Remembering Wrestling Icon James Short and Our Local Legends

Can you believe it's been a whole decade since George Real Estate Group first hit the airwaves? Join me, Noah George, as we mark this significant anniversary and reminisce about the milestones and achievements that have cemented our place in Henderson County's real estate market. Not only will we uncover the secrets to navigating a market with more buyers than homes, but we'll also raise a glass to the enduring legacy we've built together. And let's not forget the heart of our community—this episode honors the late James Short, a local wrestling legend whose impact rings out far beyond the mat. Norman Osteen is here to share touching memories that are sure to inspire and remind us why it's essential to celebrate our hometown heroes.

Meanwhile, stepping up to the mic with some family flair, Lucy Miller George offers a peek into the workings of our family-run real estate empire. With over 1,300 families helped and countless homes sold, Lucy's insights into the selling process are as sharp as they are entertaining—especially when peppered with our signature not-so-great jokes. Whether you're looking to sell or just craving some quality real estate chit-chat, you won't want to miss the tips and stories we've got lined up. So, tune in, and let's navigate the bustling streets of Henderson County's real estate market together.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

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 59. It's 845. Good Friday morning, everybody and welcome to our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Series. And we do this every Friday morning. Someone in our community stands out or we get notified of a standout in our community and we just love talking to them and about them, and this morning is no exception. But first we've got to talk to our buddy Noah George, who has returned like the prodigal son and we're glad to have him back. We really are. How are you doing, fred? Good to be back? Missed you.

Speaker 3: 1:22

It was grateful that you know it's always good to get away, take a little bit of a break and, by the way, I have to say thank you to my entire team. I mean, that's when you know you have the right people, that's right. Again when things just keep moving along and moving ahead. I've even joked. I said the more I get out of the way, the better things get.

Speaker 3: 1:47

Like you know. So I just need to leave more. But no, things are great. A lot of things to be thankful for and grateful to market, I mean, and grateful for our team at the George Real Estate Group and all our clients we've been able to help throughout the years and you know, this year again, every year we get to meet and help incredible people with their real estate needs and that's regardless of the economy, regardless of the interest rates. We know real estate happens around life and life happens again.

Speaker 3: 2:13

Could be a really positive reason why people are buying or selling, Could be a challenging reason, but we're there to walk alongside our clients and the economy is the economy, the market's the market. I mean just a quick snapshot. And the economy is the economy, the market's the market. I mean just a quick snapshot. Our average price in Henderson County is at $540,000 plus $1,000. $540,000 in Henderson County single-family homes we're still averaging about 120 homes a month selling, but the inventory levels are so low. There's only 316 active single-family homes in the market and that's why prices keep going up because the demand continues. I mean low inventory, sustained demand even with these, you know, seven percent yeah interest rates it's amazing and and it doesn't seem to change you.

Speaker 1: 2:58

You keep saying about every month. You say the 316 homes on the end.

Speaker 3: 3:04

Well, we were at the beginning of the year, we were less than 300, but it's been right around hovering around 300 for Henderson County. And again I use single family homes. I mean there obviously there's townhomes and condos and land that we're selling. I mean, I just use that as a, as a snapshot, I mean. But every single day we're talking to clients, we're helping clients and again it's so fascinating how real estate is a life-driven event. I mean you can't time the market. The market's the market, and so it's a privilege to walk alongside with our clients and the incredible agents that we have. And I also want to specifically mention Philip and him holding down the radio while I was out of town.

Speaker 1: 3:45

Such a pleasure to work with Philip Trees. It is always a pleasure he comes here and we just have a conversation, like you and I. He's an amazing guy.

Speaker 3: 3:55

Absolutely, and if you didn't catch any of those or want to catch any of our radio shows, we podcast all of them. You can find it on your favorite podcast platform Apple, amazon, apple, amazon Alexa, spotify. You know you can look up George Real Estate Group. You can also find us online at realestatebygregcom. You can stop by our office there in Flat Rock, 2720 Greenville Highway, and then, of course, just give us a call 828-393-0134.

Speaker 1: 4:20

Okay, noah, thank you so much. And we are here today to honor the memory of the late James Short. He is our James is our George Real Estate Group hometown hero posthumously. He passed away recently after suffering a stroke two years ago, and Norman Osteen is here to help us to honor James. And good morning, norman. Good morning, how are you? I'm good, good to be here, it's good to have you here. Let's talk for just a second about how you came to know the late James Short.

