Blue Ridge Country November/December 2020 - 18

COUNTRY ROADS

PROTECTING THE NOLICHUCKY RIVER

n enthusiastic cohort of paddlers, anglers, environmentalists and dozens of outdoor recreation businesses is quickly building support to protect one of the region's hidden natural gems-the Nolichucky Gorge. They
are urging Congress to designate an eight-mile stretch of the Nolichucky
River as a National Wild and Scenic River, giving permanent protection to
one of the last free-flowing rivers in the region.
The section runs through U.S. Forest Service land between Poplar, North
Carolina and Chestoa, Tennessee, and cuts the deepest gorge in the Southeast-3,000 feet. Designation would not affect private property, and the
USFS would continue to manage recreation. The river draws world-class
whitewater athletes, anglers casting for bass and birders on the lookout for
bald eagles, osprey and peregrine falcons. It also provides habitat for vulnerable species like the hellbender salamander, and clean water for drinking
and irrigation in nearby communities.
The advocates have gotten endorsements from more than 70 businesses and organizations, including the N.C. Trout Unlimited State Council
and the Obed Watershed Community Association, and more than
23,000 individuals. They
hope to have a bill introduced into the U.S. Senate soon.
noliwildandscenic.org/
-CAT MCCUE
The Nolichucky's gorge,
at 3,000 feet, is among
the deepest in the eastern
United States.

The Barter Theatre Goes Holiday
Festive . . . at the Drive In!

ita Hayworth starred in the first movie shown
at the Moonlite Drive-In Theatre along U.S. 11
between Abingdon and Bristol, Virginia. It was 1949's
"Down to Earth."
For the next few
decades, the Moonlite
survived as a nostalgic throwback-until
the owner put it up
for sale in 2015. The
screen stayed dark
until the COVID-19
pandemic brought this historic landmark back to life.
The coronavirus had shuttered the nearby Barter
Theatre in Abingdon, but Katy Brown, the Barter's producing artistic director, ushered in a new age for both
theaters by staging live productions of "The Wizard of
Oz" plus "Beauty and the Beast," with accompanying
action on the screen and broadcasts on car radios.
Now, the show goes on with Christmas productions in November and December.
"We are going to decorate with lights and a tree,
and make it an incredibly festive place to come out
and celebrate the holidays," Brown says.
"Dracula" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
both run through Nov. 11. "A Christmas Carol" runs
Nov. 20-Dec. 23. "Frosty" runs Nov. 27-Dec. 23.
bartertheatre.com
-JOE TENNIS

Book Review Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in
the Appalachian Mountains, by Cassie Chambers. Ballantine Books, 279 pp.

espite inevitable comparisons
to J.D. Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy,"
Cassie Chambers' "Hill Women"
is a memoir with a different intention-
to honor her place (Owsley County,
Kentucky) and her people (her Granny,
her mother, and her aunt) by telling
their stories.
Spending childhood summers on her
grandparents' tobacco farm in the early
1990s, Chambers understood hard work
and poverty early on. Extractive industries were on the way out. It was "drive,
energy, and determination" that allowed
her family to survive.

BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

Chambers' mother, Wilma, was the first
member of her family to graduate from
high school-and, with the encouragement and help from her older sister, Ruth,
she received a degree from Berea College.
Chambers herself left the mountains
to become a high school student at the
United World College, graduated from
Yale College, the London School of Economics, and Harvard Law School. It wasn't
without difficulty and sadness that she left
the mountains behind-and she had much
to learn about the ways of the larger world
and the entitlement of wealth.
Then, "after years of wandering

the world, [she] knew it was time to go
home." Chambers left Boston and drove
back to Kentucky to work as a lawyer
representing domestic violence victims.
The stories she shares of her clients-
mired in unemployment and the opioid
crisis-will break your heart...and then
make you cheer.
Through it all, Chambers tells an honest
story based in love of home and its people.
Chambers doesn't wear rose-colored glasses-and she doesn't blame. New ways are
needed going forward, she knows....and
it's clear she will be part of the change.
-JOAN VANNORSDALL

http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

Blue Ridge Country November/December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country November/December 2020