Montreat Builds Towards Recovery
MONTREAT, N.C. (FOX Carolina) - There is a lot of history to be found in the North Carolina mountains, and some of that history can be found at Montreat.
Montreat is both a town and a college. The small Christian school has a student body of around 650, and it’s a beloved fixture in the mountains. The area is the home of Reverend Billy Graham, and it has hosted many historical figures, including Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
But for the students of Montreat, the most holy place isn’t a church, or a home, or even the staple auditorium; instead, it’s Lake Susan.
The lake is the property of Montreat Conference Center, not the college, and the Conference Center has worked tirelessly to repair the beloved fixture. Although Lake Susan technically isn’t on Montreat’s campus, it’s one of the favorite spots for many students.
“It’s mainly my favorite place because there’s like a bench on the side where I will just sit at night and look at the stars,” said Rebeca Cruz, a student at Montreat. “It’s like the only place in the school that you can see the stars.”
But after Hurricane Helene, this beloved lake looked a lot different.
“It was just, empty, nothing there, a bunch of sticks and trees were still in there,” Rene Tamez, another student, described.
Lake Susan was one of many areas around Montreat significantly changed following Helene.
The college also suffered extensive damage to many of its buildings, forcing students out of their school for several weeks. In total, 10 buildings were damaged, with McAlister Gym seeing the most destruction.
The college’s president, Paul Maurer, says the damage to buildings is small in comparison to the struggles the region faces.
“When I go to church, I see the areas that got hit far, far harder,” Maurer told us. “We got off easy in the scope of things…part of the reason I continued to drive around the region was to have perspective, that what we went through was relatively minor compared to so many others in the region.”
A few weeks after the storm, Montreat College welcomed its students back with a celebration.
“When they came back, that was powerful,” Maurer said. “We had a party when they came back. We had a special dinner that our dining crew put together because we needed to celebrate.”
“It was like a dream,” Rene said. “We were all together again. I was able to see my friends and my teachers. It was a beautiful moment.”
One day, the college buildings will be back to normal, and Lake Susan will welcome visitors once again. Until then, students staff remain focused on one thing: giving thanks to God.
“How do we manage through and how does our character grow? How do we become better human beings because of it, not in spite of it?”
Lake Susan is now fully repaired through the work from the Montreat Conference Center.
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