"Success goes to those who tell their story to the marketplace"

I was reading in Ripples this morning where David was discussing a conference on Sustainable Development held in Abingdon, Va. The following quote really jumped of the screen at me…

Ripples: post-corporate adventures: Sustainable Economic Development for Southwest Virginia?: "Governor Kaine emphasized this point near the end of his speech. 'Success goes to those who tell their story to the marketplace.' In a sense, that was the underlying theme of the entire conference, telling the story about the regions assets in a way that would attract tourists and investment."

That says it all about the organizations and businesses that have managed to involve me to the point of being a walking evangelist for them. It was the story that first brought me to try them, it was the reality of their living the story that keeps me going back, and it’s the belief in the philosophy that created the story that I seem to connect with.

One of the very first “stories” that brought me to the area of the Blue Ridge Mountains we now call ours, was the story of the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis. I stumbled on their website and read the history long before I planned that family trip to North Carolina. It was their story that set the location for our first visit. And it was the daily stops to sit on the porch and sip a ginger beer that helped make the stay a success.

During the planning for that trip, I first read the story of Grandfather Mountain and the love of one man for a “place” and the transformation that love brought to a mountain over the life of the man…which is why the recent death of a man I hadn’t ever met was like losing a member of the family. May you rest peacefully on the mountain, Hugh Morton.

And it was the story behind the rescue of the Orchard at Altapass (and speaking of serendipity, as I started writing this paragraph Bill Carson’s “Story of Altapass” popped up on my computers MP3 player) that led me to make the trip to visit that institution on the side of the Blue Ridge Parkway, where Bill piled me into his vehicle to run down the road to visit the graves of the McKinney’s who first settled there.

It isn’t just the stories though that makes these places special, it’s the people involved in living the stories today. And to all of you who are involved with these groups, I want to say thanks for being so very neighborly…It’s what keeps us coming back and keeps our “North Carolina Mountain Dreams” alive.

p.s. Just as an explanation of what makes the fact that Bill Carson’s “Story of Altapass” playing at the exact time I was typing the paragraph about the Orchard such a coincidence, my MP3 player is set to shuffle and has a playlist that contains over 5000 pieces.

Tuseday Muse

It has been a few weeks now since I jumped back into this try at blogging. I don’t think I have quite gotta handle on what I am trying to say yet. I am not even sure why I feel the need to throw this out into the ether. If you are along for the ride, bear with me and mind the bumps.

I started a post the other day and haven’t finished it to my satisfaction, so this isn’t it, but in that meandering try at prose I mentioned a book I grew up with here in Texas. Since this is the day of the internet and Google, I did a search for the title I remembered. Found it almost immediately at Biblio.com, someone had it for sale…short story long, I ordered it and will be reliving my early years over the next couple of weeks reading “Texas Sketchbook, A Collection of Historical Stories From The Humble Way”.

Just to keep with the idea behind the title of this Blog, here’s a bit about Boone, NC I came across today:

Boone

'Boone, the most elevated county seat east of the Rocky mountains, is 3,222 feet above the sea. Its population numbers 200, and lives along a street rising
and falling with the hills. No majestic mountains rise around it, consequently there is less of the attractive that distinguish most mountain county seats. Near the stream which flows on one side of the town, Daniel Boone, the famous hunter, is said to have camped while on a hunting tour. It is from this camping tradition that the village took its name.' (1883, Zeigler, p. 267)

'When we had ridden into its single street, which wanders over gentle hills, and landed at the most promising of the taverns, the Friend informed his comrade that Boone was 3,250 feet above Albemarle Sound, and believed by its inhabitants to be the highest village east of the Rocky Mountains. The Professor said that it might be so, but it was a God-forsaken place. Its inhabitants numbered perhaps 250, a few of them colored. It had a gaunt, shaky courthouse and jail, a store or two, and two taverns. The two taverns are needed to accommodate the judges and lawyers and their clients during the session of the court. The court is the only excitement, the only amusement...(continued to p.39)' (1889, Warner, Charles D. p. 36)

The site isn't all up but there is some great historical references...Western North Carolina Heritage. Go have some fun with history.