In yogurt, it's what provides the density and tang.  At an opera, it's what you say you are experiencing.  In Asheville, NC, it's what residents and visitors value.  What is Asheville?  Why, it's the culture.  No matter where you're coming from or what your final destination may be, on any given day in downtown Asheville you'll find some part of the culture to relate to and that you can really appreciate.  This Asheville resident loves the North Carolina mountain city for the way the culture collides, and melds, and works so well together.

Wander around on any warm summer Friday evening downtown and you'll see and feel it.  On one side of town, Pritchard park is alive with drums.  People of all ages are moving to the rhythm of the drum circle that has become very popular.  What I love, what others love, are all the different faces that you'll see.  Old and young smiling faces finding their groove.  People that you would never pick or place in the same setting, causing everyone in attendance to share the beat.  Amazing, really.

The diversity doesn't stop with the musical uniqueness.  Asheville has restaurants.  Lots of restaurants.  Many very good.  As a popluar retirement and tourist destination, Asheville supports several successful culinary entrepreneurs.  There is more to love, however, than just the food.  Never before have I lived in a city that hosts so many points of view and styles of life.  Scan any popular, fairly upscale restaurant, and you'll find a blend of people that highlights the Asheville melting pot.  Dreadlocks and gray hair.  Hemp clothing and silk blouses.  Side-by-side.  Each enjoying the town, and choosing to live in the town, because of the sense of community and the beauty of the mountains.

The beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains draws you in. I  came to Asheville for the mountain streams.  I have friends that were drawn by the bike trails.  Others come because they are artists and love the like-minded community.  Still others come to be a part of a community that accepts more diversity than most.  Maybe it's the climate, the strong medicine community, the holistic approach to medicine, the vibe, the energy, or the drums.  There is no shortage of things to get involved with in Asheville.  Choose a cause or lifestyle and you'll find a community.  "Anyway You Like It" (the city's marketing slogan) describes the variety of culture and opportunities available to everyone.

There is something about this city.  It gets in you, its appeal spreads, and before you know it you call it home.  Asheville is comfortable.  It can be exciting, or intellectual, or passionate, or rebellious.  The combination of the people, the things they do, and the place in which they do it make the culture of the city very rich.  It works very well, despite all its contrasts.  It works so well that this enculturated Ashevillian, like may others that come and choose to stay, has gotten it in my blood.  The sights, sounds, tastes, and people contribute to the most inviting culture I have ever experienced.  - Doug Thomson

Visit:  www.Your-Asheville-Mountains.com

Here is our take:

Shindig On The Green

One of Asheville's summer highlights, is the annual Shindig On The Green.  Since 1966 (origins actually back to 1928), spectators and performers gather every Saturday night on the lawn in front of City Hall.  Some of the finest bluegrass bands, old-time string bands, cloggers, mountain circle dancers, storytellers and ballard singers come together to have some fun and share a little Blue Ridge Mountain heritage with every one.  Some of my best childhood memories revolve around sitting on a blanket under the summer sky watching the event.   Shindig On The Green represents a big part of Western NC culture.  It is also a reflection of growing up in the Asheville area.

The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina

The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina promotes and expands regional philanthropy and develops local funds that address changing needs and opportunities in the 18 counties of Western North Carolina. The Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1978 to create a permanent pool of charitable capital that will always be available for the 18 counties of Western North Carolina. We work with individuals, families and businesses to create and manage charitable funds and then make grants to nonprofits or public agencies in our mountain region. The Foundation is now a collection of more than 800 individual funds, each with a specific charitable purpose as determined by the donor who created it.  All to improve the quality of life for the people of Western North Carolina.

• Work with donors to create charitable funds according to their specific interests
• Inform donors about critical needs and match them with giving opportunities
• Responsibly manage more than $126 million in charitable assets
• Make grants and provide support to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and public agencies for improving life in our region
• Encourage and participate in community initiatives and partnerships
• Build awareness of the importance of philanthropy

Stories From The Field:

What I Love About Asheville...

Written by - Michelle Breiland

Image by -  Alicia Sisk- Morris (All Rights Reserved)

What positive things do I see happening in Asheville? What do I like about it? Why did I come back here? I suppose the main reason I came back is because it's home. There are plenty of things to like about Asheville for people who didn't grow up here.  Consider its location in the Appalachian Mountains, close proximity to Dupont State Park, Pisgah National Forest, the Great Smoky Mountains and to so many other locations on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Asheville has a wide range of restaurants, the Biltmore House, an artistic community, an airport, an Arboretum... something for everybody. It’s no wonder the baseball team is called “The Tourists”.  But that’s not why I came back.  I came back because of a special person from my past who happened to still be in the area.  But that’s a different story entirely.

