Rutherford Weekly - Shelby NC
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1493881
Thursday, March 2-March 8, 2023 www.rutherfordweekly.com 828-248-1408 Rutherford Weekly - Page 9 Email: Email: events@rutherfordweekly.com events@rutherfordweekly.com Mail or Drop-Off: Mail or Drop-Off: 157 W Main St, • Forest City, NC 28043 157 W Main St, • Forest City, NC 28043 *Publisher has fi nal decision of which photos appear in print, per available space. We Want Your Kids Sports Photos! •Basketball •Baseball •Softball •Soccer •Archery •Equestrian •Etc! We Want Your Outdoor Photos! We Want Your Outdoor Photos! Hunting, Fishing, Playing Ball, Etc. Hunting, Fishing, Playing Ball, Etc. Sportsman's Corner Sportsman's Corner Email: events@rutherfordweekly.com Mail: 157 W Main St., Forest City, NC 28043 Phone: 828-248-1408 *Publisher has the fi nal decision of which photos appear in print, per available space. I don't fi sh as much as I did when I was a young adult. I enjoy going, but after a long deer season, I have a lot of catching up to do at home and at work. While my mind goes to walleye and crappie, my body goes to more normal things like emails, messages, lessons, learners, and of course, these weekly articles. That means this time of year is pretty uneventful when it comes to the outdoors. My plans until turkey season are a weekend hog hunt and one or two fi shing trips. Again, uneventful. Not boring, but unless something weird happens, the next few weeks will be made up of nothing to write home about – or even to write to you about. I guess that's why am penning my thoughts right now. I have nothing to write to you that will cause you to set up and take notice. No monster buck, no ten-pound bass, and no stories of the ones that got away. But this is mostly my life. And I expect it is yours too. And while we long for greater stories, we need to realize that great stories are simply the culmination of not-so-great ones. For followers of Christ, I think we assume the stories of great accomplishments in the Bible were the normal routine for the men and women God used. We forget that while Noah had great faith, we only see it played out in only a brief period of his life. We read about the faith of Abraham, but it was mostly in a day-by-day trust and not in a miraculous abnormal life. We think about how Daniel was saved from the lions, but that only took about 24 hours. What about Elijah? We only have record of eight miracles in all of his life, and he probably didn't even begin his ministry until he was forty years old or older. And what did James say about Elijah? He said he was a normal man just like us. So, here's what we can learn from all of this. First of all, God can do great and miraculous things in all of our lives. Secondly, our life will not be full of great and miraculous things. It will be full of normal – even mundane things, sprinkled with great and miraculous things. Our faith will be weighed like Abrahams, a day at a time, as we trust him moment by moment. Does that mean we will not have something to write about, or that someone else will write about? No. It just means if we lived our whole life in one great and miraculous thing after another, great and miraculous would then become normal and mundane, and we would still be praying and longing for God to do something special in our lives. You see, the great and miraculous things have to be rare in order to keep them great and miraculous. But just know, every great and miraculous work of God, will always be birthed by the things we think are not so great and not so miraculous. By By Gary Miller Aiming Outdoorsmen Toward Christ Make sure to get my new book, full of these articles. Outdoor Truths Volume Four. I also speak at wild-game dinners and men's events for churches and associations. gary@outdoortruths.org e GARY MILLER The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) recently approved two Food & Farming grants totaling $75,000 to Bounty & Soul and the Utopian Seed Project and two Natural & Cultural Resources grants totaling $50,000 to Mainspring Conservation Trust and the Toe River Arts Council. "CFWNC fundholders provided 92% of the money for these focus area awards, enabling us to make more grants from our discretionary funds," said CFWNC President Elizabeth Brazas. "This level of collaborative grantmaking underscores the value of a community foundation to the region, nonprofi ts and people it serves. We are here at the intersection of needs and resources. Bringing our constituents together to address issues affecting us all is what CFWNC is designed to do. Whether it is our grantmaking with fundholder support or partnering with other funders, CFWNC prioritizes unity, connection and community." Bounty & Soul (BAS) received $35,000 to support Produce to the People™ and its Farmers Alliance, programs that address food, farms and health through a lens of equity and inclusion. Produce to the People™ distributes fresh, nourishing foods to people experiencing food insecurity. Its Farmers Alliance program includes 46 local farmers, growers and businesses that donate or sell BAS products for distribution. BAS works to have reciprocal relationships with the alliance partners and has prioritized sourcing culturally relevant foods from black, indigenous, and other farmers of color in WNC. BAS serves Buncombe, McDowell, Rutherford, Transylvania and Henderson counties. The Dogwood Charitable Endowment Fund, Bahnson- Armitage Fund, Biltmore Estate Charitable Fund, Ero Fund, Oliver Family Fund and Dr. Robert J. and Kimberly S. Reynolds Fund provided co-investment for this grant. The Utopian Seed Project (USP) received $40,000 for its work supporting and developing a resilient regional