Beloved Table Rock Writers, SoLaTiDo Songwriters, Poets, Dreamers and Friends:
As you know, every August, when the temperatures are boiling in the flatlands, we gather at Wildacres Retreat for a week of writing and singing and restoration. Georgann and I watch the first-timers arrive on the mountaintop, some still trembling from the hairpin curves. Our hope is always that the time together at Wildacres will create something all of us need, even if we don’t know what it is when we arrive.
This past fall, just a few weeks after our wonderful workshop, the western part of the state was hit by Hurricane Helene. We all watched and worried for days, hearing reports that Wildacres Retreat had been cut off by landslides, that 60 people had to be rescued by helicopter.
The loss of trees, especially old growth, was incalculable. The way in to Wildacres was blocked for seven weeks by a wayward U-Haul truck that was barely hanging on to the mountain, straddling a deep gulley where the road used to be.
Many people worked for hours and days to make passage to Wildacres possible again. What we didn’t know at first was that they also had damage to the Auditorium, Dining Hall, Jake’s Shed, and the Guest House. The historic chimney beside the Dining Hall is gone. The damage to the water system is still being assessed. Rebuilding and tree and debris removal are ongoing and expensive.
Everyone at Wildacres is working hard to reopen next spring. Table Rock Writers Workshop is planning to be on the mountain at the end of summer, as always. But to make this happen, Wildacres needs our help.
Last month we announced a matching grant on behalf of our partners at EastOver Press and in honor of Table Rock Writers Workshop. Funds are available to match any donation for repairs to Wildacres, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000 through January 31, 2025. (This allows you to donate twice and spread your donation over two tax years if you like.)
We know that many of you have already given to recovery efforts in the mountains, but we think this Challenge Grant for Wildacres is worth our attention. We know you love the place. You tell us that at the end of every workshop. So far, fewer than 10 folks have sent donations.
We asked a few of our veterans to help us remember why Wildacres is important to us all
Wildacres is a homecoming of friends and kindred spirits, the place I met my Poet Sisters. I believe the mountain absorbs and radiates back the creative energy from years of potters, writers, musicians, weavers, mushroom gatherers, and moonshiners who've gathered there; we swirl in all that collective energy, participate in the mountain's magic, and become family as our own creative spirits are reawakened, inspired and encouraged by each other.
Kim Blum-Hyclak, Lancaster SC
There is nothing like a week on the mountain, surrounded by incredibly talented and generous people, to rekindle my creativity. Whether it's the power of spoken word, the universal truths found at the core of a memoir, a song written in a day, or a novel that's taken years, I soak it all in, awed, humbled, and challenged. But just as important to me are the connections I've made over the years, making each gathering feel like an extended family reunion.
John Klekamp, Wilmington NC
Something in the rocks and trees at Wildacres grounds me to listen for songs I would never hear at lower elevations.
Roberta Schultz, Wilder KY
Each year I write some of my best work at Wildacres, but the energy and quality of the work doesn't stop when we go down the mountain. It stays with me throughout the year.
Duncan Smith, Chapel Hill, NC
Table Rock at Wildacres Retreat is the only place in my life I go where I feel everyone is accepted unconditionally—Loved. And their choices, artistically and personally, are met with love and respect. If the world were like Wildacres, what a place it would be.
Greg Screws, Huntsville, AL
Always Its Own
Fancy people don’t take to Wildacres
It’s a terrible place to be a diva
The trees don’t care, nor the wildflowers
The deer, the bears
They are oblivious to your accomplishments
Down there in the flatlands
Or whatever godforsaken urban hot house
State or city or town
You drug yourself up from to arrive
Breathless down the long drive up and up
Around that last curve
There are the rhododendron, the bell
The rock ledges and steps
The shitty cellphone reception that only
Drives you nuts the first couple hours
Admit it
You don’t actually care that the carpets are worn
The bedspreads hideous the food not always
Something to look forward to
There’s always pie
And cookies
Because when you’re at Wildacres
You’re a special person
To yourself
And to everyone else there.
You are the person you are only
When you are there.
And it is always
A good person to be.
Chris Arvidson, Charlotte, NC
Richard Putnam, on the faculty for SoLaTiDo, has been coming to Wildacres with us for more than 20 years. He sent a beautiful piece of music he composed last year to express loss and grief.
For my own reminder, I went back through some of our photos of Wildacres for the past 15-20 years and found a few to share with Richard’s song. Take a look at this link –
Your gifts of any size are welcome and will be matched. If we can raise $10,000, Wildacres will receive an additional $10,000. There are several ways you can make a donation.
Donate by Check. Mail your check to:
Wildacres Retreat, PO Box 280, Little Switzerland, NC 28749 and put EastOver/Table Rock in the MEMO line.
Via Donor Box on line
Check the box for “Dedicate my donation in honor or in memory of someone” and fill in the prompt for “Honoree Name” as EastOver/Table Rock
Via Zelle through your bank.
Use wildacres@wildacres.org as the recipient and when asked for "Reason" enter EastOver/Table Rock. (Credit cards will not work with this option.)
Any questions? Call Wildacres Retreat at 828.756.4573 for more information.
We hope you will help us help Wildacres to continue to be a place for us all. And we hope we will see you again on the mountain next year.
All best in the holidays,
Donna Campbell
Done