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A monthly newsletter on the events and happenings at Balsam Mountain Preserve in Sylva, North Carolina.
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June 2014
A Monthly Publication for Balsam Mountain Preserve Members
A s the administrator of the Habitat Review Committee, it's been
exciting to help usher in a new era of home building on the
Preserve. Along with fellow committee members Claire Parker,
Shawn Leatherwood, Mark Wilson, and Michael Skinner, we are seeing
more activity now than Balsam has seen in a very long time. It speaks to a
new level of confidence in the long term sustainability of the community and
as real estate sales and membership growth continue to trend upwards, more new homes will
come to life throughout the mountain.
With a new housing start just this past week, there are now 6 homes under construction on the
Preserve. In addition, there are 4 other homes in active review, all of which are expected to begin
construction this summer. 10 homes under construction at one time - it is indeed an exciting time
here!
Along with more members, more homeowners, and more construction activity comes a renewed
focus on the 15 mph speed limit throughout the Preserve. Brian and his security team will be
watching drivers carefully to ensure that everyone's safety is kept top of mind. Fines will be
issued and enforcement will be stepped up this summer, so please be mindful of this as
you travel around the mountain.
This issue of Ridgelines is full of great information to enhance your membership experience,
please take the time to review it and enjoy the start of the summer season. As always, I welcome
your feedback in person, by phone, or by e mail.
Bruce Fine, General Manager
Have you heard the good news?
Three new families have joined the Club at Balsam Mountain Preserve!
Shawn and Susan Harrison, Tampa, Florida
Dr. Patrick and Jeanne McGuire, Sylva, North Carolina
Tim and Joni Newell, Sylva, North Carolina
Discover more ways to enjoy your Membership. Explore the Balsam Mountain Member Website for an online directory,
calendar of events, 2014 Club Membership documents and more.
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
T hrough the first five months of this year there have been 13 real estate transactions
at Balsam Mountain Preserve:
10 Homesites
1 Home
2 Boarding House
Balsam is off to a great start coming into the prime selling season. The increase in real
estate activity has driven membership growth to 144 members, and that number is sure to
increase as we go through 2014.
Homesite 162
Homesite 60
The Barnett Residence Architect: Moss Creek Builder: Baldwin Phillips
The Lambert Residence Architect: Platt Architecture Builder: Morgan Keefe
New Home Construction Update as of May 2014
Homesite 230
The Lemoine Residence Architect: Shawn Leatherwood Builder: Morgan Keefe
Homesite 6
The May Residence Architect: Rob Carlton
Builder: Bronco Construction
Homesite 68
The Straw Residence Architect: Platt Architecture
Builder: Morgan Keefe
Homesite 226
The Lavigne Residence Architect: Shawn Leatherwood
Builder: Morgan Keefe
J im Watson and Sabrina Watkins will start building this fall on Stemwinder (Lot 202) and plan on moving
to BMP full time in a few years. They've been working with Allen Halcomb of Moss Creek, and George
Baldwin and Larry Phillips of Baldwin and Phillips to design a contemporary mountain house with
beautiful westerly views. They’re incorporating much of what they’ve learned about eco-friendly approaches
to living spaces and gardens, and BMP’s focus on conservation is what drew them here. After living in a
garage apartment with their pet Quaker parrot Jellybean for over a year as they remodeled their Houston,
Texas home, they’re certainly no strangers to construction projects! They're very "hands on", so expect to
see them around a lot as building progresses on their new home.
Jim has been retired for 3 years and devotes his time to playing guitar, photography, gardening with native
plants, taking care of the frogs and lilies in his water pond and spending time with family and friends. Before
that, he had a background in oilfield technical sales and in information technology. After working as a
completion fluids engineer, technical salesman, trainer, technical writer, IT network administrator, systems
analyst, and Six Sigma Black Belt optimization specialist, he found a role that was a great combination of
them all, as a technical sales engineer with an innovative drilling software company and worked there until he
retired. Retirement made him the project manager of their extensive home remodel in Houston, and earned
him the lofty and accurate title of “estate manager”!
Sabrina will retire in a few years from her role as head of sustainability for ConocoPhillips, an oil and gas
company in Houston. She’s the global corporate head of sustainable development, with responsibility for
corporate policies, positions and implementation strategies related to sustainable development.
