George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

Hometown Heroes: Frances Reese's 70-Year Legacy in Henderson County

• George Real Estate Group

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Every community has its quiet heroes - those whose decades of service create ripples that touch countless lives. This week, we're privileged to spotlight 93-year-old Frances Reese, whose 70+ years in Henderson County embody the spirit of selfless community building.

Frances takes us on a remarkable journey through local history, beginning with co-founding Reese Insurance with her husband Ted - a family business they operated for 50 years before passing to their daughter. Her story gains fascinating texture as she recounts helping establish the Abraham Kirkendall chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 1996, hosting their first meeting in her office during an ice storm with one member arriving in pajamas. 

Her talents extend to remarkable craftsmanship, winning national recognition for her hand-quilted creations. Frances's first-place national award for hand quilting and second-place finish for her intricate "Deer Dining Blues" quilt showcase her artistic gifts. Yet she channels these skills toward service, crafting quilts for DAR-sponsored schools and continuing today with the First Baptist Church sewing ministry. Her genealogical expertise has helped 142 people join DAR chapters, while her earlier work with the Hendersonville Business and Professional Women organization successfully advocated for employee childcare programs.

What strikes us most about Frances is how, at nearly 93, she remains dedicated to giving back - spending her days researching family histories and creating quilts for charity. "At almost 93 years old, I can still be doing that and give to somebody," she says with characteristic humility. Her story reminds us that extraordinary impact often comes through consistent, quiet dedication over decades. Who in your community deserves recognition for their lasting contributions? Let us know in the comments or nominate them for our Hometown Hero Series.

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. 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 on Friday morning, our favorite time of the week together with our friend Noah George from the George Real Estate Group and do our Hometown Hero Series. Good morning, noah.

Speaker 2:

Good morning and happy Friday. How are you? A lot to be thankful for, and it's always a privilege and honor to be here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Hero.

Speaker 1:

Series. Well, we look forward to it. We really do, and this week we are just tickled to death to have Mrs Frances Reese. I was able to chat with her earlier this week on the phone and we'll switch over to that fascinating interview in just a few minutes with Mrs Frances Reese. But first we want to check on the real estate world here in Henderson County. Well, the we want to check on the real estate world here in Henderson County.

Speaker 2:

Well, the market continues to move. We're averaging some 126 single-family homes a month selling. We've had more homes sell year-to-date this year in Henderson County than we did year-to-date last year and the prices are holding. I mean the average single-family home price over the last 12 months is at $540.

Speaker 2:

It's amazing and it's hard to believe I mean the hurricane we experienced coming up on a year not too far away. And again, we know there's areas of our county and community that are still recovering and it's no disrespect to the recovery efforts, but there's a lot of people are just back to normal in in regards to their real estate.

Speaker 2:

it's the real estate market's moving interest rates are actually coming down a little bit. Um, inventory levels are are holding. I mean it's it's more of a balanced market. But you know, life happens, therefore real estate happens and and we're continuing to navigate and help so many people through real estate oh what?

Speaker 1:

I ask you maybe I put you on the spot, but uh, how are you having listings in the gorge area, are you we?

Speaker 2:

actually have some. We have some in the works uh, you know for different reasons. I mean, and you know, and yes, we have some property that's going to be coming up, uh, in the bat cave area.

Speaker 1:

Okay, well, uh, we will be back and close out for just a second with noah, but first, uh, we need to play you the interview that we uh recorded earlier this week with mrs francis reese, our george real estate groupometown Hero this week. Our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero this week is Frances Reese. And, mrs Reese, it is a pleasure to welcome you to our show today. How are you?

Speaker 3:

Thank you, thank you Fine, I'm just fine.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's good to have you with us, and our mutual friend, bessie Bright, gave me your name as someone that I could chat with about some of the history of Henderson County and some of the different things that you have been involved in. You are co-founder and co-owner of Reese Insurance with your husband, ted, for many years here.

