From the editor: November 2024
November 1, 2024
The Saturday after Hurricane Helene crossed North Carolina, I spent the morning outside at home, picking up fallen branches and filling lawn bags with garden debris. A small chore I thought would take about 20 minutes took more than two hours. Grumbling, I came inside and hopped online, where I saw images of buildings and homes — even whole towns — in western North Carolina completely underwater. Shots of Asheville’s submerged River Arts District, where my family has visited several times in recent years, were particularly jarring.
I was stunned, and quickly realized my wrecked Saturday morning was nothing compared to this.
Writing this now, nearly two weeks later, thousands are still without power, many roads remain closed and misinformation is spreading like wildfire. But there’s good news too, as the cleanup and rebuilding has begun, and some mountain towns came through relatively unscathed. The outpouring of support across this state has been extraordinary.
Along with stories about Queen City creatives, entrepreneurs and other local luminaries, many of you know us for our travel features — places to escape to once we close our laptops for the weekend. Western N.C. practically feels like our own backyard. So many of us hold dear places like Asheville, Boone, Blowing Rock and Highlands, along with the rivers, trails and smaller communities where we witnessed friends and family get married, whooped it up on a girls trip, celebrated birthdays and anniversaries.
By and large, SouthPark shares stories about the good things in life — mouthwatering food, beautiful homes, talented artists and gorgeous fashions. We recognize our jobs often seem easy compared with our journalism colleagues who cover newsier topics like local politics, contentious school-board meetings and crime.
But when a pandemic or natural disaster like Helene comes along, we can’t close our eyes to the suffering and devastation.
Here at home, life must go on. Our local restaurants, shops and service-oriented businesses still need our support as much as ever. Hardworking local entrepreneurs mark milestones that deserve to be celebrated. There is still philanthropic work to be done in our own community.
Still, we aren’t blind to the needs of our fellow North Carolinians. In the coming months — in this magazine, on our website and on our social-media channels — we’ll continue to share ways to help our neighbors in western N.C., whether featuring small businesses to support, sharing updates as venues reopen, or highlighting the greatest needs in this ever-evolving situation.
In ways big and small, we can help them rebuild, better than ever. SP
CATHY MARTIN
Editor
editor@southparkmagazine.com
IN THIS ISSUE:
1 – Global goodness at Alley 51 food hall
2 – The friendships run deep among former Eastern Airlines employees
3 – Erin McDermott’s new brick-and-mortar shop
4 – On the bucket list: A Charlotte mom and daughter take on New Zealand
