Scores of generous artists are donating their time and talents toward the Pacolet Area Conservancy’s (PAC) benefit dinner/auction on Friday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m.
The event, entitled “For Land’s Sake!” will be held at the Old Sunnydale in Tryon, and promises to be a virtual art show of imaginative, hand-crafted, avian-related works, all available for purchase.
“We chose birds as this years theme in order to spotlight the importance of land conservation to everyone who calls Polk County home,” said Carole Bartol, president of PAC.
Joining in the conservancy’s ongoing efforts to protect the open spaces in Polk County for the benefit of all concerned, area artists have immortalized the places avians call home by creating birdhouses. The designs represent the works of abstract expressionists, watercolorists, folk artists, wood carvers, and artists working in mixed media.
“I think it’s a wonderful cause,” remarked artist Ronnie Mosseller, who, along with Bill Ryan, Kim Attwooll, Diana Gurri, Bob Neely, Kathleen Carson, Betty and Jay Burdue, Bonnie Bardos, B.J. Precourt, Dom Ferullo, Pat Cole-Ferullo and members of the Tryon Arts & Crafts Group, have donated their time, talent and skills to create the birdhouses that help make up the array of auction items.
Other items available for purchase are hand-painted furniture by Joan MacIntyre, topiaries by David Simpson, private birding tours by Simon Thompson, framed bird prints, vacation trips, bird baths, Italian Murano glass birds, photographs by Eric Olsen and an original oil by Richard Baker, as well as a private tour of the North Carolina Arboretum’s bonsai garden by Arthur Joura, and much more.
“It is our duty as stewards to save the land and ensure that all the birds are given a safe habitat for future generations,” said Chris Jaquette, who along with birding expert and guide, Simon Thompson, owns Wild Birds Unlimited, in  Asheville, adding “its importance is not limited to birds, but includes everyone dependent upon the land, including ourselves.”
For an evening of music by pianist and singer Jim Peterman and guitarist Mack McCloud and fine dining amid a space transformed into an avian by Thompson’s Garden Gallery and Outdoor Living, contact the PAC office at 828-859-5060 or visit the website at www.pacolet.org.
– article submitted by Catherine Macaulay