The Georgia Appalachian studies Center at North Georgia College and State University is offers an Appalachian Community Studies Certificate Program. If you live, work, or play in these mountains, you may be interested in "living and learning the Appalachian story!" For more information, www.ngcsu.edu/asc

Georgia Wine Festival at Blackstock Vineyards

The 2nd annual Georgia Fine Wine Festival returns to Blackstock Vineyards and Winery. It's a weekend festival of fine food, wine, music, and art in the beautiful Georgia Mountains.

Saturday, June 6th from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 7th from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Sample over 50 premium Georgia-grown wines and a bounty of culinary offerings; listen to The Kip Dockery Jazz Quartet, and enjoy the works of local artists and crafters including pottery wheels, weavers, blacksmiths, sculptors, and more!

Over 50 fantastic Georgia-grown wines are yours for the tasting with your Passport Glass, great live jazz in the pavilion, folk and bluegrass throughout the grounds. Reserve your tickets today!

Art-Full Barn Scholarship Show

The Art-Full Barn's Annual Art Supply Scholarship Show will be on display from May 9th through May 24. This show and competition is open to any high school senior who is enrolled to begin college this fall as an intended art major; seniors may come from any public, private or home school program. Entry is free and winners will be announced at a reception on May 24. Grand prize is a gift certificate for $500 of art supplies; winners may choose the art supplies they need for class supply lists or personal studios. This is the eighth year The Art-Full Barn has given this scholarship award and every year the display showcases phenomenal young artists. The public is invited to view the show any day. For more information, contact Gail Kimsey at 706-754-1247 or artfullbarn@yahoo.com.

Arts & Antiques Weekend in the Mountains - June 19-21

The upcoming Arts & Antiques Weekend in the Mountains, June 19-21, is an ideal time to plan your mountain getaway. Find a cozy place to rest your soul, get a taste of fresh and local cuisine, and head out for a full day of arts and antiques.

Many of the finest antiques dealers from across the United States exhibit at the Mountain Lakes Classic Antiques Show, held annually at the Rabun County Civic Center. Antique enthusiasts will find superlative displays featuring Antique Wireware, Transferware, French Oil Paintings, Painted Furniture, Fruitwood Furniture, 18th/19th Century English Ceramics, 19th Century Swiss Wood Carvings, 17th/18th/19th Century Antiques and Decorative Items, Period Antique Furniture, Mid Century Modern Furniture, Art, Prints, Vintage Silver, Silver Plate and other exceptional antiques. Show hours for the Third Annual Mountain Lakes Classic Antiques Show are Friday, June 19, from 10 am – 5 pm; Saturday, June 20, from 10 am – 5 pm; Sunday, June 21, from noon – 5 pm. Plan to arrive early for the special Preview Party held on Thursday, June 18, from 6-8 pm, which provides an chance for early buying opportunities and conversing with dealers and other collectors over hors d’oeuvres and local wines. For complete information, www.mountainlakesclassic.com

Ready to get out and explore the mountains? Plot your course and set your own pace as you traverse the scenic highways and byways of Habersham, Rabun, White and Stephens counties. There are many miles of creative ground to cover during the Northeast Georgia Arts Tour. Meet regional artists who will be demonstrating their talents and techniques at every venue on the arts tour Friday, June 19 from 1-5 pm; Saturday, June 20, from 10 am-5 pm; and Sunday, June 21, from 1-5 pm. Because you may not be able to get to everything, there is a second demonstrating artist open house weekend scheduled for November 13 – 15. For complete information, www.artstour.org

You’ll want to include a stop at St. James Episcopal Church in Clayton, for the annual
St. James Flower Festival June 19 -20. In addition to flower arrangements demonstration, you’ll discover a wonderful collection of hooked rugs.

The Lake Rabun Flea Market on Saturday, June 20, at the beautiful new Lake Rabun Pavilion features a bit of everything from small appliances to boats, furniture, and home accessories. There is a bargain barn, sporting equipment, a great raffle with vacation home getaways, and a silent auction.

The Rootcellar at Timpson Creek Gallery is featuring an evening with Linda Anderson, Georgia’s premier memory painter. Linda will discuss the stories behind her work following a picnic dinner on the grounds at 6:30 p.m. and will have her work on exhibit throughout the weekend as a part of the Northeast Georgia Arts Tour.