food and farming system through research, education and promotion of biodiversity. USP combines hands-in-the-earth farming with education and outreach. To work toward the goal of developing crop options for a changing climate, USP conducts variety trials to assess regional suitability, species exploration to increase regional biodiversity in farm systems, and active seed selection and breeding projects. The work focuses on both growing and eating and engages farmers on the supply side and consumers on the supply side to shift toward a more diverse food system. The Minigowin Fund, Dogwood Charitable Endowment Fund, WNC Resolve Fund, Ero Fund and Oliver Family Fund provided co-investment for this grant. Mainspring Conservation Trust received $40,000 to complete required due diligence efforts to acquire and remove the Ela Dam, an obsolete dam and reservoir in Swain County adjoining the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' (EBCI) Qualla Boundary. A coalition of federal, state, tribal, nonprofi t and private partners, spearheaded by EBCI Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Joey Owle, came together after an accidental sediment release in October 2021 that affected the downstream reach of the Oconaluftee River. Nearly 100 years ago, the dam was constructed to support rural electrifi cation; but now, the social, economic and environmental values of re- establishing a free-fl owing Oconaluftee River vastly outweigh the one megawatt of power the dam generates. Removal will open 549 river miles of the Oconaluftee River and its tributaries. Streams across the entire Qualla Boundary and parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be connected once again to the lower Oconaluftee and Tuckasegee Rivers, and culturally important fi sh species will have access to spawning areas in upstream Tribal waters for the fi rst time in nearly a century. The Minigowin Fund, The Ecology Wildlife Foundation Fund, Mandler/Tambor Family Fund, Stewart Fund for Life & Love, Riverbend Fund, Walnut Fund and Ero Fund provided co- investment for this grant. Toe River Arts Council received $10,000 to market and promote its Cynthia and Edwina Bringle documentary. It captures the Bringle sisters' personal history, artistic contributions to the fi eld of craft, signifi cance as educators and mentors, and the role they have played in the life of Penland School of Craft and the Toe River region. Cynthia and Edwina Bringle, twin sisters, have led storied lives as craftspeople, producing remarkable works of art, mentoring a vast community of makers, and sharing what they know with students, visitors, and collectors. The documentary will be made available to fi lm festivals, arts organizations, schools and libraries and will be archived with the Western Regional Archives of the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the American Craft Council. The Minigowin Fund, Dogwood Charitable Endowment Fund and Ero Fund provided co-investment for this grant. CFWNC works with families, businesses and nonprofi ts to strengthen communities through the creation of charitable funds and strategic grantmaking. A permanent charitable resource, the Foundation manages over 1,200 funds and facilitated $23.5 million in grants last year bringing total giving to more than $328 million since its founding in 1978. Learn more at www. cfwnc.org. Grants totaling $125,000 Awarded Projects include Diversifi cation of the Regional Food System and Dam Removal Article Provided By: Lindsay Hearn Bounty & Soul staff. Photo by Michael Oppenheim. More than 3,500 students will compete in the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission's 45th annual Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournaments (YHEST) in March. Events will include shotgun, archery, rifl e, orienteering and a written hunting skills exam. The 2023 schedule by state wildlife district is: District 1: March 25, Eastern 4-H Center, Columbia District 2: March 11, New Hanover Law Enforcement Offi cer Range, Castle Hayne District 3: March 18, Rose Hill Sporting Clays and Hunt Reserve, Nashville District 4: March 18, Falcon Community Range, Falcon District 5: March 4, Chatham County Wildlife Club, Bear Creek District 6: March 25, Lentz Hunter Education Complex, Ellerbe District 7: March 4, Hunting Creek Shooting Preserve, Harmony District 8: March 18, Catawba Valley Wildlife Club, Vale District 9: March 18, Polk County Gun Club, Columbus Competition is conducted on senior (high school) and junior (middle and elementary schools) divisional levels, with overall team and overall individual awards based on aggregate scores in all events. Home- schooled students and teams representing 4-H or FFA can also compete, provided they meet eligibility requirements. Sixty teams will move on to compete at the state tournament on April 29 at the Lentz Hunter Education Complex in Ellerbe. For more information about the Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournament, go to ncwildlife.org/ YHEST. While the competition is for students 18 years and younger, the Wildlife Commission offers free hunter education courses and advanced hunter education on a regular schedule for all ages. For more information, go to ncwildlife.org/ huntered or call 919-707-0031. Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournaments Scheduled for March Article by: ncwildlife.org. The 45th Annual YHEST Tournament kicks off on March 25 in Columbia. 157 West Main St., Forest City 828.248.1408 rutherfordweekly.com @Ruther fordwkly @Ruther fordwkly Follow On @Ruther fordwkly Follow On On Small Town Friendly BIG Time Results Small Town Friendly BIG Time Results Not just a bunch of BOLONEY! Advertising that works.