Join us in the Mountains for 4th of July Weekend.

We are really excited to announce that the Highlander has a new calendar of events, with lots of great new features. Take a look and let us know what you think.

The calendar has the ability to search by town, state, date and/or type of event. Click each title to get a detail page on each event.

It also includes a google map to each event, and the ability to add a reminder about a specific event to your personal Google, Yahoo, iCalendar or vCalendar.

If you would like to invite a friend to an event, click the "email to a friend or click the icons under "Share this Event" to add your favorite event to your Twitter or Facebook page to invite all your friends. The new calendar even shows the weather for the event location.

If you want to see all events for a specific time, just use the small calendar to flip through the dates.

Know of events that are not on our calendar? Email us and we will email you instructions on submitting events.

We are always working to make the Highlander a great experience and would like your feedback on the calendar, Email us and let us know what you think.

Memorial Day in the Mountains

Memorial Day Weekend tends to kick off the season and bring us all into thoughts of "Summer is Here" even though Summer hasn't officially started. Memorial Day Weekend Events throughout the Mountains

There are still a few Special Offers for Hotels and Cabins for Memorial Day Weekend....Follow the links to find a special deal, just for you...and come to the Mountains

Gardens of the Blue Ridge Smoky Mountains

The reawaking of spring in the high country of the Blue Ridge Smoky Mountains is quite unique.  In the lowlands of the mountain interior, the first signs of spring follow a horizontal path across the valley, growing ever so slowly as it makes its journey upward along the mountain slopes....read on...

Enjoy...the Highlander

Living History Days at Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center

April 17 and 18, 2009 • 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Foxfire Museum and Center

200 Foxfire Lane off Cross Street • Mountain City, GA 30562

Foxfire will host two Living History Days on Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18th, 2009, conducted by the Rabun Christian Home Educators. Dressed in 1800's period costumes, the children will be playing with traditional Appalachian toys and games, giving other children an opportunity to join in the fun; music on the porch; a "smithy" will be at work in the Blacksmith Shop; preachers and teachers will be doing both a traditional church service and a one-room school house in the Chapel; a quilting bee will be held in the Long House; woodworkers will be demonstrating their trade; and home-school moms will be cabin cooking over an open hearth in the Savannah House. Other traditional activities may take place as well!

In conjunction with the Living History Days, an open-house for Community residents will be also be held on Saturday, April 18th, by Foxfire's Community Board. Admission for Rabun County residents is complimentary. Admission for out-of-town guests is $6.00 for adults; children ten and under are free. All proceeds benefit Foxfire's Local Heritage Education Programs. A shuttle van will be provided to the Center on Saturday, leaving every 15 or 20 minutes from both churches on Cross Street. Due to limited parking at the Center, Foxfire requests that you take the shuttle up, if possible, and come enjoy them for a day of fun.

For more information about Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center, their programs, publications and or events, call (706) 746-5828, email foxfire@foxfire.org or visit their web site at www.Foxfire.org

Spring is just around the corner....

Although it is quite chilly this morning, there are signs of Spring everywhere.  Not only are we seeing the early Spring flowers peaking out of the ground everywhere we look, our neighbor which gets more sunlight than we do, has flowers on his daffodils.  

This morning, I heard the most beautiful song bird right outside my kitchen.  I looked outside trying to see what type of bird it was, but couldn't find it.  We have a large variety of birds on our property, often we have a wonderful nature produced concert going on.  

This past winter was colder than any we have experienced in the last few years, but it is almost over and we are looking forward to Spring.  We live in Cherokee County and this winter has brought us a lot of rain which we are very thankful for.  It  should do wonders for the watershed of North Carolina bringing great photo opportunities throughout this coming year.  We would love to hear from others throughout the mountains about what is happening in your part of the mountains.

We are in the process of updating the 2009 Events and Festivals on the Highlander, take a look at the ones we have on line and plan a trip to the mountains.  If you know of any other events or festivals that should be listed on the Highlander for all our readers to learn about, please take the time to let us know at publishers@theblueridgehighlander.com.  Thousands of readers come to the Highlander every day looking for things to do in the mountains and we would like to help them find what they are looking for.

We will be posting our latest community profile this week on Rutherford County North Carolina, home of Chimney Rock  at Chimney Rock State Park.  We found a lot of great places to explore in Rutherford County and wonderfully friendly people which made our trips there very special.  So keep in touch to read about all the great things we found in our visit.  

