Driving down Greenville Highway in Flat Rock a couple of weeks ago, I noticed several people in bright orange vests walking along the side of the road. They were collecting trash in large bags as they worked their way down the road.  Whoever they were, it was obvious that they were working to keep Flat Rock beautiful.

In June of 2005, Kris and Tony Crimi set sail from Bayfield, Wisconsin in pursuit of a dream - a dream that would span three years and take them to nearly 50 islands in the Caribbean Basin. Those three years would fill their lives with memories too numerous to count, adventures few of us ever experience, and friendships that will last the rest of their lives.

Did you make a New Year’s resolution for 2020? Flat Rock Together was curious to see what area residents and visitors had planned for not only the new year but a new decade. We also wanted to know what would make 2020 a successful year in their opinion. 

I was sitting alone in our den on Christmas Eve years ago. The twinkling bulbs on the Christmas tree provided the only light in the room. The last frenzied rush of wrapping presents was finished, and the tree was half-buried with a pile of presents that threatened to obscure the true meaning of Christmas.  

Bob Staton had been retired in Kenmure less than three years when he got a call from Judy Boleman at Flat Rock Village Hall. “We want to talk to you about serving on the Planning Board,” Boleman told him. Staton was eager to go.

“I thought, ‘Oh, this is great.’ I put on a coat and a tie like it was a job interview,” he said.

Growing up in The Eastern, Ohio, Donna Hastie learned the importance of perseverance and the motivating force of poverty at a very young age.

Those forces ultimately helped propel her to a career impressive by any standard, especially so for a woman entering the workforce in the 1950s. 

One end of the porch has caved in. Parts of the roof were dragged down with it, and a landmark in local history has lost ground in its struggle to hold on. Argyle, built in 1830 as a summer home for Judge Mitchell King and his family, stands seriously threatened by the high cost of repair.

Flat Rock residents Roger Richardson Hill and Bill Beck have never met. In fact, Roger died before Bill was even born, but their lives are intertwined as a result of a mutual appreciation for the beauty of Glassy Mountain, the quest for better health, and the love of a good story.

When award-winning painter and Flat Rock resident Kate Thayer creates a landscape, she wants you to appreciate the natural world the way she does. “I want viewers to feel what I experience when painting a scene. I want to rekindle the spirit and the sense of wonder we all have when we witness nature’s sorcery.”

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 pulls the sheets closer and turns over.  “At least bring home something tasty.”

Visitors to Flat Rock Playhouse arrive expecting to be entertained by some of the most professional theater and musical productions offered anywhere in the Southeast. What they don’t expect, however, is to see professional landscaping and the series of beautiful gardens that adorn the expansive Playhouse campus.

On a beautiful Saturday morning, The British Car Club of Western North Carolina convened in the parking lot at the Flat Rock Playhouse. A fleet of MGB’s, Austin Healy’s, Triumph convertibles, Jaguars, and one spectacular Silver Shadow Rolls Royce were preparing to disembark on a mission to surprise, and honor, a group of unsuspecting Air Force veterans.

Like many residents in Flat Rock, Mike and Karen Kennedy first discovered the village as a great place to vacation. It wasn’t long, however, before they realized that living in Flat Rock would be even better.  “Mike and I bought a house here in 2009 as a vacation home. We were coming up from Florida loved it so much that we finally decided to move here full-time in 2012.”

After 100 miles and 8.5 hours on his bike, Flat Rock resident Bill Moss cruised to the finish line of the Tour de Apple held annually during Apple Festival weekend.