Several days ago Don Casada sent me the screenshot above to show me that most of upper Pigeon Roost was still without power three weeks after Helene came along with all its damage.
Since that time, a lot of electricity has been restored to the area. You can see a current map here.
I first became aware of Pigeon Roost many years ago when Blind Pig reader Lewis Kearney generously sent me several Foxfire magazines he had stored in his basement.
The 1974 Winter Edition of the Foxfire Magazine Lewis sent me contains a compilation of newspaper articles written by Harvey Miller. At the time of the magazine’s publication Miller’s weekly column had been around for sixty years and was till being published in the Tri-County News located in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
In 2016 I started sharing excerpts from the magazine. The articles are organized by month from 1950 through 1973. You can visit the Pigeon Roost archives here.
In the front of the magazine is a preface written by Miller. Here’s a bit of it detailing how he became a writer.
My newspaper writing started in a surprising way – when I was just a mere lad. My favorite hunting dog named Mack, while chasing a squirrel, climbed up inside a hollow chestnut tree for over thirty feet and come out a knot hole and set on a limb while watching the squirrel get away by jumping from tree to tree. I did not know what to do because of my dog that had climbed the high tree. How could he get down? If he jumped, he would get killed!
By my first command, the dog obeyed by jumping out as far as he could on the upper side of the tree and he turned over and over in the air and when he hit the ground, he struck on his feet and went running up the hill barking and trying his best to get after the squirrel again.
As this was such a lucky experience, I decided this should be printed in the newspapers. I had read my first copy of a daily newspaper a few days before then, as my sister who lived in Erwin, Tenn. brought me a copy of Johnson City Staff, a daily paper printed in Johnson City, Tenn.
That night I wrote a brief outline about my dog climbing a tree so high and doing his stunt of jumping down and being unhurt. I put the story in the mail the next morning and addressed the letter to the Johnson City daily paper and wrote them that there was something like this happening here all along and I would like to send it in to their paper.
Within a few days, I received a letter from the editor that they had accepted me as their county news correspondent from this area and I would receive the paper daily in the mail and they was sending me stamped envelopes for me to mail in my news.
So this was only the beginning as I not only wrote other stories about Mack, my dog, but other good stories as well of work horses rolling off the mountain and covered up in the hollow in a string of logs they was dragging. One of the horses was killed and the other unhurt.
People from everywhere around about, it seemed, looked forward to reading my news. There was plenty of words of encouragement and of course some criticism from those who thought I wrote too personal about the citizens.
But my biggest hit, it seemed, was writing the stories that my mother told me that happened in the olden days. Just only her smile as she read my stories printed in the paper meant more to me than anything else. When she smiled that beautiful smile, I learned that it was a smile for encouragement and I wanted to carry on with my writing as never before.
I pioneered the way of the news writing in my hilly country. Some before then had wrote a few short visiting notes for our one county paper, but nobody before had got into writing for a daily.
On down through the years, I continued writing for the Johnson City paper and wrote a little while for a daily paper in Kingsport, Tenn. The editor was once editor of the Johnson City paper and he wanted to run my column in his Kingsport paper.
After a paper began to be printed in Spruce Pine, I went to writing for them and have been at it for nearly forty some odd years. The paper was first called the Spruce Pine News and is now the Tri-County news.
After Don sent me the information about Pigeon Roost my first thought was I wish Harvey Miller was still around to document the terrible damage of Helene in his area. From reading his stories of his home I know he would have talked about the suffering but I also know he would have highlighted the progress being made to restore what once was if that’s possible.
There are still people without power throughout East TN and Western NC from the storm. There are many people still suffering and grieving too. Please continue to pray for them and for those giving aid like the linemen working so hard to get the power back on to all.
Last night’s video: I Got too Tired for Mashed Potatoes & Using the Last of the Garden Harvest for Supper.
Tipper
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Today’s story got me to thinking about print media vs. electronic. I marvel at all the electronics around me, and I so much enjoy Blind Pig and the posts from readers, but I believe words and pictures and art illustrations and printed maps will still be published, collected and used long after photos on phones, for example, have faded into the unknown–unless prints were ordered and put in an album. (That’s what we do.) Aren’t you glad the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and the Parris and Miller collections and the Foxfire publications, weren’t pounded out on a laptop? Long live the printed word, for all those who may never touch a smart phone or read from a computer screen.
Thank you for sharing the story about Mr. Harvy Miller. I also believe that he would have shared all he could about Helene. I did see a segment on 60 minutes Sunday night about the town of Relief, NC. It’s so sad but the folks are so resilient not just there but all over where Helene hit. When I get in my warm bed at night, I think about all those folks who don’t even have a bed to get into, I think about how so many especially the elderly and young may be cold. We have a pastor friend whose church even sent soft foods so the people that lost their dentures could have something easy to eat. I pray for the families that have loved ones still missing. Tipper, you’ve done an amazing job keeping the word out about what people need and how to help. I pray for all and will continue to each and every day and also for the victims of Milton.
