In This Issue

Saluda's Art Heritage

Saluda Community Tree Preservation

Saluda Library

Saluda Library Fund Raiser

Senior Center

Saluda Church Services

Coon Dog Day Poster Contest

More on Coon Dog Day

City Notes

A Personal Tribute

Saluda Arts & Music Festival

What's Happening

Spring Litter Sweep

Mr. Somebody Rides Again

Saluda Scoop

Frank & Amy's Front Porch Concert Schedule

Delights of Spring

Property of the Month

Concert Raises $8000

Quick Links

Request NEW UPDATED Saluda Service Directory Available

Tourist and Visitor Information

Saluda.com

North Carolina River Levels for Kayaking

Green River Adventures

Music and Entertainment

The Purple Onion

Frank & Amy's Front Porch

Saluda Mountain Jamboree

Tosh's WhistleStop Cafe

Area News Media

Tryon Daily Bulletin

Hendersonville Times

Asheville Citizen Times

Greenville News

Saluda Property & Real Estate

Cathy Jackson Realty Featured Listings

Search Western North Carolina Multiple Listings

Vacation Rentals By Owners

Look Up Property Record in Henderson County

Saluda Lifestyles

Past Issues of Saluda Lifestyles

More About Cathy Jackson Realty

Saluda's Art Heritage

Saluda has a rich art history.  Many talented artists have lived and worked here over the years, and several continue to call Saluda home.

Much of their work can be seen in galleries, restaurants and shops in town.

For this year's Saluda Art & Music Festival, we would like to introduce two Saluda artists that have received national and international acclaim-Stoney Lamar and Verne Dawson.

A presentation of these honored artists is on display at the City Hall bulletin board throughout May.

Saluda Community Tree Preservation Association Observes Earth Day and Arbor Day

Members of the Saluda Community Tree Preservation Association observed Earth Day Sunday, April 22 in the Saluda Cemetery preparing young trees for mulching.

The group, under supervision of Nancy Barnett, horticulturists began weeding and observed her pruning demonstration.

The trees, all native species, were planted for beautification, to provide shade in summer, and for a pleasant, meditative atmosphere for families and friends visiting loved one's gravesides. Several of the trees were planted with funds donated for memorial trees.  All trees were purchased through contributions.  Care and maintenance of the trees will be an on-going project of the association.

For more information about the association, please contact Ruth Anderson at 828-749-9718 or Judy Sienkiewicz at 864-292-0203.

By Ruth Anderson

Saluda Community Library

May Children's Events

MAY 2

Preschool Storytime will be held  at 10:30 am at the Saluda Community Library. All area preschoolers and caregivers are welcome. 

MAY 9

Preschool Storytime at the Saluda Community Library will feature stories and songs about Mother's Day.  Storytime is held at 10:30 am in the Children's Area. 

MAY 16

Preschool Storytime at the Saluda Community Library will feature stories about "Growing Gardens".  Storytime is held at 10:30 am in the Children's Area.  All area preschoolers and caregivers are welcome.

MAY 30

A "Happy Birthday" Preschool Storytime will be offered at the Saluda Community Library at 10:30 am.   This will be the final Preschool Storytime before the library's  Summer Reading Program begins in June.  Preschool Storytime will resume in August. 

For more information contact Joy Sharp at 894-8721.

Painting of the Saluda Library by Paul Koenen and can be purchased at Saluda Fine Arts. A percentage of the proceeds go to the Saluda Library.

Saluda Library Fund Raiser

The Saluda Library is proud to announce the raffle of a limited edition matted color photo titled "Last Excursion of Steam Engine 611."

The photo was taken on October 24, 1992, in the town of Saluda, by Terry H. Henshaw.  This documents the final trip for Steam Engine 611.  The train is now in a railroad museum in West Virginia.

The Saluda Grade is the steepest standard railroad grade in the US.  It is three miles long and creasts in Saluda.  Residents, visitors and train enthusists delighted in the sound and sight of daily steam engines and diesels.  To our dismay, no trains have graced our tracks since 1992.

Please show your support for the Saluda Library by purchasing your raffle tickets at the library and local events.  Tickets are $2 each or 6 for $10.

For more info, call the library (749-2117) or Melody Gibson (749-9683).

Saluda Senior Center

Senior Center is open to the public and welcomes all Saluda citizens (at any age) to join in the activities and programs offered.

Monday Activities Schedule
9:30 Walking Group
9:30 Line Dancing
10:00 NIA Class (not May 7)
12:30 Yoga

May 7 CPR/AED Training at 1:00

May 28 Closed for Memorial Day

Tuesday Activities Schedule

10:00 Bridge and Bridge Class
2:00 Chair Exercise

5:30 Yoga

Wednesday Activities Schedule
9:30 Walking Group
10:00 Trash Train
6:00 Yoga

Thursday Activities Schedule
9:30 Knitting Group
10:00 NIA Class
6:00 Yoga

May 3 Flat Rock Playhouse at 1:30

May 10 Board Meeting at 2:30

May 24 Sudoku at 1:00

Friday Activities Schedule
9:30 Walking Group
10:00 Trash Train
10:00 Chair Exercise

May 11, Birthday Celebration

The Senior Center serves warm nutritious lunches Monday through Friday from 11:30-12:30 at a cost of $3.00 a person.

