Pam Forshee, owner of Smoky Mountain Bicycles, partnered with Larry Stenger and the Franklin Daybreak Rotary to put on the Third annual Ruby Ride & Run. The event was held Friday, May 20, beginning at 9 a.m. at Franklin High School. This year, there were 90 runners and 45 bikers participating. The proceeds are slated to benefit such local charities as CareNet, Angel Hospital Foundation, Franklin Interact Club, KIDS Place, Stop Hunger Now, New Century Scholars, Kids winter basketball tournament, and a handicapible Boy Scout Troop.

Forshee, organizer for the event, said that even though attendance was down a little bit from the previous year, she was still pleased with the turnout. “We raised about $3,500. That is about the same as what we had last year.

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The Highlands Community Foundation announces $17,000 in recent grants to local nonprofit organizations supporting important community initiatives.

The grants include:

— $3,500 to the Highlands Biological Foundation toward the installation of solar panels to heat water for one dormitory at the Highlands Biological Station. This project is a result of an energy assessment conducted by UNC students in 2010 and provides a demonstration site for education of station visitors and community members. The station will cooperate with other local groups, including Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance, to promote the demonstration of energy efficiencies in the Highlands community year round.

In what sponsors hope will become an annual event, the first ever information fair for the Town of Highlands took place Monday, May 23, at the Highlands Recreation Center from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. A project of the 2010-2011 Leadership Highlands class, the four-hour event featured programs and projects available for citizens and visitors to Highlands between May and November of this year.

The Highlands Area Chamber of Commerce sponsors the Leadership Highlands program. Each class creates and develops a project designed to benefit the community. This class designed the fair dubbed Highlands Happenings Forum and Information Fair 2011.

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Catherine and Philip Migliore will celebrate their 60th anniversary with a trip to Detroit, Mich., to join family and friends for a dinner party to celebrate their occasion.

The couple has been married since June 4, 1951. They have three children and five grandchildren.

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