The exhibit features selected pieces from one of the world’s finest collections of over 600 historic brass instruments from the Joe and Joella Utley Collection of Spartanburg, SC. In collaboration with the National Music Museum (NMM) in Vermillion, South Dakota, which will soon house the Utley Collection, Dr. Sabine Klaus, curator of the Utley Collection, worked closely with Tom Strange, Curator and Artistic Director of the Carolina Music Museum to prepare the exhibit.
Tuesday – Saturday 10-5 Sunday 1-5

VENARDOS CIRCUS IS LIVE ONLINE! We are so grateful for your past support when we visited Asheville. Our live shows are currently on hiatus due to social distancing recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we miss our audience terribly!

Once we determined we needed to pause the tour, we immediately started planning how we could continue our mission to bring joy, positivity and light, as well as some comfort and distraction, to our circus family during this uncertain time via social media.

FIRST VIDEO IS LIVE! We hope you enjoy and we’d LOVE your feedback on our social channels.

Please SHARE!

New videos will be posted weekly on Thursdays at 10:00am Pacific/1:00pm Eastern.

Content is meant to entertain the whole family, as do our shows, but a great resource for the kids to enjoy some high quality, trustworthy entertainment. Storyboard images from this week’s story which you can print at home as coloring sheets after watching the video. Content will change each week. These will be available on our Facebook page. Here is the Facebook event you can RSVP to as well for each week. We hope you will enjoy it and subscribe to our page for future content. We’d LOVE your ideas for future content – please share your feedback on email, the video comments or DM us on Facebook or Instagram.

Solve a History Mystery with Lauren each Thursday at 2 PM! During these Facebook Live events, Lauren will feature a historic artifact and share clues about its purpose. Can you guess the artifact before Lauren reveals what it is? Tune in weekly to find out!
#LearningWithLauren

Join us daily, at 2:30pm, for a Keeper Check-In. We’ll visit with a different keeper every day for an exciting encounter with one of our amazing animals!

We hold our RMA Club Meetings on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm, except December and August. We meet at the Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville SC, on the top floor of the Wilkins Conference Center next to the Charles E. Daniel Observatory.
Our meetings are free of charge, open to visitors, and all levels of interest are welcome. An astronomy related topic is presented at every meeting either by a member or guest speaker. Questions and discussion are a part of our meetings.

Come out and hear Bob Brauer present “The Flying Observatory”

Bob Brauer is a past president of the San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) in San Jose, California. He joined NASA’s SOFIA program as the Safety and Quality Assurance Manager for Universities Space Research Association (USRA) until his retirement in 2018.

Sofia is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a 2.7-meter (106-inch) reflecting tele-
scope (with an effective diameter of 2.5 meters or 100 inches) Flying into the stratosphere at 38,000-45,000 feet puts SOFIA above 99 percent of Earth???s infrared-blocking atmosphere, allowing astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes.

Health and Safety Updates

Mystery Hill and our rowdy neighbor, Tomahawk Hill, will be reopening from 9 am to 6 pm only on Fridays, Sat-
urdays, and Sundays, starting May 15th. As part of the Covid 19 Phase One business openings instituted in North

Carolina, we will abide by the safe distancing rules, and will have limited, time-slotted tickets. We encourage
visitors to buy tickets in advance on our website to avoid wait times outside. All attractions will be operating with
some operational changes to help with social distancing and ramped up sanitation procedures. Front Porch Eats
will operate for take out only but the onsite picnic areas have been setup for social distancing and will be open.
We are going to extend the expiration date on all current Vortex Pass Memberships to December 31, 2021 and for the
rest of May any vortex passes purchased or renewed will get $20 off and will also be valid until December 31, 2021.
Here are just some of the precautions we are taking:
• Separate entrance and exit doors to limit cross traffic
• 6 ft separation in ticketing queue line
• Plastic barriers separating staff and guests in ticketing line
• Staff will wear a mask and maintain social distance
• Anomaly tours will start every 30 min and will be private for only one group traveling
together

