Community and Local Business News

Local Community & Business News

Blue Shark Vodka Becoming a Favorite in the NC Mountains

With new distilleries opening across the state, there is one in particular making waves from the coast to the mountains of North Carolina. Blue Shark Vodka is the shark that “doesn’t bite.”

Founded in Wrightsville Beach, this smooth spirit has made its way to area ABC stores, bars and restaurants. Beyond its taste, which has garnered national tasting awards, customers may spot the signature Blue Shark Vodka bottle on a bar—a hand-blown glass shark sits at the bottom of the bottle and glassblowers create the bottle around them. While all the bottles have the same general shape and size, no two handmade bottles are exactly alike.

The focus behind Blue Shark, according to founder Mark Bloomquist, was to create a spirit celebrating North Carolina ingredients while also creating awareness of the unique sharks and marine life that make coastal areas thrive ecologically.

The brand launched in 2019 to early success before hurdling over supply chain shortages during the COVID pandemic as a fledgling company. But Bloomquist said that their team found a way to persevere.

“After spending decades in the water as a diver, I wanted to create something, along with my family, to share with the world and get the message out about how misunderstood sharks can be,” he said. “The blue shark is so incredibly docile and when you see them underwater they are magnificent. We knew we were starting to create something truly special with our shark concept, and then we found our hero ingredient—North Carolina sweet corn.”

Bloomquist and his daughter, Brooke, their master distiller, came across an heirloom variety of sweet corn in Polkton and crafted a vodka recipe around the ingredient. The farmer, “Farmer Jeff,” is still the exclusive provider for their vodka, even as it expands into South Carolina, Nevada and California.

Since launching, the vodka has claimed more than 20 awards at national contests for both taste and bottle design, including two back-to-back Platinum SIP awards medals in 2020 and 2021. The company also launched several other bottles in their line with unique artist-driven designs including a limited edition bottle by world famous ocean muralist Wyland.

Blue Shark also partners with The Atlantic Shark Institute each year for a shark tagging program, “Tag a Blue or Two,” sponsored by the vodka. A portion of proceeds from every bottle contribute to critical shark research. Shark populations, sadly, are dwindling. But scientists at The Atlantic Shark Institute believe gathering data through shark tagging could help to pinpoint both the causes of this crisis and, thanks in part to vodka drinkers, a solution.

Visit BlueSharkVodka.com to learn more. Available now at most North Carolina ABC stores.

Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge: Making an Impact and Changing Lives

The Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge (WFBR) mission is to create positive change for women and girls in the High Country through collective giving. The WFBR has been positively impacting our community through its grant-making initiatives since 2006. Over $1.9 million has been granted to local nonprofits and community-based organizations that develop and implement projects and programs benefiting women and girls in Ashe, Avery, and Watauga Counties.

Funds from the membership program and the Power of the Purse and Bourbon & Barbeque events support the annual grant-making process. Currently, over 80 members give annually to the membership program. The organization is confident that this number will continue to grow as they work hard sharing their mission and changing lives.

Erin Brockovich was the guest speaker at the 2022 Power of the Purse Patron’s Party and Luncheon in late June. She delivered a powerful, entertaining, and inspiring speech to over 400 guests, using a creative word, “stick-to-it-iveness,” throughout her presentation. “The word aligns perfectly with our goals to remain determined and persistent in improving the lives of women and girls in the High Country,” said WFBR organizers.

The 2022 Bourbon and Barbeque event was held in September, where seventy-five guests attended to celebrate men and women who support the WFBR mission. The success of these programs and events will make it possible for the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge to grant over $225,000 to many deserving nonprofits for their 2023 projects and programs in the focus areas of Education, Human Services, Health and Wellness, and Empowerment. The 2023 grantees were announced in mid-November.

Save the Date – Princess Sarah Culberson will be the guest speaker at the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge 2023 Power of the Purse luncheon on Thursday, June 15, 2023, at the Grandview Ballroom at App State. Learn more at www. womensfundoftheblueridge.org.

Local Community & Business News

Key Club Members

Key Club: Building Future Leaders

Last summer, a group of Avery County High School Key Club members took a trip to Washington D.C. to participate in the Key Club International Convention (ICON). With the help of the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk and funding from a High Country Charitable Foundation grant, six youth, an advisor and a chaperone were able to represent the Avery community at our nation’s capital.

