SECOND ANNUAL WILD AND WOOLLY WINE TASTING & AUTHOR-FIDDLER FESTIVAL

An intriguing and stellar line-up of writers, photographers, fiddlers and poets will help celebrate the month of May and the real beginning of spring in the Southern Appalachians with the 2009 Wild & Woolly Wine Tasting & Author-Fiddler Festival.

A benefit for the Georgia ForestWatch forest conservation organization, the festival is set for 10-5 p.m., Saturday, May 2, at Tiger Mountain Vineyards in Rabun County.

Count on a daylong appreciation of nature, local folkways, fine food and award-winning wine. And get set to lend your ears to presentations from colorful authors and some of the hottest mountain fiddlers in three states. Here is the line-up:

11 a.m. -- Mildred Greear, an environmental activist fierce in her love of family, the earth, and its diverse peoples. Moving Gone Dancing: A Book of Poetry that Took 87 Years to Write.
11:45 a.m. – George Ella Lyon, a “word weaver” and an activist in the fight to resist mountaintop coal removal. She found writing could be exciting, joyful, and comforting in itself. Don’t You Remember?
12:30 p.m. – Thomas Rain Crowe, one of the “Baby Beats,” and a most prolific Appalachian bard, translator, editor, publisher, recording artist and author of twelve books of original and translated works. The End of Eden: Writings of an Environmental Activist.
1- 3 p.m. – Wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and fiddling by Scottish-style fiddler Marie Dunkle, Tiger, Georgia; old-timey fiddler Kelly Smith, Salem, South Carolina; and John Harper Duncan, maker of down-home Appalachian music, Asheville, North Carolina. Sampling of local and regional food fare, breads, butter, jam and cheeses coordinated by Cindy Halbkat of Sah-ka-na-ga Gardens.
3 p.m. – Kathryn Kolb, another dedicated environmental activist, seen by some critics as one of the best nature photographers in the country, brings us a timeless collection fine art images of natural forms and landscapes, mostly from the Southeast, in both color and black and white. Kathryn Kolb Photographs.
3:45 p.m. – John Lane, expert kayaker and educator who uses wilderness as a critical theme in his poetry, personal essays, and fiction. The Best of the Kudzu Telegraph.
4:20 p.m. – Janie P. Taylor, a Rabun County native who grew up in the lee of the vineyards, relates tales of days gone by. The Storyteller – Tales of Tiger Mountain.

See www.gafw.org for greater detail on the authors and their work and directions to the vineyards.

ForestWatch views this event as an “affordable fundraiser,” and asks for a $20 entry fee per each adult, good for the plant sale or authors and fiddlers, or both. Various items also will be raffled off, including art prints from local artist/photographers Pat Calderone and Peter McIntosh and outdoor gear from Patagonia. Signed copies of authors’ books also will be available for sale.
For further information and to secure advance tickets, call 706-635-8733 or click info@gafw.org, or review the website information at www.gafw.org or www.tigerwine.com.