Just a note: I think this blog was better before it dissolved into a rant against prohibition. This is a part of the community where we live, and raging against the culture and religious views of the local residents isn’t the most productive use of words or thoughts.

Let me encourage you to revisit some of the many wonderful things that this area has. Restaurants, sights, local artists, festivals, etc. The ban on alcohol has been here longer than I have, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon, but I still carry a deep love and appreciation for the area!

Fair enough Tony and I appreciate your input, as I welcome comments from all sides of the issue. The fact is it was newsworthy to me and I’m the only one I know of with the guts to express my views online using my real name. And I don’t take it lightly; anyone whose lived here full time knows it’s not an uncommon occurrence for people to get their houses burned down for exercising their first amendment rights, religious views, or for simply rubbing someone the wrong way.

I too carry a deep love and appreciation for the area and the people, but there is a dark side to the local lobbying/politics here just as there is anywhere else. It’s quite American to question, and even slam politicians, be they national or your neighbors, be it print, TV, online, whatever; that’s one of the reasons they pick up a paycheck for what they do, even here in Blue Ridge. If you’re looking for a blog that only discusses the positives of the area, there are plenty of blogs out there devoted to ’selling’ Blue Ridge. However, I appreciate your encouragement to revisit the things that make BR great, and I will definitely make an effort to do so more often.

BTW, I welcome article submissions from anyone with a good topic/article. In other words, you will be a “guest blogger” & your article will be featured as a post on the front page instead of just a comment to one of my rants. Additionally, you can browse or start your own thread in the Blue Ridge forum.

The funny thing about “the culture and religious views” of the local culture is that it hasn’t been static, or even consistent. The alcohol laws that we now have would have been viewed with horror by the folks who settled here. The current ‘dry’ status is an artifact of the Prohibition and the religious opinions of some,not all the locals. I understand that some of it is a reaction to the days of moonshineing and corruption, but that was 40 years or more back.
And the local politics is fairly corrupt: the status of a lot of absentee ballots (and I write as someone who has actually counted ballots in elections) should be investigated closely, especially when they determine elections. And nothing speaks quite like having a Mayor of the county seat having TWO convictions (at least) for chickenfighting, and getting reelected.(this is the guy who told me that the “Arts in the Park” festival, that I helped found, “…Brings in a bad crowd.”)
Fannin County is in denial about it’s real history: according to Confederate Officers, the area was ‘a hotbed of Unionist sentiment and active opposition to the Confederacy’. (my source is the article “A Hanging in Dawson County” in Wilson and Noe’s the Confederacy in Appalachia Univeristy of Tennessee Press.
The tendency of some of the locals to assume that they have the right to not be criticized ,and that we don’t have the right to work for change is annoying. The selfrighteousness of the Dry faction is annoying and hypocritical. It’s about power, and treating some folks as being ‘on our team’ as opposed to a real inquiry on what would be good for the economy.
BTW, I grew up some 30 miles away, married locally, and have resided here for 30 years.
Change is coming, and the old “who was YOUR daddy” attitude that only locals should have a say (evident in the News Observer) will pass. My kids would like to live here, if there is an economy that will allow them to do so. The cheap moralism that cloaks a tribal ‘us agin’ them’ outlook hurts us all, and benefits only a few with power.

Teenage Thieves and Break-ins-
Tarnish BlueRidge / Morganton’s Peaceful Reputation.

For well over a decade, I have always thought of the BlueRidge and Morganton area as a quiet and peaceful retreat. Some of my best memories involve my wife and dogs hiking, camping and canoeing the lake with family and close friends in the North Georgia mountains of the Fannin county area. Those years of enjoyment led to purchasing a small bit of wooded acreage, followed by the lifelong dream of building a second home there. Some day I hope to make it my permanent home. For the past six years, we have enjoyed both the scenery as well as the good and generous people and businesses in the area. Recently we have twice arrived at our home only to find that the door has been kicked-in and our home rummaged and robbed. Local police are confident that it is the work of nearby neighborhood teenage boys. As we filled out our (second) police report, the Sheriff’s deputy said that robberies were growing more and more frequent, with reports of multiple break ins occurring regularly. I am not a rich man, but I have always considered myself to be a fortunate one. I have managed to repair and replace my broken doors and frames two times now. I have mulled over the security of my pregnant wife and soon to be born son. I now wonder if it wouldn’t be better to sell my place altogether and leave the area warning others of the same. Instead, for now I have decided to work with a local security business and police to try to discourage further burglaries.

Objects stolen range from reproduction stone flint-spearheads made by me, to hand-crafted Stone Indian tobacco “peace” pipes fashioned by the hand of my father. These items were not antiques nor overly valuable items, just precious crafts hand-made by my family. Additionally, the teens have destroyed doorways, smashed tables, and stolen countless other articles from my home. They have rummaged through our bedrooms, clothing drawers, smashed glass and taken beer and alcohol from my pantry. Some call my level of damage and theft “lucky” compared to others and that saddens me. None the less, if I am able to make a conviction of these teens or any who were involved, I will prosecute them to the farthest extent of the laws allowance. I have been reduced to showing the same courtesies as those they have bestowed on me when they entered my home as thieves.

As a boy, I grew up in a small town in Northern Michigan’s upper peninsula and to me BlueRidge has always been my adult home away from home. Until now, it has been a place where I can go to get away from the stresses of adult life if only for a weekend. My childhood town was considered a haven for tourists and cabin-weekenders, much like yours. The reputation of a peaceful and restful community is what brought people to us and with them of course their money. Money that helped to support our family and community. The same money that I now spend in your community, in the form of monthly taxes, utilities, and patronizing local establishments. I hope that families in the area can express upon their teenagers the importance of a positive reputation and the long term relationships with vacationers and weekenders. Please help me to make sure BlueRidge and Morganton remain the quiet and peaceful place I remember of the past. Thank you.

Brian, confessed weekender.
Marietta Georgia.

how do you feel about this country music center they are talking about? my first reaction is oh hell no.

Country music center?….I have not heard anything about that….please fill me, and any others, in on this.

here you go terri: http://www.thenewsobserver.com/articles/2008/11/28/news/news01.txt

Hi everyone. I live in the New Orleans area, my father lives in the Mineral Bluff area. I was wanting to get him a gift certificate to a very nice restaurant for Christmas. Any suggestions?