We just arrived home yesterday from a very short vacation trip to Pensacola FL. Jessica has some family down there, so we snuck away to go visit them and take some R&R time

While we were visiting, one of Jessica’s family members made the comment that they rarely go to the beach – maybe a few times a year. It amazes me they’ve lived their for decades, yet they rarely go to the most coveted land mark in their area.

I’ve heard this same comment from our clients in the past who say they live a short drive to the beach yet never go. It’s almost as if it grows old and normal. I must admit I’m glad that living in the mountains of Murphy NC never grows old.

The mountains and the gorgeous scenery they create becomes part of you. You simply don’t grow tired of them! Their beauty is something you constantly can enjoy – your mountain view, your creek, your lake, the mountains as you drive home – you name it. It’s inspiring and I’m proud to know we live where you never grow weary of your greatest surroundings.

John Poltrock – The Poltrock Team at REMAX of Murphy NC – www.MyMurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call us toll free at 1-866-Murphy-NC or 1-866-687-7496

These are the two scariest girls in Murphy NC – Jessica and Katie! As Halloween is being celebrated on the eve of, we are getting ready to head to Duke Street in downtown Murphy.

Duke Street is the most popular place for kids and families to go on Halloween. It’ll be packed with ghouls, goblins, skeletons, withes, and any other stretch of the imagination!

If you’ve never been, come join us! We hope to see you at Duke Street this year!

John Poltrock – The Poltrock Team at RE/MAX Mountain Properties – 866-687-7496

The Banner for the 2010 Folk School Fall Festival

Every year, The John C. Campbell Folk School hosts one of my personal favorite Fall Festivals in Murphy, NC. Thousands of people flock to the small town of Brasstown, NC to celebrate the changing of the seasons.

This year was no different. It was great! There were lots of people and some really good vendors this year. Everything from paintings, photography, prints, glass work, iron work, chairs, you-name-it was represented this year. All the vendors were great to speak with and where more than open to sharing their experiences and how they accomplished their craft.

Music and dancing is always a large part of the celebration. My

I love hearing the violins every year!

personal favorite is watching the younger kids play violins – they’re amazingly talented. Not only that, our church choir even sings at the barn which is always neat to watch.

If you’ve never been to a Fall Festival, you certainly need to! There’s nothing like it – just be sure to come hungry and ready to walk!

John Poltrock – The Poltrock Team – RE/MAX Mountain Properties – Murphy, NC – www.MyMurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call us Toll-Free Today at 1-866-Murphy-NC or 1-866-687-7496

2009 John C Campbell Folk School Fall Festival

2008 John C Campbell Folk School Fall Festival

The Poltrock Team and the Trash! Wait... which is which?!

Lake Hiwassee is a gorgeous resource here in Murphy, and I find myself writing about it often in many different articles. A week ago today was the annual Big Sweep. It’s an arranged group of folks who spend at least half their Saturday on Lake Hiwassee cleaning up trash in different coves. Jessica and I did it, and I have to admit, it was a lot of fun! We even did it on our canoe, so we paddled the whole way! It was a bit more work, but I have to admit, it got us to places where larger boats would’ve had trouble and was fun.

It was organized by Silas Allen, our very own head of the Cherokee Building Department, and Susan Hersh (who I might add is the “face” of the Building Department as you always see her running the show when you go in ) It takes ton of preparation and organization, and thanks to them, the turnout was great. There were roughly 130 volunteers, 20 boats, and an estimated 20,000 pounds of trash taken from the shores of the lake. This year’s focus was right around Bear Paw. It was such a great event – it was on the front Page of this week’s Cherokee Scout newspaper.

Silas Allen and Susan Hersh stand on their mound of trash they were instrumental in cleaning up

The majority of the trash come from the rivers, creeks, and streams that are tributaries to Lake Hiwassee. It’ll come from someone’s yard and eventually end up in Lake Hiwassee. We found lots of things in the lake such as tennis balls, countless plastic bottles, Skoal cans, tires, coolers, televisions, and tons more. It’s amazing how many things end up in the lake, and it was nice to know we were able to make a difference.

John Poltrock – The Poltrock Team – REMAX Mountain Properties in Murphy NC – www.MyMurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call us Toll free at 1-866-687-7496

At this time of year, I have the privilege of sitting on several scholarship committees where we get to interview many of the areas High School Seniors and award them with scholarships. The best part is, many of the scholarships cover not only the Cherokee County/Murphy NC area, but Robbinsville, Hayesville, and beyond. It’s an amazing opportunity. Every year there are some outstanding graduates who have accomplished unparalleled feats – all before they even go to college. The talent, skill, and genuine-ness (is that even a word!?) is something to be admired. Not only that, our local teachers need to be commended for helping them grow to be the person they are and the future that lays before them.

Congrats Seniors!

Mountain Lakes Board of Realtors Scholarship - this one is provided by our local Board of Realtors to a graduating Senior. Many area Realtors contribute this fund to give to a worthy graduate in the area covered by the Board of Realtors. This is always the one I contribute to as I get to have active roll in the process and get to meet the recipients.

The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina – this is a non-profit group that manages not only one scholarship, but many that cover all of Western North Carolina. They issued several to Cherokee County Students, and an astounding  106 awards to 101 students with a grand total of $284,500 scholarships – for 2010 alone. I’ve worked and/or met with many of the staff here and they are an amazing group of professionals who help make higher education possible for many of WNC’s best and brightest. Thank you for all your help and hard work!

