NEWS AND SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
July 2008:
The mill will be a featured stop on the Cold Mountain Heritage Tour sponsored by the Bethel Rural Community Organization. More about the tour and BRCO can be found by CLICKING HERE.-Update July 12: The Cold Mountain Heritage Tour was a great success for the mill. We even made some money from souvenir and picture sales. Due to the drought, the mill had to be shut down a couple of times until the pond filled up again, but fortunately most of the visitors got to watch the mill in actual operation as corn was ground during this event. Donations were accepted from those people who wanted to take home some of the ground corn.
A DVD produced by the Bethel Rural Community Organization (who sponsored the Cold Mountain Tour), features Francis Mill in about a 10 minute segment. The DVD is called Walking In The Footsteps of Those Who Came Before Us: A Collection Of Bethel History, and is available at several businesses throughout Haywood County (Blue Ridge Books and News, Osondu Books, WNC Visitors Center) as well as mail order through the Bethel Rural Community Organization at: Order Form (CLICK HERE). For further information on what else this fascinating film includes,CLICK HERE. For anyone interested in local history, this film is highly recommended.
There is also a book available, "Legends, Tales and History of Cold Mountain: Book IV" which has the mill featured as well. It is also available at the above locations.
SPRING 2008:
We have a professional millwright that will be working on the inside of the mill assembling and meshing the gears so that the grinding machinery can be put into operation. Watch for updates.SEPTEMBER 22, 2007: THE WHEEL IS TURNING!
This historic event took place during our 2nd Annual Music At The Mill. The wheel began turning approximately one hour before the event started, through the laborious efforts of several volunteers working until all hours in the days leading up to the 22nd. Our sincere thanks go out to them for making this happen so that many people could enjoy watching the wheel turn while they listened to some good music and enjoyed some BBQ.Watch this space for a report on this special day.
JUNE 2007
NEW WHEEL INSTALLED!
On the weekend of June 22, 23 and 24, the new wheel was installed with the assistance of several volunteers and a crew from the Water Wheel Factory from Franklin, NC. See the pictures of the installation on the Workshop Photo Page CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS. A huge thanks to all the volunteers who showed up to help along with some of the wives who provided lunch. Now the goal is to finish the pond work and install the flume. A millwright has also been hired to put all the machinery inside the mill into working order, so that hopefully we can have the mill up and running before the end of the year...in time to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the mill along with the Bicentennial of Waynesville.
JULY 2007
FLUME BOX INSTALLED!!
Watch for details.