I've found that a lot of people tend to migrate back to their roots once they've gotten to a certain age. Being home gives one a sense of time and place. It "reconnects" you in a sense.  I have mixed feelings when I walk around my old neighborhood. The house I grew up in no longer exists. It was razed several years ago and a mansion was built on the footprint. The property was also given a drastic makeover. No more dogwood or azaleas in the front yard, no more “creek” with the wooden bridge, no more rhododendron forest. The neighbor’s trampoline is no longer there and access to the old tree house is overgrown. In a way, it makes me sad, but neighborhoods, like people, change and evolve, it's just part of life. Some of the neighbors are still there. Others have moved or passed away.  New people come and go. You don’t see children playing “snake in the gutter” there anymore, the neighborhood has aged, but walking on those streets still gives me a sense of belonging. At one point in the history of those streets, I was a “regular”. A couple years ago I walked around the halls of Asheville High School. I visited the approximate location of my locker (I can't exactly remember which one it was), and would have visited a teacher or two, but they're all gone. Many people from my childhood still do live here in Asheville. I rarely see them, but it’s still comforting to know they’re around, that some part of my history is still “intact”. 

Since returning, I’ve visited everywhere I spent any considerable amount of time as a kid. I think it must be a natural thing to revisit places where you spent a lot of time. When my parents came to town last year for a visit, my father wanted to drive downtown to see if the same places were still around that he frequented years ago. Downtown has changed a lot. Fletcher’s School of Dance is closed down and boarded up, nothing is the same on Battery Park Avenue except that old wig shop. No more Stone Soup. The old Akzona building is now Merrill Lynch and the old NW bank building is now labeled BB&T. There is a lot more happening downtown now: art galleries all over the place, more restaurants coming and going than you can count.  I’m sure my father would be surprised to see Pritchard Park on Friday nights. No longer a seedy bus depot. The park is now vibrant and alive with drumming; a gathering place for people from all walks of life – old, young, black, white, rich, poor, gay, straight... you name it. You can find it all right there on Friday nights during the summer. Of all the changes that Asheville has gone through since I left in the mid 80's, I would say the rebirth of downtown is the most positive.

If we were ever to move away from Asheville, I think I would most miss the mountains and the close vicinity of hiking trails. We spend a lot of time in Bent Creek which is just southwest of Asheville near the Arboretum. It is one of the more "local places" if you want to go for a long walk in the woods and seems to be a big meeting place for mountain bikers, as well. We were lucky to encounter a barred owl there last May. We’ve also seen deer, snakes and heard stories about bears in the area.  The rangers there are extremely friendly and will talk to you all day if you give them the time to do so. We also spend a lot of time at Dupont State Park, where one can hike all day and see waterfalls, beautiful vistas, wildlife, and we always meet friendly, like-minded people there. Pisgah National Forest is in the same general area, as well as the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you enjoy hiking, this is the place for you.

In addition to the mountains, landscapes, memories and history, I love the friendliness of the people here. It's rare when people aren’t smiling and I'm constantly being greeted by complete strangers. I carry on conversations with people I’ve never met before while waiting in line. The guy who works at the Candler post office always has a series of jokes to entertain the clientele; if there were more like him, I'm sure the US Postal Service wouldn't be in trouble! The guy at the library always the takes time to give folks directions, and even suggests short-cuts. The people who live in the house which replaced the house I grew up in seemed thrilled to meet me when I took my kids trick-or-treating there last year. They even invited me in.  Where else would people invite perfect strangers into their home on Halloween? Asheville is a very friendly, beautiful and positive place.   I am happy to call it my home.

Asheville As I Remember It...

Written by - Ruth Bemis Smith

My family left Asheville back in 1988 once I started college.  My college years were spent just up the road from Asheville, where I could continue to enjoy the richness of the Appalachian Mountians. Upon finishing school,  I started out on a series of adventures, one of which carried me out to Colorado where I was able to explore a completely different set of mountians. Through all my adventures, I still hold fond memories of my early years back in Western North Carolina.

Some of my favorite spots back in the Asheville area were and still are: Mt Mitchell (highest peak east of the Mississippi River) we'd hike up there all the time with our dogs and Sliding Rock (Pisgah Forest) where the water is freezing, but one of a kind. When you tell folks that you are from Asheville, everyone says that they "LOVE the town. " I remember when the Hot Dog King was the hot spot downtown. Eagle Street wasn't where you went to get coffee or to hang out.

