The peace and quiet that often prevails at WNC Nature Center recently seems … well, unnatural. But that’s the wild reality during the course of a pandemic.

“It’s surreal, actually,” director Chris Gentile said. “You know, we’ve had the place to ourselves now for about six months. And the animals are wondering where everybody is.”

But, while the center was closed, two employees saw an opening.

“What a difference a day makes,” said Eddie Martinez, a maintenance technician.

He and facilities curator Jason Marshall took advantage of a mostly empty facility and completed a host of improvements.

They’re the News 13 Persons of the Week.

WNC NATURE CENTER ANNOUNCES REOPENING PLANS

The result of their efforts is everything from landscaping to concrete work, improving the experience for visitors when they do come back.

“We had somewhat of a plan that we wanted to get a bunch of things done while

This slow cooker apple butter could not be easier. I got the inspiration and the itch to make some apple butter from seeing so many of my foodie friends making it once fall arrived. So I started scouring the internet and Pinterest for apple butter ideas and quickly decided to take matters into my own hands.

My biggest problem with most apple butter recipes is that they are LOADED with sugar. If you use the right kind of apple, you really don’t need any sugar at all. I went with some local Empire apples that have just the right balance of sweet and tart. I used maple syrup to add just a bit of sweetness — still a fraction of the amounts most recipes call for. That and a few cinnamon sticks and you are on your