• Access to the Museums, Tomahawk Hill and Gift Shops will be limited by occupancy to help with social dis-
tancing

• The Old Time Photo Parlour will not be open yet so for tickets that include photos guest can choose to either
have a souvenir photo done in the Mystery House, Platform, Bubblerama, or Tomahawk Hill or they can get a
voucher to use for the Old Time Photo when it reopens
• Front Porch Eats will operate for takeout only but guests can use our picnic tables which have been spread
out to maintain social distancing
• We are adding hand sanitizing stations at the entrance to each of our exhibit areas and asking the guest to
sanitize before they enter
• We are increasing our daily housekeeping cleaning of fixtures, exhibits, and handrails to several times per day

Kolo Bike Park has reopened with amended attendance and safety precautions. The current operating days and hours will be Thursday to Sunday weekly with 2 riding sessions daily at 10:00-2:00 and 2:00-6:00. We have received notification from the Buncombe County Health & Human Services Department that our bike trails can operate with certain conditions.

Currently, the aerial activities are closed. May 13, we are planning to open the Asheville Treetops Adventure Park. Then we plan to open the Ziplines soon after that.

If you are interested in riding at Kolo Bike Park, please check out our current safety rules and regulations. We highly recommend reservations, payment and waivers to be completed prior to arrival.

Looking Forward or #ashevillelookingforward, we are building new Bike Trails, starting a Kolo Bike Program for younger kids, and have added a new intermediate trail on the Treetops Park. And we have a fun Halloween surprise in store for our younger guests.

As a locally owned family business, we look to the future…….

1. Keep your plans and reservations in place. We are only planning to be closed as long as we have to keep our Guests and employees safe. If your activity date happens at a time when we are closed, we will contact you.

2. If we need to cancel your upcoming activity, consider a credit vs. refund. That allows us to keep the facility and team ready to go when we do reopen. We continue to have expenses even while we are closed including preparing the gear/facility for the season and paying our leadership team. Your support will help us keep this great family facility alive and strong for the next 10 years.

3. Book reservations for May 13 or later for the Treetops Park or May 20 or later for the Zipline.

4. Buy gift certificates today for you, friends, or family. They don’t expire and they are great gifts all year long. That continuance of cashflow will help us all keep the economy going.

5. Keep planning for summer camps. We are planning a great summer with four different day camp options. We have returning camp counselors, new trails for bikes and a new aerial trail in the Treetops Park. And announcing our 2 new Kolo Advanced Shred Summer Sessions for ages 13-17 to develop their fundamental skills by advanced pro level riders. Call our office or book online (fees apply when booking online.) 828.225.2921

6. Group sales is still taking reservations for the future at [email protected]. A group adventure in the Trees (Zipping or Climbing the Treetops Park) or on the ground (team building or mountain bike riding) will be a great way to reconnect with co-workers, students, families and youth groups.

7. Check out our Blog with updated ACA information

We greatly appreciate the thousands of families, groups of friends, couples, young adults, schools, businesses, churches, camps and so many more that are part of our adventure family. We are where we were yesterday and where we will be a month from now because of you. Your support allows our team to do what we love to do while helping you do the same. We look forward to getting back to normal again. Stay safe and well!

Jeff Greiner
Adventure Center of Asheville
www.advavl.com

The exhibit features selected pieces from one of the world’s finest collections of over 600 historic brass instruments from the Joe and Joella Utley Collection of Spartanburg, SC. In collaboration with the National Music Museum (NMM) in Vermillion, South Dakota, which will soon house the Utley Collection, Dr. Sabine Klaus, curator of the Utley Collection, worked closely with Tom Strange, Curator and Artistic Director of the Carolina Music Museum to prepare the exhibit.
Tuesday – Saturday 10-5 Sunday 1-5

Join us daily, at 2:30pm, for a Keeper Check-In. We’ll visit with a different keeper every day for an exciting encounter with one of our amazing animals!