The Saluda Senior Center provides many services to the growing retirement community in Saluda. Volunteers to provide these services are needed.

They encourage you to share your time to help deliver meals on wheels or work in A Thrifty Barn retail shop.

For more information about activities at Saluda Senior Center call Donna at 828-749-9245.

Basement Sale at A Thrifty Barn first and third Saturdays of the month.........great bargains!

Saluda Church Services

Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration
The Reverend Paula C. Morton
8:00 a.m. - Holy Eucharist - Rite I
9:15 a.m. - Sunday School
10:30 a.m. - Holy Eucharist - Rite II with music

Saluda Presbyterian
The Reverend Gene Witherspoon
Adult SS 10:00 am
Worship Service 11:00 am

Saluda First Baptist Church
The Reverend Ray Talley, Interim
SS 9:45 am
Worship Service 11 am & 6:00 pm
Wednesday 7:00 pm

Saluda Methodist Church
The Reverend Tony Sayer
SS 10:00 am
Worship Service 11:00 am

Coon Dog Day Poster Contest

Coon Dog Day Festival Opens Poster Art Contest to Area Artists

If you have ever been to Saluda's Coon Dog Festival you probably brought home two things: great memories and one of their posters. Local Saluda artists have been producing these sometimes artistic - sometimes campy posters for over 30 years and it has become a highly sought after collectors item. In 2006 they opened up the contest to artists of western North Carolina. From last years entries a wounderful design by Laura Norris was selected, and we are looking forward to more entries capture the spirit of this fun and unique festival.

Contestants must submit their artwork by Wednesday, June 6, 2007, to: CDD 2007, CO:Scott Varn, 201 Cumberland Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801 or varn@harmonyinteriors.com. Inquiries can be made to the same e-mail address or call 273-5383.

Artwork will be judged by a committee comprised Saluda Community Library officers, artists, and Saluda residents.

The winning artwork will serve as the commemorative poster for the festival and will be used in festival marketing and advertising. The artist will get a copy of the poster, a t-shirt, and will be provided a free 10'x10' booth space at the Coon Dog Day Festival so that they can display and sell artwork. The winning entry will be announced by June 12, 2007.

Proceeds from the poster and t-shirts with the same design will go to benefit the Saluda Community Library. The competition will be juried by artists and residents of Saluda and will be judged on how well the design represents the town and the festival.

The festival itself has been going on for over 40 years. It originally began back in 1963 as a picnic to mark the end of the raccoon hunting season. Today it is much larger, attracting thousands of people annually in celebration of a breed of dog most famous for it's distinctive howling at the foot of a tree. Activities include a firehouse breakfast, crafts, art, food, live music, a parade, street dance, and an AKC dog judging. Also, there is still a nighttime coon hunt contest - not for raccoon pelts, but to test raccoon treeing skills.

Saluda itself is famous for having the steepest mainline standard gauge railroad grade in the United States and still has the historic station in the center of town. Most people come to Saluda to enjoy one of the last remaining small towns with active general stores and a relaxed way of life. The winner of the contest will receive recognition as the selected artist as well as a festival booth so that he or she can display and sell his or her own artwork.

For more information contact:

Festival coordinator at City Hall: Doris Marion 749-2581

Saluda Library: Melody Gibson - megsalud@charter.net - 749-9683

Contest submissions: Scott Varn - svarn@harmonyinteriors.com - 273-5383

Submission forms are available at the Saluda Community Library, Saluda City Hall, or online at www.saluda.com.

Above is winnning poster for 2006 Coon Dog Day.

More Coon Dog Announcements

Get information and register for Coon Dog Day 5K Run.

Enter Coon Dog Day Parade.  Call Doris Marion at 828-749-2581.

Wanted - Marching Band

We are looking for some musicans that would like to march or ride in the Coon Dog Day parade this year. Mountain music would be grand, band music would be great, but it would be delightful to have some music filling the air this year. Please call Ammie Weymer at 697-3371 and leave a message, if you would like to participate or know of someone who would.

City Notes

by Mayor, Rodney Gibson

The Mayor and Board of Commissioners have been holding budget workshops for the past few months and there are several facts and issues that are driving the process and options available to us as a community.

