THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF
THE HISTORIC TOXAWAY FOUNDATION
SPRING 2020
IN THIS ISSUE
- The Buzz On Killer Bees Honey
- Important Update On The Proposed County Fire Tax
- Coming Soon: Diary of a European Grand Tour With Lucy Armstrong Moltz
CHANGES AT THE BUSINESS ALLIANCE
There’s been some new developments with the Toxaway Business Alliance. For one thing, we’ve changed our name: We’re now the Red Feather Business Alliance, to better match our branded Red Feather Guide, with a plan to introduce a new monthly activity, Red Feather Days, in March.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus came along, with many events and activities curtailed or canceled altogether.
Please support our local businesses in any way that you can through this difficult time.
THE BUZZ ON KILLER BEES HONEY
Spring is ushering in new life all around us, from the appearance of ephemeral wildflowers like the trout lily and Dutchman’s breeches, to bird populations in a sudden frenzy of nest-building, and so much more.
For husband-and-wife beekeepers Sean Collinsworth and Denise Altay, the change of seasons signals the start of a new round of honey production, as well as a new season of apiary tours and special events at their Historic Toxaway business, Killer Bees Honey. High atop a mountain surrounded by acres of Pisgah National Forest, it’s the perfect location for millions of bees to forage for nectar and pollen rich resources.
Denise Altay and beekeeper Sean Collinsworth
How, you might ask, did two urbanites – a former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff (Collinsworth) and a finance executive from New York (Altay) – come to adopt such a nature-focused occupation?
You could say that Collinsworth ‘couldn’t help pollen in love’ after a teacher first introduced him to the art and science of beekeeping in his early teens. He gave it up for a time but eventually returned to it as a hobby in adulthood. Some years ago, that preoccupation grew into a robust business and a passion project for the two.
As Sean explains in a June 2017 blog post: “In a previous life, in a different state, in a different endeavor and many times under the most horrific circumstances, I personally witnessed death, mayhem, and destruction. Yet, I tried to maintain empathy for others. Sometimes I failed, causing many sleepless nights, and to this day, bad dreams. A colony of honeybees is a highly organized and complex society. Beekeeping not only teaches us, but caring for another species promotes empathy and responsibility. My return to beekeeping has restored my faith in humanity and reignited my passion for nature. I only wish more people shared my compassion for one of nature‘s most innocent and fascinating creatures.”
He may, in fact, be getting his wish. According to a recent feature in NC Living magazine titled “The Champagne of Honey,” KBH has exploded as a product (for instance, the first 300 pounds of honey harvested in 2019 sold out in ten minutes – can we get a ‘hive-five’ here?!) and as an attraction, consistently ranking #1 on TripAdvisor’s list of things to do in the area.
What’s so special about Killer Bees Honey? It’s the old real estate maxim: Location, location, location. KBH bees feast on the surrounding 512,000 acres of farm-free vegetation, untouched by harmful agricultural toxins. Killer Bees Honey has a fully organic method of treating, managing, and processing the honey. The resulting honey is unfiltered, unpasteurized, and unheated; and all harvesting, hand-bottling, and packaging is completed onsite. You can literally taste the difference.
By the way, did you know honey was the original energy food, and makes anything taste good? Real pure, organic honey does not go bad and has inherent anti-bacterial qualities. All KBH honey is available for purchase online. READ MORE
Other RFBA updates include:
We did NOT produce a Red Feather Guide for April, and we recommend that you monitor our social media channels (Facebook and Instagram @PlayStayToxaway) for the latest updates and/or check in directly with businesses for their most current information.
You’ll begin to see Red Feather Days signs and flags at many of our local businesses, if you haven’t already. For the time being, these are being used to signal those businesses that remain open, though their hours and/or methods may have changed for the short term.
Please note that the eventual purpose of this signage will be to indicate an area-wide Red Feather Days, to take place on the last weekend of each month, and featuring a variety of in-store specials and Realtor Open Houses to drive traffic to Historic Toxaway. Watch for updates as the health crisis subsides.
WELCOME TO NEW BOARD MEMBERS
The Historic Toxaway Foundation welcomes two new Board members: Debi Whitmire and Chad Zimmerman. See more information about them here.
IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE PROPOSED COUNTY FIRE TAX
Members of the Historic Toxaway Foundation have continued to work diligently on your behalf over the “off season” months—attending governmental and chamber events, facilitating publicity and advertisements through media sources, and keeping an eye on local needs and issues. While the current COVID-19 situation has all of us uncertain of next steps personally and communally, we thought it would be helpful to touch on just one of the key issues we have been pursuing, that of the proposed changes to the Transylvania County Fire Taxes and how those changes could impact the Lake Toxaway Fire District. If the Commissioners vote to pass the proposed flat tax, Lake Toxaway property owners would see a significant increase to the fire tax for their property (see an overview at right.)
