This Week in Montreat – July 17, 2022

Wilderness Hiking Program

The Ranger staff will offer public hikes each Tuesday and Thursday during the summer conference season with two special full day Saturday hikes. Skill demonstrations will be held on Thursdays. All hikes are free and open to the public. You must be 13 or older to attend a hike without an adult guardian. Hikes will leave at 9:00 am, unless otherwise noted, from the Montreat Nature Center, located just below the Lake Susan spillway. All hikes this summer are subject to change based on evolving health guidance and weather.

Tuesday, July 19

Brushy Mountain (Half Day)

Graybeard Mountain (Full Day)

Thursday, July 21

Two Sisters and a View (Full Day)

Knots, lashings, and cordage (Skills Demo)

Saturday, July 23

Mount Mitchell (Full Day) *RSVP only — Please visit the Nature Center for more information. You are responsible for your own transportation back.

Presbyterian Heritage Center

318 Georgia Terrace. 828.669.6556. Free admission.

This center offers multiple museum displays, special events, art galleries, and a reference library. Free WiFi and air-conditioning. Summer exhibit includes: Mount Mitchell Railroad; Diplomats, Missionaries & Montreat, repatriation during WWII; Native Americans & Presbyterian Missions; Early Montreat and much more!

Crafts and Pottery

The Currie Craft Center and Sally Jones Pottery are a collaborative ministry of Montreat Conference Center. Classes and pottery are open to people 12 years and older. Class offerings vary from week to week. In addition to classes, we offer independent throwing and hand building.

Sign up for classes begins online each Thursday evening at 6:00 pm. The class registration link will be at the top of the Crafts & Pottery page. If you need further assistance, please email montreatpottery@gmail.com or call Ann Laird Jones at 662.347.3614.

Second Loaf

Second Loaf continues its long history of collecting food donations for the food insecure in our community on Saturdays, in the parking lot area in front of Black Mountain Presbyterian Church. Adjusting for COVID-related restrictions, Second Loaf can only take shelf ready non-perishables, cold or frozen food in their original unopened packaging (such as a whole, unopened package of hot dogs), personal care items and paper goods (opened or unopened), and fresh produce (fruits and vegetables). Individually wrapped snacks are especially welcome. We are grateful for the generous response of groups who drop off their "second loaves" on their way home.

The Huckleberry Café

The newly renovated Huckleberry will be opening this summer! Details on our reopening date (once determined) will be included in This Week in Montreat. Stay tuned!

Pickleball

Pickleball is offered on Monday and Friday mornings from 10:30 am–1:00 pm. The cost is $3 per session. Pickleball will conclude for the summer after the first week in August.

Big Circle Mountain Dances

Summer dances will take place on Friday nights through August 5.

• Date: Friday, July 22
• Time: 7:00–9:00 pm
• Place: Cornwell Tennis Courts

Big Circle Mountain Dancing is a special Montreat tradition! It's a fun filled night of dances called by the Bannerman family and music from the Stoney Creek Boys. All are welcome and admission is free.

Arts, Music, and Theology

Arts, Music, and Theology is a mission and ministry of Montreat Conference Center. Its purpose is to provide the community with educational nourishment via various lectures and lecturers during our summer season. Themes of the lectures span disciplines.

“Texts and Tunes: A Few Thousand Years of Hymns By Women” led by Eric Wall. Everyone is welcome!

• Date: Sunday, July 17
• Time: 7:00 pm
• Place: Presbyterian Heritage Center

Eric Wall is conference center musician at Montreat Conference Center, and leads worship through music each Sunday. In addition to his responsibilities at Montreat, Wall is an assistant professor of sacred music and dean of the chapel at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Much appreciated for his vast realm of musical genres, his creative vision, and his gift for drawing congregations of all ages and backgrounds into the celebration of music, Wall’s leadership is a major part of the Sunday summer worship series.

“Visual Beauty in Calculus” led by Austin Jones

• Date: Tuesday, July 19
• Time: 7:00 pm
• Place: Convocation Hall

Austin Jones is a community college mathematics instructor, NC transplant from GA, lifelong Presbyterian and Montreater, caninophile, gardener, musician, espresso-fiend, and earnest learner-of-anything. He loves seeking (and sometimes finding) the best few ways to explain something, whether verbal or visual, overview or fine detail, directly or via analogy. He holds a BS and MA in mathematics, both from Wake Forest University.