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TRAILS AND TRAINS
Old Fort celebrates outdoors, railroad history with festival
See more photos and video online at mcdowellnews.com.
PHOTOS BY RANDAL CALDWELL
Last weekend, McDowell County's Fourth Annual Trails & Trains Festival welcomed outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy the trails, waterfalls and natural surroundings of Old Fort and the Pisgah National Forest.
The Trails & Trains Festival is a celebration of the pathways and routes in Old Fort and the Pisgah National Forest and the town's history of railroading.
The Old Fort Depot had displays of model trains and railroad memorabilia. Throughout the day, there were hikes and bike rides along mountain trails in and around Old Fort. Multiple outdoor hiking events, trail maintenance events and bike rides took place throughout the festival weekend.
Local artists and vendors were in town. Arrowhead Gallery & Studios hosted live art demonstrations, and many local McDowell County artists set up in the vendor village at Mauney Park. Ultra-marathoner John Kelly, who has completed the Barkley Marathon three times, becoming the third person to complete the course more than once, was the keynote speaker for the Old Fort Trails and Trains Festival at Euda Wine.
The Foothills Watershed hosted a showing of a film series that told stories of freedom, friendship and accessible outdoor spaces. McDowell Technical Community College also had a film festival. There was a "Pup Hike," hosted by Purrfectly Pampered Pets, "Bird Friendly Gardening," hosted by Painters Greenhouse, the Henry the Hiker Scavenger Hunt and a variety of events for every type of outdoors enthusiast. The Fonta Flora State Trail hosted an interactive trail experience at Meadows Loop-Gateway Trail System.
The weekend culminated with The Rhythm & Rails Bluegrass Festival with headliners The Travelin' McCourys, The Haley King Trio, Backline and Zoe & Cloyd.
Government-politics
Top StorySpotlight
McDowell EMS, 38 other agencies get slice of $10 million in state funding
From Staff Reports
Updated
McDowell County emergency medical services will receive funding out of a $10 million allotment from the state Rural Health Transformation program.
The funds are awarded by the Office of Emergency Medical Services for Mobile Integrated Health overseen by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Grants will be provided to county EMS agencies in Burke, Caldwell, Catawba and McDowell, among other counties, according to a news release from NCDHHS.
The funds are being focused on "strengthening the participating 39 county EMS workforces and expanding rural communities’ access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment and services beyond the initial 911 call."
Gov. Josh Stein said that "investing in our EMS workforce and expanding behavioral health services in the rural parts of the state will help North Carolinians get the care they need closer to home.”
N.C. Gov. Josh Stein speaks during the 41st Annual North
Carolina Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony on April 14 at Lawndale
Baptist Church in Greensboro.
Allison Lee Isley, Winston-Salem Journal
NCDHHS said that in 2021, rural North Carolinians experienced higher rates of both fatal drug overdoses and overdose-related emergency department visits compared to those rates for urban North Carolinians.
The awarded funds enable EMS agencies to address these trends by providing medication for opioid use disorder, supporting rapid follow-up care after overdose events, and connecting individuals to treatment and recovery services.
“EMS professionals are uniquely positioned at the intersection of emergency response and healthcare delivery, serving as a critical link in the continuum of care for rural communities,” said Tom Mitchell, chief of NCDHHS' Office of Emergency Medical Services.
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