March 29, 2024

Instructors

Nancy Stroupe Morrison

Nancy Stroupe Morrison grew up in the NC High Country. Her mother taught English and Latin at Newland and Avery County high schools. Her father was Nationwide Insurance Company’s first field underwriter. Nancy graduated from Newland High in 1962 where she was valedictorian of her class, head cheerleader, and editor-in-chief/business manager of her high school yearbook. She graduated from St. Andrews University with a degree in psychology and sociology in 1966 and did her graduate work at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She was a social worker with Scotland County DSS, a counselor in mental health in Robeson County, senior therapist at the Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center in Butner, NC, and was director of therapeutic services and director of the long term care unit at the Charlotte Detox. She also owned Goodman Entertainment & Events in Charlotte and booked musical entertainment on the east coast for many years. She moved back to Avery County in 1994 to care for her ailing father. She became manager for the Avery Mountain Times and then publisher/editor for the Avery Journal-Times and All About Women. When Nancy retired from publishing in 2010, she reinvented herself as an artist in a field she always loved.

Nancy Stroupe Morrison has served on numerous area boards, including: Avery County Chamber of Commerce (past president), Woolly Worm Festival Committee (past chair), Avery County Arts Council, MAY Coalition (president), Drug Abuse Resolution Team (founding and current president), High Country United Way, Avery County Hall of Legends, Crossnore Enhancement Committee, and many more. She headed a six-month campaign and got two K-9 units for the Avery County Sheriff’s Office; she worked with the SBI, local law enforcement and NC Attorney General’s Office to rid Avery County of local government corruption resulting in prison for a local official; was instrumental in passing the “No Felon For Sheriff” statute in NC; spearheaded efforts that obtained drug treatment court for both Avery and Watauga counties; was elected to the Hall of Legends in 2015; was voted Woman of the Year in 2013; received Outstanding Service Award from Chamber of Commerce in 2010; received the Distinguished Service Award from Mayland Community College in 2008; and won numerous awards from the NC Press Association including Best Column, Investigative Reporting, and Community Service.

Danica De La Mora

For more than a decade, Danica De La Mora has been following a plant-based lifestyle, building on her collection of knowledge through extensive study and educational lectures by doctors who are at the forefront of the latest in nutritional research. She obtained a certification in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University under Drs. T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell II, Dean Ornish, Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., Michael Greger, and more. She also holds a degree in Communication and Film Studies from St. Andrews University and is a graduate of the Barbizon modeling academy.  She was the first student to write, direct, and star in her very own feature length movie in college. She has a background in graphic design, multiple forms of editing, DVD authoring, film transfers and preservation, videography, photography, and photograph restoration, as well as print media production, having been reared in a family who owns print media publications all over the Southeastern United States.

Danica De La Mora has been strongly influenced by her family with whom she is very close. She is experienced in Latin and ballroom dancing, as well as music, with her grandmother’s ownership of a prestigious etiquette and dance school for 50 years and her father having placed fourth in the world on accordion out of thousands of contestants. In addition to her own research and experience with relationships, she has obtained substantial knowledge through her mother’s wide-ranging background involving social work, alcoholism treatment, psychology, and print media publishing. Additionally, her grandparents’ loving and traditional marriage of nearly 60 years provided her with an excellent foundation for understanding successful relationships, complementary gender differences, identities, and roles.

Danica De La Mora instructs groups and individuals interested in changing their diets for better health and long-term weight management. She helps adults and children refine themselves with traditional and conservative elegance. She also counsels ladies and gentlemen in their romantic relationships and helps them find the fulfilling lives they were destined to enjoy.

From the manner in which one conducts oneself to the manner in which one presents oneself, elegance is everything.

Proud graduate of the Center for Nutrition Studies, Cornell University

For more information on Danica De La Mora, visit www.DanicaDeLaMora.com or blog.DanicaDeLaMora.com.

Mary H. Karam

Mary H. Karam  was born in Cleveland, Ohio, during her favorite time of year, Fall.  The time when the leaves just blow in the wind, dancing about.  Her imagination created her favorite playmates, sun-melted crayons who became “colorful aliens” to drawn creatures from fantasy worlds. Through the years, her education, travels and adventures inspired her imaginative mind further.  Mary has never stopped creating, in one form or another.  In high school, she found passion at the Fine Arts Center with metalsmithing, proudly winning the Scholastic Art Awards and a scholarship to Savannah School of Art and Design, SCAD.  Unfortunately, in those years, SCAD did not offer any jewelry or business classes, her other passion.  Instead, she entered Clemson University gaining a bachelors in business with a minor in marketing.  All the while, Mary took advantage of any art classes and opportunities on campus to sell her work with tent and table in hand when she was not in school or waitressing over 30 hours a week.

Extensive work with the public in many areas of design includes art shows, sales to various retailer outlets, and commission pieces.  Mary also finds satisfaction in promoting the arts through other areas, using her gifts to help stimulate the creative abilities of children and adults alike.  She has taught and continues to for workshops, community, and non-profit organizations, feeling, “One learns more about the medium or technique when trying to instruct it to someone else.”

For five years, her adventurous nature drove her to open the first cyber cafe and coffeehouse in Banner Elk, North Carolina.  Mona’s Starlight, named after her mother, became an artistically, fun attraction to the mountain area, quoted as, “Bringing technology to the tourist town….”Closing the coffeehouse years later due to a family crisis, Mary dove into her creative side even more. She continues to design various product lines to sell to gift shops, always loving the challenge of making just the right item to attract visual interest.  She uses her training in various media to expand her own artwork to other dimensions, making each coming moment an evolution to her style.  Mary’s love of learning triggers her research towards the subject matter and allows for diversification, her spice of life. 

Her resume and beautiful art may be seen at www.MaryHKaremArt.com.