The Watauga Long Term Recovery Group will host Hope After Helene, which includes a series of events on King Street Saturday, Sept. 27, and a free meal in Central Dining Hall Sept. 30, in remembrance of Hurricane Helene.
All events are free and are open to students and the community, though some require registration.
“This is a gift to the community, totally free from top to bottom,” said Jackie Henry, who is a member of the planning committee for all Hope After Helene events.
Henry said the effort began with “a grassroots community meeting” and grew to include App State, Watauga Medical Center, National Alliance on Mental Illness and a few local churches.
Henry said the events aim to continue community building after the hurricane.
“After the event, people really bonded in a different way. All of a sudden, things like your religious beliefs didn’t matter, your political beliefs went away. It was just people meeting people,” Henry said.
Henry said the other goal is to provide mental health support to those in grief. There will be counselors present at each event, encouraging people to share their experience.
“There will be places for people to tell their story, to be heard where they are and to be allowed to grieve,” Henry said.
The following includes a list of events on Sept. 27 and the community meal Sept. 30, as well as times, locations and how to register.
Stories from the Storm: Saturday, Sept. 27
Starting off the day on Sept. 27, there will be a community quilting project at 11 a.m. at FARM Cafe.
Participants will be “making a quilt square that will then be shown in all of Western North Carolina,” Henry said. This is intended as a form of creative expression for those impacted by Helene.
This event requires registration but does not require any prior sewing experience.
Community Resource Fair: Saturday, Sept. 27
From 2-6 p.m. on the Jones House Cultural Center lawn, there will be a resource fair with 15 groups, including nonprofits and faith-based organizations who have worked on the recovery process. Some groups will focus on physical rebuilding and others on community mental health support. There will also be a “Be Still and Chill” station with eight local therapy dogs.
David LaMotte: keynote speaker and concert: Saturday, Sept. 27
At 3 p.m. at the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country, LaMotte, who is a speaker and musician, will give a keynote speech reflecting on loss and hope. Later that night, at 7 p.m., LaMotte will perform a folk music concert, along with an opening musical theater performance from Lees-McRae College. Both events require tickets, which are free and available on the theater’s website.
The keynote speech, Henry said, is what inspired the entire weekend. After reading an article LaMotte had written, friends of LaMotte at the High Country United Church of Christ worked to find a way for him to share a message with the Boone community.
Performing at the concert with LaMotte will be the cast of “1940,” which premiered at Lees-McRae College last summer. The musical is based on a true story about a historical flood that occurred in Valle Crucis. The musical takes place in the original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis.
Poetry readings: Saturday, Sept. 27
Wrapping up the resource fair at the Jones House from 4:30-6 p.m., High Country poet laureate Hilda Downer will read from a soon-to-be-released anthology “Had I a Dove: Appalachian Poets on the Helene Flood.” App State English professor and poet laureate from 2012-2014 Joseph Bathanti will also read at the event.
Community Meal: Tuesday, Sept. 30
Following the Saturday events, the committee is working with the university to serve a free drop-in community meal. The meal will be located at Central Dining Hall from 5-8 p.m. No registration is required.
For more information on all events, people can visit the “Events” page of the Watauga Long Term Recovery Group website.
“What we want is for people to be upheld. We want them to be nourished by the events that they choose to be part of,” Henry said.