When the Avery High Key Club returned, the participants wrote about their experiences and what the opportunity meant to them. Following are excerpts from their letters:

“Attending ICON 2022 was an eye-opening experience for me. . . It showed me the power that Key Club has as an organization to change the world. On our first full day there we spent part of our morning packing hydration packs for the homeless population in D.C. Now to some people this may seem like nothing, but to the homeless people of D.C. it means so much. Watching how the Key Club International board members can pull together and do all of these amazing things gave me the inspiration to do the same. Seeing all of these like-minded individuals come together to try and help others can help inspire and give ideas on projects that we can do within our own small community.” – Katelyn Brewer, Class of 2023

“As cliché as it would sound, our time spent in D.C. came at a time when I really needed it most. . . I felt extremely disconnected from the world and struggled heavily with my identity and my role as a student. I began to rethink my entire future, a plan that has been in the works since I was in the sixth grade. However, after only one day at our convention, I immediately felt relief. I looked around and saw hundreds of kids who were just as stressed as I was, looking for a fun and engaging trip with their clubmates… For the most part, we all had similar goals…to keep member numbers on the rise, keep interests on service, and find new ways to serve. Not only did this trip make us realize that we lead by these acts of service, but we also lead by example. -Libby Powell, Vice President, Class of 2023

“As a student, I was able to learn some really good life skills, but as a leader, I was able to learn so much more about helping others, and how to show the community that students such as myself are able to do so much for others. One lesson that I learned while attending the workshops that were available for us was how to deal with difficult people. Sometimes, it is hard to communicate with others, and other times, people just don’t want to listen to you. I learned in this workshop that more often than not, you just have to have patience with certain people and keep a lot of understanding in mind… I am planning on using all of the information I learned to help make a better and bigger impact on my community. –Kendall Clark, Class of 2023

“I was able to interact and meet people from different cultures and from different locations around the world. . . Although we were strangers in the convention we all connected through being involved in Key Club and through our mission to serve. We were able to share ideas with each other about how we can improve our Avery Key Club. . . I am excited to bring these new ideas to our members so we can grow while serving our community. . . As a Latina and a Key Club Officer, I want to ensure that every student feels welcomed to join us. It is very important to me to ensure that students feel represented and that I am a great encouragement for minority students to get involved…Avery County keeps growing and its diversity is increasing, so not only do I want to make all students feel welcomed, I also want to help people in our community feel welcomed. . . Overall, it was amazing to be in a space where everyone was so supportive, caring and motivated through service. . .This trip truly empowered me and my fellow peers. – Miyahualt (Miya) Estrada-Jimenez, Class of 2025

“Two of the workshops I attended were led by Howard Savage, the Director of Prevention and Education Programs for the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking (ICESAHT). The first workshop was about how to set and communicate healthy boundaries, and the second was about how to help others and be an ‘upstander’ instead of a bystander in difficult situations. These workshops meant a lot to me personally, but they also gave me an idea for a small service project that I could do… create, print, and hang flyers containing hotlines, information I learned from these workshops, and other resources that could help students who are struggling. . .I think that easily accessible resources would be very helpful to people in these situations.” – Sage N. Turbyfill, Class of 2025

“One of the Workshops I went to was College 101, which explained how to get into good colleges, how to meet the requirements, and how to build a good portfolio for college. This workshop taught me some really important things such as being a team player and how Key Club is a great club to have on your file. . . I also went to a workshop that was called Preventing Burnout. In that workshop we learned how to keep ourselves from running out of energy and burning out in the things we do. . . The time we spent meeting people and talking about how they help their communities was very fun and interesting.” – Alex Fay, Class of 2025

Jim Swinkola, the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk Foundation Chairman, added, “This learning/improvement adventure would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the High Country Charitable Foundation.”

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Happy 10th Anniversary to Linville Falls Winery

By Steve York

Ten years ago, I was assigned a CML story about the opening of a new Linville Falls winery. I was to meet with the founder, Jack Wiseman, to gather info and I had brought along a list of questions. Before beginning the interview, Wiseman sat us down at his kitchen table, brought out a bottle of homemade “Cherry Bounce”—a spirited cherry wine first made famous by President George Washington—and poured us both a small glass. “Whatdo-ya-think of that?” he asked with a smile in his eye. “That’s one of the new wines we’ll be featuring at our Linville Falls Winery.”

Within minutes, I’d tossed my questions aside and hurriedly took notes while Wiseman told me a fascinating story about his life and how it led to his new winery. Wiseman was a spry 80-yearold fellow back then who still had the spirit and imagination of a 25-year-old entrepreneur. I discovered that he’d grown up in Spear, NC, and first learned winemaking at the age of eight from his Grandma Wiseman.

From that day forward—through his Korean Army service, to his commercial cleaning business in Charlotte to his helping launch our Fraser fir Christmas tree industry—Jack Wiseman always carried the dream of starting his own winery right here in Avery County.

That winery opened its doors on Thursday, October 11, 2012, with six wines: two whites, two reds, a Blueberry and, of course Wiseman’s own Cherry Bounce. Ten years later, it has become one of this area’s premier wineries, a founding member of the High Country AVA (American Viticultural Area), a major High Country tourist attraction, and now offers over 20 premium wines, including Wiseman’s recent birthday brew called “Ninety,” and the newest, “Jack’s Cherry Bounce”—an even more spirited version of the original.

Recently, I was invited to reminisce and celebrate my 10thyear meeting with Jack as he poured us both a small glass of the new Cherry Bounce. At age 90, Wiseman is as spry as ever. And Linville Falls Winery remains a true family operation that overflows with friends, fun, live music and some of the best wines anywhere.

Happy Birthday and 10th Anniversary, Jack!