We have our 2009 Easter trip planned.   We are excited to be going to the Sunrise Easter Service on the top of Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park.    We are excited and really looking forward to experiencing this one of a kind event.  We are told that seeing the sun rise at the conclusion of the ceremony is awe-inspiring. We can't wait, come join the Highlander for this very special event.

Write to us publishers@theblueridgehighlander.com and let us know what you would like for us to cover this year in the Highlander, we want to be your source of the "Best the Mountains Have to Offer.

Hope, Faith and the Light

The Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains are a very special place.  A place where you can visit or live away from the hustle, bustle and stresses of today's confused world.  I am not saying that the mountains aren't feeling some of the same issues as the rest of the world.  But I don't think we are feeling the issues as severely as the rest of the world.

We feel truly Blessed to have the privilege to publish the Blue Ridge Highlander.  It has always been our goal to inform, entertain and inspire our readers and hope you take the time to explore the Blue Ridge Highlander and find the peace the mountains have to offer.

In our quest for this year's Christmas Tale, we were quite perplexed because of the current times. 

Mrs. Highlander recommended an abstract thought for me to ponder on..."There is light at the end of the tunnel" a cliche, but one with meaning, and something we do believe....please read on....and gain your own sense of Hope, Faith and the Light at the end of the Tunnel.

For those of you that haven't read last years Christmas Tale, I know that you will enjoy it after reading this year's tale. This Christmas tale is several stories in one, our purpose is to take you back to the true essence of Christmas.

Please take the time to forward links to our story to all those you know that would benefit from the inspiration of the writings.  I also invite you to post comments about the story.  We have gotten a lot of great emails regarding the story and love to hear from all of you about how the stories made you feel.

Checks out our list of Christmas Events in the Mountains.

Below are a couple of our featured events, the first one coming up Saturday, December 13th.

December 13th, 2008
Santa is rappelling down Chimney Rock to get ready for his Christmas Eve trip.

December 20th, 2008
Christmas for the Kids at John C. Campbell Folks School

We will be reporting on this event in our next newsletter, coming out next week.

Enjoy the Holidays and Count your Many Blessings

God Bless Us All....Mr. & Mrs. Highlander

Christmas Festivals in the Mountains

Christmas is right around the corner, and the reports all say that retail spending is higher than last year what a great report, it is nice to have some good news for a change.   We are really looking forward to the new President's plans and know this country can get back on the right track with some hard work and a lot of faith.

Mr. Highlander is working on this year's Holiday Tale, and it sounds like a perfect message for the end of this year and a fresh new beginning.  If you haven't read our past Holiday Tales, we have a nice collection and you can find links on the front page of the Highlander.

It is a great time escape to the mountains to enjoy a few festivals. Christmas events are now on line for Georgia, Western North Carolina and Tennessee, click to find a few to attend.

Here are a couple of our favorites and one unusual one we are visiting for the first time this coming Saturday, click the links for more information.

Christmas at the Fort December 6, 2008

Christmas for the Kids at John C. Campbell Folks School December 20, 2008

Now, for the unusual...

the Highlander is looking forward to attending this events for the first time.

Santa is rappelling down Chimney Rock to get ready for his Christmas Eve trip December 6th & 13th 2008

We will be reporting on this event in our next newsletter, along with our 2008 Holiday Tale.

Enjoy the Holidays and Count your Many Blessings, Mrs. Highlander

Meet Beauregard Highlander

I love this time of the year, the weather is wonderful, not to warm, not too cool, we even got rain this weekend which we badly needed. Most of the colors in the mountains are beyond prime, but there is still some color in certain areas and those colors really stand out because the other leaves are gone. One thing about these mountains is that they are always beautiful in every season, always something to stand in awe of.

Meet Beau, the latest in the Highlander collection of orphan pets. Now that he has joined our family he loves his life. We live in a high mountain cove, with a wooded wonderland behind us for Beau to enjoy, and he really takes advantage of it.

His life in the mountains is simple and he knows how to love his life in its simplicity.

We could all take a lesson from Beau on how to enjoy life, come to the mountains, hike, discover and enjoy the fresh air and low stress atmosphere.

Gas prices are excellent, it is a great time to turn off the news and come to the mountains for a take a scenic drive and a hike in the woods.   Be sure to take time to visit one of the many small towns in the mountains, each and every one of them have their own personality and interesting in their own way. 

A Feel Good Mountain Story in Difficult Times

During a time when we hear so much negative news, we are shown a bright light shining out of Washington DC. 