Sabrina, a civil engineer from Lehigh University, was one of the first women to work on offshore drilling rigs in
the Gulf of Mexico, working in upstream production and drilling engineering in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico,
in New Orleans, Louisiana. During her 33 years in the industry, she has held management roles in asset
development, production, procurement, drilling, health, safety, and environment. Since 2001, she has led
work on early-stage innovation, emerging technologies, and has directed global upstream technology
strategy. She managed global corporate environmental technology from 2006-2008, worked directly on
carbon capture and storage policy development, and assumed her current role in 2009.
Jim and Sabrina feel like they’re already part of the family here. Jim has joined Michael Skinner and others
playing guitar, and even having a spontaneous sing-along in the Boarding House. They’ve enjoyed delicious
meals in the Boarding House, where they met some of the wonderful people here, danced at the Mardi Gras
party, and made the trip into Asheville to listen to contemporary Bluegrass music. By then, in just a couple of
months since their first trip in December, it was clear that this is where they were supposed to be.
Balsam Mountain Preserve Welcomes Jim Watson and Sabrina Watkins
She currently serves on the board of trustees for Bainbridge Graduate Institute and the Global Environment
Management Initiative. She served on the board of Houston Wilderness, and for several years on the ex-
ecutive committee of the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development, where she was the chairman
from 2007-2009. She enjoys community volunteer work in leadership training and non-profit board strategy
development. In 2012, she was named to the Industrial Safety and Health News “Power 101” list of influen-
tial leaders who have the ability to facilitate international collaboration and cooperation toward innovative
solutions to environmental and sustainability challenges.
She's looking forward to learning about native plants in North Carolina and gardening here, and is also ex-
cited to hike in the woods, do yoga more often, and welcome friends and family to the mountains. Jim and
Sabrina have lived along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana for the last 30 years, and came to this area
to explore for retirement options. They fell in love with Balsam Mountain right away for its beauty, the focus
on conservation and for the easygoing atmosphere.
They have three grown sons, and twin 8 year old granddaughters who've already visited BMP and loved it!
Their oldest son, Jesse, has flown Kiowa helicopters in the Army for the past six years after serving for ten
years as an Army Ranger. Morgan, their middle son, also served as a Ranger, and after completing his ser-
vice returned to school. He graduated this spring from the University of Houston with a degree in computer
science, and had a job as a systems analyst with J.P. Morgan Chase waiting for him. Graham, now a sen-
ior, is majoring in math at UofH, and after a brief European holiday, will be working this summer as a math
test-prep instructor. Jim and Sabrina like spending time with their “boys”, and home is a gathering place for
the extended family, as well. As Jim says, "they don't visit, they swarm", and it will be wonderful to welcome
them all to the mountains. ◄
The Nature of Things: My What Big Eyes You Have
T he harbingers of spring are many in the richly bio
diverse mountains of western North Carolina. And with
spring comes many examples of that richness,
sometimes in the guise of close-calls we would rather avoid
but, alas, they become, sometimes unavoidable. Take, for
example, the recent receipt of one of the denizens of the
woodlands and fields of the mountains, the great horned owl.
This bird (Bubo virginianus) is common because of its ability
to adapt to the widest range of habitat types of any owl
species in the western hemisphere. This particular creature
ended up with the Trust after being confiscated by the Animal
Control Office on the Cherokee Reservation. Someone kept it
as a ‘pet’ and in doing so has ruined the bird’s chances to
survive as a wild owl, i. e., it has lost its fear of people and it
does not know how to hunt. Often, in these situations, a
raptor, or bird of prey, can be rehabilitated but since it flunked
mouse school, it is now relegated to a life as an ambassador
of its species. It will be put work educating the audiences to
which we present our bird of prey programs.
Great horned owls are amazing predators in the sense that
they are afraid of nothing. They have been known to run
eagles off their nests. Owls do not build nests, rather, they
use the leftovers of crows, hawks and eagles when available.
They’ll use a ‘second-hand’ nest usually only once.
These birds are found throughout the western hemisphere–
from Alaska all the way to southern South America. They’re preferred habitat is a mix of forests– where
they roost and nest to open fields where they find the bulk of their prey. These owls will eat almost
anything. Their diets include prey as small as spiders, insects and scorpions to prey as large as small
deer– although that size dinner is uncommon. They’ll even kill their own kind, but this is usually over
territorial squabbles.
So with this then is the next step and that is– we need a name for our new faculty member. If you’ve got a
suggestion please send to Michael @ [email protected]. We’ll announce our selection when we
determine the best, most original name for our new charge.
by Michael Skinner, Trust executive director
www.bmtrust.org
Our, new and as yet, unnamed new faculty owl stares intently into the world it is be-ginning to learn.
Photo by M. Skinner
If you’ve spotted wildlife on the Preserve, submit your photo to [email protected].
