[upbeat music] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend," join us from Celebrity Dairy because here comes spring.

We'll visit the Tanger Center in Greensboro, get to know a bunch of cute farm animals, and explore Catawba Falls.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] - Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend," everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel, and this week we're at Celebrity Dairy, a 340-acre working farm where the precious goats here produce milk for some amazing cheeses and other treats.

We'll explore the dairy and meet some cute baby goats later in the show.

But first, let's head to Greensboro, where Stephanie Bourland visited the Steven Tanger Center for Performing Arts, where they really know how to put on a show.

♪ You wanna be startin' somethin' ♪ ♪ You got to be startin' somethin' ♪ - [Stephanie] They can't wait to get in.

♪ You got to be startin' something ♪ ♪ Too high to get over ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ You're too low to get under ♪ - [Narrator] Another packed house at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in Greensboro to see "MJ the Musical."

[audience cheers and applauds] - You gotta see the moonwalk.

- The music, [Rochelle laughs] going back into time and reminiscing on the old Michael Jackson songs.

- [Narrator] Moses and Rochelle Israel think there is something magical about seeing shows here.

Christina White agrees.

[audience cheers] - You can feel the energy like you see in the room right now, and just all the people seem welcoming, and you can tell the excitement in the room.

- [Narrator] Hundreds of shining spheres swirl above Tanger Center's three-story lobby, greeting up to 400,000 guests every year.

- I think this was something the area definitely needed, and I think that it's more than just a concert experience.

It's a whole entertainment experience.

- [Narrator] One which can include a delicious meal.

It's the prelude dinner, and it receives as many compliments as the main attraction.

- It's a beautiful environment.

I love being here.

The place is something we haven't experienced before.

It's a experience like no other.

- I just like coming to eat, take out their food.

[laughs] I like their prelude dinners.

- [Narrator] The prelude dinner also keeps Chrae Beatty coming back.

- The meal is my favorite part and then just the entertainment.

- [Narrator] Endless options under one roof or outside on the starlight veranda overlooking the downtown arts district.

[lively music] [glasses clinking] - And if you decide not to partake in the prelude dinner, you can always come here to the lobby, where you can enjoy a lovely glass of wine, cheers, a nice snack, great friends, and plenty of hospitality.

- There's so many people to help you find your way.

You don't have to worry about, you know, being lost or knowing where you sit or figuring things out.

There's just a lot of good customer service here.

- [Narrator] Hospitality which is filling seats and setting records.

- We have 17,569 Broadway season seat members, which is a record for a single-week Broadway market in the United States.

[elegant classical music] - [Narrator] About 225 events are showcased here each year.

The ballet and Broadway, comedians and [elegant classical music continues] the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.

This theater is not only attractive and accessible.

It's also a state-of-the-art facility.

- So one of the things we wanted to do was make it a great experience.

So that started with the stage house and how big the stage is and the electronics and sound system and lighting that goes along with that.

- [Narrator] Just a few reasons why folks from Kernersville and Pittsboro, Pinehurst and Statesville, Elon and Burlington keep coming back to this high-end regional theater with a hometown feel.

- The Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts is at One Abe Brenner Place, 300 North Elm Street in Greensboro.

To find out more about upcoming shows and more, give them a call at 336-333-6500, or go online to tangercenter.com.

[gentle upbeat music] I'm here with Clare Reding, operations manager for Celebrity Dairy.

Clare, these little goats are so, so cute.

- [Clare] They're super cute.

- I love 'em.

[Clare laughs] Tell me a little bit about the story of Celebrity Dairy.

- So Celebrity Dairy is owned by Brit and Fleming Pfann.

It's been a working goat dairy for over 40 years.

We're on 340 acres.

And so Fleming realized that after her whole life not being able to have cow protein that she could, in fact, have goat milk.

So she got two goats, and here we are 40 years later with over 100 goats and making all these wonderful cheese products.

- And lots of cheese products, but there's a special name for goat cheese, isn't there?

- Chevre.

- Chevre - Chevre, it's very fancy.

- I'm here with Ina Lee, a cheese-maker here at Celebrity Dairy.

Ina, how many different kinds of cheeses have you got?

Tell me about these.

- Okay.

Well, we make about four different kinds, ranging from soft cheeses to drier cheeses.

We do logs, which is our drier cheese, and we have about 10 different flavors just of these.

And they're good for like crumbling on salads or cooking with.

- Okay, that's my speed.

I love 'em on salads.

- Oh, they're good.

And then we also do a softer cheese, which we consider to be spreads, and we have anywhere between 15 to 20 different flavors of these.

