Tinsel trees, aluminum trees — whatever you call them, these retro artificial trees are making a comeback and being celebrated at the Aluminum Tree and Aesthetically Challenged Ornament Museum in North Carolina.
Rock Mount, Va.’s Twin Creeks Distillery is built on a legacy of moonshining and fiddling that dates back to the 1930s when folks from the Southern Recording Expedition pulled up to Peg Hatcher’s home, wanting to record the old-time musician’s famous fiddling. But fiddling wasn’t all Peg was known for. He was also a legendary moonshiner, and he wasn’t exactly trusting of strangers showing up at the door.
As a skeptical person, I don’t believe in a lot. I don’t believe in Bigfoot tiptoeing around the backcountry, in ghosts haunting attics, or in myths like throwing salt over your shoulder. (That just makes a mess.) But I sure as hell believe in the magic of mountain communities, especially after Hurricane Helene.
Mining historians often focus on southern parts of Appalachia, like West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, but life was just as hard in Pennsylvania’s mountains, where mine owners resorted to lynchings, rapes, and beatings during the mine wars.
Since 1944, Smokey Bear has taught us the importance of snuffing out campfires and never playing with matches. Now that we know some forest fires are good, experts are asking if Smokey is still “on message.”
Since 1985, Apple Country Woodcrafters has donated 25,000 wooden toys in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Their workshop is straight out of the North Pole.
Dr. Daniel B. Caton once saw things in the sky he couldn't explain, the Brown Mountain Lights. He has spent decades trying to figure out this Burke County, N.C. mystery.
