Save Asheville's Magnolia Tree

Please show up at Asheville City Hall on August 2 at 7 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Witches to Publicly Spell to Save Asheville's Magnolia Tree

Asheville, NC -- Spiritual activist group Coven Oldenwilde has issued an open call for area Nature-lovers, Pagans, and Wiccans to join them in publicly casting magic spells to stop a developer from destroying one of Asheville's most beloved flourishing icons — the majestic Magnolia tree in front of City Hall.

Buncombe County Commissioners have drawn much ire from residents when the media recently revealed that they sold the public park land the grand old tree calls home to a developer with plans to cut it down or remove it to an undisclosed location.

Led by High Priestess Lady Passion (Dixie Deerman) and High Priest *Diuvei (Steven Rasmussen), the group will encircle the area, give the tree offerings to reinforce its resistance to perishing by chaimsaw, and chant Barbarous Words of Power to thwart the developer.

"The tree clearly thrives where it is, and could be mortally injured if yanked up by its roots," notes Lady Passion.

"Everyone loves this august Magnolia," *Diuvei adds. "It's a vibrant part of our lives, from seeking shelter from the sun and rain beneath it, to dancing around it during Shindig on the Green."

"The merit of any society rests in how it protects its defenseless -- the young, the old, and the natural," Lady Passion states.

The rite is slated to take place near the Wiccan Sabbat of Lammas, Friday, August 3rd at 7 PM in front of the Asheville's city hall. All reverent folk are invited to participate.

WHEN: Friday August 2nd (the Lammas Sabbat) at 7 PM
WHERE: Downtown Asheville by the Courthouse
CONTACT: Coven Oldenwilde, Asheville, NC 828-251-0343 oldenwilde@aol.com


* UPDATED: Photo Credit

Asheville

Ecoheroism and John Cram

"Ecoheroism and the Beaucatcher Overlook, by James Dye"

The term ecoqueer, sporting an entirely superfluous hyphen, slipped into the language a few years ago. It is applied to intrepid environmental activists, incidentally gay, whose sexual orientation is somehow linked to social responsibility, in this case to ecology. As Australian documentary filmmaker Pip Starr, himself an ecoqueer, noted, “[N]ature created people to be queer for good reason...we tend to become artists, storytellers, and spiritual guides or leaders.”

Among the ranks of the ecoqueer is Stephanie Hillman, who, in a very visible protest, camped for several days in the pouring rain on a ledge high above the city of Rio de Janeiro, in the company of large, Amazonian rats. Or there is Eric Heijselaar, who leapt onto a derelict storage rig from a helicopter and spent six days on the platform, nursing a broken ankle but thereby compelling Shell Oil not to dump the rig into the ocean. The contributions of Hillman and Heijselaar are in every sense heroic, the stuff of books and film. But Asheville has her own ecoqueer, a quiet, soft-spoken, and modest hero who has, through his efforts, saved thirty forested acres within the city limits for use as a public park.

John Cram’s name is synonymous with Asheville’s renaissance. With his Blue Spiral 1 Gallery and the Fine Arts Theatre, he breathed new life into the city’s decaying downtown. His New Morning Gallery and Bellagio have done the same for Biltmore Village. That he has an eye for art is unquestioned, and it is doubtless this visual sensibility, perhaps combined with that gay Frodo-environmentalism of the 1970s, that drives his campaign to save western North Carolina from itself.

Raise Your Hand Auction - A Call to Artists

Raise Your Hand Auction - A Call to Artists

On Saturday October 27th, 2007, the Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP) will hold its’ annual “Raise Your Hand” auction and dinner at the historic Grove Park Inn and Spa.

As you may be aware, WNCAP started a tradition several years ago of choosing a “Signature Piece” to represent this most important fundraiser. The Signature Piece is used on all printed promotional materials, advertising, the auction program and the artist is highlighted in news articles. This provides us a great opportunity to provide additional recognition to our generous local artists who participate annually.

Many artisans have requested that we begin the Signature Piece selection process earlier in the year, to allow them time to possibly create a work specifically for the event itself. We are therefore letting you know that we will be soliciting artwork for the 2007 Signature Piece beginning July 1, 2007. The Signature Piece will be selected in August, and then photographed for all promotional applications.

