This photo is from Mike Holder on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/mikeholder

Van Burnette with the Hop ‘n Blueberry Farm in Black Mountain is part of the Greenways, Please video

Greenways, Please video is a collaborative effort of Buncombe County and its municipalities and partners, as well as local businesses and organizations to provide information about the benefits of greenways in a fun format for viewing across the county.  Connect Buncombe is seeking partners to share this 5 minute public service video at theatres, events, and on websites.  Please get in touch to become a Greenways, Please video screening partner.

See it for the first time this Saturday night at the Mountain Sports Festival at Carrier Park around 7:30 p.m. (weather pending).

Sponsors:

Asheville Track Club, Hands of Sean Perry Co., Kostelec Planning, WSM Craft, Mother Earth Produce, Equinox Environmental, Montford Walk-In Bakery, Sound Mind Creative, Pollinate Collaborations, Liberty Bikes, Asheville On Bikes, Buncombe County

During the month of June, Dynamite Roasting Company is giving 100% of profits from their new “Greenways, Please” Coffee Blend to Connect Buncombe’s county-wide greenway system initiative.  Greenways, Please is an active blend with notes of honeysuckle and milk chocolate.

How to get it:

1.       Dynamite Roasting Coffee Bar in Black Mountain

2.       Local Dynamite Roasting Co. distributors

3.       Have it delivered to your doorstep: Mother Earth Produce will be selling Greenways, Please blend through their farm to front door produce delivery service.

4.       On June 23, Cycle to Farm supports Black Mountain Greenways and local farms with a 62 mile metric cycle with stops at farms in WNC.  Greenways, Please blend will be sold at the event registration and after party at Louise’s.  Sign up at www.CycleToFarm.org

Dynamite Roasting Company is an artisan roaster of exceptional Certified Organic and Fair Trade coffee and believes strongly in connecting with our WNC community in ways that are sustainable, healthy, and fun. They are hikers, bikers, baby and dog walkers, and all around lovers of the outdoors. This is why they support Buncombe County Greenways and the Greenways, Please! initiative. They believe in creating a healthier, more beautiful, and more livable Buncombe County.

Connect Buncombe aims to connect our county with greenways and trails to increase transportation options, physical activity opportunities, increased health benefits, community and economic development.

Support businesses that support our communities!

In 2008, just as Michelle Obama was entering the White House in Washington, DC, an early childcare center in the mountains of Western North Carolina was developing a way to bring quality nutrition to their young children by using the colors of the rainbow as a guide. Now they are investing in a director for the program to offer the model nationwide. After four years, Mountain Area Child and Family Center (MACFC), an early care and education center of distinction in Asheville, NC, is taking their model nutrition program Rainbow in my TummyTM to other centers in the region, as well as investing in a new position to support and grow the program regionally and across the nation.

MACFC is conducting a search for an experienced professional to take Rainbow in my TummyTM, (RIMT) to a regional and national audience. The Program Director will be responsible for strategizing, packaging and promoting RIMT as the model early childhood nutrition and obesity prevention program in the nation. The successful candidate will embrace a healthy lifestyle and enjoy developing partnerships, as well as have experience with business and program development. The application deadline is June 15.

For the full description and application information: www.macfc.org

Blue Ridge Parkway representatives will discuss trail heads for the Parkway within the Asheville Corridor.  The “Greenways, Please” photo booth will be onsite to help you show your support of greenways. Everyone welcome, including children.   Light refreshments will be served.

These priority areas will be taken to the County Commissioners late this summer/early fall for approval.

MAY 11–FREE Breakfast: Economic Impact of Childcare in Buncombe County

8.15-9.15 a.m. at The Asheville Chamber of Commerce

At the breakfast there will be a presentation that speaks directly to the economic impact of investing in the first 2,000 days of a person’s life.  Did you know that 90% of brain development happens during this time?  This IS the make it or break it time in a person’s life.  Investing time, energy and dollars into Early Childhood Education pays off in the long run – by setting up our children to be successful in school.   Offering high quality childcare enables parents of young children to work with full focus, knowing that their children are being loved and educated.

Come hear how Buncombe County serves young children and their families, and how it affects the economy of our region.  Register for this free event

Anyone want to play? “Like” Mother Earth Produce on Facebook to play: http://www.facebook.com/motherearthproduce

Here’s how it works:

“Like” Mother Earth Produce on Facebook.  Photo clues will be posted on the Mother Earth Produce Facebook page each day (Monday – Friday) of this Earth Week (this week) either between 11 a.m. and noon or 4 and 5 p.m.

The photo clues will show you which Asheville-based business to go to to find the gift certificate.  Be the first to go to the business and pick up the gift certificate and you win!

Keep your eyes open for the clues and the first one to the gift card at a local downtown or River Arts District business wins it!

Good luck!

Photo Credti: Bill Rhoades at Mountain Xpress

New Belgium Brewery is moving to Beer City USA.  This is wonderful for beer enthusiasts, our job market, as well as our greenway initiatives, like Connect Buncombe.  Connect Buncombe is the advocacy group for connecting our county with trails and paths so that we can get to our destinations safely without getting in a vehicle, which also supports economic development.

“But more important than Asheville’s informal Beer City title was the local commitment to more bikepaths, greenways, alternative energy, reducing the city’s carbon footprint and building a more sustainable community,” said Ben Teague, executive director of the Economic Development Coalition of Asheville and Buncombe County.

New Belgium has a rich history of supporting sustainable transportation options.  New Belgium looking forward to having you on board to connect our county.

Welcome to Buncombe County, New Belgium!