Blue Ridge Country Jan/Feb 2025 - 5

The Hells of Helene
THE REGION CONTINUES ITS RECOVERY
FROM THE EDITOR
T
he
superlatives
are not the kind
we like to see,
but
they are
the ones that the remnants
of Hurricane Helene delivered
to portions of the
southern Appalachians.
Of the Blue Ridge Parkway,
the 469-mile " America's Scenic
Drive " along the Virginia and North
Carolina Blue Ridge, the Blue Ridge
Parkway Foundation asserted that the
roadway faces " the most tremendous
challenges since the first crew broke
ground in 1935. "
As in tens of thousands of trees
across the road and long sections of
pavement washed away.
Of the Appalachian National Scenic
Trail, the 2,190-mile path from
Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian
Trail Conference identified the storm
as " the largest natural disaster in the
history of the trail. "
As in well over 100 miles of the
trail still being closed a month after
the storm, with sections in North
Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia still
awaiting full assessment toward ATC's
commitment to " rehabilitate the trail
and landscape, no matter how long it
takes. "
LETTERS
Wiring Counts Too
The " Stars of Our Town " piece in
the November/December issue
credits a hidden Bob Kinsey
with turning on the switch to
light the Mill Mountain Star as
then-Roanoke Mayor A. Minton
pretended to, in 1949.
And according to Wikipedia: " .
. . Roanoke Mayor A.R. Minton
hit the power switch for the first
time (though in reality the switch
was a dummy; Bob Kinsey of
the Roy C. Kinsey Sign Company
threw the actual switch from
behind a circuit box). "
I'd like to note that my father,
William H. Booth, was there with
all the dignitaries because he
was the star's chief electrician,
employed by the Jefferson
Electric Company. My brother
and I, age five, were nearby and
ecstatic when it lit up.
Turning it on would have been
an unwelcomed failure had it
not been for the electricians who
successfully wired it.
In 2007, with Roanoke Parks
and Recreation, my brother,
William H. Booth, Jr., and I
installed a plaque at the star's
base honoring our father's
contribution to the area.
-Glenda C. Booth, Alexandria, Virginia
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025 5
CONTRIBUTORS
angela minor
KURT
RHEINHEIMER
Of star mountain city
Asheville, North Carolina,
its dozens of deaths and
vast destruction, the Asheville
Citizen Times wrote
of " the worst flooding
since the 1916 flood. "
As in complete Asheville
neighborhoods and nearby
towns in Buncombe and surrounding
communities being washed fully away.
There are countless other tragedies
from across the mountain regions of
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee
and South Carolina, all the result of up
to 31 inches (at a spot in Yancey County,
North Carolina), over September 25-27,
sending the region's rivers to record levels
of flooding and destruction.
Our sympathies are immense, our
responses limited by realities. Please
find in this issue a small bouquet to
flood victims in the form of the reprint
of a column from our former awardwinning
writer, Elizabeth Hunter. And
in our travel guide for 2025, a set of
contacts to offer help.
And last, a tiny bright spot in the
form of Marla Milling's telling of the
survival of one old artifact within the
terrible flooding.
Our fervent hopes and admiration
to all in continued recovery.
(Travel Guide) is a contributing
editor and creator/author of
the Birds of the Blue Ridge
online series for BRC. She pens
travel and nature articles as a
freelance writer for U.S. News & World Report
and numerous other regional and national
publications and created the state park birding
series for Bird Watcher's Digest.
eric j. wallace
(Mom Hike) is an award-winning
lifestyle journalist based in
Staunton, Virginia, who has
contributed to WIRED, Outside,
Reader's Digest, Atlas Obscura and
more. He is a two-time James Beard
Foundation media award nominee and was
named an International Association of Culinary
Professionals Best Feature Story media award
finalist in 2021.
ginny neil
(Almanac, Singing in the Garden)
is a contributing editor who lives
with her husband on a farm in the
Appalachian Mountains. Her work
has appeared in Grit, Country Magazine and
elsewhere. She is the author/illustrator of the
picture book " The Glorious Forest that Fire Built "
(Amicus Ink) and has another book, " Salamander
Song " (Tilbury House) coming in March 2025.
Follow her at thesingingfarmwife.blogspot.com.
karen neathawk
(Almanac) has been
the proofreader for
LeisureMedia360 for over nine
years, with five of those years as a
contributor to the Almanac, and she
considers herself passionate about
proper grammar, word usage, punctuation and
spelling. Her life in the country is made complete
by her cats, feathered friends and gardening.
DAVID HUNGATE
http://thesingingfarmwife.blogspot.com
Blue Ridge Country Jan/Feb 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country Jan/Feb 2025
