This Land, Your Land

Next year is the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the yearlong celebration starts this week with events in Cherokee and Asheville, including a concert headlined by Nanci Griffith Saturday night.

Blue Ridge Parkway 75, Inc. is leading the celebration, which the National Park Service says is to provide "an extraordinary opportunity to create awareness, initiate dialogue in local communities, and take action that will ensure a strong future for the Parkway."

The opening weekend's events start Thursday in Asheville with a lecture about natural resource stewardship by Dr. Gerard Baker, superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial and the highest-ranking Native American in the Park Service.

At 10 a.m. on Friday there will be a ceremonial torch passing from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which celebrated its 75th anniversary this year, to the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Ravensford Overlook at Milepost 467 near Cherokee. The event is free but parking is at the Cherokee Transit Lot on U.S. 441 in town, where a shuttle will operate.

At noon on Friday, Cherokee guides will lead a three-hour bus tour of the southern end of the Parkway that will focus on history and "may include stops along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Ravensford, Thomas Divide and Water Rock Knob." The tour costs $20 and reservations are required. Phone the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, which is where the tour originates, at 828-497-3481.

Saturday's events shift to Asheville, with Parkway History Day at the Folk Art Center, which includes panel discussions and craft demonstrations, followed by a benefit concert at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

In addition to Griffith, the 7 p.m. concert presents the one-time-only collaboration of The Blue Ridge Bluegrass All-Stars – Doyle Lawson, Sammy Shelor, Bryan Sutton, Tim Surrett and Jim Van Cleve. The Warriors of AniKituhwa, a Cherokee dance group, will perform, and the show will be hosted by Asheville-area resident and Grammy-winning musician and storyteller David Holt. Tickets are $35 or $75 for premium reserved seating and a reception before the concert.

The Asheville Citizen-Times on Sunday published a package of articles and photo galleries about the Parkway's 75 years, part of a yearlong series that will end with the final celebration on September 11, 2010. The paper also promises coverage of this week's events.