Speaker 4: 4:58

Well, when Matt Cumbo took a job at Edneyville High School, I went out there and saw him and he asked me if I wanted to scout football. That's how I got there. And then I met Barry Bonnette and he asked me if I wanted to scout football. That's how I got there. And then I met barry bonette and they asked me if I wanted to wrestle. And we started coach wrestling and I started a junior high team too I don't know if they had one up to that point and there were four brothers named short that wrestled really I met them.

Speaker 1: 5:26

Yeah, they lived out in the eastern end of the county lived, they lived on.

Speaker 4: 5:29

Gillom Mountain. Okay, across from Edneyville.

Speaker 1: 5:32

Gotcha. So that's when the friendship started. Huh, yes, sir.

Speaker 3: 5:36

And they were quite young when you met them.

Speaker 4: 5:39

Well, david was the oldest, I think he was a junior. James was a freshman, daniel was a freshman they were pretty close in age and then steven was a seventh grader, I think well, uh, tell us about uh.

Speaker 1: 5:54

Then you became involved with james's wrestling career and and his uh, his accomplishments in wrestling went all the way to the top uh state championship in 1994.

Speaker 4: 6:08

Yes, sir well, we started a club. I wanted to start a club to help the program at Edneyville and first year I had it. James was the only one that would do anything and I was still wrestling at the senior level, so I would wrestle with him and we would go off on the weekend and wrestle. And the success of James after that first year just made the club explode. Uh wow, we just had a huge run with the club after james's success and this is the strong and courageous wrestling club yes, sir which is it's nationally known for producing champion, champion wrestlers, but, and more importantly, on Christian values.

Speaker 4: 6:51

Well, it started out as Edneyville Freestyle. I said that yesterday at his service. But I had decided when James and I were out of town if we were out of town on Sunday before we got back we'd go to church. And he was a good, moral young man. He was a 14-year-old and I just decided it needed to be a Christian ministry.

Speaker 3: 7:14

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 7:14

And I was talking to an old football coach out there, joey Haynes at the time, and we were trying to come up with names where people would know what it stood for, and I told this story yesterday it was suggested G gideon's army, and little james said uh, well, he wasn't so little, but he was young. Uh, he said. He said coach, you'll think you're gideon. He says we got to have another name and so we settled in on strong, courageous.

Speaker 3: 7:45

That's amazing. His faith was absolutely part of his story.

Speaker 4: 7:51

He's in a better place than we are. He accepted Jesus Christ. There's no doubt in my mind where he's at Incredible.

Speaker 1: 7:58

That's good. Well, after high school he kept on going with the wrestling right.

Speaker 4: 8:06

Well, a lot of people talk about how tough he was, but they don't realize how hard he worked.

Speaker 4: 8:13

He was a phenomenal little athlete as a freshman and I think he finished fourth that year and he was given the state champion a scuffle as a freshman, oh yeah, and I think he could have won it, but he pulled the guy on top of him and got in trouble and lost that match the next two years. He really should have won it, but he finished second both years. Wow, he got better and better. In offseason Freestone, greco His junior year, we went to the Nationals and he said I'm going to be an All-American. He finished fifth. The next fall he had an injury that prevented him from playing football his senior year and we thought it was over for him as an athlete and I can't remember how it came about. But we found a doctor that had actually worked with football players for the Atlanta Falcons and he had a neck and shoulder problem and he helped him out and he came back and wrestled and he won a state title and he won an Olympic national. He won a Greco national championship in Fargo, north Dakota. He was a high school All-American. He signed with Clemson immediately after and, uh, they redshirted him and went down there to watch carolina and clemson wrestle and he pulled me to the side and he said coach clemson's gonna drop. I said no, they're not, james, they finished third before you come down here the year before they'd finished third. But they had committed a violation and to save their all their other sports, they kept the NCAA off campus and they dropped their wrestling team and we had a time getting him out of there. They wouldn't release his transcript and but they finally did.

