West Asheville, NC – Sept. 7, 2025

Shady Grove

The first time I heard the song “Shady Grove” was on a Doc Watson vinyl record, back in the early 1970’s.  The song is one of those traditional mountain music melodies that have no record of who wrote it.  It seems to have always existed, being played by generations of musicians. Doc Watson, of Deep Gap, NC, arguably the best flat-pick guitar player ever, inspired a whole generation of guitar players.  Not far away from Deep Gap, Bryan Sutton, born in 1973 in Asheville, was one of those young players.  Sutton is one of the best to follow Doc Watson.  Sutton has won Grammy Awards and was named “Guitar Player of the Year” by International Bluegrass Music Association a record nine times.

In 2016, the Appalachian Picking Society album was released with tracks recorded by a variety of artists including Bryan Sutton who, with other instrumentalists, performed the  “Shady Grove” and redefined, refurbished that old mountain tune.  The recording starts with a simple guitar solo.  It then highlights in turn, fiddle, mandoline, banjo and finally the full ensemble.  It is a recording that reveals something new each time I listen to it.

In many ways, that is what any Mennonite Disaster Service response sounds like.  Investigation and assessment is done by one or two people.  Then a few other people gather to set up the base of operations.  Others begin to go into the community to repair and rebuild.  As the work ramps up, many people are joyfully and with great skill accomplishing the tasks needed for rebuilding hope.

With each pass through the melody of “Shady Grove” there are new variations of timing and harmony, becoming more complex.  At each of the MDS response locations that Laura and I have been part of, there has been a similar variety of timing and cooperation.  The name of each volunteer may not be remembered, but the melody, in the form of a common desire to serve that God has given to each volunteer, remains the same.

West Asheville is no exception.  In the three plus months we’ve been serving here, each week of volunteers lends a new rhythm and tone to the work.  As they have listened and watched and worked, the improvisations they created were able to solve the challenges of refurbishing a hundred year old building. It has been sweet music to experience.

The past week saw a group of nine weekly volunteers from Ridgeway Mennonite Church in Virginia.  In addition to that, three one year MDS volunteers, Simon from Alaska, Mary Joyce from New York and Lucas from Germany, arrived to be in West Asheville for the next two months.  Bob flew in from California to be a crew leader for the month of September.

With the progress achieved in recent weeks, there were not enough spaces in the Haywood Road building for thirteen workers.  So, a crew went to Barnardsville to work on Mr. Thomas’s home.  Work there went well and only the delayed delivery of a ceiling fan prevented the work from being completed.

In the building here, the flooring on three large rooms was completed. That puts our total footage at about 8,000 square feet of flooring installed.  Only 2,200 square feet remain.  One large room that had not been touched to-date, was prepared for painting. That included removal of hot water radiators, a very large chalk board, a child-sized sink and all of the related patching and sanding of the plaster covered walls.  By the end of the week, that room and some of the older restrooms had received two coats of paint.  Last, but not least, seven new lighted exit signs were installed.

While the MDS volunteers were working, the HVAC contractor was making progress toward getting a total of sixteen mini-split air handlers installed.  They are a major step toward making the building a welcoming space for volunteers to serve in cold and hot weather.  With the needs in the surrounding area of Western North Carolina, the ability of year round work is a possibility for MDS.

This weekend has seen some newcomers for MDS as well.  As Laura and I end our time here, Larry, Starla, Stu and Emily have arrived to become part of the ensemble creating the melody and harmony of West Asheville.  The sounds will be different.  The rhythm will be different.  But after almost twenty years as an MDS project director, I can look back and see that while the tune of each response has been different, the joy of being the Hands and Feet of Jesus has been consistent.

From the MDS Volunteer Center on Haywood Road in West Asheville

Simon, Bob, Lucas, Mary Joyce, Emily, Larry, Stu, Starla, Laura and Carl