Celebrate with us as the George Real Estate Group hits an impressive ten-year stride in the real estate game, coupled with their heartfelt Hometown Hero Series. Witness the remarkable transformation of North Henderson High School's band program, as Steve Sigmon, the man behind the music, recounts the journey from a six-member ensemble to a powerhouse of a hundred young musicians. Discover how this incredible growth mirrors the competitive surge in the real estate market, where cash is king amidst a landscape of scarce listings and eager buyers.
In this heartwarming episode, we unpack Steve Sigmon's harmonious life, where the notes of music education and spiritual ministry blend into a symphony of service and achievement. Delight in the stories of a man who not only earned the Western North Carolina Award of Excellence but also strikes the perfect chord between being a band director, pastor, and family man. Plus, learn about the significance of the upcoming band festival, not just as a community highlight, but as a critical fundraiser shaping the future of these talented students. Join us for a conversation that celebrates community milestones, personal dedication, and the melodies that bind us together.
Quality Home Consultants Over 35,000 Home Inspections since 1998, Quality Home Consultants are ready to serve you.
Pure Haven Photography Pure Haven Photography offers real estate visual solutions including photography, videography, drone
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Celebrate with us as the George Real Estate Group hits an impressive ten-year stride in the real estate game, coupled with their heartfelt Hometown Hero Series. Witness the remarkable transformation of North Henderson High School's band program, as Steve Sigmon, the man behind the music, recounts the journey from a six-member ensemble to a powerhouse of a hundred young musicians. Discover how this incredible growth mirrors the competitive surge in the real estate market, where cash is king amidst a landscape of scarce listings and eager buyers.
In this heartwarming episode, we unpack Steve Sigmon's harmonious life, where the notes of music education and spiritual ministry blend into a symphony of service and achievement. Delight in the stories of a man who not only earned the Western North Carolina Award of Excellence but also strikes the perfect chord between being a band director, pastor, and family man. Plus, learn about the significance of the upcoming band festival, not just as a community highlight, but as a critical fundraiser shaping the future of these talented students. Join us for a conversation that celebrates community milestones, personal dedication, and the melodies that bind us together.
Quality Home Consultants Over 35,000 Home Inspections since 1998, Quality Home Consultants are ready to serve you.
Pure Haven Photography Pure Haven Photography offers real estate visual solutions including photography, videography, drone
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Speaker 1:
The George Real Estate Group radio broadcast is celebrating 10 years on WHKP. The George Real Estate Group is celebrating 10 years on the radio live every Thursday morning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7 FM and AM 1450 and streaming online at WHkpcom. Each Friday morning at 845,. The George Real Estate Group presents the Hometown Hero Award to someone in our community who goes above and beyond to make our hometown a better place to live. Here's this week's Hometown Hero Show. It's 845 and time now for our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Show. It's 845 and time now for our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Series. Every Friday morning we get together with the George Real Estate Group crew. Someone from that crew and Ari you drew the short straw this morning, ari Munoz with George Real Estate.
Speaker 2:
Group. How you doing. I'm fantastic and I can't tell you that this is the happiest I've ever been to draw the short straw. As always, it is an honor to be here to you know, highlight, a hometown hero. It's contagious to talk about the positive things that happen in the community. I think we need more of that, so we love being a sponsor for that. We believe it's important, so we are happy to be here with you every Friday. And so the market right.
Speaker 2:
It continues to move in an impressive direction. On average, we have about 300 active homes in the market. About 120 of them are selling each month. Most of those transactions on average are $535,000 per home. 40% of our sales continue to be cash, which is a staggering figure, and it just goes to show that demand is high. Supply is low. People want to move here. It's a wonderful place. I, of course, like Noah, would say I'm biased because I live here. I love it. It's beautiful. My family lives here. I've made the best friends of my life here, but it is nice to be able to feel like we're giving something back to the community and sponsor this. So I'll turn it now back to you.
Speaker 1:
All right, get us in touch with the George Real Estate Group.
Speaker 2:
Ari yeah, so if you want to get in touch with us, we are located at 2720 Greenville Highway. We also like to joke and say that we are located in a dangerous place. There's Habahaba Barbecue, which is amazing. They also started serving tacos recently. They're really good. We have the Wrinkled Egg. We have the Flat Rock Bakery. They have fantastic pastries and pizza. Come see us. We'll buy you a cup of coffee. We're happy to talk real estate with you.
Speaker 1:
All right, thank you, man. We appreciate you all sponsoring our show and bringing us people like Steve Sigmund. Good morning, Steve, good morning. How are you? I'm doing good. I hope you are. I'm doing well. Steve is the band director at North Henderson High School and I've been looking forward to talking to you all week long. I got involved in high school marching band festivals many, many years ago as the emcee, and so there's a fever, there's a contagion there. I mean you really do get involved with kids. Tell us about 16 years at north henderson high school. How has that flown by? I'm sure.