They come in so many different- - A tapenade.

You've got jalapeno.

- We even have a chocolate cheese.

- [Deborah] A chocolate one.

- Yes.

- That's different.

- [Ina] Oh, yeah, it's different, good on pretzels.

- Okay.

- But these are good for like dipping or spreading on sandwiches.

Okay, this is called skyr.

It's a softer cheese.

It has a consistency of yogurt or sour cream.

- Mm.

- So it's good in cooking.

It's also good in making smoothies.

- Can I just put fruit on it?

- Oh, absolutely.

We have it... We do drain it so we can make it a little thicker.

So, adding fruit, honey, all the good stuff to really, really... And it's a really good probiotic.

It's very healthy.

We also do make fudge, and, yes, it's made out of goat's milk.

- [Deborah] This farm also has llamas, right?

- We do.

We have two llamas, Annie and Andrew.

Andrew's a our 20-year-old llama.

They are here as our herd guardians.

They protect the goats from coyotes and predators, and they parole the perimeter, and nothing gets by 'em.

- [Deborah] What's something about goats that most people don't know?

- That they will steal your heart right out from under you.

- Yeah, they will.

This one's got my heart.

Yes, you do.

- Yes.

[Deborah laughs] - So, Clare, where can people find Celebrity Dairy farm cheeses?

- [Clare] Oh, we're at many of the local farmer's markets, Carrboro, downtown Durham, Pittsboro, Southern Pines, Fearrington, and soon to be Sanford.

- [Deborah] Wonderful, well, I can't wait to try some.

- We're also in the Weaver Street Market, Durham Co-op, and several local restaurants.

- Aw, thank you so much for sharing your little family of goats with us.

- Oh, no problem.

I'll check your purse before you leave.

[Deborah laughs] - Celebrity Dairy is at 144 Celebrity Dairy Way in Siler City.

You can get their cheeses at the Pittsboro, Durham, and Carrboro Farmer's markets as well as Whole Foods and Weaver Street Market.

To find out more about farm tours, visit their website at celebritydairy.com.

Of course, not all farm animals live a life as good as those here at Celebrity Dairy.

Let's head to Pittsboro, where producer Rick Sullivan met a fascinating couple dedicated to helping the lives of the animals at the Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge.

[rooster crowing] - [Rick] It's a new day, and Mr. Carter is ready for work.

This rooster's only job this morning is to keep the cameraman away from his hens.

That's Carter, and he is not happy with me saying hi to Edith, but Edith wants her turn on TV.

Hey, Edith.

There are no expectations that visitors and volunteers to the refuge will share the same level of dedication to animal welfare as the staff, and that's okay.

An open mind and a love for animals is all it takes for a wonderful tour.

- So we're at Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge, which is in Pittsboro, North Carolina, which is near the Triangle region, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham.

We're a nonprofit organization on 45 acres of land that works to rescue farm animals who come from abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

We provide them with a forever home here, and then we're open to the public, where you can come volunteer.

You can come on a tour, meet the animals, and learn their stories.

- [Rick] Every animal has one.

Take Carter, for instance, who came here from the big city.

- He has quite a unique story.

He was actually shipped as a prank to the CEO of a major company in Manhattan, who opened a box, and a baby chicken popped out.

- [Rick] Now the little guy is living the life with his hens.

The largest animal at the refuge is Benny the steer.

He's a full-grown dairy bovine and a rare site because only milk-producing female cows typically live to adulthood.

Benny was rescued along with his best friend Roz.

- [Lenore] Now he's just our towering giant, but he's one of the sweetest cows here, and that's good because otherwise he could really give us a run for our money.

[laughs] - [Rick] The animals have plenty of space to spread out here and some really nice architecture surrounding them thanks to Lenore's husband Paul, an architect.

- Me and Lenore moved to this property about 10 or 12 years, and at the time, I was in school at NC State University in the Master of Architecture program over there.

For the first couple of animal houses that we built here, I actually incorporated them into my schoolwork as school projects, and my master thesis was actually designing, researching, and building the goat and sheep houses here.

Hey, Todd.

Hey, Ethan.

- [Rick] The entire project of designing, building, and sustaining Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge has been a collective effort of Lenoir, Paul, several employees, and local volunteers.

In 2025, the refuge celebrates 13 years in business saving animals.

- You know, one of the things that's been really important to me because a lot of animal rescues and sanctuaries, they end up closing because there are so many animals in need, and it's hard to say no.

So being sustainable over time and making sure that when we take an animal in, and we say to them, "We're gonna be here for your whole life," that that really means something.

For these animals, that can be quite a long time.