When I moved to Colorado and people asked me about NC, I would tell them about Asheville and about Boone, NC.  Then I would tell them about The Wolf (Wolf Laural Ski area).  Most folks that I would talk to had no idea that we actually had ski resorts in NC.  We call them that but after going west, they are really just narrow ice chutes that bring hours of entertainment. My sister and I learned to ski when we were 7 and 9 yrs old. My mom would put us on a bus every Sunday for 6 weeks. That bus would take us to Appalachian Mtn where the Swiss Ski School taught us how to turn, not snow plow.  We fell in love with it and I've pretty much centered by life around mountains and skiing since then.  Even though I have always been a huge UNC Tarheel Fan, I chose ASU over Chapel Hill because I wanted to ski. 

Asheville makes you love the outdoors.  I'll never forget the smell of Spring.  We didn't have A/C growing up, but we didn't need it back then.  The mild coolness of the mountians was incredible. It has gotten a little hotter since then, so A/C might be a good thing now. I love the Colorado Rocky Mountians, but I equally love the Smokeys back in NC. Both are so very different from each other.  The best part of Asheville is the greenery. Everything is so green, at least in the summer months. When people from CO visit , they are overwhelmed by how green the area is. Growing up in Asheville, NC was the best. I always want to be surrounded by mountains and the mountains back in Asheville are a wonderful part of who I am today.  That's peace for me!

LITTLE PEARLS

Written by - Linda McLean

The Asheville area is filled with natural beauty, rich biodiversity, an unusually diverse population and a special energy that draws people here.  Though it can be a difficult place to earn a living because so many people choose to live here, it is filled with creativity and innovation on many, many fronts: the arts, the environment, spirituality, agriculture, social expression, entrepreneurship.  

One such innovation is a small media non-profit called Little Pearls.  Little Pearls are “tiny films” that open hearts and minds, inspiring authentic connection and compassionate action on behalf of all living beings.  Stimulated by the people, the animals and the natural beauty in these ancient mountains – and also by dreams and visions – these tiny films capture the essence of their subjects and simultaneously express universal themes.  Mostly 30 seconds in length, Little Pearls are gifts of the heart.  In this time of great change, uncertainty and hope, they have the potential to open minds by first opening hearts.  The current project is a series of Dog Pearls, illuminating lessons we humans can learn from our connection with companion animals. Visit:  www.LittlePearls.org

Here are just a few of the many innovative, visionary organizations in the Asheville area (Favorites from Linda McLean):  

The Honeybee Project:  http://www.thehoneybeeproject.com/

Handmade in America:   http://handmadeinamerica.org/

The Media Arts Project:  http://themap.org/

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP):  http://www.asapconnections.org/

The NC Arboretum:  http://www.NCArboretum.org

The Organic Growers School:  http://www.organicgrowersschool.org/

The Environmental Leadership Center at Warren Wilson College:  http://www.Warren-Wilson.edu/~elc/New_ELC_Website_/Main.php

You Know You Grew Up In Asheville, North Carolina IF...(Responses From Generation X & Y):

• You craved Frank's Pizza and loved Three Little Pigs BBQ
• You know how to clog (learned how in elementary school)
• Two words: Dreamland Drive-in
• You knew where the 2 police cars in Biltmore Forest were at all times
• You don't see anything funny about a kid's summer camp named Little Beaver
• Rolling skating all day on Saturdays at Skateland
• You remember when the Biltmore Dairy Bar actually sold ice cream...long gone
• Lords Drug Store and their malted milkshakes
• Sledding down the #18 hole on the old Country Club of Asheville course…now covered up by the Grove Park Inn
• You went cruisin' on Patton Avenue
• The Hot Shot Café was your favorite greasy spoon
• Everybody bought their shoes upstairs at Tops for Shoes
• The Christmas parade was always the day before Thanksgiving and the Harlem Globetrotters always came to the Civic Center the night of the parade
• The Hop was THE place for ice cream…always used the drive-thru
• Going through the Brendles Catalog dreaming about what to ask for Christmas
• You remember when Bele Chere was a small local festival
• Parking and hanging out on the Blue Ridge Parkway
• You paddled a boat around on Lake Julian
• Thirsty Thursdays at the Asheville Tourists Baseball games…25 cent beer!
• Shopping at Bell's Traditionals in Biltmore Village
• Cash Mountain 4-wheelin
• The Dirt Road, The Circle and Buzzard Rock were great places to meet friends
• Bill Stanley's BBQ and Shindig On The Green
• Watching or actually being on "The Mr. Bill Show"
• Night skiing at Wolf Laurel
• Life before the I-240 cut-thru
• You missed 4 straight weeks of school because of a huge snow storm back in the late 70’s…someone even drove a VW Bug out onto the middle of Beaver lake
• King of The Road burgers and greasy fries with malt vinegar (N. Asheville)
•  Field trips to the Nature Center and the Health Adventure
• Going to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Innsbrook Mall theater
• Trying to spot the lady who walked around downtown balancing a coke bottle on her head
• Going to the Biltmore House during the holiday season with folks to see all the “greenery” hanging around