Have Your Old Timey Photos Made at Sourwood

Stop in at the Swannanoa Valley Museum's booth at this year's Black Mountain Sourwood Festival, August 14-15, and have your photo taken in old timey costumes, creating a wonderful souvenir of the day or a fun image for your holiday greeting cards!

For only $10, you and your family and friends can choose from an array of pioneer and early settler style costumes, pose for our photographer, and walk away with a 5" x 7" portrait suitable for framing.  For an additional $5, we'll burn you a CD. 

Our booth will be located in front of Suntrust Bank, near the Owen Band Boosters barbeque tent. Photos will be taken on Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm, on Sunday from noon to 3 pm.

Win a Sourwood Tree!

Also, you'll have the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets to win a beautiful, semi-large sourwood tree, donated by the Susan and Erskine Alvis family.  The winner will receive a coupon to redeem at B.B. Barnes Nursery later this fall when planting time is right.  Buy one ticket for $5, or get 3 for $10.  Raffle tickets are on sale now at the Swannanoa Valley Museum, the Black Mountain News office,  Black Mountain Savings Bank, and will be available at our booth throughout the Sourwood Festival weekend.

The Hunt for Gemstones is On...

On Thursday, July 29, the Swannanoa Valley Museum's Daycation will be to the high country and the granddaddy of gem shows in the region, the 54th Annual NC Mineral and Gem Show in Spruce Pine.

In addition to the visit to the show, we plan to stop at Grassy Branch where other vendors offer their wares, and finish our adventure with a "bucket of dirt" at a local gem mining concession.

Participants will meet in the parking lot of Black Mountain Savings Bank, 200 E. State St., at 10 am on July 29 to carpool to Spruce Pine.  We'll visit the gem show first, have lunch, visit Grassy Branch and then go gem mining.  Cost is $15 for members; $25 for non-members and includes admission to the show.  The cost of lunch and your bucket of dirt is up to you.  For reservations, please call the Museum, 828-669-9566, or send an email to swannanoavalleym@bellsouth.net,

A River Runs Through It, A Flood Runs Through It,

A Bus Runs Through It

The Swannanoa Valley Museum, in partnership with the Flood Damage Reduction Task Force, UNC-Asheville's Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) and National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC), is hosting an exhibit this year about the floods that have devastated the Swannanoa Valley in times past, and what can be done to minimize damage in future storms.

As part of this program, the Museum is co-sponsoring a FREE bus tour through Black Mountain and Swannanoa on Sunday, August 8, from 3-6-ish in the evening.  The tour will include presentations, maps, and information regarding potential flood mitigation projects at four sites that were affected by the 2004 floods.  Each participant will be given a Flood Tour Booklet of the entire watershed, as well as maps and information about all the potential flood mitigation projects in the Swannanoa Valley Watershed. Come and see first-hand what can be done, and give your input to the project.

The tour will be aboard a Youngs motorcoach, and will depart the Museum at 3 pm.  There is no cost to participate, but you will be asked to fill out an opinion form giving your thoughts and ideas about the project.  There will be refreshments at the end of the tour.  Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis, so please make your reservation early by calling the Museum, 828-669-9566, or sending an email to swannanoavalleym@bellsouth.net.

Got Rummage?  We Can Pick It Up.

One of the Museum's annual fundraising events is our big Rummage Sale, which will be held this year on Saturday, August 7.  Set up with will on Friday, August 6, and the sale will start on Saturday at 7 am.  We collect rummage year-round, thereby offering a very large selection at our sale.

If you have rummage sale items you would like to donate, you may either bring them into the Museum, or give us a call and we'll make arrangements to pick it up.  We can give you a tax receipt as well.

We cannot accept clothing, although shoes and accessories are fine.  Please no large furniture or used computer equipment. Electronics and cameras must be in working condition.

The sale will be held under the red and white striped tent (thank you Mike Sobol), at the east end of Black Mountain, across the street from the Citgo convenience store.  Thanks to Mary Hemphill for providing the site.