Hurricane Helene Update from Tryon International
A Letter from Tryon Equestrian Partners President, Sharon Decker
Dear Friends and Neighbors in Western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina:
Tryon International has become an emergency command center for response to the devastation that has happened all around us. We are thankful to be able to do this. Since last Thursday, the day before the storm, we have housed and fed FEMA's Search and Rescue Team out of NYC, the National Forest Service, The US Border Service, Rutherford Electric and Co-Op Groups from the Southeast. On Tuesday of this coming week, we will support the location of a NC Emergency Management hospital on the property.
We do not yet have power, as so many of you are experiencing, but once again, I am amazed by our incredible team that always seems to make it happen. And, in the midst of all of this, they successfully kept their commitment to a wedding rehearsal dinner and reception this weekend! I am so thankful for each and everyone of them. We are also thankful to CarolinaCat and Camp Electric for help with large generator needs for our new hotel. We opened the first night here with a house full of First Responders!
We recognize that many of you need meals and water and basic supplies. We have opened our General Store daily 8:00am-8:00pm and Campagna is open daily for buffet service for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menus are posted here.
Come and enjoy a hot meal and the company of neighbors, first responders, horse show competitors, and folks that are just passing through. We are all in this together and we will recover together!
Rodeo Carolina:
We have delayed the WCRA® Rodeo Carolina scheduled for next weekend until October 31-November 2. Information on this event can be found here. We hope you will join us, as we take an opportunity to recognize our first responders and our neighbors and friends that have worked together to bring us through these first weeks of recovery.
Horse Shows:
More than 200 horses are currently housed here after last weekend’s cancelation. Once power is restored we will also continue horse shows. The plan is for that to happen this week. So many small businesses, many in our region, are dependent on horse shows for their livelihood. We are committed to keeping this commitment to the competitors, the trainers, the farriers, the grooms, local hosts, all of those who depend on this industry for their wellbeing.
That doesn't mean that we will stop supporting recovery efforts. We can do both and will. At the point power is restored, we will open all of our restaurants and return to normal business with some extension of our hours to make ourselves more available to you, our horse show guests and the recovery personnel stationed on site here.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly at media@tryon.com. I will try to respond to all.
Our heartfelt prayers are extended to all in our community that are impacted by these circumstances. If there is one thing we know about Carolinians, it is that we are tough, we are resilient and we come together to make extraordinary things happen. Remember that kindness and care will go a long way in this process.
On behalf of Tryon Equestrian Partners,
Sharon Decker, President