WILDlife Sightings on the Preserve
Balsam Mountain Preserve is on
Check out the site by clicking the above or below images.
We have been actively posting notices of upcoming events as well as photos, news, sales and other topics related to the community.
Sign up and become a fan today!
Summer MATCH PLAY Series
Format: Individual Net Match Play (Head-to-Head Singles
Matches). 90% of Handicaps, play off the low handicap in each match.
Handicaps for each match will be used from the most recent GHIN
handicap update
Men’s Tournament Tees: Palmer / Players may move up to the white or
gold tees if eligible and lose strokes.
Women’s Tournament Tees: Red
Men’s Division – sign-up will be limited to the first (16) players
Women’s Division – sign-up will be limited to (4) players for 9-Hole Flight,
and (4) players for (18) hole flight
Cost $40/player. Includes tournament cart fees and prizes.
The matches will take place over the months of June, July, and August. Tournament players will agree on a common time to complete their match. Each tournament participant must be able and committed to play in matches designated by the below parameters. (Men’s Division based on 16 players).
Round of 16 matches completed by June 30th Round of 8 matches completed by July 21st Round of 4 matches completed by August 11th Final Match completed by August 31st
Ladies Golf
Every Wednesday
Tee–off at 10:00am
Call the Golf Professional Shop at 828.631.1009 to sign up.
Our Golf Course
Needs Your Help!
IMPORTANT
A s many of you are aware, we have had some bare areas on some fairways and approaches. Due to some winter kill, and the combination of an early growth regulator, these areas have been slow to fill in. Over the past couple weeks we have been over seeding and topdressing
these areas to help encourage new growth. With the warmer temperatures and much needed rain, we hope to see some seed germination and filling in over the next couple weeks. As we move forward to the summer, I would ask that all players continue to lend a hand and repair their ball marks on greens, and fill divots in the fairways. Every little bit of help means a great deal to the overall beauty of the course. The staff will continue to work diligently to maintain the course to the standards that we have come to expect. I would like to thank everyone on the staff for the continued hard work.
by Brooks Kittrell, Golf Course Superintendent
I would ask that all players continue to lend a hand and
repair their ball marks on greens, and fill divots in the fairways.
“ “
A fresh ball mark repaired by a player takes only FIVE SECONDS
A freshly repaired ball mark will completely heal in TWENTY FOUR HOURS
A fresh ball mark left unrepaired for only one hour requires FIFTEEN DAYS TIME
1-Day Member / Member Guest Tournament Results
1st Place
Dave Sparks and Peter Futrell
2nd Place Rod Hanlon and Rob Hostetter
3rd Place
Lawton Hayes and Mark Evans
Long Drive #16 Peter Futrell
Closest to the Pin #7
Mark Evans
May 24, 2014
Memorial Day Scramble Tournament Results
Low Net: (55) John Gill, Bill Mamrack, Steve Astren, Michael Fulbright Low Gross: (64) Pam and Mike Frey, Terry O’Neill Closest to the Pin #3 – Bob Fitts Closest to the Pin #18 – Steve Neubeiser Long Drive #16 – Bob Fitts
Congratulations to our winners and thanks to all that participated!
May 26, 2014
2014 Summer Camp Schedule
TRUST CampsTRUST CampsTRUST Camps
June 23 & 25
ANIMAL SUPERHEROES, Ages 4-6 Ever want to be a superhero?! Learn about the adaptations that give “super powers” to the animals. Which Appalachian Animal is fastest? Which has the strongest bite? Which animals can see in the dark? Discover the answers through fun crafts, activities and animal encounters.
June 24 & 26
BALSAM MOUNTAIN TRAIL BLAZERS,
Ages 7-12 Get ready to get muddy! Stomp through our streams, hike through our forests, and find where different organisms make their homes. In this camp, we will discover the natural wonders Balsam Mountain Preserve has to offer. You may even pick up some survival skills along the way!
June 30-July 3
APPALACHIAN ARTISTS, Ages 7-12 Will be spending the night at Dark Ridge on the 3rd. Celebrate the rich natural and cultural heritage of the Southern Appalachian Region! Discover how Native Americans and Pioneers shaped our diverse mountain culture through nature explorations, arts, crafts and music.
Register by calling the Nature Center at 828.631.1060, email to [email protected] or via the Member Website.
Club CampsClub CampsClub Camps
July 7-10
COMBO CAMP, Ages 7-12 This area offers varied opportunities for kids to immerse themselves in the beauty of local habitats. Learn to identify species at the Preserve, spend a day at Dark Ridge Camp Ground, go on offsite culture visits, take part in hand-on art projects, trail games, and so much more.
