Ashvegas Hot Sheet: Smoky Mountain Adventure Center edges toward opening

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Ashvegas: The City You Love. The News You Want.More of what’s going around:

-There’s a new traffic light going in on Montford Avenue at the intersection of Montford and Soco Street.

-Trade & Lore Coffee pop-up shop is now open inside Horse + Hero at 14 Patton Ave. Trade & Lore plans to open next year on Wall Street.smokymountainadventurecenter2015

-The Smoky Mountain Adventure Center has been under construction all year on Amboy Road, but it has been holding “soft opening” hours over the past couple of weeks. When it’s fully up and running, the 6,000-square-foot space will offer climbing walls, as well as a rental center offering tubes, rafts, kayaks, bikes and stand-up paddle boards.

The Orange Peel has an app. You should check it out.

-Sierra Nevada has announced a new rare beer club, Alpha Hop Society. From a press release:

This club offers access to limited-release, barrel-aged beers unavailable anywhere else. The Alpha Hop Society is a way for craft beer fans to sample experimental beers with volumes too small ever to make it to the general marketplace—previously available only at exclusive brewery festivals.

Alpha Hop Society is a year-long membership program featuring 12 all-new beers released on a quarterly basis. Members will pick up their beer from one of three Sierra Nevada locations: its Chico, CA, brewery; its Mills River, NC, brewery; or its Torpedo Room in Berkeley, CA. Alpha Hop Society members are also entitled to special tours and tastings with brewers and sampling of new, unreleased, and experimental beers-in-progress. Membership will be limited to just 300 people on a first come, first served basis.

“We’re constantly experimenting with new beers and new flavors and, until now, we never had an outlet for these beers,” said Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada’s founder. “Our barrel rooms are full of single-barrel batches, odd lots, and other unique projects that would never make sense for a larger release. The Alpha Hop Society is the perfect way to showcase these exciting beers, and help get our experimental and innovative projects out into the world.”

Alpha Hop Society membership is open now. For program details and sign-up instructions, please visit: www.sierranevada.com/alphahop.

-Ten Thousand Villages Asheville is hosting its 10th annual holiday shopping benefit for participating local non-profit organizations, according to a press release. More:

From November 30th until December 11th, 2015, not only will purchases benefit the lives of artisans around the world in support of the non-profit mission of Ten Thousand Villages, it will also impact change right here in Western North Carolina. During this period, customers can mention the name of the participating non-profit they would like to support, and 15% of their purchase will be donated to said organization.

In addition to creating opportunities for artisans in developing countries, Ten Thousand Villages believes in building strong local communities. Partnering with 16 local organizations, Ten Thousand Villages works to support these crucial community efforts, from affordable housing to animal rescue, literacy programs to trauma relief services. Jennifer Elliott, co-manager of Ten Thousand Villages, says, “This collaborative effort provide customers the opportunity to double the impact of their holiday shopping by supporting the talents of disadvantaged artisans around the world and by donating to programs that fill an important need in the local community.”

The organizations participating in this year’s Community Shopping Benefit series are as follows:
American Association of University Women’s Gem Fund
Africa Healing Exchange
Asheville Humane Society
Brother Wolf
Carolina Public Press
Children First
Council on Aging
Friends of the WNC Nature Center
Habitat for Humanity
Homeward Bound of WNC
MANNA Food Bank
Meals on Wheels
OnTrack Financial Education and Counseling
Our VOICE
Pisgah Legal Services
The Literacy Council of Buncombe County

At the checkout counter, customers are encouraged to mention the name of the organization they would like to support.

During the 2014 Community Shopping Benefit series, Ten Thousand Villages donated over $1,100 to 15 organizations throughout the region. Sarah Brown, Associate Executive Director of OnTrack WNC, says of the program, “We’ve been working with Ten Thousand Villages for over five years…and every year it just gets better. It is a wonderful opportunity for people in the community support three great causes: fairly traded goods handcrafted by international artisans, a locally-operated non-profit merchant, and another non-profit in the community. This year, make your holiday shopping dollars go even further by supporting the local economy and charitable giving simultaneously!”

Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit, fair trade retailer with more than 100 stores in North America. All products sold at Ten Thousand Villages are fairly traded, a system that offers artisans a fair living trade for their work. Each purchase provides income for skilled artisans and their communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Ten Thousand Villages serves as a leader in the fair trade movement and has done this now for over sixty years. The local Asheville store on 10 College St, is celebrating more than 20 years of providing fair trade products to the community.

For more information on the Holiday Shopping Benefit, and other rewarding shopping experiences, contact Jennifer Elliott, co-manager, at 828-254-8374, and visit our website, Asheville.tenthousandvillages.com.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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2 Comments

  1. Tim Peck November 29, 2015

    No updates yet. This is big news.

    Reply
  2. Tim Peck November 25, 2015

    I’ll keep y’all updated on the water lawsuit.

    The city filed a petition to appeal the water lawsuit to the Supreme Court on November 24th.

    Asheville’s Petition for a Writ of Supersedeas & Motion for Temporary Stay
    bit.ly/1XquVAy

    Asheville’s Notice of Appeal & Alternative PDR
    bit.ly/1lJCCGa

    Malfeasance
    bit.ly/1SjWp9w

    Reply

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