Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity marks 30 years of service with anniversary sale and celebration

2013 marks the 30^th anniversary of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, the very first Habitat for Humanity affiliate in North Carolina. To recognize this milestone, the affiliate will be celebrating in a big way on September 7^th. The calendar of events includes:

9:00am, at the Swannanoa build site (Dennis Street)

Circle of Faith Breakfast, Prayer Service, Wall Raising and Home Dedication

9:00am – 6:00pm, at the Habitat ReStore (31 Meadow Road)
30^th Anniversary Sale, 30% off storewide!
Special Silent Auction exclusively featuring unique items from the Grove Park Inn

11am - 4pm, at the ReStore & Habitat campus (31-33 Meadow Road)

Anniversary Celebration – food and festivities and key passing to 250^th homeowner

The 30^th Anniversary House will get underway during the Circle of Faith event when supporters raise the first wall of the home. Circle of Faith, a cul-de-sac of homes being built in the Swannanoa subdivision, highlights Habitat’s roots as a faith-based ministry and honors long-standing mission partners. The 30^th Anniversary House also happens to be the 10,000^th Habitat house to be built in North Carolina! A challenge grant has been put forth by Blue Ridge X-Ray Company who will match all donations to the 30^th Anniversary House (up to $30,000). To donate, visit ashevillehabitat.org.

While one house gets started, two other families will receive keys to their recently finished homes. The first key passing/home dedication - for the 2013 Thrivent/Lutheran House - will take place in Swannanoa as part of the Circle of Faith event. The second will happen at Habitat’s Meadow Road campus at 1pm, when Mayor Terry Bellamy presents the key to Asheville Habitat’s 250th homeowner. The 250^th house is the City of Asheville House, the final home built in Habitat’s 22-home Carney Place neighborhood in West Asheville. 

“We have built 250 new houses and repaired 50 homes, serving 300 families – more than 1,000 adults and children,” notes Executive Director Lew Kraus who has been at the helm since 1988 and is the longest serving Habitat for Humanity Executive Director. “Our past success is thanks to the generosity and partnership of this community, and we rely on that continued support to move our mission forward and serve the next 300 families”.

Additional details about the day-long sale and celebration on Saturday, September 7^th at Habitat’s Meadow Road campus will be forthcoming. Visit ashevillehabitat.org for more information.

Asheville Wine & Food Festival to host 2nd annual Winemakers Competition

New wineries are opening every day in WNC and there is a rapidly expanding interest in growing grapes and winemaking. “Show us what great wines your cellar holds and we’ll put them to the test with the tasters of the French Broad Vignerons,” says festival founder and director Bob Bowles.

“From grape wines to those made with fruit and berries, we want your submissions. Here’s your chance for a professional evaluation, and entry is easy and free.”

Judging will take place during the Asheville Wine & Food Festival Grand Tasting on Saturday, Aug. 24, at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville. The fifth annual event, recognized by the New York Post as one of the best of its kind, will feature the finest regional, national, and international wines, exceptional local restaurants, craft beer and spirits, and handcrafted artisanal foods. 

The wine competition is one of countless special features and activities that will take place  during the festival, which runs 12-5 p.m. for VIP admission and 1-5 p.m. for general admission. 

Wines can be dropped off with a completed entry form by the deadline of Aug. 10 at one of these Asheville locations: Asheville Brewers Supply, The Weinhaus and Metro Wines, or in Weaverville at Maggie B’s. Winemakers residing in North Carolina or bordering states may enter. Wines may also be mailed to AWFF, 1679 Barnardsville Hwy, Barnardsville NC 28709.

Festival general admission is $55 and a limited number of VIP passes will be available for $75. To reserve tickets, visit www.ashevillewineandfood.com.

CONTEST CONTACT: Lindsey Grossman | pr@ashevillewineandfood.com | 828-275-0000

RiverLink celebrates 14th Annual RiverFest featuring the Anything That Floats Boat Parade at French Broad River Park

RiverLink invites everyone to their biggest party of the year. The 14th annual RiverFest happens at French Broad River Park on Saturday, August 10 from 1 p.m. - 7 p.m. 

