Fave Five Stories for 2024
/At the end of each year, I undertake the impossible task of selecting my five favorite Flat Rock Together stories from the preceding 12 months. It is, of course, a task that is both arbitrary and unfair. Every story is valuable and should be celebrated in its own right. Stories are how we mark time, celebrate relationships, bestow accolades on the protagonists, and give meaning to our existence.
In short, stories are the building blocks of our life’s narrative. They are all foundational. They are all important. And with that disclaimer, we present our five favorite stories of 2024.
Thanks to everyone who allowed their story to be told and to you, dear reader, for giving life to these stories with your time and attention. I am grateful for your continued interest in this project. - bh
In early 1940, a young Belgian girl named Thérèse “Treska” Gevaert was just 15 years old and enjoying the largely carefree existence of a teenager. But the storm clouds of war were on the horizon and the next four years would upend everything that young girl knew - and set her life on a course of hardships, adventures, and challenges difficult to imagine today.
Her incredible journey – which ultimately took her from her birthplace in Belgium to Flat Rock – would be the defining experience of her life and help shape Treska’s worldview
Oct 5, 2024
In the heart of East Flat Rock stands a two-story brick building that has been at the center of the small community’s business and civic life for over 115 years. Referred to by many long-time residents of East Flat Rock as the Stepp Walker building, the large structure with a long history had, in recent years, fallen into disrepair. For much of the previous decade, local residents and passersby on West Blue Ridge wondered what the fate of the historic building would ultimately be.
May 2, 2024
In March 2010, Anna Wesley Huneycutt died from a drug overdose. It was the culmination of a tumultuous struggle with addiction that upended her young life and the life of the family that loved her fiercely.
Anna’s death at age 20, however, was not the end of her story. In many ways, the tragic ending of her life was arguably the beginning of Anna’s legacy manifested during her short stay in this world.
Feb 10, 2024
In 1858, Flat Rock resident Marti Vazquez Hutson’s great-grandfather sailed into Cuba’s Havana Harbor. Greeting him was the sight of the Morro Castle at the entrance to the harbor. Almost exactly one century later in 1959, as Marti and her family fled the Castro regime in Cuba, that same castle would be her last view of the country of her birth.
Apr 20, 2024
In 2018, Mickey Mahaffey suffered a heart attack in one of the most remote parts of Mexico. Fortunately for him, he was in the company of an indigenous people known for their incredible feats of endurance. Hours away from the nearest medical facility and with no vehicles of their own, Mickey's friends turned to their physical prowess to save his life.
This is the story of Mickey's miraculous rescue and his efforts to assist the people who saved his life.
May 25, 2024
OK. So picking five favorites is impossible … and a disservice to all the other great stories of 2024.
Others too good not to mention:
Jody and Jeff Rutter At Your Service
Thank you for another amazing year in Flat Rock. Your stories make a wonderful place to live all the more inviting. Wishing you a Happy New Year in 2025 - a year filled with more great stories about the people, places, and events in Flat Rock.
-bh
