In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the NuWray still stands
Last weekend marked the three-year anniversary of our time as owners of the NuWray, and though we finally opened our rooms to the public in August, our first leaf season was not quite what we had planned. When Hurricane Helene hit our region hard on Sept. 27, what was set to be our busiest month of tourists visiting to take in Yancey County’s gorgeous fall scenery turned into an equally busy month of housing neighbors who had lost homes or who couldn’t return, first responders from as far as New York, and FEMA agents. Though our dining room and kitchen were not yet finished, we served our first meals in the lobby — free community meals for lines of hungry folks who’d been eating out of cans or boxes because their homes had no power or water, or those living in temporary shelters. We marked the end of our third year of the “NuWray project” quietly and with humble hearts as we also marked one month post-Helene.
Though this period has been its own trial, we were incredibly lucky. The NuWray emerged mostly unscathed from the storm, its new bones holding strong. Our only loss was our new sign out front, which was twisted and torn like it was made of paper. If the hurricane had happened even two months earlier, we would not have been able to let the NuWray serve its purpose — as a community gathering spot in good times and bad — and for that we’ll be forever grateful. We watched the storm that Friday morning from the NuWray lobby with a group of 16 men and women from the New York Swift Water Rescue Squad, all of whom had checked in the night before in preparation for the aftermath. When the time was right, they sprung into action, and we were grateful to cheer them on every morning as they left, and hear their stories when they got back late at night.
Before they left, the New York group gifted us with a tattered North Carolina flag they had pulled out of a tree in South Toe. It will hang in our lobby as a reminder of this time, the loss and grief we’ve all collectively experienced, and most of all the beautiful people who banded together to save and help each other through disaster and devastation. Hurricane Helene will become another chapter in the history of the NuWray, which has seen so much already and, with luck, will see so much more.
What comes next…
The Town of Burnsville has made considerable progress in restoring water and sewer lines, and we’re happy to say all our systems are working again, including phones and internet. We will be renting rooms to the public again in November. Reservations can be made through our website — www.nuwray.com — or by calling our Front Desk at (828) 678-7070. We hope you’ll consider coming to Burnsville to support ongoing relief efforts and our small businesses, who need you now more than ever.
At Carriage House Sundries, we’ve taken this time to re-orient the shop and rewrite menus. We’ll be opening again for dinner starting Nov. 6th, and we’ll add breakfast and lunch shortly thereafter. Sadly, Roland’s will not re-open this season, though we’ll open it one last time for a Firefighter’s Brunch fundraiser for the Burnsville Fire Department on Sunday, Nov. 3rd.
The NuWray restaurant has been delayed by a few months, but we’re back to working on the kitchen, bars, and dining rooms. We hope to have everything open before the end of the year. As always, we appreciate your support so, so much. We will continue to press on toward better days ahead.