Cows can live to be 25 years old.

Geese can live potentially up to 40 years.

So it's a really big commitment.

- I have a background working on sanctuaries.

This is the fourth sanctuary I've worked at.

So, yeah, just a love for animals and farm animals.

I went vegan like over 10 years ago.

[chickens clucking] [rooster crowing] - [Rick] There are no expectations that visitors and volunteers to the refuge will share the same level of dedication to animal welfare as the staff does, and that's okay.

- [Rick] An open mind and a love for animals is all it takes for a wonderful tour.

- At the refuge, our goal is to be a very welcoming space for all and to be a space where no questions are off-limits, or they are considered to be stupid questions.

We're really a place for people to be curious, to ask questions, and to learn about these animals' stories.

- The Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge is at 7432 North Carolina Highway 87 in Pittsboro.

To plan your visit or to volunteer, give them a call at 919-533-4013 or go online to piedmontrefuge.com.

It's one of the oldest community theaters in the nation, and its mainstage season is in full swing.

A visit to the Asheville Community Theatre will show you why their players have been delighting audiences since the 1940s.

[intriguing upbeat music] - Asheville Community Theatre has been in Western North Carolina since 1946, and we've performed hundreds of shows over the decades, and today is no different.

We have three different seasons here.

We have a mainstage season featuring five mainstage shows, mostly musicals.

We have an education season featuring six shows for kids 18 and under.

And we have a Autumn Player season, which is a reader's theater season comprised of six plays.

- And you'll see!

- All right.

- So our mainstage shows are open to audition for anybody in the community.

So anybody with any level of experience can come be a part of a mainstage show.

And if you're cast in the show, you get to start rehearsals.

Generally you start with a read-through or a sing-through.

You get to know everybody.

The costumes get designed, and you start your dress rehearsals.

Your other technicians come in.

They do prop design, scenic design, hair and makeup, and you get to see really wonderful things right here locally in Asheville.

- Community theaters are one of the great American inventions.

They've been around for nearly 100 years at this point, and it brings together artists of all walks.

It's a great way to bring the community together to provide entertainment and education.

35below is our 40-seat black box theater, which is home to The Autumn Players, our reader's theater troupe.

It's also home to our community-producing partnerships.

That's where we open up an application process to the community to submit works that they would like to do, and then they're able to present their own original works live in 35below.

♪ Deary, deary, I come ♪ - This place means family.

I've often said it's my second home.

Involvement, engagement.

It also means a place to celebrate, educate, and entertain people on both sides of the stage involved in theater.

In the 34 years I've been hanging around here, it has always seemed like a commitment to bringing all sorts of people in.

- It's really awesome to see such diversity here on the stage at ACT cast in ways that aren't stereotypical, ways that are more non-traditional and ways that are more inclusive of everyone.

So that's really great to see.

How they treat people here is even better to see.

Speaking of being a volunteer, they have volunteer appreciation days and activities, and it serves the community.

And anybody can come here and audition and expect to get a part in the play just as much as anybody else.

- Just like each one of those 309 chairs in the audience means Mom, Aunt Jane coming to see little Johnny do his bit in the show, there's also a couple of tourists who have never been to Asheville, heard about the theater or loved "The Sound of Music" and came to see it, as well as people who have bought subscriptions here, maybe even since 1972 when the building was created.

- I love the opportunities here.

Everyone can do this, anyone and everyone.

Even if you don't think that you can act, there are many classes, and I know a lot of people that came here for their very first shows.

- You get to experience the community.

It's not just the more touristy things.

It's getting to see who lives in Asheville, who's a part of this community, and it's just a lot of fun.

- There's been a lot of growth at Asheville Community Theatre.

We've recently renovated our basement to accommodate more studio space for rehearsals and to create more opportunities for our community, and we've also seen a lot of growth in our education department.

- One of my favorite offerings that the education program has is our youth classes.

We've got classes in acting, improvisation, musical theater.

That's dance and voice.

We've also got a class for our youngest performers.

That's Journey to Imaginationland.

So there are lots of options, ages four to 18.

And then we've also got adult classes.

So adults can experience acting, improvisation.

Whether they're a beginner or more advanced, everybody's got the opportunity to learn from the beginning.

No matter where they're at, there's an opportunity for them to get right involved.

I love ACT because we really take the community part seriously in our name.

We really mean it.

We wanna be a part of the community, and we want the community to be a part of us.

And I think that we've done a really nice job of that, and I think the community has done a beautiful job as well of getting involved and staying involved.

It feels really special to be a part of it.

- If you're thinking of coming to ACT, I say come on down.

