I grew up in the rural, mountain community of Aho in Watauga County. Aho is located on the Blue Ridge – the Blue Ridge Parkway surrounds the community. My family has lived in this community for several generations, being among the first to settle this part of the state. My grandfather and one of my uncles farmed for a living. Both of these relatives lived within walking distance of my home. Although my father did not farm, I feel that I grew up on a farm since I spent most of my summers and time out of school helping my grandfather and uncle with beef cattle, potatoes, cabbage, and tobacco. Although we used modern agricultural equipment and methods, I learned to plow and cultivate with a horse. We did this, not for sentimental reasons, but because a horse could sometimes do a better job than a tractor due to terrain, small plots, and the nature of the crop. I cultivate my garden with a horse to this day. My other grandfather was a nurseryman and beekeeper. After graduating from high school, I bought 12 acres from my grandfather, and I continue to raise beef cattle, vegetable crops and apples.

Aho is rapidly becoming a suburban area and less of a rural community. Houses and housing developments are eating up the land. Commercial development is creeping into the lower end of the valley. Not only are houses being built prolifically, but they are architecturally ugly and located in the worst places – being indiscriminately cobbled together on the highest ridges, open pastures, and bare mountainsides. I am one of the few members of the community who even attempts to farm today; in fact I am one of the few in Aho with enough open land to make farming possible.

This mess being made of my community is not only sickening to see, but it has social consequences as well. Few people know their neighbors nor do they want to know them. There is a sense of unease although few people recognize the cause of it. When a community loses its physical beauty, residents care less and less about the community, both physically and socially.

Simply put, I am involved with Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust because I have deep ties to the land. I want to stop the situation in my community from getting any worse, if possible, and to prevent it from destroying other rural communities.