Good morning Tipper…well, it is morning where I am…..what an interesting read on ‘beginnings’ and info re: maps. I still find it hard to comprehend the areas and lives devastated by Helene or just what it would be like to go through such an experience, and then live in the aftermath – so many lives forever changed. My heart continues to be greatly touched and I do remain in prayer for those putting pieces back together and for those who are helping them to do so.
I think, Tipper, you maybe feel a dual kinship with Mr. Miller; first of all one that is Appalachian and then also how your blog came to be. Now you are doing a daily column and video about your neck of the woods, following in his path of paper and print. While you all are not in the worst hit areas, you are documenting not just NC reaction but that from around the country. The crisis continues for some still, as you noted, but thoughts are beginning to turn to ‘what’s next’ and it is very clear there is a long road ahead and many hard decisions yet to be made. The same kind of sympathy and empathy that has been seen so far will need to last for years. You and your followers have done, and are doing, your all’s part to create and maintain it. As Mordecai told Esther, “who knows but that thou art come into the kingdom for such a time as this?” Truly we do not know for ourselves or for others, but we can believe it.
Ron-thank you for your kind words!
I always enjoy reading the news from Pigeon Roost because of Mr. Miller’s way of writing about the people and places and happenings. I searched for his obituary online and found a wonderful tribute to him.
https://mitchellchistory.org/2019/07/08/harvey-miller-the-sage-of-pigeon-roost/
Replying to my own comment…I apologize if the link doesn’t work. I couldn’t do copy & paste so I might’ve made a mistake in the address. A Google search for “The Sage of Pigeon Roost” will get you to the Mitchell County Historical Society site easily. I spoke with Mr. Miller’s daughter, who has compiled many of his articles into 2 books, and it was a really nice conversation. I’m buying the 2 books from her and look forward to reading more of Miller’s work.
Good Morning Tipper!
I’m new to The Blind Pig and The Acorn blog. I’ve been watching Celebrating Appalachia for a while. I admire your kindness and thoughtfulness. You have done a tremendous amount to pray and spread the news on the needs of all affected by the hurricanes. Also you have helped make people aware of how and what to do to help.
It is such a joy to watch you YouTube videos and now keep informed on your blog.
You and your family are such a blessing to everyone. Thank you for sharing your lives and way of living with us.
God bless you Tipper!
Neta
Neta-I’m so glad you enjoy what we do. Thank you so much for your kind words!
You are welcome Tipper! I feel so honored that you responded to my text because I know how very busy you are! .
Neta
What a blessing to be able to share great memories for generations to read and enjoy.
Prayers continue for all the hurricane victims and survivors.
The map showing in red the power outages can be a mite deceptive. Some people might assume the the electricity has been restored to the areas in green. That is not necessarily true. In fact it most likely means that there are no people living there. That is a sparsely populated area up in there. So, the fact that the red areas occupy less than half the map doesn’t mean that power has been restored to more than half the people. I would venture to guess that the opposite is true.
I am familiar with the place names shown on the map. My wife and I explored all around the high country on many many occasions when we were younger and healthier. Now her soul has moved on to an infinitely higher place and I am stuck here with only a glimpse of “where my heart is” now and then.
Oh my goodness! How did I miss last night’s video? It all looked so delicious. I could just taste that chicken and gravy and the green beans.
Thank you Tipper for continuing on! I love your style and your way of telling! Praying for all who have lost so much! God bless all of them, those helping, and restoring. I pray that God blesses you and yours! ❤❤
You just never know how some people start their careers. One days your grands or great grands will see your YouTube and read this blog. They’ll see and hear stories firsthand. Those videos you did with Granny are a treasure.
I think tomorrow will be 4 weeks since Helene, things in my area are pretty much back to normal except for the damage done to the homes of some. Repairing them will take along time, I only know of a few that lost their homes and will have to rebuild. Many trees have been blown down in the woods that will never be used. In today’s world it is hard for me to image being without power for this long, for the ones that get their water from a well, no power also means no water. We were out of power for 9 days but had a generator and was able to save our food and had a way to cook and also had city water. One blessing from this is I learned I don’t need TV.
I continue to pray for these people that are suffering, I wish I was able to help them. My church took up a monetary donation this past Sunday to send to NC. I noticed an area on the map named Red Hill, is this near Bakersville, NC. If it is the same Red Hill, I have been in that area several times. One other question, was Mr. Miller’s stories ever collected and put in a book, I believe they would make for some good reading.
Yes, it’s the same Red Hill.
I have read a book titled “Fetch It Up, Rusty” by A O Harrell. He lived at Red Hill. The book is about his life of growing up and still living at Red Hill. Among many things he did, he was a grouse hunter. He has passed away but did have children still living at Red Hill.