Recent visitors to Silvermont will have noticed a substantial amount of construction activity on the popular main walking trail. Work began in January to address drainage issues on the north side of the park. Stormwater erosion has been mitigated with the addition of new drains and a retention pond.
Once the infrastructure work was complete, the next step was to replace the gravel pathway with a durable paved surface. The entire walking trail, including the Walk of History that runs along the east side of the park by the parking lot, is now a smooth surface which will be much easier to navigate for people with limited mobility and for baby strollers.
According to Transylvania County, who contracted to have the drainage improvements and paving completed, there is still a little landscaping work outstanding to finish the project. The contractor and county will be sowing additional grass and laying some sod, and mulch will be added to cover the gravel at the side of the trail.
Overall, this is a massive improvement over the gravel trail, which frequently had erosion problems and potentially uneven surfaces. Thanks, Transylvania County, for making this enhancement to Silvermont!
We will be holding our regularly scheduled Deadfall and Clean-up Day on Saturday 3/4 from 10 AM to 12 Noon. It looks like the forecasted heavy rains and winds will be over by Friday afternoon/evening but expect it to be a wet and muddy event. We will continue to focus on fallen branches and some of the other debris but also work on removing invasive species. We’ll start at 10 AM. Temperatures should be in the 50’s and it is supposed to be windy. Wheelbarrow(s), tarps, loppers, saws and a chainsaw will be available.
The next deadfall day, during which volunteers perform light cleanup of the Silvermont Park grounds, will take place on Saturday March 4 from 10 am – noon. Come join us in the ongoing battle against invasive species.
The Transylvania Times recently ran an article on the Friends of Silvermont deadfall day in February so you can see the kind of fun we’re having.
We’ll be meeting at 10 am in the parking lot. Some landscaping tools will be provided, but you are encouraged to bring your own gloves and any tools you’d prefer to use.
Our Pumpkin Fest 2022 event held over four weekends in October was a huge success! We had more than 5,600 paying attendees over the eight nights of the event. This was down slightly from last year’s total, which was likely boosted by lack of competition and post pandemic cabin fever. Friends of Silvermont grossed over $34,000 from the 2022 event. This success is largely due to our many volunteers who turned out like never before. Thanks to better outreach and coordination we had at least 60 volunteers working each night and about 250 different people involved in helping prepare, execute and teardown the event. We had tremendous participation by local high school students as trail actors and helping with numerous other tasks. For those of you on this distribution who participated, THANK YOU! We literally cannot do it without you.
An update report on our Pumpkin Fest results was also recently submitted to the Transylvania county tourism development authority by the FOS board.
As always, thank you for being a Friend of Silvermont,
Visitors to Silvermont Park are advised that portions of the walking path around the grounds will be closed February 7-10 while dead trees are felled and removed from the park. Additionally, some trees near the path are being trimmed. While portions of the path will remain open during this project, to ensure their safety visitors should avoid work zones when crews are present and stay out of any areas that have been barricaded.
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Typically on the first Saturday of the month, Friends of Silvermont volunteers gather at Silvermont to clean up the grounds and take on minor landscaping projects.
The first 2023 Deadfall and Clean-up Day will be held on Saturday February 4th from 10 AM to 12 PM. There are lots of fallen branches and some smaller cut trees at the park that need to be cleaned up.
If you’d like to do your part in keeping the park attractive, come join us on Saturday. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own landscaping tools and work gloves. We’ll be meeting in the main parking lot at 10 AM.
Great Transylvania Times article about Silvermont music!
STILL GOING STRONG
Mountain Music Thursdays
DAVE BRADLEY
FOR THE T. TIMES
More than 30 years after local musicians first gathered to strum and sing favorite regional tunes, Mountain Music Thursdays at Silvermont Senior Center in Brevard are still going strong.
A recent cold night may have curtailed attendance of both music makers and their appreciative audience but as performers say, ‘the show must go on.’ And it did.
“Greetings everybody,” said guitarist and defacto leader Pat Clements. “It’s 7:30 and time for a little music.” And that’s all the four guitarists — Clements, Tom Acker, Wharton Donaldson and Ed Phillips — needed to get rolling. The single microphone was passed from one to another. He called out the tune and the key and as he sang solo, the others joined in. The music was eclectic; Clement said what was once played was pure mountain music but that stricture has loosened over the years. The playlist ran the gamut from “Steamroller Blues” by James Taylor to “City of New Orleans” popularized by Arlo Guthrie but written by Steve Goodman.
“It’s been a welcoming place; it always has been,” said Clements. “Everybody is comfortable and gracious. We play songs we know and don’t know. And bad notes are welcome.”
Sure, a few chords were missed here and there and sometimes lyrics proved elusive, but one gets the idea it’s really like-minded people who enjoy the playing music together. The good-natured banter between songs was evidence enough. When it was his turn, Phillips announced: “We’re going to play something different.”
Donaldson’s reply with a laugh: “What would be different is if I could play it.”
The audience appreciated their effort. That included 90-year-old Martha Jaye Johnson, a lifelong
– Silvermont, 10A
Helen Freedman and Martha Jaye Johnson cut a rug on the hardwood floor during Mountain Music Thursdays at Silvermont.
Dave Bradley, For The T. Times
Continued inA10 H
Silvermont
Pat Clements and Ed Phillips are among those who play during the Mountain Music Thursdays at Silvermont.
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Brevardian who wouldn’t dream of skipping a 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday session. “Golly, I wouldn’t miss it. It’s fun,” she said.