It wouldn't be summer without the Anything that Floats Parade. Groups building watercraft of all kinds have an opportunity to show off their creativity and their cause and have a blast. Participants can construct their vessels out of anything they can find that floats and parade them by the festival grounds. The only rules are that they must float and must be powered by wind, solar or their own herculean strength - no motors allowed -- and be removed from the festival grounds upon completion of the race.  You don't have time to build a "Yacht"   to be on the river that day-- rent a tube and enjoy the festivities from the water. 

A registration form and information are available at http://riverlink.org/anythingthatfloats2013.htm

The Prestige Subaru Stage will also offer live music -- Ty Nemecek, Taylor Martin's Engine and headliner The Swayback Sisters, an all-female, close harmony trio from Asheville, NC. They're known for their old-school country soul, Appalachian folk, and dirty acoustic blues.

This is a family-friendly event and RiverFest offers lots of fun for kids, too. Face-painters, art supplies, hoola hooping, craft booths and puppies from Brother Wolf. Kids can ride, skate, walk, run, and skip in costume in the Kids Parade, which starts at 1.

A variety of local food trucks will offer vegetarian and meat-loving options. This year food truck food court includes Gypsy Queen, The Lowdown, Melt Your Heart, Pho Ya Belly, as well as Ursa Minor Coffee and the Hop Ice Cream. We have beer from five sponsors this year -- Highland Brewing Co. , New Belgium, Asheville Brewing Co., Pisgah and Sierra Nevada.

To ease parking woes, RiverLink will be offering shuttle service from a satellite parking are at 144 Riverside Drive, the property known as The RiverLink Sculpture and Performance Plaza. A map to this property is located here: http://theriverwhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/08/plaza.html.

Volunteers are still needed to make this a fun and successful event! In exchange for their time and hard work, volunteers receive a free t-shirt and a free drink per shift. If you're interested in volunteering, please contact the RiverLink's Director of Volunteer Services, Dave Russell, at volunteer@riverlink.org or 252-8474, ext. 11.

Asheville's Therapeutic Salt Cave offers sound healing

Sound Healing is one of the oldest forms of healing known to man. At long last, science and western allopathic medicine are validating what shamans have known for millennia. Long before history and the written word, music and healing have been inseparable in the practices of shamanic healing and of mantra as a musical prayer for healing.

Digeridoo Healing

Contemporary holistic healers, spiritual healers, Reiki masters, shamanic healers, practitioners who work with crystal healing and chakra healing, and with the myriad other aspects of the alternative medicine healing arts, all are increasingly aware that with the introduction of the healing energy of sound, energy healing is catalyzed to potentate their healing abilities and the miraculous touch of their healing hands.

Sound Healing is the therapeutic application of sound frequencies to the body/mind of people with the intention of bringing them into a state of harmony and health.

Everything in nature is vibrating. Each organism has its own vibratory rate. Every object in the universe has its own unique resonant frequency. Every organ, every bone, every cell in our body has its own resonant frequency. Together they make up a composite frequency like the instruments of an orchestra. When one organ in the body is out of tune it will affect the whole body. Through the principle of resonance it is possible to use Sound to bring the body back into harmony.

Our body has a whole number of rhythms: heartbeat, breath, cranio-sacral pulse, gastrointestinal tract, stomach, brain waves, and body temperature.

The unique, deeply relaxing (and therefore healing) benefits of harmonic overtones, which induce the rare state of Theta brain wave activity while still conscious; the pizo-electric stimulation of meridian lines, acupressure and acupuncture points by the vibration of sound and the alleviation of energy blockages in the chakras as the karma you are ready to release disappears quickly and with minimal effort: all are reported benefits of sound healing with a gifted channel of this energy

Crystal Bowl Healing

•       Tibetan Singing Bowls

•        Crystal singing bowls

•        Didgeridoo sounds

•        Gongs                                         

•        Flute

•        Tuning forks

•        Solfeggio frequencies

•        Binaural beats                                        

Benefits reported by those receiving Sound Healing include: improved joint function, reduced pain and inflammation,  improved sleep pattern, reduction in number and severity of headaches, improved memory and concentration, and deep relaxation.

Asheville’s Therapeutic Salt Cave presents a number of events throughout the year offering Sound Healing:

• Community Acupuncture with music.light and salt therapy

• Crystal Bowl Sound Healing

• Didgeridoo Meditation

• Flute and Vocal Meditation

  

Please call 828-236-5999 or visit our website for a listing of our monthly events www.ashevillesaltcave.com