Memorial Day Weekend In Rabun

FRIDAY/SATURDAY: 6th Annual Lakemont Art Walk
Friday 9 am – 8 pm; Saturday 9 am – 6 pm; Artists’ demonstrations and a trunk show of unusual one-of-a-kind jewelry by Barbara Wilkes; refreshments and live music. Gallery theme “Putting on the Dog,” featuring art about dogs; Grand opening of Annie’s at Alley’s.

SATURDAY: Platters for Pooches at the Lake Rabun Pavilion
Annual fundraiser for Boggs Mountain Humane Shelter, from 6-9 p.m. Hand painted ceramic platters by local artists, art auction, and the biggest burgers in the South. Western wear; $50 per person; reservations required. Call 706-782-2825

SATURDAY: Artist Reception at the Root Seller Gallery at Timpson Creek. Opening of Michael Woodside Exhibit (through June 20)
Artist reception May 23 from 3-5 pm Michael Woodside combines photography, graphic design and sketches to produce wonderfully fantastical nature scenes of our mountains.

SATURDAY: Memorial Holiday Canoe Outing at Tallulah Gorge State Park
9:30 am; sign up in advance!

SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Memorial Day Cook-out & BBQ at the Dillard House
Tickets available at the front desk

SATURDAY & MONDAY: Annual Americana Memorial Weekend Auction at Golden Memories Auction Company

SATURDAY: Afternoon Wine & Cheese Social at the Dillard House
With special music, featuring Georgia wines, every Saturday afternoon through the first weekend in October.

SUNDAY/MONDAY: Memorial Holiday Gorge Floor Hike at Tallulah Gorge State Park
10 am; sign up in advance!

Stay connected for more info and updates!

Facebook fan page: “Rabun County Convention & Visitors Bureau”
Twitter: Rabun
Blogs: Rabun Traveler, Georgia Mountain Traveler, Bulletin Board, Connecting Rabun
YouTube: Visit Rabun
Community social network: www.gamountains.ning.com

Tallulah Gorge Grill features Leckie Stack as guest chef on Saturday, May 16

The Tallulah Gorge Grill is now open for dinner Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights until 9 p.m.
Guest Chef, Leckie Stack, co - founder of Tiger Mountain Winery & Stack Farms will be cooking & sharing her knowledge of food and wine pairing on Saturday, May 16.

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Leckie's Menu
salad
Spinach salad with Brie & Strawberries from Osage Farms
Arugula with Kalamata Olives, Pancetta & Parmesan shavings
entree
Slow cooked Tuscan Hunter's Chicken in Georgia Red Wine Sauce
Cumin & Cilantro Encrusted Spring Lamb Chops
vegetable
Yukon Gold smashed Potatoes &
Grilled Organic Asparagus from Stack Farms
dessert
Trio of Italian Gelato with Fresh Osage Strawberries & a Cookie

Wine Recommendation
Malbec 1922 from Argentina
Beau Jouert Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa
Reservations 706-754-9149

"Awakening of the Vines"

The annual "Awakening of the Vines" at Tiger Mountain Vineyards is coming up on Saturday May 16, from noon to 3 p.m.. Join Tigerwine Tasters and the Abominable Seed and Feed Band for a gourmet picnic, with great entertainment and great wine! E-mail tigerwine@windstream.net or call 706-782-4777 to make your reservations by Monday, May 11.

Reception for artists Smith and Jones at GHCA

Reception for B. Wayne Smith and Wes Jones will be held Sunday May 17th at the Georgia Heritage Center for the Arts in Tallulah Falls from 2p.m. to 4 p.m. Smith is an acrylic artists who resides in Buford and Jones is a wood turner from Lawrenceville. The show in the main Gallery is "We all Wear Masks" and there is a wide variety of masks on display.

Smith retired from the restaurant business in Atlanta to pursue his dream of painting. Many of his friends from the restaurant business will be catering the reception. For more information please call 706-754-5989. The Gallery is located at the Northwest Corner of "the Bridge" and the entrance to the Tallulah Gorge Day Use Park in Rabun County.

BEECHWOOD INN FEATURES GUEST CHEF ROSEMARY RUTLAND

On May 16, the Beechwood Inn in Clayton, GA, will feature guest chef Rosemary Rutland of the Chef's Table in Atlanta.

Rosemary Rutland's true passion involves all aspects of food. During her career, she visited over 30 countries, sparking a love of travel, foreign cultures, local cuisines, and their ingredients and preparation. Leaving the corporate world, she embarked on a culinary path that led first to the Art Institute of Atlanta. Rosemary graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2004, earning a Culinary Arts degree with emphasis in baking and pastry (CPC). After a baking internship at the Ritz-Carlton Downtown Atlanta and a restaurant internship with Woodfire Grill, she started Chef's Table Personal Chef Service in 2005. As a personal chef, she teaches cooking & baking classes, creates dining memories for special occasions and makes multi-meal service for a broad range of clients. Rosemary has worked for Bold American Catering and was previously a pastry chef at Trois in midtown Atlanta. She is a member of the American Culinary Federation, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, Pastry Atlanta, and the United States Personal Chef Association (USPCA). Rosemary serves as President of the USPCA Atlanta Chapter and taught classes at their 2006 annual conference. http://www.chefrosemary.com

Plan your weekend getway to the Northeast Georgia mountains! For menu and reservations, at the Beechwood Inn, Georgia's premier wine country inn, www.beechwoodinn.ws

Jewelry Sale May 4

Mountain Lakes Medical Center Auxiliary-Volunteers welcomes everyone to the fundraising Jewelry Event, Monday, May 4, 2009, in the Lobby of Mountain Lakes Medical Center Hospital in Clayton, GA.

