Happy news from our house and the farm: power was restored late Saturday! 9 days without power will make you appreciate it. I had ventured over to camp to check on some things and turn on our cooler. When I got back, I noticed the fuse on the pole serving the farm was back in its loaded position before I even turned onto Hannah Ford RD! Sure enough, the eave lights were on at the Orr house, the little house at the corner, and imagine my surprise when I saw that the primary line to our house had been repaired where the tree had fallen on it! I never even saw the line crew on our project. Power is a game changer, especially with a two-year old in the house!
I am up early Monday morning writing this. The other happy news is that Brooks has school today and Jasper’s day care “school” resumes as well! So, this will be short as I will be making pancakes here shortly and helping Laurie “herd the cats” to get them off. The house is a wreck with Brooks’ clothes everywhere, so that will be the morning chore. The camp office is back online, and Claire will join Gretchen in ramping things back up today. We pick Gardner and Lucas up tomorrow evening from their Portugal trip. I’m sure they will feel weird missing the storm and its clean-up. They had a great trip it sounds like. Denice has a new grand baby. Son Tyler and his wife Kelsey had their second in St. Thomas, USVI, and Denice is down there adding order to their household I’m sure,
In on-going relief updates, we were part of an effort made possible by Tyson foods, Wal-Mart, and volunteers from the local Boys and Girls Club to offer food to county families in the evenings. There are others serving lunch and breakfast, and this will be take-out burgers, chips and baked beans in the evenings to take home. After navigating a very capable driver down Illahee Road yesterday (a road that typically is closed to tractor trailers because they get stuck), I unloaded pallets of burgers, buns, chips, and baked beans, to store in our freezers and coolers until they are distributed. Camps’ tractor, skid steer and trucks came in very handy in this collective effort. The food will also be used in a local pop up camp at our club, organized by a group called Project Camp. They hope to organize in Buncombe and Henderson counties as well.
Additionally, Laurie and I have been doing local wellness checks. We have a 95 year old neighbor who lives alone near the farm. We have been taking her and other neighbors ice and Laurie has been baking cookies and making food to deliver hot meals. Neighbors have been coming by to take showers. Laurie’s brother hauled a shower trailer from his hometown Rotary club on the gulf coast in Fairhope, AL to Fairview so that hurricane victims and relief workers have a place to shower and do laundry. That was a sixteen hour round-trip for him and his son. This is a massive effort. More on my thoughts about helping in a disaster coming soon, so stay tuned. For now, I need to help get these boys ready for school! Woo hoo!
Sending love from the Smith family. The motto of Ashley Hall where Isabella and Caroline attend school here in Charleston, SC, seems so appropriate, PQV!!!!
PQV, Possunt Quae Volunt, translated from latin means, Girls who have the will have the ability! Go Camp Illahee and all those mobilized to help.
You all are the best!
So proud of y’all and we are so relieved that everyone at our beloved Illahee is safe.
Thanks for the update and all your good work to support neighbors!
This is such a welcome update. I am so grateful y’all are all okay and back in the land of power! We were also without for 9 days and I agree, it’s a gift I won’t take lightly again. And also, I’m so heartbroken for the many people who are suffering in ways that far exceed the inconvenience of not having power. Continued prayers for all. Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus, it’s a beautiful thing to see folks coming together in the ways they have been. If we can do anything to help, just say the word. All our love to all of you!