(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . DKos Asheville Open Thread: Sad Wolfe, Less leaf lookers?, Visiting our past 1916 - part 2 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-16 Good day and welcome to DKos Asheville. This is the weekly Open Thread for Saturday, September 16th, 2023 This space appears each weekend to give readers a variety of links to local and regional news of interest, and opens the floor for comment and discussion. Wishing all a good day from beautiful Western North Carolina. “Daily Kos fights for a progressive America by empowering its community and allies with information and tools to directly impact the political process.” Mountain Express, Greg Parlier, 9/15/2023 For decades, touring comedians have cracked jokes about — and heads on — the tiny doorway to the basement dressing rooms of Asheville’s Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. “The Wolfe,” as it’s come to be known, has been at the core of Asheville’s arts and music scene since 1940, including hosting the Asheville Symphony since 1968. It’s accumulated the stories and energy that decades of performances are sure to produce. Now, with the city-owned auditorium closed to ticketed shows for the foreseeable future after its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system failed in July, leaders in the city and local arts community are hoping this is finally the moment the Wolfe will get a makeover. “The stars have aligned,” says Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer about the possibilities of the auditorium’s first major renovation in almost 50 years. Conversations have started and stalled numerous times over her 14-year tenure on City Council. randallt: “riiiight.” WLOS, Kimberley King, 9/15/2023 Asheville’s big fall leaf peeping season is just weeks away. Tourism officials said hotels are counting on a rebound to take some of the sting out of the summer's 11% tourism drop. But two hotel operators are concerned those flat bookings will continue. “We’ve seen the demand to come to Asheville and see what we have to offer is not what it was last year or the year before,” said Matthew Lehman. “We have 104 rooms here at the Grand Bohemian Hotel. We’re 8 to 10% down from last year.” Bruce O’Connell, who has had a 40-year contract operating the Pisgah Inn, feels the same way despite the fact the hotel in October is booked I really don’t want to tell the people running the city how to do their jobs,” said O’Connell. “But I watch the news. I hear about high prices, short staffing, the homeless, crime (in Asheville). The water system breaks, and they can’t get it fixed... the publicity on national news telling people, 'Stay away from Asheville.' All of that added together has got to have a negative impact.” Citizen-Times, Ron Neufeld, 9/16/2023 Well, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you letting me jabber as we walk through Asheville on this spring morning in 1916. I'll tell you something, I'm filled up with Asheville, and I can't contain it. Look, it got me this job, showing you around. One moment, got to do something. What was that? That was my Charlie Chaplin waddle, backward leg kick, and hat tip. That fellow there on the corner, that's Mr. Lynch, he owns the Princess Theatre, where they showed "Carmen," Chaplin's new movie, the other night. Mr. Lynch considers me a walking, talking advertisement for his shows, but I'll tell you something else. I'm like Chaplin. Act like a fool, make everyone happy, but slip in some serious stuff. Speaking of serious, see that man and that lad walking this way, coming out of Rogers' bookstore? They're crossing to our side, heading to the man's monument shop. Hello, Mr. Wolfe, and Tom! Tom's about to graduate from North State Fitting School. Two Saturdays ago, he played Prince Hal in a Shakespeare pageant, and the tights he got from Philadelphia were 4 inches too short. I won't say anything about that; he's gotten enough ribbing. Rob Neufeld wrote the weekly "Visiting Our Past" column for the Citizen Times until his death in 2019. This column originally was published Sept. 15, 2014. Thanks for reading, wishing you a beautiful day. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/16/2193669/-DKos-Asheville-Open-Thread-Sad-Wolfe-Less-leaf-lookers-Visiting-our-past-1916-part-2 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/