HTF board members have attended both public and private meetings intending to broaden the “voice” of the Historic Toxaway region in county and state decision making. With this attendance and participation, HTF has emphasized to leadership the economic and community concerns of the Historic Toxaway region. We hope our perspectives will give the county decision-makers more reasons to consider the less onerous options.
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- Eight regional fire district meetings were held from October 2019 through January 2020 throughout Transylvania County. The Lake Toxaway Fire District meeting was held on January 16, 2020 at the Quebec Community Center with approximately 90 people in attendance representing a cross-section of Historic Toxaway—volunteer fire department members, long time locals and part-time residents and full-time homeowners. The meeting was rather contentious with very difficult questions and limited answers that satisfied Lake Toxaway Fire District residents (click here for an audio recording of meeting).
- On February 17, 2020, The Transylvania Times published an article by Derek McKissick (County Commissioners Still Assessing Fire District Funding) which provides a good overview of the meetings and funding alternatives discussed.
- A March 2, 2020 meeting/workshop was conducted by the County Manager, Assistant County Manager, and County Commissioners which was open to the public, though no questions were permitted. A summation of the feedback was provided, and the fire funding options were presented.
Citizen Input Meetings Summary
Fire Funding Discussion Options to Consider
Click the image above to view the proposed flat tax presentation.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Fire District Tax decision was to be made by late March/early April for the Transylvania County July 1 fiscal year start. Two of the funding options entail a published notice period of about 4 weeks. We believe that whatever option they choose it is highly likely that Lake Toxaway Fire District taxes will increase substantially. With deliberations and meetings of all kinds postponed for the foreseeable future, we do not know when this decision will be made or announced. We do know that a decision must be made because the budget is a time-sensitive item.
We urge you to write the County Commissioners to share your opinion on this matter; their emails are:
Mike Hawkins (Chair)
David Guice (Vice Chair)
Page Lemel
Jason Chappell
Will Cathey
COMING SOON: DIARY OF A EUROPEAN GRAND TOUR WITH LUCY ARMSTRONG MOLTZ
Almost everyone in the Historic Toxaway community has heard of Lucy Armstrong Moltz. Back in the heyday of the old Toxaway Inn, she and her then-husband George Armstrong, a prominent Savannah businessman, were part of the elite set that vacationed here. Lucy, in fact, was so taken with the area that she convinced George to build her a lake home, which she christened Hillmont (now the Greystone Inn).
There are many stories to tell about Lucy, but today we’re focusing instead on her nephew, Frank Bennett. In the summer of 1930, when much of the world was suffering through the Great Depression, Aunt Lucy offered the trip of a lifetime to her younger sister’s son, then all of sixteen.
For two months, he traveled on a whirlwind tour through Europe with his sophisticated aunt, her young daughter (also named Lucy), and a friend of the family, Aline Ward. Even better, he kept a daily diary of the trip.
Better yet, we can share it with you. In the funny way that research into one thing often leads into another, here is how we came to know about it.
We first discovered a link to a few pages of the diary posted online on a contemporary blog. The blog’s author, Michael Hall, had co-founded (with Frank Bennett) the Caldwell Playhouse, later the Caldwell Theatre Company, in Boca Raton, Florida.
When Frank passed on in late 1996, Hall retained many of his boxes of memorabilia. It wasn’t until some 14 years later, however, that he read the diary. He was so taken with it that he transcribed the entire thing, adding historical asides and photos and graphics to help illuminate the text.
In his blog entry, Michael Hall offered to provide the rest of the story to those who might be interested. Unfortunately, we eventually learned that he, too, had passed on. But persistence pays! By contacting a cousin listed in his obituary, we were put in touch with Patricia Burdett, described as “his right-hand and confidant at the Caldwell from nearly the beginning.”
We were able to connect with Pat, who did indeed have the diary, though in obsolete format and on an older hard drive that required some technical troubleshooting before it would release the document. We’re in her debt that we now have this interesting story to share with you. According to Pat, “Both Frank and Michael would be tickled pink that this history will live on! I am delighted that you reached out to me.”
We’re pretty tickled ourselves, and we hope you will be too. Watch for parts of Frank’s diary to be serialized as blog features over the next several months.
Thanks for sharing a few minutes of your day with us!
Please let us know if you have questions or comments about any of these stories, or about our foundation; and if you have stories and photos to share of local people, places, and events, please share them here, and you may see them in a future blog or newsletter, or on our social media channels.
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