Speaker 4:
Well, sometimes it seems like it's been every bit of 16 years, and then sometimes it seems like it's passed very quickly yeah it's been a blast. Um, you know this is moving home for me. I'm hend Harrisonville High grad and so is my wife and ancestors for years back. But coming home to here and to North was definitely a rebuilding project. We started with six kids that first year.
Speaker 1:
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 4:
Yeah, there were six kids. It was an interesting sight to walk in the room with six kids playing Uno around a table. But we've come a long way since then. Thankfully, and it's been a blessing, Although the pandemic affected us, we're going to be back around 100 kids next year in the band program, which is about a tenth of the school population. So that's great.
Speaker 1:
From six to 100. Oh man, I can't imagine. Well, tell us about some of the accomplishments and some of the things, uh, that's happened in that 16 years, like uh, uh, well gosh, you just recently had a big trip to new orleans, right yeah, so we have been really blessed to have the opportunity to travel around the country, at least as much as we can yeah um.
Speaker 4:
So every year we take a large trip in the spring with our concert bands, and those are the groups that meet during the school day, in the normal classroom periods. So it's not the marching band, it's not jazz, it's our groups that most people would say looks like an orchestra, just without the strings.
Speaker 1:
Okay, okay.
Speaker 4:
And so that group has been. We've been in New Orleans multiple times, which is, of course, where we went last month. We also have been to every place, from Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia, Orlando, just different places, and we have been blessed to do well typically wherever we go.
Speaker 4:
I don't know if that's just the Lord blessing us or if that is hard work or a little bit of both, but it's been a wonderful thing and the kids have really worked hard from the very beginning with those six kids. Whether they were great kids, they work hard and that's one of the reasons why I came home. Is not every place you could teach in North Carolina or in America would have kids that would work like ours do here?
Speaker 1:
That's amazing, that's great. Well, along the way, you have done a lot of judging in band festivals and you've traveled around a lot yourself. Outside of just being the band director at North Henderson High, you adjudicate some band festivals still.
Speaker 4:
Yep, I typically do one a year, um, in the marching band season, but it's a little difficult timing wise because I still have my own group that I take out and compete with. So typically I'll take a week off and judge, uh, and then, when it comes to the concert band or jazz scene or other places, I I'll get out there as much as I can, but it's admittedly not as much as it may be at some point. Yeah, simply because I'm still active in it myself and I have to prioritize my own kids before I go and do a little bit on the side with judging and judging.
Speaker 1:
a band fest is a whole weekend. It really is a whole weekend.
Speaker 4:
Oh, yes, yes, we host our own the last Sunday, or last Saturday, I should say of October, every year.
Speaker 1:
Okay.
Speaker 4:
It is quite the thing.
Speaker 1:
Really it's an all-day festival. Yes, all-day band fest.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, last year we had I think it was 21 bands.
Speaker 1:
Really.
Speaker 4:
From four states and that is really the undertaking. The undertaking if you drive past North Henderson High School in the afternoon on the last Saturday of October, it's gonna look like you know. I don't know you could pick your analogy, but I think last year we had 45 buses, 50 equipment, trailers and about 5,000 people on campus.
Speaker 1:
It is an amazing day to go into a band fest stadium at nine o'clock on a Saturday morning and watch the day build as more and more bands and bigger bands, bigger buses come in. And by nine o'clock that night, when the awards are handed out, the stadium is full and you're announcing winning bands and the place is going wild. That youth is incredible.
Speaker 4:
Oh yeah, the energy the kids bring is pretty unbelievable sometimes.
Speaker 1:
I was talking about big bands. One time A dear late friend of mine, bill Shipp, who used to own the Buddy K Big Band here. I asked him what's the biggest challenge about directing a big band and his response was real fast and he said getting them all to stop at the same time. And to me that would be the challenge getting them all to start and stop at the same time. And to me that would be the challenge getting them all to start and stop at the same time. How do you accomplish something like that?
Speaker 4:
Well, I'm not sure that I would identify that as the biggest challenge, but I know he didn't work in the school system with kids. Actually, there is an old saying in the music world that starting together, a good man can do.
Speaker 4:
There is an old saying in the music world that starting together, a good band can do but, stopping together it takes a great one so there's some truth there that goes across the different genres of performance, but I would say that the most difficult thing for me on a daily basis is just simply managing all of the things we're managing at once everything from our band boosters and helping them to help the kids, managing the different needs of the kids, because we are a cross-section of a school with a very wide socioeconomic demographic Everything from cultural to other concerns, everything from school schedules to what might be best for who I have and then who I have. What instrument do they play and what instrument do I need them to play? How do I need to develop each individual student while also considering the overall? It's a lot to manage at one time.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 4:
But it would be difficult for me to say there's one specific thing that is more difficult than the others.
Speaker 1:
Well, let's see, let's talk about Western North Carolina Award of Excellence recipient in 2016.
Speaker 4:
Expound on that a little bit yeah, so there are about a hundred high school or middle school band directors in Western North Carolina that are.
