The Apple Harvest Festival

Waynesville celebrated its annual festival as scheduled this week, although it was still canceling events as recently as last weekend. I went with my wife, and we found a very heavy crowd for the occasion. This may be partly because not everywhere is open, including the much-larger Asheville still being mostly in recovery.

One of the groups present was a small collection of Protestants singing hymns a cappella and occasionally preaching their faith in the truth of the Bible. Nobody told them they were at the wrong party, though if you preferred beer or marijuana oil to biblical exegesis both were also available. So was barbecue, mashed potatoes, apples (of course!), baked goods, and many kinds of art. Pretty much something for everyone, including the many dogs in attendance, for whom there were drinks for free and costumes for sale. 

Waynesville's going to have a hard time rebuilding its lower section, called "Frog Level," which was badly flooded by the nearby stream during the hurricane. Its main street is on a fairly high bluff, however, and survived mostly intact. 

The town is named after Founding Father "Mad Anthony" Wayne, having been established by one of the soldiers who fought under him during the Revolution. It's also where the last battle in the Civil War was fought, at least in the eastern United States, when Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders surrounded and obtained agreement to surrender from the last active Union detachment in the region, only to have the Legion surrender themselves instead when word of Lee's surrender arrived in town.

Good to see them at least getting a start on a return to normal. It's a pretty little town, and home to my favorite pub in the Carolinas.

UPDATE: An official statement by Haywood County, the local government, about what is and isn’t open. 


I’m surprised that 215 is back open so quickly. Both that and 276 are high mountain roads with exposure to wind and flood. 

UPDATE: See new post above for a fuller description of the conditions of these roads.

1 comment:

Assistant Village Idiot said...

My college roommate came from Wayne Township, NJ, also named after Mad Anthony.