I was told “good luck.”

In August 2012, as one of my first assignments for The Smoky Mountain News, I found myself at the doorstep of the Maggie Valley Opry House. Owned and operated by acclaimed banjoist Raymond Fairchild, I was told “good luck” when it came to actually having a civil interview with the bluegrass icon. Referred to as “crabby” or “ironclad,” I wondered just how well my sit-down with him would actually go.

Heading north on State Road 135, just outside the small town of Nashville, Indiana, the stretch of pavement curves along a mountain ridge, as if you’re rolling along the spine of a snake. Though the last rays of summer are still holding strong back in Western North Carolina, fall colors had spilled onto the endless landscape of multi-colored trees and sheered cornfields in the heartland of America.

SEE ALSO: Stand tall or don’t stand at all A conversation with Raymond Fairchild

With Nashville in the rearview mirror, you roll up and down the foothills of rural Brown County. Soon, a large bright yellow sign appears to your right. You almost have to slam your brakes when it makes itself known at the last second. In big letters it states, “Bill Monroe’s Memorial Music Park & Campground — Home of the Brown County Jamboree.”

Elk and humans are still trying to figure out how to cohabitate in Western North Carolina since the herd was re-introduced to the Cataloochee Valley in 2001.

Six years ago, Becky Ramey and Terry Frady started a little festival in the parking lot of their Maggie Valley restaurant with improv performers on the back of a flatbed truck and one keg of beer.

Alaska Presley has talked for years about her vision of having the tallest cross in the western hemisphere placed on top of her Buck Mountain property in Maggie Valley, but now it seems that plan will not come to fruition any time soon.

A month after the sudden death of Maggie Valley Mayor Ron DeSimone, longtime alderwoman Saralyn Price has decided to seek the mayor’s seat as a write-in candidate in the fall election.

Maggie Valley leaders aren’t taking no for an answer after the North Carolina Department of Transportation said nothing could be done to improve safety conditions at the U.S. 19 and U.S. 276 intersection.

The mood was somber at Maggie Valley town hall last Wednesday as Alderwoman Saralyn Price called a special board meeting to order.

There are two types of mayors — the ones who show up to shake hands and kiss babies and the ones who take an active role in their town to make it a better place. 

Maggie Valley Mayor Ron DeSimone certainly fell into the latter category.

SEE ALSO:
• Family and friends honor DeSimone’s memory
• DeSimone dies in construction accident
• Write-in likely to run for mayor in Maggie following tragic death

As family members and friends took turns paying tribute to Ron DeSimone at his memorial mass on Tuesday, one word kept being repeated — love.