Aviation Historial Society meets with guest speaker

The Aviation Historical Society met recently at the Macon County Airport with guest speaker, Bob Scott. Scott related some of the more interesting plane crashes in eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia, northern South Carolina and western North Carolina that comprise this region of the Smoky Mountain National Park. “It [plane crashes] is not a morbid curiosity,” Scott said, “but it is interesting.” In fact, Scott has written a number of articles on the subject.

Scott also pointed out that the Civil Air Patrol, for which he is still a card-carrying member, oftentimes played a key supporting role to those search and rescue efforts. “As an auxiliary of the Air Force, the primary duty of the Civil Air Patrol, as assigned by Congress, is search and rescue operations.” Scott explained that, any operation that Civil Air Patrol gets involved in, the Air Force has to approve the mission for the organization to be reimbursed for expenses.

Tourism Development Authority approves funding

Members of Franklin’s Tourism Development Authority (TDA) unanimously voted to provide funding for Franklin’s upcoming Outdoor Athlon event in an emergency vote on Aug. 11.

The TDA grant was approved after Rob Gasbarro and Cory McCall, proprietors of the downtown Franklin outfitter store Outdoor 76, presented their plans for holding the event later this fall at the Aug. 8 TDA meeting.

Offered by Highlands Cashiers Land Trust

For at least a thousand years, the Cherokee have been masters of the mountains, using trails that often went straight uphill to move between sacred sites, commercial centers and other places in their vast homeland. Two years ago, with the first of two Cherokee Preservation Foundation grants and guidance from the Tribal Heritage Preservation Office of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Wild South and its partners started out toward a goal to re-find, restore and reemphasize the trail and road system of the Cherokee Nation in Western North Carolina and surrounding territory.

The Cherokee Trails Project covers approximately 150 linear miles and 47,000 acres in the Pisgah, Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests containing Cherokee historical sites.

Old Edwards Inn and Spa will host a Fall Fashion Show Luncheon on Thursday, Sept. 8. Guest speaker, Richard René Silvin will speak from his memoir, “Noblesse Oblige,” which features his friendship with the Duchess of Windsor.

Considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Silvin was the Duchess’ escort in Paris from the time she was widowed in May 1972 and until the onset of her long, final illness in 1975.

Silvin has selected two-dozen representative pictures of the Duchess wearing a variety of outfits and jewelry from casual to formal including some propriety pictures that have never been seen by the public. The pictures of the fashion icon start in 1920 and cover every decade until the 1970s.