The very best part of writing the Good News posts for Flat Rock Together is the opportunity to learn more about the most interesting people, places, and events in Flat Rock.

Here is a look back at five of our favorite stories from 2020. The candidates for this distinction were numerous and choosing just five was no easy task. Ultimately, we came up with these five and hope you enjoy reliving some of the very best moments from Flat Rock Together in 2020…

Josh Stephens did not grow up in the mountains. As a child, he was raised by surfing parents and spent a significant portion of his youth with an eye towards the sea. “The ocean was where we might lose ourselves” he explains. “Riding waves or simply being humbled by the ocean's beauty and power. I still have this deep need to get outside in one way or another and to be in beautiful and wild places.”

If John Gunther’s quote is to be believed, and if the crowds that flock to Honey and Salt restaurant on Little Rainbow Row are any indication, then Flat Rock must be one of the happiest places in the world.

Now that we have finished with Thanksgiving, many of us will start to think about our Holiday shopping. Fortunately, Flat Rock is replete with wonderful options for purchasing gifts for family and friends. Here are some ideas to help you get started.

Back when European settlers first came to Southern Appalachia, wild turkeys were plentiful. By the early 1900s, however, only a few were left, a decline that continued into the mid-century. The restoration of this iconic species is considered one of the greatest conservation success stories in the world.

Many Flat Rock residents arrived in the Village from locales throughout the country and even the world. Undoubtedly, however, the single largest source of new residents in Flat Rock is the Blue Ridge Humane Society.

When Tom Fisch was 10 years old, he won a guitar in a raffle at a local high school bazaar. That guitar became the first stepping stone on a long and winding musical path that led him from his hometown of Albany, NY, to Nashville in pursuit of a childhood dream, and ultimately to Flat Rock and a career as a modern-day minstrel bringing entertainment and smiles to the mountains of western North Carolina. His story here …

On Friday night at 7:01, Grace stepped out of the kitchen and handed me the year’s very last order from the Hubba Hubba Smokehouse kitchen. With only outdoor seating, Flat Rock’s iconic Barbecue joint officially closed at 7 pm on October 30, and I was the lucky soul who received the final order of 2020.

As a young student at Cornell University in 1970, Rick Merrill had a life-altering academic experience. “After three semesters of engineering,” he explains with a smile, “I had no clue what I wanted to do. Spherical Trigonometry and Organic Chemistry helped convinced me that I didn't want to be an engineer.” Fifty years on from that hard life lesson, Cornell’s loss has turned out to be a significant gain for Flat Rock, NC.

The alarm goes off at 2:45 am. I crawl out of bed and stumbled around in the dark bedroom trying to get dressed without waking my wife. No dice. “You’re crazy,” she mutters as she pulled the sheets closer and turns over. “At least bring home something tasty.”

Fate - as it is often want to do - soon stepped in and opened a door to Karen’s dream. While driving through “downtown” Flat Rock one day, Mike and Karen noticed that there was a commercial space available for rent next to the Flat Rock Post Office. They immediately made an appointment to see the space and the rest is, as they say, history.

The 5th Annual Art in Bloom presented by The Gallery at Flat Rock is an artful pairing of colorful, fresh blooms with sculpture and canvases to create a novel experience visitors to the show. It’s a visual conversation that’s amplified through the inherent transience of the exhibit.

Tim Jones entered the given address into Google Maps and realized immediately that a twist of fate was about to return him full circle to the very place he began his life over 50 years earlier.

The program started small with just eight children at Flat Rock Middle School. Originally, the group would literally pack the children’s backpacks with food. The program has evolved over time and now the group fills grocery bags with food and delivers them to each location for distribution by students. Through the years, word of the group’s efforts began to spread and today the Flat Rock Backpack program …

Over 50 years ago, David Butler spent a long winter helping his father plow the ground for 2500 apple trees on Mt. McAlpine which overlooks the southern end of what is now the Village of Flat Rock. Little did that teenage boy know that he was actually planting the seeds for his own very successful and rewarding life as the owner and operator of one of Henderson County’s most iconic apple orchards.

The project turned into something more than just a business proposition for Suzanne. She discovered that her portraits are a window into the lives and experiences of families during the pandemic. Here are a few of her favorites and some reflections on what this time of COVID has meant for her … and the subjects on the other side of the camera lens.