Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
More of what’s going around:
-It’s going to snow some in and around Asheville this weekend. Ray’s Weather does a great job with its forecasts, so check them out.
–Oak & Grist, a new distillery in Black Mountain, is preparing to open soon. They’ll be starting with making gin. Thanks to loyal reader Stephan for the heads-up!
-The new board game cafe called Well Played is preparing to open March 25 on Wall Street in downtown Asheville, reports Asheville Grit.
-HH Gregg is closing/has closed its Asheville store, as well as others. Here’s the full list.
-The Oskar Blues Loaded Up & Truckin‘ food truck rally and concert has a great lineup of food and music. The event is April 15. The music lineup includes Dr. Dog, Nikki Lane, Floating Action and much more.
-The local nonprofit Harmonia will hold its annual fundraiser and outdoor festival at 2 p.m. on April 9 at The Salvage Station. The music lineup includes Third Nature, ElectroChemical, and Natural Born Leaders and more, with “inspiring words from The Hip Hop Orchestra, a variety of regional conscious poets,” according to a press release. Late-night electronic acts include Sacred Sound, Mycorr, Star Spinner and more. From the release:
Harmonia by the River is a family friendly event and will host a series of activities for all ages. Gracing the event will be a range of flow artists, workshops, lectures, raffle, art auction, local crafts market, a healing garden, other local organizations, and more. As the moon rises fire performers will light up the sky. Entry to the event is by donation. Harmonia is still accepting applications for vendors, flow performers, healers, and general volunteers. You may apply via safeinharmonia.org. Harmonia’s mission is to provide a supportive environment for self empowerment through education. Visit Harmonia’s Facebook at Facebook.com/SafeInHarmonia or safeinharmonia.org to get connected.
-White Labs delivers an update on the construction of its new yeast-making facility in Asheville. From the Q&A:
What’s next at White Labs Asheville? What is the team actively working to complete?
The team here is finishing up Phase One of the project, which involves completing construction on the main building and bringing 15 FlexCells™ fully online. This will allow us to get our yeast production a third of the way toward full capacity.
Next, Phase Two will include two parts–our Tap Room and boutique restaurant opening by summer and the analytical lab going online later this year. Finally, for phase three, we will be incorporating a large-scale brewing system that will brew wort for yeast propagation and beers to be served in the Asheville Tap Room. For the time being, once the Tap Room is open, we’ll be shipping in delicious beers from San Diego.
–Lisa Damour, a nationally renowned child psychologist and author of the best-selling book Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions Into Adulthood, will be giving a talk on April 19 at UNC Asheville. The event will be free and open to the public, more details to come.
-Reminder: time to move those clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night for Daylight Savings Time.
Daylight SAVING time….sorry, it’s a pet peeve.