KIESA KAY
MNJ CORRESPONDENT
“Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place — the picture of it — stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world ... even if I don’t think it, even if I die, the picture of what I did, or knew, or saw is still out there.” — Toni Morrison, "Beloved"
The Mountain Strong Rememory Project, named for this Toni Morrison quote, began budding at Mountain Heritage High School last Wednesday when a dozen students from North Carolina State University assembled at the school to present their plan to reclaim lost memories in hurricane-damaged areas of Yancey and Mitchell County.
The goal of this "Rememory" is to mark the idea that what has happened in a place never ceases to matter, even if the structures once there disappear — that calamity can’t erase things like the laughter that lingers at the Rope Hole, or the picnics and play at Patience Park.
“After the urgency of immediate recovery, we choose rememory to honor the places and spaces physically ruined in the storm,” said Laney Tipton, president of Mountain Strong and liaison with NC State. “These students’ concepts and presentations will strengthen our grant proposals, as we overlap preservation, mental health, and art, and connect to the outdoors.”
The goal of the anticipated plans is to connect Bakersville, Spruce Pine, Burnsville, Micaville, Patience Park, and the Rope Hole, but also to connect the past to the present and future, restoring and respecting the memory of what was destroyed in Hurricane Helene.
“We’re calling on our community to rise up in resilience,” said Carol Tyner, executive director of Mountain Strong. “We honor fond memories and community voices to ensure that memory’s held in a precious way, not only a traumatic way.”
Tipton met Celan Pasalar, associate professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning, shortly after she had been discussing rememory with Kacie Renfro, a founding Board member of Mountain Strong.
“Remembering the past can spark new life,” Renfro said on Wednesday.
Pasalar’s philosophy dovetailed with Mountain Strong’s vision. The students visited Yancey and Mitchell in February and again in early April, identifying hard-hit, well-loved places. They applied theories of trauma-informed design, cultural integrity, ecology, and accessibility, with feasibility studies, asset analysis and environmental analysis.
The students emerged with three separate and connected plans for revitalization and rememory. They determined that Micaville emerged as a central hub for both Mitchell and Yancey Counties, the gateway to Mount Mitchell and the Blue Ridge. Their plans included the creation of bicycle routes similar to the 17 mile route at Little Sugar Creek Greenway in Charlotte or the 35 mile Virginia Creeper Trail in Abingdon, Virginia.
The vision includes community gardens, sculptures, kayak and canoe docks, and plans to replant the riverbanks with native plants. Stu-dents cited plans for social hubs and an emergency station.
“Multimedia storytelling helps preserve places altered or lost in Hurricane Helene,” Tipton said. “We’re restoring the emotional resonance that places can hold.”
Hazard Mitigation grants can mean that areas devastated by the flood will go into the care of the counties.
“We’ll work on this a piece at a time, working with community stakeholders,” Tipton said.
Mountain Strong consists of Tyner, Renfro, Tipton, Charity Honeycutt, Morgan Peterson Bryant, Taylor Kirkman, Lilly Humen, and Suzette Stoutenberg. It began with seven lifelong friends who grew up in Yancey County and graduated from Mountain Heritage High School.
During the flood, their chat group became a lifeline for finding family.
Now, they’ve extended that connection into creating long-term solutions for recovery and resilience. More information can be found at www.mountainstrong828.org.