to step back from the swirl of everyday stresses.  The Cove is the manifestation of a vision long held by its creator, Kerry Lindsey. It is a place to serve as a joyous event venue, a hub for those wishing to create community, or a peaceful setting for quiet contemplation.

It’s a brilliant end-of-summer weekend at Hubba Hubba Smokehouse on Little Rainbow Row in Flat Rock and the dining patio is awash in a riot of colorful flowers, free-ranging chickens, and the smiling faces of delighted customers.  The food at Hubba Hubba is excellent - and the experience of eating that delicious fare on the patio is exceptional.

Suzanne was in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service, and no idea on how to extricate her vehicle from the ditch. As she stood by the side of the road contemplating her dilemma, an emaciated brown puppy suddenly appeared out of the nearby woods. The young dog clearly needed help, and it seemed the puppy had decided that Suzanne was just the person for the job.

I recently found myself happily meandering through the many twists and turns of a historical rabbit hole reaching back over 140 years. My carefully curated to-do list was pushed aside and I spent several hours transfixed as I searched through the Henderson County Public Library’s absorbing Baker Barber Collection of over 65,000 photographs dating as far back as the 1880s. 

The history of this amazing collection and the people who created it for us.

Perhaps initially overshadowed by other titles in the FRP 2023 season, The Girl on the Train has emerged from those shadows to rightfully claim its position as “must-see” theatre at the Playhouse this year.

Paul Bonesteel, age 57, still rides his bike on the backroads and trails of western North Carolina. On sunny days, when he looks down at the pavement below his bike, he sees the shadow of his wheel spinning towards the crest of the next hill or the next bend in the road. And each time he sees that shadow, Paul is invariably taken back to the summer of 1982 when he was a teenager making an epic journey that would be one of the defining moments of his life.

It was an experience so transformative that 40 years later Paul Bonesteel still points to that summer as one of the most consequential of his life.

“My husband said yes to Tippy because he thought I wanted him, and I’d said yes because I thought he wanted him,” Mary Beth recalls with a smile. By that point, of course, the die was cast and the squeaky toy was shredded all over the living room floor. They resolved to find a way to make it work.

Fortunately for all parties involved, the adoption stuck and Mary Beth parlayed the experience into a new phase of her life - as an author of children’s books. Not surprisingly, her books are about a small terror of a terrier named Tippy.

In 1979 Historic Flat Rock, Inc. purchased the old post office and after extensive renovations, moved into the upstairs. The lower level was home to the Ladies Aid Society of Flat Rock’s Book Exchange until 2016 when HFR decided to create a cultural center and museum fulfilling its mission “to discover and collect materials of historic, artistic, or literary value, provide for preservation for such material and its accessibility as far as may be feasible for all who wish to examine it and to operate a cultural center.

Fulfilling a promise that fell victim to the pandemic in 2020, Flat Rock Playhouse brought up the lights on its powerful presentation of A Chorus Line this past Thursday. Always up to the task no matter the magnitude of the production, the Playhouse brings this iconic Broadway blockbuster to life with all the skill and verve we’ve come to expect on the Leiman Mainstage.

Fourteen years ago, parishioners at St. John in the Wilderness learned that several children attending Flat Rock Middle School were going hungry on weekends. The students were all participants in the free breakfast and lunch programs offered at public schools and had insufficient access to nutritional foods on Saturdays and Sundays.  

They decided to address the problem directly and the Flat Rock Backpack Program was created.