As we are experiencing in our private lives, the costs of many things continue to rise. In addition to the many unfunded regulatory requirements that are placed on governing bodies, we have a continuing dynamic of nature, governance and public demands that continue to drive up the costs of living in Saluda. By example:

• Human Resources costs including severance packages, disability and insurance costs continue to rise faster than inflation. The competitive salary costs of law enforcement has increased because of many factors including the drain on available professionals that are called to duty in the Middle East wars. We have lost many of our "home trained" police to other agencies (Federal, State & local) and will now have to bear the cost of replacing them and training new recruits.
• Emergency response costs have increased because of hurricanes, ice and wind storms that have hammered our area in the last several years. We have been fortunate enough to obtain some FEMA support but we expect that over $200,000 of costs will not be reimbursed. Most of the past costs have been paid from our emergency fund (Fund Balance) but State law requires that we replace those funds.
• The price of energy has increased almost 40% on average over the last 3 years. Everything from the power and light bills to the costs of driving City vehicles has increased significantly.
• County services such as the maintenance and operation of the solid waste transfer station are now being directly billed to the City. We will now have to pay an assessment required by the State on top of our base fees with our service provider.
• The costs of maintaining and operating our water and wastewater system have continued to increase. We recently received notice from the State of North Carolina that we will have to spend more money maintaining rights of way for our water and sewer lines. Looming in the not too distant future is a requirement that we capture and treat stormwater before we release it back to the creeks. Additionally, we need to continue to invest in new systems and technology that will bring our long-term costs down such as an automated meter reading system that has less than a 2 year pay back period.
• We have been and continue to be behind in maintaining our streets, sidewalks, parks, cemetary and buildings (especially City Hall). We have had to make investments in surveillance systems for the City Park and Library to stop what seems to be rampant vandalism by juveniles. The investments have been very successful but it's a cost that was not there before.
• Our attorney costs have increased as we have begun to manage the risks associated with our very litigious society. Issues such as zoning, regulatory compliance, self-serving third-party lawsuits, grant administration and day-to-day operations provide opportunities for the "disaffected" to continue their campaigns of punishing the masses. Prudence requires that we involve our legal counsel more actively in our decision processes. This means increased costs.
• In response to public demands, we have increased our expenditures on infrastructure including the addition of leaf collection and post-storm clean up of debris. These expenses are not insiginificant.
• Saluda now enjoys a popularity that energizes our volunteers and business organizations to create new festivals and events to bolster business revenues and charitable contributions (all positive things). However, there is a cost that has come with providing support and public safety for these events that comes from the City resources.

Over the last several years the citizens of Saluda have been confronted with significant increases in County tax rates as well as increases in our Fire Department assessments. In this environment, we have fought to find ways to save in our City operations as well as delay expenditures where we had some flexibility. As an example, in 2005 our citizens absorbed a $0.0925 increase in County taxes and an additional $0.01 increase in our Fire assessments. As we all know, increases in taxes at the County level typically do not provide increases in services at the local level. Nothing in the increases provided the City of Saluda with an opportunity to decrease or hold constant our taxation levels. The dilemma is that our costs were increasing as fast if not faster than the costs of governing Polk County.

The Mayor and Board realized at that time that passing any significant increases in taxes or assessments would severely stress many of our citizens (some of who could be considered Founders). We chose to delay or stretch-out any increases as long as we could to allow our neighbors to adjust as best they could. Foregoing tax and fee increases resulted in less investment in repairing and maintaining our streets, buildings, parks, cemetary and police during a period where we have experienced unprecedented service growth. Needless to say, this is not a sustainable condition.

On the other side, we have developed a more long-term budgeting strategy instead of the year-to-year (some say day-to-day) budgeting strategy used in the past. The value of a long-term budgeting strategy is three-fold.

• It provides each of us as taxpayers the opportunity to see and understand in advance the impact of tax rates on our own personal finances and allow us to plan accordingly.
• It provides the City opportunity to plan expenditures over longer periods of time to address infrastructure and resource deficiencies in a rational, deliberate manner.
• It keeps the tax rates lower over the long term and allows us to minimize the impacts of the property re-evaluations that will occur in 2008.

In evaluating our current budgetary needs over the next five years, we are better able to manage investments that will keep costs lower in the long run. Unfortunately, the "perfect storm" of events over the last few years has placed us in a position where a tax increase of $0.08 will be necessary just to meet our current obligations. We have also recognized that there are many precious citizens in our community that are vulnerable to tax and service fee increases. We are committed to finding ways such as the "Homestead Act" exemptions and reduced service fees to help these folks to maintain their lifestyles in our community. It is critical that we find a way to keep our community whole and the Board and Mayor are committed to doing just that.

Respectfully,

Rodney Gibson, Mayor

City of Saluda

A Personal Tribute

Congratulations to Toni and Rafael Garcia, long-time summertime residents at Lake Sheila, Saluda.  Toni donated one of her kidneys to her husband Rafael.  Everyone is doing well and Toni hopes to be at her lake retreat by June. 

Toni quilted "The Saluda Grade" and donated it to the Saluda Library as a fund raiser which brought in more than $600 to benefit library programs..

I know all Saludians wish them the best.

Cathy Jackson