The struggles, aspirations and everyday doings of conjoined twins Zlata and Srebra unfold as Eastern Europe transitions out of communism in Lidija Dimkovska’s latest novel. A Spare Life begins in 1984 in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, where the author was born and began her collegiate pursuit of literature. Another commonality: She’d be roughly the same age (correcting to the book’s timeframe) as her ambitious protagonists, whose “lives are thrown into crisis when an incident threatens to destroy their bond as sisters,” according to a media release. “They fly to London, determined to be surgically separated — but will this dangerous procedure free them or only more tightly ensnare them?” A Spare Life was translated from Macedonian after it earned Dimkovska a 2013 European Union Prize for Literature. She’ll present the English release at Malaprop’s on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. Free. malaprops.com. Images courtesy of the author
Longstanding structural needs at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium were the sole agenda item for a special meeting of the Asheville Civic Center Commission on March 26. And a unanimous vote gave Civic Center Director David Pisha a letter of support for bringing the workhorse entertainment venue up to a more serviceable level.
Pisha was on vacation at the time of the meeting, but staffers Marcia Hart and Dan Dover were on hand to discuss the director’s intentions. Hart and Dover oversee programming and technical maintenance, respectively, and Hart was forthcoming regarding the physical restrictions she faces in bringing shows to Asheville.
“Nederlander [producer of the Center’s Broadway series] has really done good by us to keep us in the market,” Hart said, noting that Asheville has a sophisticated market that expects the best. Under current conditions, though, this often translates to a kind of “Best Lite,” because larger productions just don’t fit. Hart is currently negotiating to bring in The Producers and Annie for next season, but they can’t be full productions. Last season, she lost Jesus Christ Superstar and Stomp because of the staging restrictions, and Cats came in as a very abbreviated version.
The list of the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium’s needs was not unfamiliar, having been discussed repeatedly over the past several years as the future of the Civic Center was debated by two City Council-appointed task forces, and as the commission itself has advocated before Council. But Pisha is pressing to correct some of the more egregious problems by: extending the back wall to enlarge the nonregulation stage; adding wing space (which, Hart says, is desperately needed for the several large dance competitions she books); raising the too-low proscenium arch; and changing the notoriously difficult load-in situation for sets and equipment.
Pisha will be taking the commission’s letter of support and other data he is assembling to City Manager Gary Jackson, and discussing an architectural feasibility study for the proposed work. The hope, according to Broadbooks, is to solve “longstanding, serious, functional problems in a cost-effective manner.”
The commission has already lobbied Council and obtained a budget for repairs to the auditorium’s leaking roof. But Broadbooks, in a post-meeting e-mail, acknowledged the challenge of developing a “moderate budget” for this additional work in a way that funds might be recaptured before a new performing-arts center, still only at a conceptual stage, could be built. He emphasized that “an improved T.W.A. will draw more patrons and help build the market for the new Performance Arts Center that is still some years in the future.”
Improving the auditorium now, he believes, would mean increased ticket and concession sales, as well as a greater contribution to the Civic Center’s “growing economic impact upon the local economy.”
Hart echoed that optimism. “We are trying to work within the frame of what we have now,” she told Xpress. “I do know that David [Pisha] does think that for a minimum amount of money, we could vastly improve what we have.”
Hart characterizes the proposal as a “functional facelift.” But despite the leaking roof and staging restraints, she says, “I do run into people who are quite impressed with the style” of the art deco detailing inside the facility. “It’s not all bad.”
The proposed improvements, she concludes, would not only facilitate larger shows, but would likely translate into multiple-night performances—with multiple-night income.
After losing its lease in downtown Asheville’s Grove Arcade last month, the Grove Corner Market wasted no time in setting up shop elsewhere. The grocery, which has kept its name, opened its doors June 3 at 771 Haywood Road in West Asheville (which formerly housed the Haywood Road Market).
A grocery transported: Grove Corner Market, which recently lost its lease downtown, opened last week in the West Asheville location that formerly housed the Haywood Road Market. Photo by Jonathan Welch
Co-owner Rosanne Kiely says the space, while slightly smaller than the Grove Arcade location, seems a good fit from the get-go. “I just feel like we’ve come home,” she says. “This feels right.”
Fans of the market will recognize much familiar fare along with some new offerings: more natural foods, more conventional items for those on a tight budget, staples sold in bulk, health-and-body products and nutritional supplements.
The market is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays. The business will be making deliveries downtown every Tuesday.
So far this year, Asheville City Council has twice heard about a proposed tethering ban as part of its revised animal ordinance. As yet, Council has not agreed to a ban, but the idea is coming back for another try at the Sept. 22 meeting.
The law would ban the tethering of dogs except when on a leash held by an owner or when the dog is in sight of its owner. The move is championed by the group Chain Free Asheville, which has worked alongside city staff to craft this ordinance.
Speaking of dogs, Council member Carl Mumpower will pitch a program to put drug dogs in the city’s public parks.
Also on the docket is new regulation for advertisements painted on the sides of vehicles. Such signs are not covered in the current sign ordinance. Staff’s recommendation is to allow such ads as long as the business is open and the vehicle is moved intermittently throughout the day.
And following Buncombe County’s approval last week of a City/County 911 agreement, Council members will now review the plan.
PUMPKIN SEASON: Linnsey Baltierrez, front, and Jodi Gerberg mix up a batch of freshly chopped slaw. The fully vegan pumpkin chili meal also featured cornbread and apple crisp. Photos by Rachel Ingram
Jackets, car keys, water bottles and other personal belongings lined the hallway outside the teaching kitchen at UNC Asheville on Friday morning. The noise coming from the kitchen — clanging pots, a knife blade against a cutting board and laughter — spilled out of the room and into the hall, lingering above the piles of stashed items.
