On December 1st eight Connect Buncombe board members along with Buncombe County Parks and Recreation staff members visited Jackson County to learn about county greenway plans and visit the first link of their Tuckaseegee River Greenway. Although only 1.2 miles long, this greenway has witnessed up to 20,000 visitors in a single month! It was built with County funds, a grant from the State’s Parks and Recreation Trust Fund and a grant from Duke Energy. Those of us from Buncombe County were inspired by the enthusiasm and support for greenways expressed by the Jackson County Manager and Parks and Recreation staff members. We left with feeling that if a county with a population of only 40,000 is willing to invest a significant portion of their county budget in greenway construction, Buncombe County, with our population of close to 250,000, should be able to do so as well. Cheers to making it all happen in 2018!

Connect Buncombe’s 2017 Annual Meeting was held November 15th at the Comfort Suites Asheville Outlet Mall. Thirty-five greenway friends gathered to renew acquaintances, catch up on the latest greenway news, review Connect Buncombe’s accomplishments for 2017 and look forward to plans for 2018.

Marcia Bromberg, Board President, noted that throughout 2017 Connect Buncombe focused on expanding collaboration and partnerships, outreach and education, and the organization’s “public face”. Highlights included providing financial support for greenway planning efforts in Asheville and Weaverville, making a number of presentations to organizations about the value of greenways, and launching a brand new website with a new look!

Connect Buncombe will continue these efforts in 2018 along with plans to raise money to support the construction of a natural surface greenway along Town Branch in Asheville’s Southside neighborhood. This project is in partnership with Green Opportunities, a job training program, the City of Asheville and Ashevillle Design Center.

The highlight of the evening was featured speaker, Scott Carpenter’s, presentation about the Fonta Flora State Trail. Scott is Deputy County Manager of Burke County and the initiator and chief cheerleader for the new state trail.

Special Thanks to Scott and to all of Connect Buncombe’s friends and supporters for another great year. We’re looking forward to what we can accomplish together in 2018!