LANSING — Downtown was buzzing with the warmth of Christmas magic as the community celebrated the grand reopening of businesses since the destruction of Hurricane Helene. At the Old Orchard Creek General Store, a steady stream of customers filled the space from sunup to sundown recently. This hopeful milestone marks a special time for locals who have come together like family to rebuild their beloved town.
Owner Shelby Tramel and her team spread holiday cheer, raising coffee cups and wine glasses to the renovation of her store in a mere 2½ months.
“The store reopening means the vibrancy of downtown will continue to thrive and expand, and that is important for a small town like ours,” Tramel said.
The spirit of celebration filled the air with live music by local Americana duo the Wild Hares. Sheri Castle, host of the Emmy award-winning PBS cooking show “Key Ingredient,” served up delicious chili and cornbread.
In September, when Old Field Creek and Big Horse Creek swelled and flooded the town with more than 20 feet of muddy water, volunteers came from far and wide to muck out mud, hang drywall, paint and replace equipment in the General Store. The old wooden floors remain, but the water line has left its mark as a reminder of what the people of Ashe County have endured.
As I sipped my steaming mug of hot cider on the sidelines, observing and sharing in the joy of this momentous day, I reflected on those harrowing days after the storm. I’d worked alongside local volunteers in so many areas across this region at various distribution centers, churches, and homesites in recent months, and I did what I could to direct supplies to our mountain communities, which mean so much to me.
On this particular evening, gratitude filled my heart as I watched the historic Mrs. Hart’s store building become a gathering place once again, embodying the love and resolve poured out by the community in the face of overwhelming loss. It also served as a reminder that the most challenging moments often come right before significant growth and change — in this case, Helene proved herself to be Exhibit A.
Yet experiencing their delight side by side refreshed my soul as I knew it meant the small towns of western North Carolina’s High Country would once again reopen and discover how much stronger they are than they think.
I hold a special place in my heart for our mountain communities for so many reasons. I was honored to serve as the people’s representative in the state senate for counties like Avery, Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany and Wilkes from 2016-22 and have continued to foster local growth even after my term. When Helene ravaged areas where I was deeply invested, I drew on my experience as a public servant and community member to help however I could. The relationships I’d built with families, educators, business owners and local county leadership proved invaluable, allowing me to tap into a thriving network of dedicated, everyday people using their gifts in extraordinary ways.
After the storm, phone calls started rolling in from contacts all over the state due to my familiarity with these mountain districts and my resourcefulness in managing hard-hitting events. During my work with the Bush administration in the early 2000s, I was sent to New Orleans and Mississippi as a boots-on-the-ground liaison in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. During that time, I worked with DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and local county emergency management directors to help provide real-time, accurate situational awareness to federal leaders as local and state leadership were actively responding to the crisis. Understanding how to help when local governments were incapacitated — without duplicating efforts or adding more confusion — has been key to my role in supporting clear direction and effective aid.
After transitioning from the federal government, I accepted a position with Samaritan’s Purse, where I often “triaged” information to ensure all relevant parties operated with the same information and that our president/CEO had the best intel for informed decision-making. Between my public and nonprofit work, I have served for nearly 20 years, cutting through chaos with a clear head and decisive next steps.
But when I settled in Watauga more than 15 years ago, I never could have imagined a 1,000-year flood hitting so close to home, destroying so much of what I love about my home state. Having faced the costliest hurricane in U.S. history during Katrina, served in state leadership through a national pandemic, and endured the second deadliest inland hurricane on record, I found myself getting to work using my unique skill set alongside others doing the same. People I’d never met were reaching out with supplies, heavy machinery and teams of volunteers wondering where to direct their aid. My mantra was and continues to be, “How can I help?” So I did.
Opportunities abounded, and I stood in awe of people’s generosity from all over the state and country. Government friends from the eastern part of the state, with access to abundant resources, turned to me for insight on what was needed and where.
One such person connected me with Al Letizio, president and CEO of a wholesale food sales and marketing firm in New Hampshire. Letizio offered his food trailers as aid, so I used my knowledge of areas facing food scarcity to direct his crews to Lansing and Newland, where they served free meals for days at their own expense. As their time in N.C. came to a close, they asked where to donate leftover food. I connected them with my contacts at the Avery County school district, where the supplies were gratefully received.
A generous fire department chief in Conetoe donated a heavy-duty generator, which I helped place with the newly established Build for Good Foundation in Blowing Rock. When folks asked where they could volunteer their time, I directed them to Samaritan’s Purse because of their unmatched organization and efficiency. Crews, in their signature bright orange T-shirts, showed up all over devastated counties, immediately mobilizing when people had nowhere else to turn. I especially loved connecting donors to people, places and organizations that aligned with their personal interests and passions, including coordinating the delivery of much-needed cots personally brought by a friendly lobbyist in Raleigh.
One day, about one week after the storm hit, I was delivering Chick-fil-A sandwiches to Sen. Ralph Hise and their local workers, volunteers and National Guard at the emergency operations center in Spruce Pine. After conversations with Hise and other local leaders, I started to notice a trend — the smaller, lesser-known towns of the High Country were being overlooked as the majority of relief and media coverage were directed to more populated areas. Despite my community’s critical losses, so many people had shared stories of heartfelt heroism with me, neighbors helping neighbors with no concern for their own wellbeing. I decided those stories needed to be shared.
So I began interviewing everyday people who sprang into action to serve their communities, taking on leadership roles within their spheres of influence. I wanted to lift up those who had put their lives on hold to help people, reminding the world that we have so much more in common than the things that divide us. Not only did I want these stories to be told, but I wanted a way to encourage readers to get involved and send aid directly to those who would use it for good.
The enduring beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains runs in our veins, a testament to the staying power of those who call the High Country home. Each town here has faced unique challenges and celebrated victories. At the downtown Lansing celebration, I spoke with a few locals about how they felt seeing their favorite business reopen. Their heartfelt responses included, “It feels like home again,” and that it was “exactly the Christmas gift the town needed right now.”
While the reopening is a significant step toward normalcy, many families and businesses in the High Country still face a long road to full recovery. Now is the time to lean into our unique gifts and support these communities in every way we can.
If you’re looking for ways to support western NC into 2025, here are my top five best ways to get involved and spread neighborly love — because the needs remain high, and we’re all in this together. I’m so humbled by the spirit of gratitude that pervades these stories, and I’m beyond proud to be Mountain Strong!
1. Call a school in an affected county and ask to adopt a family in need.
2. Join Samaritan’s Purse in rebuilding homes and churches in affected counties.
3. Shop local and support small businesses (seriously, we can’t say this enough!).
4. Pray for snow; our ski resorts and tourism community need the boost in revenue.
5. Show gratitude to local leadership and first responders. They put in long hours and hard work, often without recognition.