A popular stop along the tour is Tiger Mountain Vineyards, where area painters and potters will be demonstrating their art. Stop by for wine and cheese, stroll through the vineyard, and take in the scenery. Historic Lakemont Village in Rabun County is another popular stop along the tour.

Throughout the year, Golden Memories, in Mountain City, stages one of the largest antique auctions in the country. Auctions are held every Monday evening and one Saturday a month, and are worth the trip for every antique lover.

Antiques, galleries, concerts, theater performances, and several unique cultural attractions including the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center, Georgia Heritage Center for the Arts, and Hambidge Center for the Arts ensure that visitors are never short of unique and exciting things to do and see.

For more information, please call the Rabun County Convention & Visitors Bureau, 706.982.4754.

Funky Prom at GHCA

6th Annual "Funky Prom" is Friday May 15th at the Georgia Heritage Center for the Arts Education Building at 157 Mary Street, Clarkesville. This is the prom you wished you had attended in high school. Every spring the dancers scour the thrift stores trying to find the tackiest outfit to come dancing in. The dance starts at 8 p.m. and the cost is $10.00 per person for this special event. The evening starts with ballroom and slowly introduces rock and roll music, line dancing and country western. For more information call 706-754-5989.

Northeast Georgia Mountains Travel Association meets at Lake Rabun Hotel

The Northeast Georgia Mountains Travel Association will meet May 13th at 12:00 at the Lake Rabun Hotel in Lakemont Georgia. www.lakerabunhotel.com The speaker will be Web Designer -Beth Snider with 3by400 Inc. web solutions that work. http://3by400.com

DIRECTIONS

Coming from Atlanta: Take I 85 North, 28.4 miles. Take left fork onto 1-985 toward Lanier Pkwy/Gainsville. Go 24.5 miles. Continue on US-23 North for 43.2 miles. Turn left on Joy Bridge, 0.1 mile, turn right on OLD GA-441, 0.1 mile, turn left on Lake Rabun Road, 1.4 miles. Hotel on the right, 35 Andrea Lane, Lakemont, GA 30552.

Coming from the north (North Carolina/South Carolina): Take US 441 south. Turn right on Wiley Conn. Turn sharp left onto Old GA 441. Stay straight to go onto Lake Rabun Road, 3 miles. Hotel on the right, 35 Andrea Lane, Lakemont, GA 30552.

6th Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival July 19, 2009

Glen-Ella Springs Inn and Meeting Place will be the site for the 6th annual Heirloom Tomato Festival on Sunday, July 19th

Spread across a beautiful 12 acre meadow, this increasingly popular festival features dozens of varieties of Heirloom Tomatoes for taste testing, live bluegrass music, local craft vendors displaying fine art, pottery, jewelry and more. There are also on-going painting demonstrations by local artists throughout the day.

What’s a festival without food? Among many food items offered for sale are southern favorites such as, Tomato Tartlets, Tomato Sandwiches and of course Fried Green Tomatoes. Lots of sweet tea, lemonade and water will also be available.
Most Unusual Tomato Contest - Ever wondered what to do with those strange looking tomatoes? Entries for the “Most Unusual Tomato” are judged based on size, shape and color. Contest judging is at 1:30 pm.
The winner will be awarded a gift certificate for an overnight stay at the inn. Entries for the contest sign in at the information booth from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm.
The Twilight Tomato Supper finishes off the day’s activities. Beginning at 6:00 pm and by reservation only, guests enjoy a buffet supper served in the covered outdoor pavilion. Live entertainment provided by well-known local vocalist, Lisa Deaton. Cost is $35.00 per person (includes tax and gratuity). For those who enjoy wine with dinner, you may either bring your own or you may purchase bottle at the front desk of the inn.

Festival admission fee: $5.00 per person.
Festival hours: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Festival location: 1789 Bear Gap Road, Clarkesville, GA 30523

For more information and/or reservations, 1-888-455-8893, 706-754-7295 or visit online at www.glenella.com

Photographers & quilter help author-fiddler benefit festival

Visitors to the mountains who attend the upcoming Wild & Woolly Wine Tasting & Author-Fiddler Festival can count on a heady mix of authors, fiddlers, poets, food, wine and a few native plants for sale, all for the benefit of Georgia ForestWatch, the well-known non-profit forest conservation organization.

And now add two talented photographers and an expert quilter to the mix.