Speaker 4: 10:01

And then he went to Purdue and he was winning in the Big Ten and I thought he had he needed to wrestle at the Division I level but they tried to cut him too low. James was a big stout kid and they cut him to 165. And I went and watched him wrestle and he had his wrist taped up and I said what's going on with you? And he said I got a sprained wrist. Well, we found out at the end of the year he had broke his wrist and he had an iron plate in his forearm after that and I was furious and he was like I'm going to quit wrestling, I'm done. Well, by that time I was at Gardner-Webb University and I said, james, just come home and wrestle at Gardner-Webb. And he did. And he came here and he was an All-American.

Speaker 3: 10:47

That's amazing.

Speaker 4: 10:47

And then he finished college and I had a connection with the Army team and he joined the Army and went and wrestled for them and he was on the Olympic ladder for a few years, wow. And we had a guy in America named Jake Clark. It was just pretty tough and that was our representative. I had a friend that was on that team too that I got to meet later, named Jason Laketus. I asked Jason when James was done wrestling. I said, was I wrong? I said, was James just not of that caliber? He said James was not selfish enough. He said James helped the other wrestlers, he he was involved in his church. He said he didn't do what he needed to do to sell out. He said he could have been our number one guy for about three years. He said there's no doubt in my mind. That's what Jason told me.

Speaker 3: 11:43

What a story. And he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017, I see here At Gardner-Webb. Yes, sir, that's amazing and was on the participated in the US Olympic trials in 2000. Again, that's what you're referring to. Yes, yes, that's amazing, and then I mean talking about being selfless. He served in the Army and had a number of tours.

Speaker 4: 12:09

Yeah, they called him back to active duty after he quit wrestling and that's really the only time I wasn't in touch with him. It was about a year. I didn't even know where he was at and he saw some bad things. He and I have talked a little bit.

Speaker 3: 12:28

He did two tours with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Yes, incredible.

Speaker 1: 12:32

Yeah, and he returned to Colorado after the military right.

Speaker 4: 12:38

He did. He came here for a while and he worked with me for about three months and he said he wanted to coach with me, but he was training people out in Colorado. He was working as a personal trainer and we talked about different things. Mississippi didn't have wrestling at the time. They still don't have much. And he was talking about let's go to Mississippi and just create wrestling in Mississippi. But I had this club was going big here, so I said I can't leave the kids here.

Speaker 4: 13:11

But then he met Jackie, his wife. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that. And he was coming back in.

Speaker 1: 13:18

He was coming back in that was it.

Speaker 4: 13:21

He actually came here and interviewed for a job at Cherokee High School because they had offered me a job on the reservation about five years ago and it didn't work out. So he moved back here actually to help me with wrestling. He said you're not going to retire we're going to keep strong, courageous, going.

Speaker 4: 13:40

And I'll tell you a story about jackie in a second uh and we, we were up and going, we were had camps and clinics and stuff going and, uh, we actually had one I think it was march 19th and he had to stroke the next morning.

Speaker 1: 13:55

Uh-huh. Well, gosh man, I really am impressed with this guy and your association with him. Thank you so much for coming in this morning and telling us about the accomplishments of the late James Short. We have a certificate that we would appreciate you getting into the hands of Jackie Okay and his two beautiful daughters, noah, that I know will Rachel and Ashley, and again, just again, incredible.

Speaker 3: 14:31

And again he was remembered for his brilliant smile, unbeatable work, ethic, unshakable positivity, servant's heart and kindness and care he gave to everyone.

Speaker 1: 14:39

And there was a celebration of life that took place yesterday morning at 10 o'clock at Upward Christian Fellowship here in Hendersonville.

Speaker 4: 14:47

Yes, sir.

Speaker 1: 14:48

So again, norman, thank you so much. You are currently still coaching some wrestling at North Henderson right.

Speaker 4: 14:56

I coach at West Henderson. West Henderson okay, now, yeah, but Jackie and I. Jackie told me that the enemy had attacked James, but that enemy didn't know who they were dealing with. Now, that's exactly right.

Speaker 1: 15:10

Thank you so much, noah thank you so much and join us every Friday morning for the George Real Estate Group, hometown Hero. Thank you so much. Thank you and join us again next Friday.

Speaker 2: 15:21

Hey guys, it's Lucy Miller George, your favorite 9-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: 16:21

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 10.05 am on WHKP 107.7 FM and 14.50 am, or stream online at WHKPcom or download these podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. The George Real Estate Group brings you the WHKP Hometown Hero Series every Friday morning at 845.