Town of Spruce Pine

02/03/2026

08/25/2017

06/09/2017

Make plans to attend this fun event at Central Park tomorrow morning at 10:00 am, Saturday June 10th. Don't forget to bring a chair or blanket! Then, spend the day exploring all the downtown shops and restaurants! It's going to be a great day to be in Spruce Pine!

Reading Is Alive is an exciting, new outreach program for Parkway Playhouse. Based on the theme, “Build a Better World,” professional actors will perform for students in the three-county region. They will be performing “A Year with Frog and Toad”, the musical based on the delightful children’s stories written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The musical follows the woodland adventures of two amphibious friends, a worrywart toad and a perky frog, with their assorted colorful hopping, crawling and flying companions, over the course of a year. Participating kids will get a Reading is Alive bookmark and a “Reading is Alive” book (according to grade and reading level).
Children who may have never experienced live theatre or owned a book will have an opportunity to participate in this collaborative project with Parkway Playhouse, Penland School of Crafts, and the Avery-Mitchell-Yancey Library System.

05/09/2017

Have you seen the "facelift" on the public parking lot beside MNJ? Many thanks to Peoples Furniture for your generous contribution to this project and giving back to our downtown!

04/28/2017

It's almost time for Fire on the Mountain Blacksmith Festival! Join hundreds of blacksmiths and thousands of visitors in downtown Spruce Pine this Saturday for the annual festival celebrating the art of the blacksmith. Coordinated by Spruce Pine Main Street (SPMS), Penland School of Crafts, the Toe River Arts Council and local smiths, the festival gets bigger and better every year!

The festival is on Saturday and there are events on Friday and Sunday, too. See the schedule below and this link (https://www.facebook.com/FireOnTheMountainFestival/posts/10155335375734429) to see more details. We hope to see you at one or more of the Fire on the Mountain events this weekend!

Friday evening, April 28th
Gallery Reception 5 to 7pm - TRAC Annual Blacksmith Exhibit Closing Reception. Join blacksmiths and guests for food and drink in celebration of the festival’s 11th year! Award ceremony at 6:30pm. And don’t forget to check out the Speaking Volumes show upstairs!

Saturday, April 29th
Fire on the Mountain Festival Downtown from 10am to 4pm (Admission is free)
• Blacksmith Demonstrations (Full schedule on the poster below)
• Vendor Booths (A great variety of smiths and tool vendors display and sell their work, with many booths featuring live demonstrations)
• Forging Competition (A spirited competition for blacksmiths of all levels – this year the challenge will be forging spoons)
• Hands On Tent (Blacksmith volunteers assist the public in learning to forge garden stakes)
• And more!

A friendly reminder to please leave your furry friend at home for the festival. We love our pooches, but not everyone does. Several folks have allergies and are afraid of dogs. Thank you for complying with this request!

Penland School of Crafts Campus Event (Saturday evening)
8pm, Flex Space at Penland - Master Blacksmith Lecture – This event is free and open to the public. Come learn more about featured smith Lee Sauder, who joins us from Lexington, VA!

Sunday, April 30th
Blacksmith Open Studio Tour, 10am to 2pm – New this Year!
Several local smiths will open their studios for visits. Stop by to see their latest projects, and explore different studio setups. Grab a map for this tour at the Spruce Pine Main Street booth, or find the information on the Fire on the Mountain page.

2017 FEATURED MASTER BLACKSMITH – LEE SAUDER
Lee Sauder began blacksmithing in 1973 at the age of 12, when he began his apprenticeship to Larry Mann. He has been a member of the Artist-Blacksmiths Association of North America since 1974. After a 2 year flirtation with higher education, Lee's journeyman years included stints with OK Barnes of Camden Maine, Chris Axelson of Carmel California, and Vaclav Jaros of Prague (then) Czechoslovakia. He returned home to Lexington, Va. to take over Woods Creek Forge from Larry Mann in 1984. He has continued in the blacksmithing business to this day, forging sculpture, custom furniture, and architectural iron. He is perhaps best known in the blacksmithing community for his researches into ancient ironsmelting techniques. In January 2009 Lee moved his forge to his home on the south slope of House Mountain, near Lexington, and renamed his business Germinal Ironworks.

04/27/2017

Please be advised.... Locust Street will be closed beginning Friday, April 28th at 9:00 pm through 6:00 pm Saturday, April 29th for the 11th annual Blacksmith Festival.

02/09/2017

01/09/2017

Spruce Pine Public Works Employees, thanks for all the time spent away from your warm homes and families this weekend!

Thanks to all of you!