Local artist Pat Calderone of Scaly, North Carolina, and photographer Peter McIntosh of Clayton, Georgia, are donating two beautiful prints to the cause, which will go home to the winners of a raffle that will be held that day. (Cost: $1 per ticket, six tickets for $5.00. Winners need not be present to win. Also to be raffled: Assorted gear from Patagonia and a rain barrel, courtesy of the Rain Barrel Co.)

Cara Busch, meanwhile, a noted quilter from Ellijay, Georgia, is donating a handsome quilt for the raffle, a cotton wall hanging, 16.75 X 35 inches in size, entitled “Wild Columbine.”
In addition, the noted environmentally minded, free-lance photographer, Kathryn Kolb, will be one of the presenters at the event, set for 10-5 p.m., Saturday, May 2, at Tiger Mountain Vineyards in Tiger, Georgia. (See www.gafw.org for directions to the site and a detailed schedule of presentations, as well as greater information on each of the six authors speaking that Saturday: Mildred Greear, Helen, Georgia; George Ella Lyon, Lexington, Kentucky; Thomas Rain Crowe, Cullowhee, North Carolina; John Lane, Spartanburg, South Carolina and Janie P. Taylor, Tiger, Georgia.)

Three talented local fiddlers will fiddle while visitors enjoy a taste of red and white from the award-winning farm winery and some mighty delectable local food fare: 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.

For the raffle photographers, see www.web.mac.com/patcalderone as well as www.mcintoshmountains.com. For Busch’s work, see: www.etsy.com

Georgia ForestWatch has strived to organize the 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, as well as the food and wine. Several of the authors’ autographed books also will be for sale.

Rabun Walk. Photo by Pat Calderone. Up the trail leading to Rabun Bald.

Betty’s Creek. Photo by Peter McIntosh. A wild waterway in Rabun County.

Wild Columbine. By Cara Busch. Machine piece, hand quilted with color washes.

Great Composer Series at Piedmont

Piedmont College Department of Music , of Demorest, presents the "Great Composer Series," featuring the music of Handel, Haydn, & Mendelssohn, in the College Chapel, featuring the Piedmont Chorale, Chamber Singers, & Orchestra, on Saturday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m.

Philllip Hayner, Piano
Donna Bunn James, soprano
Wallace Hinson, conductor
Lauren Ringwall, conductor

Tickets: adults,$15., students and seniors $10, Piedmont faculty , staff & students free

Yonah Art Guild Classes April - May

Learn art basics in local classes. Early registration required, sign up today for jewelry, Indian crafts, drawing, painting, clay, flower arranging and more. Please contact instructors for supply list & costs.
April 21 Beaded Necklaces Tues. 2-wks 6:30-8:30 pm at $30, supplies needed, Valorie 706-865-1473.
April 23 Basic Acrylic Painting or Hand-built Clay Thur. 5:30-7 pm, $10 per class plus supplies ($15), Terrylynne 706-896-1060.
April 28 Wire Wrap Jewelry Tues. 8 week class, $10 per session, supplies needed, Therrell 770-536-9642.
May 4 Easy Quilted Purses Mon. 3 classes, $30 plus supplies, Virginia 706-865-9373.
May 5 Beaded Bracelets Tues. 2 classes, 6:30 pm, $30, supplies needed.
May 6 Flint Knapping MUST PRE-REGISTER. Wed. 1-class. $150 plus supplies, Kerry 706-865-0228.
May 7 Floral Arranging Thur.6-9 pm, $30 supplies inc., Donna 706-969-1446.
May 14 Yonah Art Guild Meeting 6:30 pm UCBank Community Room, Cleveland.
May 19 Beaded Earrings Tues.2 classes, 6:30 pm, $30 plus supplies, Valorie 706-865-1473.
May 20 Knapping MUST PRE-REGISTER. Wed. 1-class. $150 plus supplies, Kerry 706-865-0228.
May 21 Native American Arts Thur. 2 classes, 6-8 pm, $40 supplies inc., Donna 706-969-1446. May 25 Watercolor Portraits Mon. 4 classes 6:30-8 pm, $40 plus supplies, Carol 706-865-6052. Funding is by Grassroots Arts Program of the Ga Council for the Arts and Sustainable Arts Society. For more information yonahartguild@yahoo.com 706-865-6052 or 706-896-1060.