Inside, volunteers stood shoulder to shoulder, chatting while remaining intently focused on their task. The group gathered here had a common mission, and a lofty one at that. They resolved to prepare from scratch 500 nutritious meals in just 10 hours.
More than 60 volunteers from the Asheville community signed up to participate in the initiative on Friday, Oct. 23, which was organized by Amy Lanou, chair of UNCA’s health and wellness department, and Laura Sexton, registered dietitian and UNCA staff member.
The event celebrated national Food Day, an effort intended to raise awareness about healthy eating, food security and justice. The cook-a-thon, the culmination of a partnership between UNCA, Lenoir-Rhyne University and Asheville-based Food Connection, was a way of supporting that vision. “We all have a mission, personally and professionally, to feed our community,” Sexton says.
To that end, the food prepared during the cook-a-thon was delivered to Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry, Food Not Bombs and In Real Life at Asheville Middle School. The first batch of food, prepared between 8 and 11 a.m., was transported directly to Veterans Restoration Quarters and immediately served to hundreds of residents at lunch.
The organization serves 16,000 meals every week, says Eric Cox, ABCCM’s director of food service operations. “We would not be successful without donations or our volunteers,” he says.
Hands-on events like the cook-a-thon give community members the opportunity to directly see the impact of their efforts, says Food Connection co-founder Flori Pate. “Even if someone doesn’t necessarily have food to give, people want to get involved.”
The majority of the food donations for the Cook-a-thon came from individuals in the community, Lanou says. Collection barrels like these sat out for two weeks leading up to the event.
Lanou and Sexton organized preparation stations for each food product, and briefed the new waves of volunteers who arrived every two hours.
Recipe cards hung at each station to guide volunteers through the process of multiplying the ingredients in order to cook for triple-digit portion sizes.
Dietetic students from Lenoir-Rhyne University created the plant-based menu for the Cook-a-thon. The school partnered with UNC Asheville to make the event possible.
Sandy Kinzie, front, and Briana Emmons sliced apples to go toward the 500 servings of apple crisp prepared during the day’s event.
Food Day is a national initiative intended to raise awareness about food systems and healthy diets. This year’s theme is “Toward a greener diet.”
Faculty and students from Lenoir-Rhyne and UNC Asheville, as well as community members, signed up for two-hour volunteer shifts during the 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. event.
Rachel Kish, senior and soccer team member, volunteered during the morning shift with fellow UNC Asheville athletes.
Seasonal vegetables were intentionally a main staple in the menu, Brady says. “The thickener of the chili is pumpkin. It adds a lot of nutrients,” she says.
“We’re trying to incorporate all the best things about food,” Brady says. “It’s a very densely nutritious meal.”
Alessandra Troncoso peels the skin off the pumpkin before she hands it off to a volunteer at another station who will puree it.
The vegetarian chili Frank Contreras helped prepare was packaged and transported to the Veterans Restoration Quarters in East Asheville.
Lauren Brady, an instructor with the Lenoir-Rhyne University Dietetics Intern program, helped organize the Cook-a-thon, and also lent a helping hand in preparing the 500 meals for area non-profits.
Volunteers took special care to fully utilize their available food resources. Jackie Hamstead, right, seasoned and roasted the pumpkin seeds that were harvested earlier that morning.
PUMPKIN SEASON: Linnsey Baltierrez, front, and Jodi Gerberg mix up a batch of freshly chopped slaw. The fully vegan pumpkin chili meal also featured cornbread and apple crisp.
Laura Sexton, left, works for both UNC Asheville’s health and wellness department, as well as Chartwell’s, the company contracted to provide dining options on UNCA’s campus. Chartwell’s donated nearly all of the dry and shelf-stable goods necessary for the 500 meals prepared during the cook-a-thon, she says.
Adam Kachinsky, UNC Asheville junior, empties the first batch of chili into transport containers so that it can be served for lunch at the Veterans Restoration Quarters in a few hours.
Linnsey Baltierrez, front, and Sarah Smith both volunteered for two hours. During that time, they prepared more than 100 servings of freshly-chopped slaw.
“I’ve been really impressed with how the community has come together to donate the food,” says Amy Lanou, chair of UNC Asheville’s health and wellness department, and organizer of the cook-a-thon.
Volunteers helped with more than just food preparation. Grace Sun, front, and Lauren Brady help wash dirty dishes. Other volunteers also assisted with transporting food to the various recipient organizations.
Cook-a-thon organizer Amy Lanou seals a food container before handing it to volunteers at the next station who will mark it and prepare if for transportation.
“We want to prepare 500 meals in 10 hours with 60 volunteers,” says cook-a-thon organizer Amy Lanou.
Cook-a-thon organizer Laura Sexton, left, and other volunteers stack trays of ready-to-eat food that will be transported to area non-profits.
Laura Sexton, left, and volunteers load trays of ready-to-eat food into the vehicle of a volunteer who will deliver it to one of several area non-profits.
Laura Sexton, right, and other volunteers deliver the first batch of meals to ABCCM, at the Veterans Restoration Quarters.
Workers in the kitchen at ABCCM’s Veteran Restoration Quarters immediately transferred the still-hot chili into pans for their serving line.
Volunteers at ABCCM’s Veterans Restoration Quarters served the fresh chili, cornbread, slaw and apple crisp to hungry residents at lunch.
ABCCM’s Veterans Restoration Quarters serves 3 meals a day to its 240 residents, totaling more than 16,000 meals per week, says Eric Cox, director of food service operations.