From Staff Reports 

CANTON — Hundreds of people gathered May 24 in Sorrells Park to hear the final shift whistle — after more than a century of having an active paper mill in Canton —  from current owner Pactiv Evergreen’s soon-to-shutdown plant.

“We’ll get through this,” Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers stated just prior to the blowing of the last whistle. The whistle was installed in 1908 to signal to mill workers that it was time to go to work, take a lunch break or go home.

“It is with a heavy heart, that I can announce, with confirmation from Evergreen, that the last mill whistle will blow at 12 noon this Wednesday (May 24),” Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers wrote online earlier in the week.

Smathers said the town has been preparing for this day for months, but, now that the final whistle is coming, the reality of losing the mill is starting to set in.

The Daily Planet called Smathers — twice — for comment on the Canton paper mill’s last whistle and for his current vision for the town’s future, but did not receive a response before this edition’s 10 a.m. June 5 press deadline.

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Josh Stein, who toured Canton with Smathers on May 31, said Pactiv Evergreen is in violation of a $12 million state contract and the state will enforce its rights under that contract. (For details on Stein’s Canton visit, see story on Page A4.) 

“I just got a pit in my stomach,” Smathers said. “So, even for someone who has tried to prepare himself for this day, to see it really triggered some... really just... feelings of just... you know, sadness.”

On March 6, Pactiv Evergreen announced its plan to close the Canton paper mill. The plant, which has been in operation for more than 100 years, employs about 1,100 people and is one of the largest employers in Haywood County, Smathers said.

A helpline is available for those impacted by the mill’s closure.

Those seeking help with employment, training, health insurance, healthcare and financial assistance/guidance are encouraged to call the Haywood County Resource Center telephone helpline at (828) 356-2023. 

The helpline will operate between the hours of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is intended to assist callers with both Health and Human Services and Community Resources.

Resources are published online and on the Facebook page “Canton Mill Community Resources.”