The High Country Host Blog

Archive for October, 2009

Saturday from 2-5pm in Downtown Boone!

The fun begins at 2:00 pm at the Watauga County Library. There will be scary stories, songs and activities for the kids. Then at 3:00 pm we will have a parade to the Jones House, and then Trick or Treating with the Merchants in Downtown Boone until 5:00 pm.

Participating businesses will be designated with balloons and streamers. Maps will also be provided so no candy or treats will go uncollected. Join us for some scary fun and lots of treats in Downtown Boone. Sponsored by the Downtown Boone Development Association.

Visit: http://www.visitboonenc.com

Call 828-262-4532 for details.

For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.

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The popular Oz run returns, while a second terrain park debuts this winter at Ski Beech at Beech Mountain Resort.

The Oz slope, named for its proximity to the old Land of Oz theme park, was closed last season to upgrade the chairlift. New, padded quad chairs have taken the place of outdated double chairs, while Ski Beech officials also installed airless electrical snowmaking hookups along the run so the slope can be blown in within 24 hours.

“The reopening of the Oz run is great news for skiers,” says Ryan Costin, the resort’s director of operations. “It has nice intermediate terrain and opens up another side of the mountain. This will help disperse skiers during peak times.”

Ski Beech’s second terrain park will be unveiled this winter. The opening of the park was delayed a year because of lift problems. However, the lift is now fully functional and provides access to a multi-featured park with rails, boxes and jumps for intermediate to advanced freestyle riders. The park will have full-time staff to maintain the features and ensure safety.

Also new this year is a private locker room for season pass holders to store their skis and equipment, while snowmaking upgrades continued during the offseason.

“In the South, snowmaking is something you have to improve every year,” Costin says. “We’ve upgraded our product and want people to come see the quality of skiing we now offer.”

Ski Beech is scheduled to kick off its 2009-2010 season on Saturday, Nov. 21, weather permitting. Season passes are currently available for a discounted price of $350 through Nov. 1. The regular price of $550 goes into effect Nov. 2.

For resort information, call (800) 438-2093 or visit www.skibeech.com.

For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.

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The Valle Crucis Punkin Festival marks its fourth year in 2009. It was founded in 2006 as a kid-friendly event tied to the harvest season. Although it is a small festival, it is big on fun – starting with the name. The organizers chose the name “simply because it’s a lot more fun than pumpkin.”

Kids are invited to participate in all kinds of old-fashioned games like Apple Bob (bobbing for apples hanging from a string), Hoop-La (can you hook the ring?), Punkin Sack Races (try to do that without laughing), and Dog Bowl In (get the ball to stay in one of the dog bowls). Everyone can get their face painted and enjoy food, of course. In addition, kids and their parents have an artistic outlet to carve their Jack ‘o Lanterns with no muss and no fuss. Festival volunteers “cut and gut” the pumpkins for you! Proceeds for the day go to the Western Youth Network (WYN), a non-profit group serving youth and families in Ashe, Avery, and Watauga Counties. That leads right into one of the event’s theme: Carving for a Cause.

Kids will need a parental permission form completed in order to participate. The festival is staffed by volunteers from WYN, Appalachian State University, and the Mast General Store.

For more info call 828 963-6511 or Visit: http://www.maststoreonline.com/punkin

For info on The High Country Host, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.

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For info on The High Country Host, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.

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The High Country Host now has its own YouTube Channel!

To see more High Country Videos, please visit: youtube.com/nchighcountry

For info on The High Country Host, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.

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A familiar face has returned to the North Carolina High Country Host.
 
Millie Barbee, the Host’s executive director from 1994-2000, was named to that post for a second time on Oct. 1.
 
Barbee retired from the Hickory CVB three years ago and was residing in West Jefferson when this opportunity presented itself. She will continue living in West Jefferson as she assumes the role held most recently by Karin Moss, who is now executive director of the Dale Earnhardt Foundation in Mooresville.
 
“I love being back,” Barbee said. “I always stayed in close touch with the organization and I have a great love for the High Country.”
 
Barbee will work three days a week. Her main priority will be to guide the tourism marketing organization through a restructuring brought on by the economic downturn.
 
“It is wonderful to be able to turn to Millie as we navigate these tough times,” said Jerry Lamonds, president of High Country Host. “She has experience in the job and a history of building consensus among our members. This is positive news as we begin to shine the spotlight on High Country tourism for the coming year.”
 
Looking ahead, Barbee plans to continue many primary functions of the Host, including producing an annual visitors guide, maintaining a website for tourist information, operating the visitor center in Boone and working with area TDAs and chambers of commerce on advertising and marketing initiatives aimed at travelers. Barbee will also be involved with next year’s 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway and its marketing opportunities for the High Country.
 
“With the cooperation of the chambers and the TDAs, we have a wonderful opportunity to move forward in creative ways,” Barbee said. “There is such a wealth of knowledge in the tourism industry here. We have a lot of experience we can bring together to chart new directions.”
 
Barbee said it is important to promote all aspects of the High Country tourism industry, including: lodging, shopping, restaurants, attractions, festivals, events, retail and outdoor fun.
 
“We’re seeing the early signs of improvement in the industry,” she said. “I think we’re at a turning point, but marketing has to be continuous. Our competition is strong.”
 
For info on High Country Host, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.

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Named One Of The Top Ten Fall Festivals in North America by the Society of American Travel Writers!

The Wooly Worm Festival is October 17th, 2009! Back in the late 1970s, the editor of the now-defunct Mountain Living Magazine, Jim Morton, was preparing to include a Woolly Worm Forecast in the winter issue of the magazine.

He photographed the first Woolly Worm he saw to use in formulating the prediction and illustrating his story, but the next day he saw a second worm that looked completely different from the first. “That’s when it struck me that we needed some formal procedure to use to decide which was going to be the official worm for making the winter forecast,” said Morton.

So since 1978, the residents of the village nestled between the Carolina’s two largest ski resorts have celebrated the coming of the snow season with a Woolly Worm Festival. They set aside the third weekend in October to determine which one worm will have the honor of predicting the severity of the coming winter; and they make that worm earn the honor by winning heat after heat of hard-fought races – up a three-foot length of string.

For more information on the festival CLICK HERE!

For lodging and other travel information, contact North Carolina High Country Host at 800-438-7500 or visit: www.mountainsofnc.com.

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