This gigantic sale of an amazing fashionable collection of magnificent costume jewelry features all jewelry at $5.00 or less! Hundreds of all types of quality jewelry will be presented by Phantasia Jewelry for purchase. The public is warmly invited.

The MLMC Auxiliary, a non-profit organization raises funds to purchase needed equipment for the Hospital. One of the current projects is to purchase wheel chairs for the Hospital. The Auxiliary also donates countless hours of free work in the hospital all to better serve Clayton, Rabun County and the surrounding communities.

The jewelry extravaganza runs from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm on Monday, May 4th. Credit cards. debit cards, check and cash are welcome.

Mountain Lakes Medical Center is located in Clayton, on Ridgecrest Circle off Highway 76 West and Germany Road. For further information, please telephone 706 212-0230.

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.

dance to a Latin beat - Zumba!

Herbs of Spring

Herbs of Spring
Saturday May 9 , 2009, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Spend a glorious spring day with Patricia Kyritsi Howell in the forests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains learning about the many medicinal herbs that thrive in cool spring weather. An herb walk at a nearby forest trail will be followed by a lecture explaining the uses of the herbs seen. This a great class for herbal beginners, experienced herbalists and anyone interested in native plants of our region.

You will learn:

About the ecology of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Basic field botany techniques for identifying plants.
The medicinal uses of over twenty herbs of spring.

For more details about this and other classes, visit www.wildhealingherbs.com
Location: The Center on Warwoman, Pinnacle Drive and Warwoman Road, Clayton, GA 30525.
Cost is 45.00. Pre-registration is required. Visa/MasterCard accepted. Call 706-746-5485 or e-mail info@wildhealingherbs.com

Spring Classes at the Globe Gallery

Join the fun!

April 20th - BOOKBINDING for Art books - 6:00 – 8:00 pm – Monday – Fee: $20.
Instructional workshops on a variety of techniques for making handmade books with Peggy McBride.
All tools and basic materials supplied. Bring your own tools/paper, if desired.
May 9th - CLAY BIRDS II Workshop - 2:00-5:00 pm – Saturday – Fee: $45.
Whimsical Birds-on-a-Stick for your garden with local artist, Jean Stewart
April 20th – MOLDMAKING FOR PMC – 2:00 -4:00 pm – Monday – Fee: $25.
Debi Snyder will assist us in making cold molds for use in future Precious Metal Clay (PMC) classes and experiment with non-metal
clays to learn new layering, rolling and cutting techniques to incorporate into silver clay in a future class.
May 7 - BRONZE PMC - 5:30-7:30 pm – Thursday - Fee: -$65.
May 14 - BRONZE PMC - 5:30-7:30 pm – Thursday - Fee: -$65.

PMC classes are all taught by Debi Snyder, local silversmith. Fee includes all supplies, clay and small kit of tools to make a unique silver jewelry piece. We will sculpt, mold, fire and finish our pieces. The kit is yours to keep for future classes. (Previous PMC students get a reduced rate.)
NOTE: Please call ahead for the silver and bronze classes so we will have enough supplies for everyone.

Globe Gallery is located just off 76 East at the corner of Highway 441. Look for the round Globe sign and green steps. Hours open: Thursday-Saturday 10-6 & Sunday 10-4

Spring Pottery Show and Sale at Hambidge:Clay Works from Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau

Hambidge Presents Clay Works from Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau

Pottery lovers can head to the Hambidge Center in the Northeast Georgia mountains beginning in April to enjoy the Spring Pottery Show & Sale, from April 18 – June 20. This year’s exhibition, Clay Works from Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, starts on Friday, April 17 with an Opening Reception from 5 to 7 p.m. and runs through June 20.

The Clay Works show is curated by Maggie McMahon and features the works of TJ Edwards, Sharon Farrelly, Ginger Freeman, Robert Harvey, Megan Kieffer, Kay Livesey, Jessica Lowe, Maggie McMahon, Victoria Minor, Vince Pitelka, Jean Pitts, Marisa Recchia, Claire Reishman, Archie Stapleton, Merissa Tobler, Nancy Wallace and Jody Windus.

Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Directions:
From Clayton take Highway 441 north to Dillard. Just inside the city limits, take a left on Betty’s Creek Road and proceed 3.5 miles to the sign and entrance on your right. 105 Hambidge Court, Rabun Gap, Georgia 30568. The mailing address is PO Box 399, Rabun Gap, Georgia 30568. call 706-746-5718 or visit online

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School Art & Soul performance showcase to benefit “Power House for Kids” child advocacy center

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School’s Rearden Theatre will be the scene of a spectacular arts extravaganza on Friday, May 15 to benefit FAITH’s Power House for Kids child advocacy center located in Toccoa. The benefit will feature a variety of music, dance, theatre, visual and industrial arts and include the best of both RGNS student and faculty talent.

Tickets for the Art & Soul benefit are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Kids under 5 will be admitted free. Tickets soon will be available at the Rabun, Habersham, and Stephens County Chambers of Commerce, the FAITH Thrift Store in downtown Clayton, and at the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School bookstore. Doors will open at 6:30 PM on Friday, May 15 for the showcase.