Speaker 3:

That's correct about 50 years.

Speaker 1:

Wow, and your daughter now owns the business.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

Well, bessie was telling me about your involvement with the Daughters of the American Revolution and a national arts contest that you guys that you participated in Tell us about that, ms reese, okay.

Speaker 3:

But back about the uh joining the revolution. In 1996 at the um abraham kirkendall chapter had their uh first meeting at our office because of the ice storm that came in.

Speaker 1:

What year was that again?

Speaker 3:

Our Abraham Kirkendall chapter that I'm a member of, dar formed their first meeting at my office insurance office because of the ice storm that came in, they canceled us at the restaurant that we had planned to have it, and about 8.30 that morning the organizing regent called and asked if everybody could come to my office to have the ritual to start the chapter new. And I said of course yes. And and she said I'm glad you said yes because everybody's coming on their way. One of them came in their pajamas even, and so we had the ritual, and and Peavy from the other chapter came also and she asked for a flag so we could salute the flag, and I got one out of the closet and held it up. She said you got it backwards, francis. We had about 12 people there and everybody signed a paper saying that they were there at that first meeting.

Speaker 3:

And then that was in 1996. Um, I had entered. I had been quilting since well, I said since I was nine years old, but I started quilting about year 2000, and so they had a contest, a heritage contest, with DAR on hand quilting, and I entered with my quilts that I'd made and it won first prize in national contest nationally first place.

Speaker 3:

And then a few years later I entered another quilt which was called Deer Dining Blues and each block was four inches and it was a different pattern and a different piece of blue and white fabric. And I entered that and it came in second place in the nation.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 3:

So I was happy to do that. Then, uh, I think it was last year or the year before, they had a uh. Uh. They sponsor dar sponsors schools and one of them is the indian school and they wanted everybody, every chapter, if they, to send a quilt for their class there or their orphanage. And I made two quilts and sent those in for them and they were happy to have those.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 3:

My hobby now is quilting and genealogy to get new members for our chapter. Genealogy to get new members for our chapter. Over the years since 1996 I have helped 142 new members join or recommend them to join some of them and other other chapters in other parts of united states. They also have chapters overseas, and the overseas chapters were sponsored by a lady that was a chairman, ann Peavy, and she's the one that helped our chapter start too, and she asked me one time if I would go with her as an assistant overseas. Well, at that time I was working full-time at the office and couldn't leave, but that was quite an honor that she'd asked me to do that.

Speaker 1:

So you literally were in on the ground floor of the formation of the DAR chapter here in Henderson.

Speaker 3:

County, yeah, in 1996. The other chapter, joseph McDowell, was the one that that most all those organizing members were in before. There were many others that joined right away in that year and they were, uh, charter members, uh, but I was a charter member and an organizing chapter member too.

Speaker 1:

Well, congratulations on that. And another one of your efforts here, I understand was from working at the Hendersonville Business and Professional Women organization and the Merchants Association.

Speaker 3:

Tell us a little bit about that Well with Business and Professional Women's Club. Bessie one time was the president and I was the secretary and she had, or the chapter, talked about urging all the businesses in town that we could contact to have child care for their employees and she had me write letters to all the chapters, all the different businesses that might come into that category, and we had several that did and we had several that did. I think GE was one that established a class for child care and that was a big plus for our chapter.

Speaker 1:

In addition to that, I understand that you have worked at the same place. I do some WHKP Radio.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I started out WHKP Radio. Yeah, I started out when I was first married. Kermit called me and asked me if I would work as a bookkeeper for WHKP, and that's when they were in their old location, closer into town there from where they are now, and that was when I was first married. He would get Beaver Cab Company spot announcements to give me a free ride into town to pick up spot announcements from different businesses too besides my bookkeeping work, and I enjoyed that. But then I started my family and had to stay at home with them.