Come check us out.

We'd love to have you here.

We've got all kinds of opportunities, whether it's seeing a show, whether it's volunteering or taking a class, and we encourage you to get involved because theater is for everyone.

- The Asheville Community Theatre is at 35 East Walnut Street in Asheville.

To buy tickets for their upcoming shows and to learn more, visit their website at ashevilletheatre.org.

A popular recreation area just off I-40 near Old Fort has gotten a much needed makeover.

As producer Clay Johnson and his videographer Erik Olsen show us, the waterfalls are just as beautiful, but now they're much easier and safer for people to approach.

[plaintive music] - Catawba Falls is a beautiful place, awesome waterfall, scenic trails, a place where you can sit near the tranquil water and watch the wildlife.

I come here every couple of weeks.

It's a great spot to just kind of get away and walk.

It's not a hard trail, but it's strenuous enough that I get a good exercise while on the trail.

- [Clay] Catawba Falls is a series of waterfalls at the headwaters of the Catawba River in the Pisgah National Forest in McDowell County.

- [Lisa] We actually have records dating back to the late 1800s of folks getting to the spot.

- [Clay] In the early 2000s, a local land trust purchased the property from a private owner and opened it to the public.

- It transferred over to the US Forest Service, and ever since then, we've been slowly building out infrastructure to make sure that it's safe and enjoyable for folks to visit.

- [Clay] A 3 1/2 mile loop trail takes people to three falls.

The first is an old dam site.

- [Lisa] And this is where the Catawba River was dammed to create electricity for the town of Old Fort in the early 1900s.

- [Clay] The next stop is the lower falls.

- [Lisa] That is kind of the quintessential experience here at Catawba Falls, and it's a 250-foot cascading waterfall, super unique for North Carolina.

It's got a lot of wild flowers and vegetation growing in the waterfall.

- [Clay] Next is a 30-story nearly 600-step staircase to the upper falls.

- [Lisa] It's a really artistically made staircase.

So you'll have a set of stairs.

You'll have landings.

And then about every 100 stairs, there's a large landing, like an overlook or a place with benches.

So we recommend everybody takes their time and enjoys the view.

From every point in the staircase, you get a different view of the waterfall and a different view into the valley.

It is quite the feat of engineering and construction out here, and it includes a 60-foot-tall metal tower that takes you up to an observation deck with a beautiful view into the valley.

- [Clay] The tower and staircase are the centerpieces of a renovation that closed the area for two years.

Before, getting to the lower falls had never been a problem.

- But once you got there, it became a boulder field and then a rock scramble up the side of a cliff.

There were about three ropes that folks would hoist themselves up to get to the upper falls, and that's where we had a lot of accidents.

- [Clay] Even fatalities.

- People would try to get to the upper falls, and I've watched people get hurt here before.

And honestly before the renovations, I'd stopped coming as often because it was crowded.

You would kind of get clustered up at the lower falls, but now people can safely get to the upper falls.

I love it even more after the renovations.

- And that was a big part of this project of why we wanted to develop, so that folks could get safely to the upper falls, which we know they want to visit.

We want folks to have a really good experience in their national forest, just being out in nature in a safe way that's gonna, you know, build that appreciation for what public lands are.

- [Clay] The area gets about 1,500 visitors a day in the summer.

- We get folks who are just traveling east or west on I-40 and maybe want a two-hour hiking stop on their way to, you know, Atlanta, DC, any other metropolitan area.

But we also get a lot of folks who are vacationing in Asheville and Old Fort and Black Mountain and are coming down here to do a nice day hike.

- [Clay] And locals like Christina Redman love to visit Catawba Falls too.

- Maybe I'm out here right before sunset, and trail's quiet.

It's peaceful.

And I'm in here for a 20-minute walk with my dog.

Sometimes I have a whole afternoon free, and I'll come out, and I'll find a spot to put up my hammock and hang out.

I personally get a sense of peace when I come here, and it just grounds me.

It's the time to be out in nature and away from the hustle of life.

- Catawba Falls is at 3074 Catawba River Road in Old Fort, and it's open daily.

To find out more, go to ashevilletrails.com.

Well, that's it for tonight's show.

We've had so much fun here at Celebrity Dairy.

It is a great time of year to visit any farm and do a tour, especially when the baby goats are here.

It's so cute, and just being born.

And don't forget that here at Celebrity Dairy, you can get some of their delicious cheeses.

And if you've missed anything in tonight's show, remember you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org, or find us on our YouTube channel.

Have a great North Carolina weekend, everyone.

Here you go.

[laughs] There we are.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[upbeat music]