Folks in western North Carolina still have a long way to go to get their lives back to normal, but some aspects of regularity are returning. Buildings in the cities not completely destroyed or abandoned are getting power restored, businesses are reopening wherever possible, and governmental operations are starting to get back on track.
The remote mountain regions are coming back more slowly, as power company crews and contractors continue to rebuild the lines to reach those in higher elevations. That will take a long time to complete, but FEMA is finally able to distribute aid in the affected cities. A great many residents will need to completely rebuild in western North Carolina, as well as east Tennessee, western Virginia, and northwestern Georgia.
Bluegrass lovers in Boone, NC have one thing to look forward to again, as the Catgut n’ Jugs bluegrass radio show is set to return to the air this weekend on The Highway, WMMY 106.1FM and WWMY 102.3FM. No, it’s a not a big deal while thousands of people have lost their homes or are surviving without power, but it is a little bit of normalcy in a time chaos.
Host Ronnie Moretz called today to let us know that this will be his first live show since the flooding at the end of September. He said that there was water in the station in Boone from the flooding, and while staff made special arrangements to get their news and morning broadcast personnel in as soon as possible, it hadn’t been possible for Ronnie to get in to the station with an engineer on Sundays to do the show live.
So folks in Boone, as well as in the counties of Ashe, Watauga, Avery, and Wilkes in western North Carolina, plus parts of eastern Tennessee, can tune in on Sundays from 8:00-10:00 p.m. and hear Ronnie and his Catgut n’ Jugs bluegrass radio show once again. The Highway also streams live online for folks outside of their broadcast signal. Past shows can also be streamed from the station web site.
Moretz also mentioned that he experimented with doing the show Sundays nights via Facebook Live while he couldn’t get in to the station, and is looking towards getting the necessary equipment to broadcast at home going forward should that be required again.
Glad to hear the show is back on the air this weekend!
