Rich Cooke

As both a father and a grandfather, I know that involving children in activities that promote their mind and their body's health is a wonderful step in creating a thriving member of the community. One great event that the Asheville City Market is hosting throughout the summer is the Kids Corner Market. Hosted by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), the Kids Corner Market is a series of free activities to promote local farmers as well as a healthy, well-balanced diet and fun exercises for kids to enjoy. It's also a great way to connect with other members of the Asheville community. The Kids Corner Market will be held every Saturday from 10am-12:30pm at the Asheville City Market (161 S Charlotte St) until August 29th and is absolutely FREE to the public.

The schedule of activities for the rest of the summer for the FREE Kids Corner Market is:

June 27: Cooking demo and food art
July 4: Transplant activity, Bountiful Cities Project
July 11: Flower press crafts and herbal tea tasting
July 18: Hands-on activity by a Parkway Ranger
July 25: No Market - Bele Chere
August 1: Obstacle Course
August 8: Healthy eating games
August 15: Scavenger Hunt
August 22: Cooking Demo
August 29: (Last Day of Market) Fun farm activities

The Henderson County chapter of the American Red Cross is holding its annual blood drive at Grace Lutheran Church in Hendersonville on June 25th all day long (7am-6pm). All donors will receive a free Operation Blood Drive T-shirt and will be eligible to win a cruise for two in a special drawing. The summer is an especially hard time for blood banks because many people are out of town on vacation. Donors become scarce. To put the importance of this event in perspective, the American Red Cross needs to have 1600 people donate blood as well as platelets every weekday to supply hospitals in the Carolina region alone. You can give blood every 56 days and platelets every two weeks as long as you are in good health, weigh 110 lbs or more and are at least 17 years old (16 with a parent's permission). To schedule your appointment to donate blood or platelets, please call 693-5605 or visit http://www.membersforlife.org/cbsr/ and use code #6304 when logging in. While walk-ins are welcome, we encourage you to make an appointment for less waiting time. Make sure to give life by giving blood on June 25th (or anytime) in Hendersonville.

During the warm summer months, the Visitor's Information Center in Hendersonville (201 S Main Street) will be hosting its "Music on Main Street" event every Friday evening from 7-9pm for free starting this Friday, June 5th, and continuing through August 28th. All you need to do is bring the family, your dancing shoes and a chair to rest in between musical interludes. No pets or alcohol are allowed. Enjoy music of all kinds, including classic rock, oldies, big band, pop, beach music and even an Elvis tribute. This year's festivities will begin and close with the great Tuxedo Junction band, who will be performing hits from the 1940's through the 1990's. The schedule for Hendersonville's summer music series is:

June 5: Tuxedo Junction (music from the 1940's-1990's) and Classic Car Show
June 12: Tom Brown-One Man Band (oldies rock)
June 19: Night Crawlers (classic rock)
June 26: Sound Investment (oldies rock) and Classic Car Show
July 3: Special Edition (oldies rock)
July 10: Capital Sound-Army Band (patriotic, big band and pop), Classic Car Show
July 17: Caribbean Cowboys (beach music)
July 24: The Crew (Top 40) and Classic Car Show
July 31: Night Crawlers (classic rock)
August 7: Asheville's Mix 96.5 House Band (dance)
August 14: Sound Investment (oldies rock)
August 21: Phil Urban & The TCB Band (Elvis tribute) and Classic Car Show
August 28: Tuxedo Junction (music from the 1940's-1990's)

So, put on your dancing shoes, kick up your heels and head on down to Hendersonville's Visitors Center every Friday this summer to enjoy real music with real people. I hope to see you there!

The offices at the Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock are buzzing with excitement over new programs added to their curriculum as well as a brand new website unveiled just this week. In addition to the regular programs offered to their students, BRCC will now provide degrees in office administration/virtual office assistance as well as fire protection technology. Three more programs (1-accounting, 2-film and video production technology and 3-simulations and game development) are now under review for approval by the Board of Trustees as of last Friday.

The BRCC's new website has been updated to make it easier for its visitors to navigate. Current students, which include curriculum students as well as continuing education students, will find information on registration dates, child care, the college library, updated weather info, links to obtaining their transcripts and information to their online student programs called Moodle. Prospective students can learn more about what BRCC has to offer, including student services, curriculum, registration dates and signing up for a campus tour of the Flat Rock facilities. BRCC offers a Distance Learners program which allows students to attend from anywhere online. There is a Henderson County JobLink Center, which offers students help to find what job fits them, assistance in searching for jobs, funding for job training and coaching to increase job seeking skills. There are many more services and programs available through the BRCC website. Stop by and take a look around. You'll be happy with what you find.

Thanks to $4.5 million provided by the government's stimulus package, Western North Carolina will be able to employ 135 people by the end of this month to aid in repairing and resurfacing a large portion of the Spartanburg Highway. This is just part of the $6.1 billion that will be pumped into the state's economy for classrooms, energy, tax cuts for working families and financial aid for college students as well as road construction and repair. While Senator Kay Hagen agrees that the stimulus bill is not the "perfect bill", she is happy to get badly needed jobs into the area. By creating these new jobs, more money will be kept within the local economy, creating a positive ripple effect in the economy. Mayor Greg Newman, from Hendersonville, felt that the most pressing issue on the minds of Americans was jobs. As a mayor of a small North Carolina town, he was grateful that the money would be used to help ease the pressure of unemployment that has fallen across the area.