A new beginning

Helene was not kind to WNC. The level of destruction from that hurricane is nearly impossible to describe. We were unbelievably fortunate. There was a minimum of physical damage to our farm: We lost a couple of trees with a bit of fence damage and some railing damage to the deck at the tasting room were about the extent of the damage.

Here at the farm, we lost power for about 36 hours. Again, we know just how fortunate we are with that. No power on the farm means no water because we are on a well, but every Asheville water customer was without water for months because of the destruction from the storm. Many of our friends and neighbors lost anywhere from a little to everything. I have a good friend who had a business in Biltmore Village. The water line inside his shop was a little over 12’; Helene destroyed everything he had there. The previous record high water mark on the station nearest Biltmore Village was 20.6’; that station recorded water over 27’ during Helene.

It will take years for our area to fully recover from the destruction. The statistics from FEMA on disaster recovery and the impact on small businesses are not encouraging. And with that, here’s where we are:

Over the last few months, we have worked to refresh the Addison Farms Vineyard tasting room. The whole crew got together and spent a few days repainting. We snagged a few new-to-us bits of furniture for the event room to create some intimate seating areas. We might have long-term borrowed some chairs from Dianne’s parents’ home. :) Michele has put a few pieces of her own stuff in there to create a cozy environment, including making some ceiling hangings to help with sound control. Taylor has planted flowers to brighten up the landscaping. Bill and Alex are keeping the vineyard tidy and beautiful. Since Helene, we have hosted several incredibly talented food friends who have done a variety of pop ups. Those have been so much fun, we are planning for more, so stay tuned for that. For us, it was a time to look at this as a new beginning, to create our own optimism about the future. Helene knocked us down, but damned if we are going to stay there. Come see us. We will both be better for it.