Greetings from Montreat! As we approach the two-week mark since Helene passed through Western North Carolina, I share further updates from our perch here at Assembly Inn.
We continue to seek ways to support the community. The Cajun Navy 2016 remains on our campus at their temporary command center on Collegiate Circle. In addition, the conference center made further commitments this week to support ongoing recovery efforts in the Swannanoa Valley. We are providing storage space for Black Mountain Presbyterian Church for donated supplies they have received and other needs. We are housing a small team of law enforcement sent from Nashville, North Carolina, to support our police force here in Montreat.
Regarding public locations on campus, The Nancy Holland Sibley Memorial Garden suffered minimal damage from the storm, but is closed at this time due to repairs needed to the entrance path. The Columbarium wall and the scattering path have some debris but fared well. All other conference center recreation areas, including hiking trails, are also closed while we make damage assessments. However, The Huck has reopened, sort of. Conference center staff are hosting Montreaters at The Huckleberry from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Monday through Saturday, providing charging stations and online access as we are able.
As work to reopen proceeds, we examine the calendar and make measured bets on when we will return to service. Groups and activities at the conference center scheduled through October 27 have been cancelled. We are hoping to reschedule those groups whose Montreat experiences have been disrupted as soon as possible. Also:
- Montreat Conference Center’s Development Foundation Board meeting scheduled for Saturday morning, October 9 at 9:00 am will take place on Zoom rather than in person. The Firefly Dinner scheduled for later that evening has been cancelled.
- The Town of Montreat’s Town Council Meeting scheduled for October 10 has been cancelled.
- The meetings of the Montreat Cottagers Membership Voting Procedure Review Committee originally scheduled for Thursday, October 24, 2024, and Tuesday, October 29, 2024, are being postponed due to flood damage to Montreat Town Hall. The new meeting dates will be announced when further information is available concerning the repair of the flood damage that the Town Hall has suffered.
- The MRA’s Board of Directors/Trustees meeting scheduled for November 17 – 19 will take place on our campus, though some meeting preparations may be impacted in the weeks leading up to the meeting. The annual stockholders meeting remains scheduled for November 18 at 1:00 pm.
Thanks are due to so many. I’ve mentioned the Town of Montreat before, but Savannah Parrish and her team are worth another shoutout. They have moved their offices temporarily to Assembly Inn while the Town Hall facility receives needed attention; otherwise, they have barely broken stride amid the challenges around them.
It’s perhaps long overdue that I commend some others. Tripp McLean, Bert Robinson, and Davidson Hobson, for example, were among the first to arrive in Montreat with supplies for neighbors when the need for water, food, and gasoline was greatest. Personal thanks to Jan and Ray Swetenburg, who gave yours truly a bedroom after my first, futile attempt to punch through the backroads from Charlotte to Montreat (and thanks to Jerry and Wayne, my chainsaw-wielding friends for getting me as close as they did).
Black Mountain Presbyterian’s work is probably attributable to many factors. Yes, the opportunity to serve was thrust upon them, and all around them, and yes, disaster response is a need that strikes a chord that inspires mobilization. Still, their ability to marshal and distribute needed resources has exceeded any expectations one might have predicted and demonstrates what’s possible when a church possesses effective leadership, a healthy congregational culture, and longstanding connections to surrounding neighbors. (Also helpful: their pastor, Mary Katherine Robinson, has drawn significant support from her clergy cohort group, the members of which have provided a conduit of prayers, supplies, and financial support, just one more plug for the role that clergy cohort groups can play in sustaining and enhancing ministry.)
Multiple groups have contributed to the clean-up around town. Beyond the work on roads and infrastructure, perhaps the most striking transformation has occurred in Robert Lake Park, which has received attention from staff, from Alan Hightower’s group of neighborhood volunteers, and from a Baptists On Mission team. Four volunteers from Elizabethtown, North Carolina, worked in the park for the better part of two days with heavy equipment they brought and were well trained to use. Each of these groups showed up mission oriented and needed little supervision to move forward by months the timeline of the park’s recovery.
I’ve mentioned that grief and gratitude have been present companions often coupled over the past two weeks. Grief has visited us as we assessed the needs of our staff, needs that have varied greatly in the wake of the storm. Alongside the grief, in gratitude I commend the Presbyterian Board of Pensions. Their ability to expedite emergency grants to those who need it is extraordinary and greatly appreciated. The conference center is very fortunate to have the Board of Pension’s support in this area as in so many others. Some of you know that I’m a board member of the BOP, so you may conclude that 1) I’m a biased homer or that 2) I know what I’m talking about. I will argue that, in this case, both are true.
Exhaustion and renewal are often coupled as well. The recipe for exhaustion is easy to explain: Make a list of tasks you have no training to complete, add long hours, and stir. The antidote is rest, which we have begun to mix into our routine. Our energies are also refreshed by regular, generous messages of support. In addition to the donation of supplies, the texts and emails, and prayers, more than 1,100 donors have contributed financial gifts, including one for $186.69 that accompanied this note:
Dear Richard,
My cousins and I worked together on a lemonade stand fundraiser to help rebuild Montreat. The Damage looks bad and it deeply saddens me. I hope this little bit helps.
Jack Reichmuth
Jack, there is no such thing as “this little bit” when EVERY bit is helping Montreat get back on its feet. With youth like you who love Montreat, our future is brighter than ever. And to all the rest of you who are following our story, we may not have mentioned you here, but we aren’t going to forget you.
There is much work to be done, and I’ll have more to say on that when the specific needs are clearer than they are today.
Thanks so much, and more to come!
Richard DuBose, president
Montreat Conference Center