With all this said, Congratulations to all graduating Seniors.

We’re rooting for you!

John Poltrock – The Poltrock Team – REMAX Mountain Properties – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call us Toll Free 1-866-687-7496 – skype: johnpoltrock

Happy Veteran’s Day! As the son of a career military man, I have a huge respect for our Veteran’s and those in active duty. We thank you more than any words could ever express and salute you for your contibution to our country. Because of the work and sacrifice you have made, we have the freedom we that affords us the ability to sell real estate in the mountains of North Carolina.

May God bless every one of you and keep you safe who are on tour serving our nation. Your service is one that deserves far more than one day of recognition. Thank you all and we hope to see you in the Murphy NC!

John Poltrock – The POLTROCK TEAM – RE/MAX Mountain Properties – www.MyMurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call us Toll Free 1-866-687-7496

Every year, the Folk School Designs a Banner - this is 2009's!

Every year, the John C Campbell Folk School in Brasstown NC welcomes thousands of people from all over the United States to their annual Fall Festival – and this year’s was great! There were lots of vendors and artists who brought their talent and crafts for sale at the hundreds of vendor tents.

Not only that, there was authentic local music, dancing, and so much more. They hold all the music at the large barn and its always packed slam full of folks who are there to enjoy all the local talent. This year had choirs, bluegrass music, tap dancing, and everything else you can think of in between.

Just a Few Vendors and Artists

This Festival is not only for the adult – kids love it too! There are all sorts of things for the children to do – horse back riding, alpacas to pet, toys to find and buy, friends to see, and so much more!

Last year’s Folk School Festival was a lot of fun too, and as always, we can’t wait to enjoy the upcoming one in 2010!

Written by John Poltrock, Certified Residential Specialist – The POLTROCK TEAM at RE/MAX Mountain Properties – www.MyMurphy.com – Call us Toll Free – 1-866-687-7496 – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com

Katie & Friend Pet the Alpacas

Learning to Shoot Bow and Arrows in Murphy NC

This Saturday was an absolute blast! More than 600 kids in the Murphy, North Carolina area met in the Martins Creek / Brasstown area to enjoy one major event – the Scott Hogsed Memorial Youth Day.

Katie Practicing Fly Fishing

Every year for the past four or five years, Scott Hogsed Memorial Day has been orchestrated in August by Mr. Sam Hogsed for the sole purpose of educating kids on the outdoor sports. There were groups of classes on everything from fly fishing, rope bridges, bow and arrow shooting, BB gun shooting, and so much more.

Boy Scouts in Murphy Sponsored Rope Bridge

To top it off, every kid that comes gets a gift bag full of goodies and a FREE fishing rod! At the end, they even give away more things such as a bow, gun, all sorts of things with the sole purpose to entice children to get outside and enjoy all the thing nature offers here in Murphy NC.

If you didn’t make it this year, be sure to come! The kids always have a good time and word of advice: bring yard chairs and some water so you can sit down and enjoy the shade while the children are out running around. See you next year!

John Poltrock – The POLTROCK TEAM at RE/MAX Mountain Properties – www.MyMurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call us toll-free 1-866-687-7496

This weekend turned out to be bright and gorgeous! After a long day of showing real estate to some prospective buyers on Saturday, it really was a treat to get out boating on Lake Hiwassee this Sunday.

We put in the boat at the Hanging Dog Forest Service area here in Murphy and then rode all the way to the Hiwassee Dam.

This year is exceptionally beautiful because Hiwassee is practically full! After a couple of years with low rainfall and low water levels on Hiwassee, it’s genuinely a treat to see it that full. It’s beautiful with all the Forest Service it has surrounding it, and yesterday was no exception. It’s great to ride for miles and only see nature around. Natural shoreline is certainly the majority on Hiwassee since it’s only 7% developed and Forest Service owns the rest.

If you’ve not been fishing or skiing on Hiwassee, you should! Much of the water is like glass since the channels are long, slender, and blocked from wind by the mountains. You can find a cove and just enjoy yourself and likely not see another person in your cove!

For real estate in the mountains of Murphy NC or to find out what is for sale on Lake Hiwassee, call The POLTROCK TEAM at REMAX Mountain Properties toll free at 1-866-Murphy-NC or 1-866-687-7496 – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – www.MyMurphy.com

Cool weather, falling leaves, and festivals means it is October and that Fall is in full swing here in Murphy, North Carolina!

Last weekend we went to the John C Campbell Folk School‘s Fall Festival here in Murphy, NC / Brasstown, NC. It was perfect weather! Despite gas shortages throughout much of the southeast, 1,000′s of people made their way to come visit the festivities that were wide open all weekend.

Jessica, Katie, and I had a great time walking around, visiting all the different booths, the live music, riding horses (well, Katie did!), eating, and seeing tons of people we haven’t seen in a while! The best part is seeing the truly talented vendors selling everything from their soaps, trinkets, and my personal favorite, photographs.

This year’s Fall Festival was great and we look forward to next year’s!

John Poltrock – The POLTROCK TEAM – www.mymurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call Toll Free 1-866-687-7496