If you are interested in participating in this year’s Signature Piece selection process or if you simply intend to submit a piece for the auction, please contact either Tracey Whitehouse at 828-230-0596 2june1990@charter.net or Harry Brown at 828-215-3222 nc1leo@aol.com to get additional information. Your support is greatly appreciated

Flagged down: Activists arrested in row over protest flag, allege abuse by Buncombe deputy

by David Forbes

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office arrested activists Mark and Deborah Kuhn in West Asheville Wednesday morning after a complaint that the couple was desecrating an American flag. They say a deputy invaded their home and used excessive force. [The photo at right, taken by a neighbor, shows Mark on the ground, with Deborah standing by, during the arrest.]

The flag was hung upside down as an act of protest and had several statements pinned to it, including a picture of President Bush with the words “Out Now” upon it and one explaining the meaning of the upside down flag, a sign of distress.

The Kuhns, along with several neighbors and witnesses, assert that a sheriff’s deputy violently invaded their home at 68 Brevard Road. The sheriff’s office claims that the couple assaulted deputy Brian Scarborough and resisted arrest.

According to the report from the sheriff’s office, Scarborough arrived at the home at 8:45 a.m. in response to a complaint about the desecration of a flag.

Lt. Randy Sorrell says that while the address was in the city of Asheville, “when we receive a complaint that the law is being broken, we have to respond.”

Under a rarely enforced state statute, it is a misdemeanor to desecrate or trample a U.S. or North Carolina flag. The Kuhns said the flag was taken as evidence, though the sheriff’s department has no record of it.

After knocking on the door, the couple answered it and, after being shown the statute, said they complied and took the flag down. Scarborough then asked for their identification.

“The flag covered our whole front porch; he comes up with this printout about the law and tells us that we can’t attach things to the flag, that we’re desecrating it,” Deborah Kuhn said. “We tell him we’re not meaning to desecrate it — all we had was a picture of [President] Bush with ‘out now’ on it and a note saying this was not a sign of distress or disrespect. We did this because the country is in distress and we don’t know what to do.”

Read More »

Asheville

Asheville Green Drinks

Every Friday Night at 6:30 pm at Bobo Gallery (22 Lexington Ave) a group of people interested in the environment meet for networking and a micro-forum (http://www.ashevillegreendrinks.com). The micro-forum has had good programming including these topics and featured guests:

Cathy Holt - Green Roofs Presentation (for civic center)
Rebbecca Bowe - The Gray Area Between Green and Greenwashing
Paul Gallimore - On his book Healing Appalachia
Wally Bowen - Media Reform (and saving URTV)

In conclusion I would like to invite you out tonight for "Bioregional Issues: Katúah Then and Now" with featured guest David Wheeler to see what we are about. AGD starts at 6:30, forum starts at 7:30. Hopefully it will be exciting enough that you are inspired to participate. Bobo serves organic/local beer and wine so come on and join the fun.

Much appreciation,
AGD Organizers

P.S. Please forward this on to your Green friends if you can!



Asheville

Asheville's Americana, Burlesque, and Sideshow Festival

JULY 13 - 15 Going on this weekend at the Orange Peel

Astounding performers will be gathered from sea to shining sea to share their venerable craft with you, from the exotically titillating to the absolutely disgusting.

* The Rebelles
* Princess Farhana of Hollywood
* Baraka Mundi aka The Bandit Queens of Bellydance
* Mab just Mab of the Accidental Circus
* Swordplay by Temple Valor
* Lady Lindsey of NYC's Firefly Aeriel Theatre
* and even more stars of glitter and gutter!

Asheville's Americana, Burlesque, and Sideshow Festival

Asheville Ghost Tours

A leisurely walking tour taking approximately
90 minutes and covering less than a mile.

9:00 PM Departure Nightly

Inside Haywood Park Hotel
1 Battery Park Ave. & Haywood St.
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
(828) 355-5855

ADULTS $17 CHILDREN* $9
* 8 to 14 years old. 7 and under free.

link | Asheville