Around Town: Live bands at Visitor Center, Jeschonnek's program on Ukraine, presentation by Pepper set

The Henderson County Tourism Development Authority (HCTDA) hosts another Monday Night Live concert on July 11, followed by a Music on Main concert on Friday, July 15, according to a press release.

All are welcome to come to the Visitor Center, located at 201 S. Main St. in Hendersonville for these free, outdoor concerts from 7-9 p.m. This week’s Monday Night Live concert will include the music of Nu-Blue, a Bluegrass/Americana band hailing from Siler City.

This small-town group is made up of husband and wife duo Daniel and Carolyn Routh, Daniel playing multiple instruments and Carolyn on vocals, supported by Austin Hefflefinger on banjo and Justin Harrison on mandolin.

Friday evening’s Music on Main will feature the music the local group, The Super 60s. They offer a musical retrospective of one of Americas’ most turbulent times, a period that all of the band’s members lived through. Spectators are encouraged to wear their favorite tie-dye shirt and bell bottoms.

Classic car shows are held in conjunction with Music on Main every Friday. The car shows are located on South Main Street from Caswell Street to 1st Avenue, which will be closed to thru traffic. For more information about the classic car shows, contact the Carolina Mountain Car Club,  http://www.carolinamountaincarclub.com/.

The HCTDA hosts free concerts every Monday and Friday evening through Aug. 19. Dancing, singing along, and toe tapping are encouraged, however, early admission, alcoholic beverages, backpacks and coolers are prohibited.

Jeschonnek to present 'Ukraine Crisis 2022" on July 14

At 3 p.m. July 14, Friedrich K. Jeschonnek, airborne Colonel (Ret.) of the German Army will present the free program “Ukraine Crisis 2022: Origins, Impact, and Challenges for the West.”  The program will be in the Rogow Room of the Transylvania County Library, 212 S. Gaston St. in Brevard.

Col. Jeschonnek served in the German military for more than 40 years, both as a troop commander from platoon to division level and as a General Staff officer performing German Army and NATO staff functions, the release from the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas said.

Twice he was deputy commander of the German contingent in the Balkans and served in Bosnia, Kosovo, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. He currently leads the German Reservist Association task force editing the geopolitical “Eastern European Handbook.”

Col. Jeschonnek’s program on July 14 will analyze Russia’s ambition to reestablish the old Russian Empire, the will of the Ukrainian people to remain independent, and the role of the Western world in the resulting conflict.

This program is offered by the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas as part of its history series of Guest Speakers. For more information, call 828-884-2141 or visit www.theveteransmuseum.org.

Community activist Pepper speaking at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville

Ronnie Pepper works at the Henderson County Public Library and is an avid storyteller as well as educator, spending more than 25 years with the Head Start Program. He also worked with the Black History Research Committee of Henderson County and has served on the Walk of Fame committee.

After the Civil War, a group of newly freed Blacks walked from Mississippi to southern Henderson County looking for land where they could live peacefully and sustainably. Their efforts are revealed in The Kingdom of Happy Land, a legend which lives in both myth and truth. The story will be told by Pepper at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 10:30 a.m. July 10, according to a press release.

A Hendersonville native and graduate of Hendersonville High School, Pepper is a predominant figure in the local community, the release said. He has been active in the community as an award-winning Child Development Worker and an advocate for education, as a storyteller and performer in community theatre, and as an historian and community activist.

The story and history of the Kingdom of Happy Land, including recent research findings, combines Pepper’s interest in history with his storytelling talents. He has served on several boards and organizations throughout his lifetime, including the American Red Cross, Hendersonville YMCA, Flat Rock Playhouse, Blue Ridge Community College, Hendersonville Housing Authority, and NAACP to name a few.

All are welcome to attend this presentation. Additional information about UUFH may be obtained at uufhnc.org.

Brevard Music Center set for American Voices Festival

Brevard Music Center (BMC) announced key performances for the 2022 American Voices Festival, a project supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, according to a press release.

The week of July 11-15 is a focal point for the festival, with programs inspired by Joseph Horowitz’s new book, Dvořák’s Prophecy. The story of Dvořák’s Prophecy originates in 1893, when the Bohemian composer Antonin Dvořák predicted that a “great and noble school” of American classical music would be founded upon African-American melodies. Dvořák’s Prophecy, a focal point of the American Voices Festival, is a multimedia orchestra concert with the Brevard Sinfonia led by Music Director/Conductor of the PostClassical Ensemble in Washington, D.C., and frequent BMC guest conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez.

Dvořák’s Prophecy author and program curator, Joseph Horowitz, will lead a pre-concert lecture for ticket holders in Thomas Hall at 6:30 p.m., one hour prior to the 7:30 p.m. performance of Dvořák’s Prophecy on July 15 in Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium. Additional American Voices Festival performances this week include Becoming America: Lara Downes and Friends on July 11, American Voices on July 13, George Shirley: A Life in Music on July 14, which all take place in Parker Concert Hall on campus at Brevard Music Center. Special guests include George Shirley, the first African-American tenor to sing leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Brevard native and international operatic baritone Sidney Outlaw, and the pianist and iconoclast Lara Downes.

Red Cross, Discovery partnering for Shark Week

The American Red Cross and Discovery are partnering for Shark Week and invite people to dive in to help save lives by giving blood or platelets in July. The Red Cross saw a steep drop in blood and platelet donations last month, and donors are asked to make appointments now to prevent a blood shortage this summer.

In June, the Red Cross collected approximately 12% fewer blood donations than needed – one of the largest monthly blood donation shortfalls in recent years. Here in the Greater Carolinas Region, 22% less donations were made than expected. When less people answer the call to donate, the blood supply shrinks – and that could mean blood products aren’t ready for hospital staff to reach for in emergencies.

Thanks to Discovery, all who come to give blood or platelets in July will automatically be entered for a chance to win an exclusive Shark Week merchandise package that includes:

· Beach bike

· Smokeless portable fire pit

· Paddle board

· Kayak

· $500 gift card to put toward accessories

Those who come to give July 21-24 will get an exclusive Shark Week T-shirt from Discovery, while supplies last. Details are available at rcblood.org/sharkweek.

Upcoming blood donation opportunities through July 31 in Henderson County are:

Hendersonville

July 18: 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Henderson County Offices, 211 1st Avenue East

July 21: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Henderson County Offices, 211 1st Avenue East

July 25: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Henderson County Offices, 211 1st Avenue East

Mills River

July 22: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Mills River Town Hall, 124 Town Center Dr.

Back-to-school drive to be hosted by First Congregational United Church of Christ

From 10-12 p.m. Saturday, July 16 (rain date, July 17,12-2 p.m.), First Congregational United Church of Christ,1735 Fifth Avenue W. (fcchendersonville.org) invites the community to contribute to a contact-free, school supplies drive-thru benefitting the county’s students and educators, according to a press release.

Some useful supplies are backpacks, pencils, pens, markers, paper, notebooks, glue sticks, facial tissues, construction paper, highlighters, sticky notes, copy paper, batteries, hand sanitizers and cash/checks.

Participants should drop off items in the church parking lot. All donated items will be sorted and delivered by FCC members. Anyone wishing to assist are welcome and should contact wdsiii333@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Around Town: Live bands at Visitor Center, Jeschonnek's program on Ukraine, presentation by Pepper set