A Saluda Storm Cleanup Turns Into A Dad Of The Year Surprise

A storm hits, the roads go dark and blocked, and suddenly the people with chainsaws and nerve become the difference between being stuck and getting through. We sit down with Dale Epperson of Epperson’s Tree Service, our WHKP Hometown Hero honoree, to hear how he and a small crew started cutting and pushing trees off the roadway near Saluda, with a growing line of neighbors following behind them, hoping there really was a way out. The result was not flashy, just relentless effort for hours, and it opened the door for recovery to begin.

Along the way, we share a clear-eyed Henderson County real estate market update: sales are still happening, prices are holding, inventory remains tight, and the “sky is falling” narrative does not match what we’re seeing on the ground in Western North Carolina. We talk about why local real estate data matters more than national headlines, what “normal” days on market can look like, and how we help clients navigate life transitions where timing and trust matter.

The most powerful moment comes as we surprise Dale with a Dad Of The Year recognition and read a letter from his daughter about his stage four metastatic prostate cancer diagnosis, a new granddaughter named after him, and the perspective that faith and family can bring when life gets heavy. If you care about community resilience, storm recovery, tree service safety and standards, and real stories from the people who show up, this conversation will stay with you.

Subscribe for more, share this with someone who loves Western North Carolina, and leave a review so more listeners can find the Hometown Hero series.

Transcript

Ten Years On WHKP

SPEAKER_02 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 WHKP.com. 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 for our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Show. On Friday mornings, Noah George and I get together. Noah sponsors the show, and we're so grateful to him for doing that because it's always a good gathering on Friday morning when we talk about community heroes. And uh Noah, how are you this morning?

SPEAKER_01 1:05

A lot to be thankful for and just grateful to be here. Uh this is the highlight of my week being able to be here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Heroes series and hearing amazing stories, shining a light on uh men and women doing amazing work in our communities.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

It's a fun part of our job. It really is, and it's always fun to get here on Friday mornings and do this.

Real Estate Market Reality Check

SPEAKER_02 1:24

A quick check on the real estate market from you?

SPEAKER_01 1:27

The market is absolutely still moving. I mean, be careful listening to those talking heads. The sky is not falling. Real estate's still moving. You know, there's uh and we're averaging about 135 single-family homes a month selling over the last 12 months. We're over a hundred more homes have sold in Henderson County in the current 12 months versus the previous 12 months. Prices are holding. Inventory levels are remaining around 600 some active single-family homes on the market. Now, it's slowed down a little bit in the sense of like it's not homes aren't they can sell in a couple weeks, but on average, it's about 100 days uh homes are selling. So, you know, it's not the frenzy what it was, but if if the homes price right, the condition, all those factors, homes absolutely are selling. And we're grateful we've had a tremendous year already helping a lot of our clients navigate through, you know, life happens, therefore real estate happens. And regardless of the interest rate, the economy, I mean, it m the market's still moving. Uh home prices are holding because of the the inventory levels being low, and the demand is is absolutely keeping up here. And again, it's all it's real estate's local. I mean, yeah, again, things are there there are certainly pockets of the country where they're not having the same experience we're having. Yeah. And yet uh what we're experiencing. But every home's unique and different, every situation is unique and different, and it's uh truly a privilege to help our clients navigate through you know how real estate in regards to what's going on in their life, and we we help them navigate that. Yeah, all over Western North Carolina and the upstate of South Carolina too. Western North Carolina and the upstate, and we do residential and commercial. We specialize in 1031 exchanges in addition to whatever your situation is, we'd love to help. Uh no pressure, no cost, no obligation. You can call us directly at 828-393-0134. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We also podcast our radio show. Uh, we have a number of open houses you can see on our Facebook page. And again, just and we have incredible agents and staff, but more importantly, it's our clients in the community that we love helping.

Meet Hometown Hero Dale Epperson

SPEAKER_02 3:26

Well, join me in welcoming Dale Epperson of Epperson's Tree Service to our show. Good morning, Dale. Good morning, how are you doing? I'm doing great. I hope you are. Yes, sir. Well, it's good to have you here with us.

Cutting A Way Out Of Saluda

SPEAKER_02 3:38

I I uh I've got to tell you that we had uh your name come into our hometown hero series here as someone who jumped on the bandwagon when the storm came through and uh helped out a lot of folks by clearing the roadway near Saluda right after the storm. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Well, you know, the storm happened and we lived down there in the kind of the middle of nowhere and wanted to get to work, and uh so I started trying to get out of Saluda.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Of course, all the roads around were blocked, the interstate was blocked, and I live right near the watershed, so we started going out through the watershed and uh realized it was blocked as well. And a friend of mine, Mike Duffy, owns All-American Tree Service. He had a tracco at his house, and I had a truck full of chainsaws and my son-in-law, and uh we just started cutting trees and pushing them out of the road, and yeah, um, before we knew it, there was a whole train of people behind us, you know, trying to get out of salute. They heard there might be a way out that way, so they just got behind us and um you know there were some people trying to help and uh took us about seven hours, but we finally busted through the other side and you know got into tuxedo and once we got on 25 over there it was clear. So it was, you know, a lot of work, you know, it was just kind of a team effort. Everybody did it. Um we were just trying to get to work so we could do something, you know. All my guys came to work, they showed up. That's what blew my mind. I mean, everybody had a hard time. It wasn't just me, it was just it was everybody. I'm just thankful that I had means to do what we did, you know.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