Speaker 1:

He wanted me to bring my baby and just put him in the sound room there while I was working, but I couldn't do that mrs reese, we thank you so much for giving us some of your time and uh and some of your memories of uh many, many years here in Henderson County, over 70 years. Tell us about today. Where are you and what occupies your time now.

Speaker 3:

Well, most of the time I'm here at the computer working on research for family history and sitting at the sewing machine sewing quilts for the First Baptist Church sewing ministry, where home sewers can do these quilts at top and take them in, and the girls there use long arms to finish them up to give to charity organizations. Wow, I feel like that's a worthwhile ministry. Now, at almost 93 years old, I can still be doing that and give to somebody. We've had five foreign exchange students at our house at different times over the years and that was fun too.

Speaker 1:

so that's fantastic. Mrs reese, we thank you so much for giving us some of your time today and and giving us a lot of your time, a lifetime of time of volunteering and helping out here in henderson county. That's the kind of people we look forward to chat with on our hometown hero series and I sure do appreciate you talking to me today.

Speaker 3:

Thank you for calling.

Speaker 1:

Bye-bye, mrs Frances Reese, our George Real Estate Group hometown hero, fascinating lady to chat with, and old Noah is pretty fascinating to chat with too. You've got an open house scheduled this weekend, you say.

Speaker 2:

We do. Actually, it's an incredible home built in 1976, one Whitehall Lane in Hendersonville in English Hills, a very desirable neighborhood right off of Canuga, in town. 2,400-plus square feet and this home also has a basement as well, but it has an open house this Saturday, actually 1 to 4.

Speaker 2:

Tomorrow, yeah 1 to 4. It's a lovely home and it's at $499. Amazing home in English Hills. And I, you know, uh, actually last night we had to meet the teachers with my children, my daughters, uh, you know, and running into, you know, friends and people, we know that they're like. We keep seeing your signs everywhere oh boy and we're just so thankful. I mean, yes, we and you'll see these signs, the directional signs out there on Canuga Road. Into the English Hills.

Speaker 1:

Well, you guys are still very active, still very busy. Lots of real estate deals happening all over western North Carolina. I was on your website perusing around last night, as a matter of fact, and there's listings everywhere.

Speaker 2:

Everywhere. And, by the way, we just listed some downtown Main Street properties and you can see that on our website as well. Real estate by Greg dot com. Again, we're grateful to serve the community through real estate.

Speaker 1:

And each week you are on different radio shows and actually about three times a week we put up on the podcast all of the podcast platforms itunes, uh, all of them, you get you can and we've.

Speaker 2:

We've had, I mean, over 10 000 downloads, and yes uh, we're grateful for that.

Speaker 2:

And we we broadcast, we, you know, we we put out the radio shows on the podcast platform again, from our talking about the community to talking about the the different real estate uh, things going on and putting perspective. We talked about life too. It's just, it's been a lot of fun to to to have it now on about the community, talking about the different real estate, things going on and putting perspective. We talked about life too. It's been a lot of fun to have it now in a podcast format.

Speaker 1:

You're a natural for radio. You really are. You conduct a really nice radio show and there's a lot of educational elements to what you talk about in the real estate world.

Speaker 2:

We try to bring value and information that's worth listening to and keep coming back every week, right, I mean, but it's so much fun and we love sponsoring the Hometown Hero series.

Speaker 1:

Well, next week you can join us at 845. We will have yet another George Real Estate Group, hometown Hero, and, as I was talking earlier, next week we've got uh michelle hall, who will be our guest.

Speaker 2:

so join us then maybe the house feels a little too big these days, the stairs a little steeper, the pace of life a little too fast. But what if your next move wasn't about letting go. It was about making space for peace, for freedom, for what matters most? At the George Real Estate Group, we understand that real estate isn't just about the house. It's about transitions, timing and trust. We've helped thousands of families in Western North Carolina make smart, thoughtful moves Closer to nature, closer to family, closer to home. So when you're ready to right size, simplify or start fresh, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group, local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygregcom, because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.

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. By gregcom, 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 0 5 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 8 45.