August 23, Appalachian Ridge Hard Cidery in Hendersonville
August 24, HiWire Brewing Company at the Big Top
Sept. 22, Up Country Brewing on Haywood Road
Sept. 28, Southern Appalachian Brewery in Hendersonville
Oct. 4, Garden Deli in Burnsville
Oct. 6, Emmanuel Lutheran Church and School in West Asheville
Oct. 10, Highland Brewing Company and
Oct. 20, Saint Paul Mountain Vineyard in Hendersonville

Give us 2-4 hours. Enjoy a day of music and memories — and the knowledge that you helped to bring a community together! You’ll also get a little swag: a 11th Annual Festival Tee Shirt, snacks, a drink ticket, and our new Blue Ridge Pride Center buttons and stickers. Volunteer roles include: setup and breakdown, selling wristbands, beverages or merchandise, and assisting with volunteer check-in or VIP. Learn more and sign up here.

We’ve sent three lucky winners to London and one lucky winner to Hawaii – but in this summer’s raffle, someone’s going to win $10,000! Heck, you could go to BOTH London and Hawaii if you won (fly coach, stay in hostels?) Or build that outdoor firepit you’ve seen on HGTV, or rent a super swank beach house for a week, or anything you want, really, because it’s your $10,000!

Raffle tickets are $50 and only 500 will be sold! And proceeds from every ticket you buy supports operations and programming at Asheville Community Theatre!

ELIGIBILITY: Present employees of Asheville Community Theatre and any immediate family members residing with the employees are not eligible to participate. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Contest void where prohibited. You need not be present to win.

Calling all soccer lovers. Beer City Cup Adult Soccer Tournament is in need of volunteers. Proceeds benefit the Buncombe County Special Olympics. Volunteers are needed to pour beer at the beer tents.

The Council on Aging of Buncombe County in conjunction with the N.C. Department of Insurance’s Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) announces its classes “Introduction to Medicare – Understanding the Puzzle” for August – September 2019. The classes will explain how Medicare works, the enrollment process, how to avoid penalties, and ways to save money.

The classes are free and open to the public.

Residents who are new to Medicare, caregivers, and others who help senior citizens with their Medicare insurance should consider attending this informative class. The information presented is unbiased and accurate. No products are sold, recommended, or endorsed.

Medicare Classes:  August – September 2019

• Aug. 21, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. PM Blue Ridge Health, 2579 Chimney Rock Rd, Hendersonville
• Aug.  23, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Goodwill, 1616 Patton Ave, Asheville
• Aug. 28, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 150 Brian Berg Dr, Brevard
• Sept. 5, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Reuter YMCA, 3 Town Square Blvd, Asheville
• Sept. 13, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. OLLI/Reuter Center, UNCA, One University Heights, Asheville
• Sept. 17, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Woodfin YMCA, 40 N Merrimon Ave #101, Asheville
• Sept. 20, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Goodwill, 1616 Patton Ave, Asheville
• Sept. 25, 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. Black Mountain YMCA, 25 Jane Jacobs Rd, Black Mountain
• Oct. 1, 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. Ferguson YMCA, 31 Westridge Market Pl, Candler

Buncombe County is excited to announce applications are open for nonprofits looking for a cash infusion. For the fourth year, Tipping Point Grants are seeking proposals from nonprofit organizations working to help support County Commissioners’ six strategic priorities:

• Affordable housing
• Clean, renewable energy
• Diverse community workforce
• Early childhood education
• Justice resource support
• Opioid awareness

All projects must be a part of a Buncombe County-based nonprofit with 501c3 or a similar charitable IRS tax exempt designation. All individual innovators must be in partnership with a nonprofit agency.

Ready to apply for a Tipping Point Grant?

Official Tipping Point Grant applications are required. You may apply online here, or you can pick up hard copy applications at the Community Engagement office at 199 College St., right next door to the Register of Deeds’ office from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Please contact the office to make sure someone is there to provide you with an application. The deadline for submitting a grant is on Friday, Aug. 30, 2019 by 5 p.m.

Optional grant writing workshops will be hosted by Buncombe County on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019, 3-5 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 15 and Friday, Aug. 16 from 5-7:30 p.m. Workshops will be held on the ground floor of 200 College St.

These are free sessions and open to anyone. Applicants will be able to get support on proposal writing and will be able to leave the workshop with an application ready to go and/or submitted. If you have any questions, contact Rasheeda McDaniels at (828) 250-4102.

For complete information about Tipping Point Grants, visit BuncombeCounty.org/Grants.

Outback Give Back – Donate, Mate!

There’s never been a better time to stop by your local Outback Steakhouse! And The Blood Connection is giving you an easy way to eat for FREE.

For the entire month of August, TBC and Outback Steakhouse are working together to spread the word about blood donation. Partnerships like this are essential to the community’s blood supply. Outback Steakhouse’s enthusiasm to partner with TBC has helped the blood center reach new donors and save more lives!

The Outback Give Back Promotion runs August 1st – August 29th. Donors who give blood at any TBC center on any Thursday will receive a $20 Outback gift card and a free Bloomin’ Onion ® coupon. To find a center near you, click here.

On August 29th, 18 Outback Steakhouse locations will host a blood mobile for a collective blood drive at the same time, 2-7 P.M. Blood donors will receive a $20 Outback gift card and a free Bloomin’ Onion® coupon. After donating, they can walk right in and enjoy a free dinner at Outback, a thank you for saving lives!

Donors can visit any TBC center in the Upstate of South Carolina, and Raleigh and Asheville in North Carolina: 435 Woodruff Road, Greenville, SC; 341 Old Abbeville Highway, Greenwood, SC; 5116 Calhoun Memorial Hwy, Easley, SC; 1308 Sandifer Boulevard, Seneca, SC; 270 North Grove Medical Park Drive, Spartanburg, SC; 225 Airport Road, Arden, NC; 5925 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC. Centers are open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on the weekends 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This urban scavenger hunt will take teams of four around the downtown area via a series of clues to sixteen different locations where they will be required to complete a task before receiving their next clue.  Two volunteers will staff each secret location, checking teams in and out, throughout the day. Contact [email protected] directly if you are interested in assisting with this event or sign up by CLICKING HERE.

Hot Works 4^th Asheville Fine Art Show, October 26 & 27, 2019 takes place in Pack Square Park, downtown Asheville. This art show is juried by art professionals and brings artists to sell his/her art in all discipline including paintings, sculpture, clay, glass, fiber, jewelry, wood and more. All art is original and personally handmade by the artist who is present at the show. There is something for everyone, in all price ranges. You will see many artists at this show who do not attend other shows in North Carolina or South Carolina.

As part of our commitment to bring art education into the community, a Youth Art Competition for grades K-8 or ages 5-13 is integrated within a 10×20 space at the Asheville Fine Art Show. Sponsored by Institute for the Arts & Education, the associated 501c3 non-profit organization, all students in grades K-8 or ages 5-13 are encouraged to enter his/her original and personally handmade art that will be publicly displayed in the art show the entire weekend. On Sunday, October 27 at 3pm, there is $250 in youth art awards presented. Students are exposed to the rules and entrepreneurship opportunity of doing art shows for a living. The program brings families to the art show and exposes them to great art.