Although Miss Johnson doesn’t play an instrument, she said, “Anybody, if they can play or not, they can join in. We just have a good time.” What she can do, however, is dance. Clements calls out a dance-worthy tune and Johnson is up and on the floor. (He noted she was a member of the Echo Inn clogging team that won a national championship back in the day and were featured on the Jimmy Dean television show as they danced to Alabama Jubilee.)
Indeed the enduring run of Mountain Music may have played a role in the rescue of Silvermont from the wrecking ball. Clement said the music began about the time in the early 1980s when the city suggested Silvermont be torn down. Friends of Silvermont was formed and the music was one way to raise donations (Thursday night attendance is free). Those originators,
Dave Bradley, For The T. Times
he said, “were influential for the salvation of this building.”
Some of the original regulars — Ray Smith, Harley Raines and Lyle Reedy, among others — no longer play so those relatively recent to Brevard, including Clements (New Jersey), Acker (Charleston), Donaldson (Philadelphia) and Phillips (Pittsburgh) are the necessary new blood that keep the tradition alive. Clements said on a typical night in good weather, up to 12 musicians join in the fun.
Concert-level skills aren’t a requisite. Acker’s wife learned of the Thursday nights while at the Brevard Visitor Center, “so we came over and checked it out.”
“They seemed like they could use another bad guitar player and a really bad singer. They haven’t run me off yet,” he chuckled.
Donaldson was encouraged by a friend to give the music a go, but he saw his debut as less than stellar.
“I will never forget my
Tom Acker sings his way through John Prine’s “Please Don’t Bury Me.”
first time here,” he recalled. “You try to do as well as you can but I really screwed up. I’d never performed before.”
But it was a Baptist preacher who applied the salve Donaldson needed. “He came up to me and said ‘Son, it’s all about a joyful noise.” And Donaldson hasn’t missed many jam sessions since.
Copyright (c)2023 Transylvania Times, Edition 1/30/2023Powered by TECNAVIA o
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Please come out to support your Readers’ Theatre Players Live Performance at Silvermont on Monday November 28th, starting at 1:00 P.M. The Readers’ Theatre Players will perform several short plays produced by Julie Vorus and Directed by Alan Edick. The entire show will run for just over one hour. Admission at the door is $5.00
Above is a link to a great article about Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard and our new Syd the White Squirrel exhibit, and the teamwork and volunteers that help make it happen!
Thank you to Cindy Carpenter at the National Association of Interpreters site.
Tonight’s the last night at Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard . Hope you can visit us in 2022! Weather is supposed to be good. 5-9 pm after Halloweenfest in downtown Brevard.
Music, The Outside Dogs.
Food trucks, Big Pasta, Toasted Cuban, Jenny’s Donut and Cup and Saucer.
Thank you so very, very much to many community folks, Brevard AAUW women, Rosman High National Honor Society, Brevard High Interact Club and Thespians for all their help hosting the event every night.
Takedown and move-out are Sunday and Monday 9-3 and if you would be willing to help, please contact pumpkinfestbrevard@gmail.com
You can work the whole day or just a few hours, and lunch is provided.
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The last weekend to enjoy Pumpkin Fest is coming up Oct 28-29. Friday, 6-9 pm, Saturday 5-9 pm after Halloweenfest in downtown Brevard.
Music is Byrds and Crows (Fri) and The Outside Dogs (Sat).
We’ve had thousands visit for Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard over the last 3 weekends, and enjoyed seeing lots of smiles on the faces of departing couples and families. Don’t miss our White Squirrel Circus, Syd the White Squirrel story, and the wonderful music and Food Trucks and lots of kids activities.
Last weekend, we had over 300 folks visit the Silvermont mansion 2nd floor history museum with a guide and more toured the first floor exhibits.
Don’t miss this wonderful 2022 event!! Admission $5 cash age 2 and up. Onsite parking $5 per car. Free parking nearby on street or church lots. Credit/debit card admission $5.25.
Cup and Saucer and donuts both nights. Haus Heidelberg Friday night and Big Pasta and Toasted Cuban Saturday night.
We are looking for a few more volunteers to work the event nights and to help with set up and teardowns Friday and Saturday afternoons and Sunday and Monday both am and pm. Contact pumpkinfestbrevard@gmail.com If you are interested in helping Friends of Silvermont and Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard raise money to help maintain and improve Silvermont Park and historic mansion.
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If you were at Pumpkin Fest last night Oct. 22, and lost a credit/debit card, please describe the card affiliation, credit or debit and give the full name, by contacting friendsofsilvermont1917@gmail.com
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We love to get feedback, especially when it helps to explain better what a unique and beautiful event Pumpkin Fest is for folks who have never attended.
Thank you very much BethAnn Brown Chiles for a wonderful review of Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard ! Please join us for this wonderful date night or family fun to raise money for Silvermont Park and historic mansion!! Oct 21-22 and 28-29 6-9 except 5-9 Oct 29.
Looking forward to the coming good weather for Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont this weekend.
Both days this Friday and Saturday we will have Daddy D’s on Wheels and Big Pasta as food trucks. Jenny’s Mini Donuts and Cup and Saucer (coffee, tea, cocoa, water and snacks) will be there, too.
For music, we will have Oct 21 Two Step Too Oct. 22 Unpaid Bill and the Bad Czechs
Reminder, 6-9 pm, cost 2 and up $5 cash, $5.25 card.
On-site parking $5 per car, free parking nearby at church lots.
Great non-scary family fun, mansion and museum open for tours. Benefits Friends of Silvermont to help improve and maintain Silvermont Park and historic mansion.
Celebrating the Silvermont Centennial 