Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
More of what’s going around:
-The downtown Asheville digital print shop Henco Reprographics has opened a new location on the north end of town at 1445 Merrimon Ave. The Henco North location has a sweet new flat-bed printer that can print on just about anything. Check ’em out.
-Ty Pennington was spotted in downtown Asheville the other day shooting something on the street between Heiwa and the Civic Center, reports loyal reader Russ. Anyone know why he was here?
-Four Brothers Pizzeria will open at the old Frank’s Roman Pizza location at 339 Sardis Road within the next two weeks, according to loyal reader DE.
-Real-time satellite imagery from NOAA is cool.
-Chai Pani is ending its “Kids Eat Free” offering, but starting up a new community give-back. Here’s the release:
After 6 sweet years of offering “Kids Eat Free” day here at Chai Pani, the time has come for us to wish it farewell. While we are sad to see it go, we are excited about what this change represents for the future of Chai Pani’s community involvement. We have always placed great value on giving back to our community, and for many years, offering a “Kids Eat Free” day was one of our favorite ways to give back.
As our business has grown, our desire to contribute to our community has grown too. In that spirit, we will be transitioning out of our weekly “Kids Eat Free” day, and into a new way to give back to our community – one that we believe will positively impact even more people. Beginning March 2nd, we will launch our new monthly giving event here at Chai Pani. The first Wednesday of each month, we will donate 10% of dinner sales to a local organization that we believe is doing meaningful work in our community. We will work closely with the selected charity to raise awareness about their cause and all of our social media and PR efforts will highlight the charity.
In honor of “Kids Eat Free,” our first charity event will support Children First/Communities in Schools. Check out the work that they are doing with kids right here in our neighborhoods at www.childrenfirstcisbc.org. If you have a local charity that is close to your heart, we would love to hear about them! Just send a quick note to [email protected].
As sad as we are to see “Kids Eat Free” day go, we are excited for this new chapter and hope that you will join us in the effort to support the much needed work that these organizations do.
-Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton was named one of the South’s best breweries by Southern Living.
-Chef Nate Allen of Knife and Fork restaurant in Spruce Pine and David Bauer of Farm and Sparrow Bakery in Candler will join three other chefs from Virginia and North Carolina on April 18 for a Small Town, Big Flavors event at the James Beard House in New York. Allen was just nominated for a James Beard Award in the Best Chef: Southeast category.
-The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has announced a new partnership with the CAN’d Aid Foundation, according to a press release. More:
CAN’d Aid, the nonprofit arm of Oskar Blues Brewery, is providing a $10,000 grant to launch the new Appalachian Trail Conservation Leadership Corps (CLC) service-based internships in the outdoors, focused on conservation leadership, professional development, and employment preparedness.
The Leadership Corps (CLC) provides valuable training and work experience to young people (18 – 25 years old) new to the outdoors by introducing their natural resource management skills and a professional network so they may compete effectively for conservation jobs. Experiences will include engagement in Trail Crew operations, invasive species control, and visitor use management. Program focus areas are determined based on regional conservation priorities of the ATC, National Park Service and US Forest service in partnership with local volunteer organizations.
Carolina Cinemas and Homeward Bound of WNC present a special screening of Time Out of Mind, a film starring Richard Gere as a mentally ill man experiencing homelessness. Tickets are $10 for the 6:30 PM film which will be followed by a short discussion. You can also join us for a reception at 5:30 PM, prior to the film for $25, which includes your ticket and a reception in the upper lounge with beer, wine, soft drinks and appetizers. Tickets can be purchased here for the movie and reception, or here for the movie alone. Thanks to Carolina Cinemas for making this possible! More information can be found at www.homewardboundwnc.org
I can’t think of a better way for a restaurant to truly support their community than by offering a kids eat free night. Many of us Asheville families have to work three or four low-paying benefit less part-time jobs in order to raise the next generation of Ashevillans. Kids free nights are the only way we can usually eat out once in a blue moon. Now Chai Pani is out, too bad.
We will continue to lug our children to Chai Pani, kids eat free or not!