Events Calendar

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

1. Community Food

2. Cooking

3. Earth Skills

4. Farmers: Beginning

5. Farmers: Experienced

6. Gardening: Beginning

7. Gardening: Experienced

8. Herbs

9. Homesteading

10. Livestock

11. Mushrooms

12. Permaculture

13. Poultry

14. Soils

15. Sustainable Forestry

16. Sustainable Living

17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

1st Place –   $2,500

2nd Place –   $750

3rd Place –   $500

Spartanburg, South Carolina – Local senior living community, Summit Hills is currently accepting applicants for their annual Silver Pen Writing Competition. This writing competition will award three local high school seniors with scholarships ranging from $500 to $2,500. This year, the essay topic is “Discuss an accomplishment, event or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.” Participants are required to submit an essay with a minimum of 1,000 words, application form and transcript.

The Members at Summit Hills play an integral role as judges in the competition. “It’s a great scholarship opportunity and way to connect our Members with the local community,” said Regina Fargis, Summit Hills Executive Director. “The students submit their essays based on the topic and our Members sit on a panel of judges, where they assess and score the entries based on the set criteria”. Once the winners are selected, they are invited to a dinner celebration where they meet the judges and are recognized for their achievements. The winners will participate in a special ceremony where they are awarded their scholarship money, a framed certificate and an engraved silver pen with their name.

Entries must be received by February 14, 2020. The complete rules, eligibility and submission information for The Silver Pen Competition are available on the official website,  www.silverpen-slc.com . Summit Hills is an all-inclusive luxury retirement community offering independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation services.

Sunday, January 26 at 3:00 pm
Join us for a lecture by Christopher Belluscio who is a leading expert on historical trumpets. Mr. Belluscio regularly presents lecture-demonstrations at various museums, notable musical instrument collections, academic conferences, and University music departments throughout the United States.
The Age of Invention
The period between 1790 and 1850 saw a Pan-European movement to fully chromaticize the trumpet with various successful instrument designs developed in tandem with their own unique repertoire.  Experience the English Slide Trumpet, Keyed Trumpet, Keyed Bugle, and early valve trumpets and the beautiful music written for them. Tickets $10 Adults, $5 Students. Call 864-520-8807 to reserve your seats now.

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

1. Community Food

2. Cooking

3. Earth Skills

4. Farmers: Beginning

5. Farmers: Experienced

6. Gardening: Beginning

7. Gardening: Experienced

8. Herbs

9. Homesteading

10. Livestock

11. Mushrooms

12. Permaculture

13. Poultry

14. Soils

15. Sustainable Forestry

16. Sustainable Living

17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

1st Place –   $2,500

2nd Place –   $750

3rd Place –   $500

Spartanburg, South Carolina – Local senior living community, Summit Hills is currently accepting applicants for their annual Silver Pen Writing Competition. This writing competition will award three local high school seniors with scholarships ranging from $500 to $2,500. This year, the essay topic is “Discuss an accomplishment, event or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.” Participants are required to submit an essay with a minimum of 1,000 words, application form and transcript.

The Members at Summit Hills play an integral role as judges in the competition. “It’s a great scholarship opportunity and way to connect our Members with the local community,” said Regina Fargis, Summit Hills Executive Director. “The students submit their essays based on the topic and our Members sit on a panel of judges, where they assess and score the entries based on the set criteria”. Once the winners are selected, they are invited to a dinner celebration where they meet the judges and are recognized for their achievements. The winners will participate in a special ceremony where they are awarded their scholarship money, a framed certificate and an engraved silver pen with their name.

Entries must be received by February 14, 2020. The complete rules, eligibility and submission information for The Silver Pen Competition are available on the official website,  www.silverpen-slc.com . Summit Hills is an all-inclusive luxury retirement community offering independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation services.