July 14-17
WATER CAMP, Ages 6-11 A vast array of water activities and aquatic critters will be explored! We will visit swimming holes, waterfall walks, boating and more! Participants must be able to swim or must wear a life jacket.
July 21-24
ADVENTURE CAMP, Ages 6-11 &
July 28-31 Ages 12+ Hiking, paddling, camping, exploring nature and many more group adventures that encourage healthy activity, as well as mixing, mingling and making new friends.
Equestrian CampsEquestrian CampsEquestrian Camps
June 25 -27 Ages 7-12
July 11-12 Overnight Equestrian Campout for ages 12+
July 16-18 Ages 7-12
August 7-9 Ages 7-12
Register by calling Member Services at 828.631.1000, email to [email protected] or via the Member Website.
Greetings from the Boarding House
S ummer is approaching quickly! I believe we started out our season with a bang this past weekend, as the Memorial Day pool party
was a blast. We would like to thank all of the members who participated in the BBQ Rib competition: Dave Walters, Dave Sparks, Steve Neubeiser and Rob Howard. We are proud to congratulate Rob Howard as the winner of the 1st annual competition, his Bourbon spiked spicy ribs were a big hit!
Several events are coming up for June, so please be sure to save the dates for our summer shindigs. Here is a sneak peak at our highlights for June:
The 2014 Member/Member Golf Tournament is June, 6th and we are gearing up for a memorable meal. All who will be joining us for the event will enjoy a four course meal with wine pairings for each course.
Father's Day is fast approaching so now is the time to make your reservations at the Boarding House. We will be celebrating Sunday, June 15th with a Brunch from noon until 2:30pm. We will
also be offering dinner starting at 6:30pm.
Johnny and Brian's popular Fish Fry returns on Wednesday June, 18th. This
is a feast you won't want to miss!
Break out your grass skirts and your Hawaiian shirts and be ready to dance the night away. Friday, June 20th we will be hosting a Luau at the Pavilion. Limber up, we will be having a limbo contest! As a reminder please make your dinner reservations early with Member Services by calling us at 828.631.1000.
Melissa Zoda, Boarding House Manager
◄
◄
◄
at Balsam Mountain Preserve
Club Hours of Operation
Pro Shop:
Wed - Mon, 7:30am - 6pm
Practice Park: Wed - Mon, 7:30am - 6:30pm
Trail Rides: Wednesday - Sunday
by Appointment.
Pavilion: Open 24 hours.
Fitness Center: Open 24 hours.
Pool: Opening May 16th
Tennis Courts: Open Daily.
Turnhouse: Wed - Mon 11am-3pm
The Boarding House Restaurant:
Light Continental Breakfast:
Mon – Thurs, 8am – 10am
Breakfast:
Fri – Sun, 8am – 10am
Lunch:
Wed – Mon, 11:30am – 2pm
Dinner:
Wed – Sun, 6:30pm – 9:00pm
*Reservations Required
The Nature Center:
April 1– Nov 1
Tues - Sun, 9:00am to 5:00pm
(closed Mondays)
Nov 2 – Mar 31
Tues - Sat, 9:00am to 5:00pm
(closed Sun & Mon)
Club Staff and Contact Information
Administration: 828.631.1040
Bruce Fine: General Manager
Tina Jones: Business Manager
Member Services: 828.631.1000
Melissa Zoda: Boarding House Manager
Amy Coggins: Member Services Manager
Balsam Care
(Maintenance & Cabins): 828.631.1000
Pro Shop: 828.631.1009
Drew Marshall: Head Golf Pro
Security / Main Gate: 828.631.1011
Main Gate Emergency: 828.508.0116
Sales: 828.631.1001
Joe Dellinger: Broker In Charge
Barbara Huse: Sales Executive
Amanda Watson: Sales Assistant
RIDGE Lines Editor
Nature Center / Balsam Mountain Trust:
828.631.1060
Michael Skinner: Executive Director
Rose Butler Wall: Senior Naturalist
www.bmtrust.org
The Reserve at Lake Keowee
Contact Balsam Member Services at
828.631.1000 for all Activities and Reservations.
www.reserveatlakekeowee.com
Grand Harbor Golf & Yacht Club
Contact Balsam Member Services at
828.631.1000 for all Activities and Reservations.
www.grandharbor.net
Balsam Mountain Preserve | 81 Preserve Road | Sylva, NC 28779
866.452.3456
www.balsammountainpreserve.com