We can support WNC, albeit in different ways
When you’re a columnist for a newspaper, you don’t take the space for granted. It is a gift and an honor to be given a page every other week to offer my thoughts and opinions on matters of the world or matters of the soul.
During this post-Helene season, the right journalistic topic has been eluding me, and I think it’s because there are so many heightened emotions and opinions surrounding this natural disaster that I don’t want to take any issue lightly or try and sound like I’m an expert or a soap box queen.
When this happens, I write from my heart instead of my head because I know that what is written from the heart will read authentically.
My longtime readers may remember when I bought the cabin in Maggie Valley. After three years of living there, we moved to a home in downtown Waynesville and began renting the cabin. When Hurricane Helene was forecasted, my guests for that weekend canceled and then once the storm hit, the cancellations for all of October started coming in. Over the past two and a half weeks, I’ve offered my cabin to displaced individuals and to friends who needed it for power or water. Once Haywood County was more stabilized, I encouraged my friends from Asheville to use the house, but for most, it was a little far from their everyday lives and they wanted to stay in their communities to help with recovery efforts.
I wondered if I should stop renting it because people were being told not to travel to the area, but then I spoke with an upcoming guest who wanted to ensure it was still OK to visit. She was planning to attend a small wedding in Maggie Valley that had not been rescheduled. She asked if restaurants and stores were open and I said something like, “All Waynesville and Maggie restaurants are open. A few of our favorite retail stores in Frog Level suffered total losses, but they will have booths at an upcoming festival.” The Apple Harvest Festival in Waynesville happens to be the same weekend this guest will be in town. As an aside, the stores who suffered total losses who will be at the festival are Soul Sisters Depot, Cultivate and Funky Fern Emporium.
As this guest and I were communicating, I pondered why people couldn’t come to the areas of Western North Carolina that were unharmed or only partially harmed. At the time, it felt like a little secret I was keeping because news outlets everywhere were saying not to travel to the region. Then, little by little, I started seeing social media posts and then even billboards encouraging people to visit the western mountain towns so that the economy in some parts of Western North Carolina could survive this awful tragedy. Towns that are waiting and willing to welcome tourists and locals this fall are Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Bryson City, Murphy, Dillsboro, Franklin, Andrews, Cherokee, Sapphire, Highlands, Cashiers, Sylva, Cullowhee, Nantahala, downtown Brevard and perhaps a couple more places.
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With that being said, my heart is broken for the hardest hit towns. As someone who grew up in Weaverville, Asheville was the “big city” of my childhood. It was supposed to be the unbreakable, charismatic boss of WNC, but even the biggest and boldest are fragile when up against a hurricane. Along with Asheville, my heart breaks for Spruce Pine, Chimney Rock, Swannanoa, Barnardsville, Marshall, Banner Elk, Burnsville and all the beautiful Appalachian towns I grew up knowing and loving.
What I’ve decided is that I can do two things at once. I can promote and encourage folks to visit some mountain towns while supporting the devastated mountain towns in the ways I can. I’ve been buying gift cards from stores in Asheville that are closed because of the water outage and then saving the gift cards for future birthday and Christmas gifts. It’s certainly not equal to the amount of money they would make during a normal October, but if hundreds of people do this, it could help some. Similarly, I’m in communication with my local church and a friend who’s a counselor at two Buncombe County schools to keep my finger on the pulse in terms of what people are still needing.
During this challenging time, my goal is to support all of our incredible mountain towns. That may look like attending the Apple Harvest Festival in Waynesville on a Saturday then on Monday driving diapers, propane and cleaning supplies over to Asheville to be distributed to displaced families. And you better believe that as soon as some of the hardest-hit towns begin opening up, I’ll be there with a smile and open wallet.
The needs of Western North Carolina are so varied and vast, it can be hard to know what’s helpful and what’s not. We need to keep working as long as our people need us. Continue inquiring, stay connected, ignore fake news and conspiracy theories, maintain empathy, act from a place of love not fear, and keep the energy up for those who can’t find their own. If ever community and fellowship were needed in Western North Carolina, it’s this moment in history. Let’s keep showing up my friends. Oftentimes, that’s the most important thing we can do. Keep showing up.
(Susanna Shetley is a writer, editor and digital media specialist who lives in Waynesville. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