This bright light is a young man named Max Block, a mere 10 years. Max earned $2,500 from his lemonade stand this summer and chose to donate it to Gorilla Haven.

I am not sure which I am more impressed with, the fact that he chose to make such a selfless gesture, or that he could earn $2,500 in one summer from a lemonade stand. Way to go Max!

Good things are still happening every day, even during these hard times, we just don't hear about them. Hearing positive stories makes our hearts sing, and gives us hope for the future. There is hope people, and it starts with faith and acts of kindness.

Gorilla Haven has recently begun giving scheduled tours to raise money for the ever growing expenses of this wonderful wildlife sanctuary.  

If you or someone you know would like to go on a tour of Gorilla Haven and or can make a donation to this wonderful wildlife sanctuary, click here to find out more about them. Gorilla Haven.

We would like to share other positive stories with our readers, so if you have any "feel good stories" that relate to these mountains, please write to us and share them.

Fall Festivals and Butterflies

We just got back from a great mountain road trip to Chimney Rock and we had a wonderful time. We always meet so many interesting people. We have a lot of great new features coming up in the Highlander, so be sure to sign up to be notified of new additions, new communities, adventures, festivals and events.

In the meanwhile now is the time for Festivals and Butterflies, join us in the mountains to enjoy the Best the Mountains Have to Offer. If you haven't already, take time to read our feature story on the Migration of the Monarch, it will lift your spirits and start you planning a mountain journey of your own. Nature's Pilgrimage...the Migration of the Monarch... The autumn season begins their celebration of life as they pursue a natural innate spiritual sense that drives them along a pilgrimage that will eventually carry them across a continent. 

Coming up this weekend, on Saturday September 27, 2008 you won't want to miss the Foxfire Heritage Festival at Dillard City Hall.  Come join Foxfire for old fashioned fun, food, crafts and music.  You will see basket making, woodworking, broom making, coppersmithing, blacksmithing, Native American jewelry, stained glass, canoe carving and so much more.

Admission is only $4.00 and the proceeds go to benefit the Foxfire's Local Education Programs.  For more information call 706-746-5828 or email giftshop@foxfire.org

October 4th & 5th John C. Campbell Folk School is holding their 35th Annual Fall Festival.  This wonderful and true mountain festival features over 200 crafters, continuous music and dance performances on two stages including, blue grass, folk and gospel music.  More than 40 craft-making demonstrations including a Mountain life area, great food, kid's activities and much more.

For more information call 1-800-Folk-Sch (800-365-5724) or info@folkschool.org

For those of you that want to plan a little further in the autumn, mark your calendars for October 10th through October 19th for the 

Fall Festival at Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds.  

This 10 day event features exciting musical performances, education demonstrations, arts and craft sales, a flower show and the popular Georgia's Official State Fiddlers' Convention.

For more information call 706-896-4191 or gamtfair@alltel.net

If you are looking for events in other parts of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, check our event calendar that covers most of the counties throughout the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains.

It is a great time of the year for an scenic road trip, it will lift your spirits.  While we were at Chimney Rock, we met a young man with a great attitude, he had just lost his job.  He had saved for his vacation all year and decided to go anyway to lift his spirits and go back home with a renewed frame of mind, trusting God to get him through and find him a new job.  We commend him for knowing where his true source of support comes from.

Our philosophy for the future is to have faith, not in what we hear on the news, but in God, in ourselves, we can get back on track, but it will take all of us.  If we let the news get us in such a depressive state of thinking, God can't get through to us to inspire us to think creatively and find ways to get back to a productive future.  It is attitudes like the young man we ran into that will keep the ball rolling.  Fear stops progress, I don't mean you should be irresponsible, I don't say that this country is not having serious problems, but there is a solution and it will take creative thinking on the part of all of us to make a difference.

Keep the Faith....Think Creatively....Always Believe God has the Answer

God Bless.....the Highlander 

Hiawassee Art Hop

Join us in the mountain on August 28th, 5:00 - 8:00 pm

An Evening of Art and a Progressive Light Dinner. 

Visit each of the galleries to be eligible for a Door Prize valued at $200.

The event is free and the experience unlimited.

for more information contact ArtWorks Artisan Centre, 308 Big Sky Drive,

Behind Holiday Inn Express, Hiawassee Georgia, 

for more info call 706-896-0932 or email mtnregartscraftsguild@hotmail.com