Speaker 4:
The state of North Carolina has split the bands into seven different districts okay just based on geography and the number of students in the district, and we do that for reasons of the all-district and all-state bands. So if you're an athlete and you get put on the all-region team or the all-state team, that team never actually forms. It's just people who are selected to it based off statistical categories. But in the band world, if you audition for that honor and if you earn the honor, the group actually gets together and performs a concert. Oh great. So that's why we're split into districts mainly. But every year, each district selects a director that they think meets the criteria for the award of excellence, and I think in 2016 they I just didn't have anybody else to pick, so it ended up being me.
Speaker 1:
I know You're humble. So you said you have a band fest coming up in October. I know it takes a ton of volunteers to make something like that happen.
Speaker 4:
Yes, sir, we usually use every one of our students and then we have band parents, band grandparents, aunts, uncles, other people from around the school. Dr Shepard, our principal, usually jumps in there a little bit. It's definitely all hands on deck but at the same time it goes very smoothly because of the folks who come to these events. It's easy when the clientele are great folks and typically in the music world, at least in the high school band world, that's what you're dealing with.
Speaker 1:
Yes, totally agree, I totally agree. Well, you have uh other hats that you wear. Uh, tell us about serving as uh.
Speaker 4:
Well, in the past you served as the music minister at fruitland baptist church yes, I did that for a little over a decade, yeah, yeah, and I was honored to do that, humbled to be called to serve in that way. And then, for the past almost a year a little less than a year I have served as the pastor of Families, education and Evangelism at Horseshoe First Baptist Church.
Speaker 1:
Okay.
Speaker 4:
And that was quite the shift. A few years ago, the Lord called me to serve him, and so I started in seminary, and I'm actually finishing in a week finally Fantastic. Congratulations, yes, three years on.
Speaker 1:
That's great. That's great, Steve.
Speaker 4:
It's been a blessing.
Speaker 4:
It's a little difficult to manage both, but I'm sure it's a wonderful ministry to be able to serve the kids and to serve the church and then to be able to put the two together. Trying to provide for the needs of children during the day and encourage them and teach them the different things that come along with music is a really easy transition into the things that everyone needs to know about Christ, and while I certainly have to be careful with separation of church and state issues, it's still quite the easy leap and it has created connections that have really borne fruits that I certainly could have never borne on my own.
Speaker 1:
That's great, that's great. Well, tell us about the family. You're busy at church and you're busy at school, but you're busy at home too, right?
Speaker 4:
Always. Yes, my wife Stephanie and I we've been married since 2006, and it has been just joyous every day and I know some people say that, but I really mean that. I am so blessed to have her in my life. She's the one that softens my rough edges.
Speaker 4:
And unfortunately, sometimes maybe I add some rough edges on her side, but it's been wonderful. We have two children, william and Emma. They are 13 and 7. And every day they keep us on our toes. Oh yeah, which is to be expected. I know every parent will say that, but they have been so supportive in this. William is in the Apple Valley band that just went to Carnegie.
Speaker 1:
Oh, wow.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, and he'll be in my band next year, which is really well. It's hard to describe what it's going to be like to have my own child in the group.
Speaker 1:
I can imagine Roger Caldwell that was the band director at Inca High had his children in class. Yeah, I remember when he was talking about that. Yeah, roger and I are friends. He's a great guy. Yeah, well, gosh, we've got a run here. We've got some certificates. Ari's got a hometown heroes certificate over there for you and, uh, he's also got some certificates at area restaurants and so forth. But I guess the most important thing is we need to remind everybody about that upcoming band festival in october.
Speaker 4:
that's a major fundraiser, I know, for you, though, for you guys, and that date again is it is october 26th and everything that we make on that goes directly back to the students to provide for their travel yeah, none of it is spent on instruments, uniforms.
Speaker 1:
That's all provided by the school system steve sigman, band director at north henderson high school. Our george real estate group, hometown hero ari munoz with george real estate group. We thank guys. Y'all have a great weekend.
Speaker 3:
Hey guys, it's Lucy Miller George, your favorite nine-year-old and I'm here to talk about the George Real Estate Group. Are you ready to sell your home and move on to bigger and better things? Well, let me tell you, my family knows a thing or two about selling houses. We have the experience of helping over 1,300 families and, let's be real, selling your home is a big deal, but with our expert guidance and our terrible dad jokes and Lucy jokes we will make the process as easy and painless as possible. Want to hear a joke? Why did the real estate agent cross the road To get to the other listing? Okay, maybe our jokes aren't the best, but our selling skills are definitely are. Give us a call today 828-393-0134. Have a nice day.
Speaker 1:
The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, north Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygregcom. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-393-0134 or stop by their office at 2720 greenville highway, flat rock, north carolina. Tune in live each week on thursdays at 1005 am on whkp, 107.7 fm and 1450 am, or stream online at whkpcom or download these podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. The George Real Estate Group brings you the W-H-K-P Hometown Hero Series every Friday morning at 845.
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