Black Mountain mourns in the aftermath of a disaster

Community Reflection and Remembrance ceremony brings hundreds of residents to Town Square

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
October 29, 2024

The Town of Black Mountain hosts a Community Reflection and Remembrance ceremony, Oct. 29, in Town Square. Photo by Fred McCormick

In the days immediately following Tropical Storm Helene, as residents were left in the dark and unable to access phone or internet services, Black Mountain Town Square became a daily gathering place where vital information was shared with the community. 

Hundreds of residents returned to the location, Oct. 29, as the Town of Black Mountain hosted a Community Reflection and Remembrance ceremony and candlelight vigil, honoring those who were lost and forever impacted by the natural disaster. 

The event, which featured town officials, religious and community leaders and musical performances by duo, Aditi Sethi and Jay Brown, and singer-songwriter David LaMotte, opened with an introduction from Black Mountain Vice Mayor Archie Pertiller, Jr.

Mayor Michael Sobol welcomed the crowd, before sharing the tragic story of a cousin lost in Garren Creek, where landslides and flooding claimed the lives of 13 people.

“Kim and and her grandson were swept away from their home when a wall of water broke through their dining room wall,” an emotional Sobol said. “Her 20-year-old grandson grabbed his grandmother’s arm, but the force of the water slowly pulled her out of his grip, and she was lost.”

The mayor shared a quote from William Wordsworth’s “Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.

“‘Nothing can bring back the hour, the smell of a flower or splendor of the grass,’” he read. “We will grieve not, yet find strength in the things we leave behind.’”

Black Mountain Mayor Michael Sobol shares the story of a family member lost to Tropical Storm Helene, Oct. 29, in a vigil in Town Square. Photo by Fred McCormick

Sobol encouraged the community to remember those who died in the storm and those who “lost everything.”

Mental health counselor and grief specialist Tamara Hanna emphasized the importance of sharing the burden of grief and overcoming survivor’s guilt. She read a piece on Survivor’s Guilt versus Survivor’s Grief.

“You did not bring this storm, you simply survived…” Hanna said. “Guilt will silence our feelings, saying they need to stay smaller than others because we survived. But grief takes our hand and leads us deeper through our individual sorrow. And, if we have the courage to let her do her work in us, she leads us to our deepest shared longings.”

While guilt represents a “dead end road to a washed away bridge to nowhere,” grief offers promise, she continued.

“Time is precious. Divisions are pointless. We are more alike than we are different,” Hanna said. “We are here to love, and be loved.”

Black Mountain Fire Chief John Coffey reflected on the strength of the community.

“The word ‘strong’ means having the ability to endure challenges and hardships while staying resilient,” he said. “It’s not just about physical power, but also emotional and mental toughness—being able to face adversity with courage, rise after a fall and support others even when struggling yourself.”

Black Mountain residents join a candlelight vigil in Town Square, Oct. 29, in remembrance of those lost to Tropical Storm Helene. Photo by Fred McCormick

Remembering what was lost while embracing the opportunity to build a new foundation for the future was the theme of Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry Executive Director Kevin Bates.

“For some in our community, this is a time for grieving,” he said. “For others it’s a time for hope, and maybe celebration, as we accomplish, together, what we thought was impossible. In all likelihood, it’s both, even within ourselves.”

There is no need to choose between joy and grief, Bates continued.

“We are human beings, and as human beings in a community, we can hold both together in the same space,” he said. “Perhaps this story is our a story. It is a reminder to all hold each other gently, as we try to navigate the complexity of what we’re experiencing.”

A closing prayer was delivered by Black Mountain Presbyterian Church Pastor and Head of Staff Mary Katherine Robinson and Swannanoa Valley Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Corp. Chairperson and Secretary of Christian Education of Mills Chapel Baptist Church Sheila Showers, as attendees lit candles for a sunset vigil.

“Blessed are the carriers of the light. Those who, in their daily living, compassionate actions, their tender hearts, shatter the darkness of insurmountable storms that wreak havoc upon our nervous systems and render us bereft, numb, lost,” Robinson said. “Good God, there is so much grief. “

David LaMotte performs, Oct. 29, as the Town of Black Mountain hosts a Community Reflection and Remembrance ceremony in Town Square. Photo by Fred McCormick

The pair prayed for the ability to be light where it is needed in the community.

“Blessed are our carriers of light,” they said. “Amen.”

Sethi, Brown and LaMotte ended the ceremony with a performance of “This Little Light of Mine,” while attendees sang along.

“We want to thank you all for coming,” Pertiller said to the crowd. “Yes, we are Black Mountain Strong.”