By Sherrie Norris
The Amish have long been known and respected for their workmanship, and many of us have seen them in their element while visiting Ohio’s Holmes County and the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area. But, to see Amish on the streets of Boone raised more than a passing glance for passers-by in the Perkinsville community earlier this week.
In a move coordinated by Andy Owens — who recently established a base camp for Helene recovery volunteers in the Meat Camp area of Watauga County — 62 members of the central Pennsylvania Amish community came to town to build 12 sheds which can be used as tiny homes. These structures will soon be delivered to local individuals and families who were displaced by the storm.
With heavy rains ironically causing significant mudding to the area originally set up for the project earlier in the week, arrangements were made for the construction to take place in the corner lot of Cornerstone Summit Church in Boone.
Wasting no time after their mid-day arrival in Boone on Tuesday, the Amish crew of craftsmen had eight of the structures standing by 5 p.m.
Owen’s efforts to help rebuild the area started out with him working on driveways, hauling gravel, removing trees, etc., but when people came into town to help, he said, lodging was an issue.
Having spent the last 10 years helping to build a camp for the annual Burning Man pilgrimage in the Nevada desert, it just made sense, Owens said, to use his skills to build and run a basecamp near Boone for volunteers.
“I was not interested in another distribution hub for food, clothing and supplies, things like that,” he said. “There are plenty of those around, but I wanted a place to host people who are coming here to help.”
Through his wide network of like-minded individuals, Owens was recently contacted about hosting a group of Amish carpenters, which expedited his plans for the camp.
Then, the heavy rains came to the low-lying property on Hwy. 194 northeast of Boone.
“But, it all still came together and everything happened fast,” Owens told High Country Press. “We were able to mobilize what we needed as far as cots, a food truck, etc., and it was actually more convenient for them to work at Cornerstone.”
When approached about letting their location be utilized for the mission, Pastor Reggie Hunt and his board were quick to approve the request, Owens added. “Once we knew the base camp could not be used for the construction, we had no time to spare. Everything had to happen fast and it did.”
The Amish contingency of young workmen, women and children, arrived by bus around noon on Tuesday, along with five semi-trailers filled with building supplies, tools and equipment they needed for the job. Additionally, Owens said, they also brought and left behind 20 propane tanks, numerous tools, and five pallets of fire department supplies – hoses, axes, etc., which will be given first to Meat Camp Fire Department and distributed to others in the area.
The Amish women and girls prepared and served the crew’s food, and distributed, in a free “pop-up store” inside Cornerstone Summit Church, pallets of gifts, toys and clothing they had also brought to the area.
By Wednesday evening, construction of 12 (prefabricated) sheds, which had been donated by an Amish-owned business, were completed —and the amazing crafters and their family members were headed back to Pennsylvania.
Owens estimated the total cost of the project to be “around $300,000,” all of which was donated by the Amish community.
In the meantime, the unique occurrence drew many curious onlookers, and Owens admitted that it was not something you see every day in Watauga County.
“The Amish do not like to draw attention to themselves,” he said, “and they don’t do anything for publicity. They came as volunteers to help folks who have been displaced by the hurricane. Hopefully, they left knowing they made a significant contribution to life here in the High Country.”
Behind The Phenomena
With a love for humanity and a deep concern for the place he has called home for many years, Owen said he didn’t want to spend of all his time “just throwing a party in the desert every year,” (referring to his Burning Man affiliation referenced above). His goal is to use his connections to mobilize help and donations from the burner community to help with disaster relief, wherever that may be needed.
“I want to move the infrastructure we use out west (for just one week a year) back east, and through our basecamp, build a response team to strike out when other disasters happen,” Owens said.
“The group/organization we’ve started is called Burner Disaster Response, and we’re hoping to gain support from the Burning Man community,” he said, explaining the concept.
“Burning Man a large art festival of sorts that happens once a year in the middle of the dessert in the northern Nevada.” Owens explained. “It started out 30 years ago with a few people on a California beach and has grown through the years, where people come bringing all kinds of art, huge art, with a concentration on the immediacy. Through the years, it just kept growing and growing, and today attracts 70,000 people.”
Large sculptures and other works of art are temporarily built and then burned, because everything has to be taken down when the festival is over. Nothing can be left behind, he added.
Owens spends about six months each year helping to build a 10,000 square feet camp, so constructing a small base camp in Watauga County is proving to be no big challenge, he said.
“When I first went to the festival, I knew I wanted to be part of it, but there was no good music, so I introduced bluegrass and North Carolina barbecue.”
Owens hopes to eventually move most of his equipment back to Boone, to help meet local needs.
“ I can bring a lot of my infrastructure back here and have a team that can strike out when a disaster occurs,” he said. “It’s my job now, along with the excavation work that I do. I knew that bad stuff was happening all over the world, but I had to make the connections here, between this and the 10 principles and values of the Burning Man concept. I can’t stare this disaster in the face and do nothing.”
Owens added, “That a wild and crazy art festival combines forces with the most conservative people ever, to accomplish what we have done this week, is amazing. We worked together and everything was great.”
Owens is grateful for all those who have come to his side in making it happen in one week, he said. “Along with my network that led me to host the Amish, and all the locals who came together, it was a beautiful thing.”
Owens said that he “tries” to stay in his lane, “but it keeps getting wider and wider.”
And there are no coincidences, he’s been reminded.
“We were told there would be around 70 of the Amish coming to Boone. As we were getting the base camp set up, a lady from Alabama was in town with 70 cots, and asked if we needed them.”
Owens said that after the storm hit the High Country, people were coming into town to help, but they had nowhere to sleep or take showers, etc.
“That’s when it hit me — Why not put up a camp?,” he said. “I knew we didn’t need another distribution hub, as such, but what about a place from where we can send out crews to help? I don’t want to hand out clothes, I want to organize workers.”
And organize, he has done, with more groups on the way in the near future. “I’m good at networking, and have a great assistant, who is simply amazing at helping me get this stuff done.”
Owens is especially appreciative of local contractor, Luc Henry, for doing the finish work on the sheds and helping get them where they need to go.
To apply for consideration of one of the sheds, interested individuals should contact Pastor Reggie Hunt at Cornerstone Summit Church in Boone at (828) 265-3795.
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