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 @ mskinner@bmtrust.org. 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 communications@balsammountain.com.

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 rwall@bmtrust.org 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 memberservices@balsammountain.com 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

◄

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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