You uh uh you guys probably had damage at your own house that you probably ignored to and some of your workers too. Everybody had damages at their own home and then started working trying to help other people.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

That's true. I mean we had some friends that uh just lost everything and they were the first people we went to. And once we got those people cleared, we just kinda we didn't know what to do. You couldn't didn't have much communication. Uh did have a phone at the office we had at Starlink, fortunately, and our phones were ringing so much we just couldn't even answer it. We just had to leave a message and tell people to text us. And uh there was so many people came to help us, the crane company, they all their guys came, they sent three cranes to us to use. Uh all my guys worked, we worked daylight till dark, you know, seven days a week for at least a month. And then we kind of took a little break and started taking Sundays off, which we like to do anyway, to honor the Lord. So it was just a rough time, but um, you know, we're not really heroes. I mean, we we worked hard like everybody else, but everybody was out there rubbing hard. I was proud of everybody. I mean, it was just good to see how the community came together and people, so many people were willing to help. I had grading guys coming to me wanting to help. I had just everybody was calling. Dale, what we can do to help you. People were bringing us water, uh, people Chick-fil-A gave us

The Community Shows Up To Help

SPEAKER_00 6:56

free food. I mean, it was just it was a wonderful thing to see how the community came together.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Truly, the the community came together, and you guys uh, I mean, also uniquely positioned with your your business, right? I mean, like you guys were critical in the recovery and helping others and then being able to to to help and and get back above and beyond what again you're your normal. But you guys show up and it's remarkable. I gotta commend you guys in your business and what you do anyways, and then what you did you know during the storm. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Yeah, tree work is a a unique line of work. We love what we do. You know, we're a bunch of knuckleheads, we just like to work hard and um sweat, and and it's like it's like you're on a football field with the team all the time. You know, we're just a big group of brothers and we love what we do, and there are a lot of good tree guys in this town that they all love what they do, and we're just all grateful to have a job and be able to pay our bills, and you know, it's a good town to work in, a lot of good people here.

Doing Tree Work The Right Way

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Epperson's Tree Service advertises here on WHKP and and we talk about the qualifications of Eperson's Tree Service. You guys are uh uh pardon the pun here, you're not just shade tree, you guys are certified tree experts.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Yes, sir. We uh we took the time to become a an accredited company, and really what that means is that we run our business strictly by the book. You know, we've have taken the extra steps to train our men. Uh we have the right uh uh insurances, we have the right safety protocols. We you know, there's a lot to being accredited. It took us about a year to go through the whole the whole thing to get accredited, and then we get audited once a year. Um so we have to you know hold ourselves to a high standard. And you know, I think anybody that we work for realizes that when we leave the job, it's done right or they don't pay us. I mean, we we really take pride in treating our customers right and doing the job right.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

It's the integrity and the standard that for which you guys operate at. I it's been remarkable to watch you and your company. I mean, you've had exponential growth, but I I I gotta give you credit. You you took the time to set things up correctly and do what you did, everything you just mentioned to set you guys apart. What when did you first start your company?

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Uh I my dad was a farmer. I started cutting trees when I was 12 years old with my dad, because that's what he did in the wintertime. We sold firewood. So I started uh out in the landscaping and did tree work on the side. I probably started my tree business in my late 20s. I'm 54 now, so back in the late 90s, early 2000s, somewhere right in there.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

But but it's like you were under the radar and then all of a sudden we started seeing that person everywhere in the in the just it's remarkable what you guys have done in your reputation.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Well, I can only accredit that to God giving me wonderful men to work for me. Um I'm just one man. It's a team. It's a team.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

It sounds like your father had a huge influence on you.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Dad taught me how to work. He sure did. And uh he always taught me how to do it right. So I'm thankful for that.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Where's your uh office and headquarters located at, Dave?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

We're at seven Laycock Road in Hittersville. It's out toward Edneyville, kind of between Dana and Edneyville out there.

unknown 10:22

Okay.

Dad Of The Year Surprise

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Well, uh, we've got about three minutes left or four here, and it's something I want to read to you that you weren't expecting. Uh, this is uh a letter that was sent to us from your daughter Tessa. And it says, I'd like to nominate my dad Dale Epperson for best dad. Over the last year, my dad got diagnosed with stage four metastatic prostate cancer, still having the diagnosis with no promise of remission or healing. He's an exceptional dad, a pop pop, and runs Epperson Tree Service. When I found out my dad had cancer, it was devastating. But about a month after his diagnosis, I found out I was pregnant with a little girl. And I knew from the moment I found out that she was going to carry over his name. So now I have baby Dale, and she has the best pop pop in the world. Everything happens for a reason, but we are so thankful and blessed that he's still around. So uh you not only have uh received our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Award today, but you were receiving our Dad of the Year Award, and we kind of kept that as a surprise for you. We didn't tell everybody about that, so uh congratulations to you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

I'm not worthy of that.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Yes, you are.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

We are so glad to give you that honor, and we kind of kept it under the hat here with Tessa. She she's involved heavily in our little secret game here. So uh you are uh a highly regarded fellow in that family, Dale.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Well there again, I'm thankful that my family's put up with all my nonsense.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Tell us about your family.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Uh I have three children. Uh Tucker, who works for me, Tessa and Tatum. Tatum's married to Daniel. He um also works for me. Tatum has three children. Uh Tessa has two children. And um I have a beautiful, wonderful wife who's been married to me for 34 years, and uh couldn't have done a thing that I do without her. Um behind every man that people think is good is a better woman. So I'm very thankful for my wife, Julie. And uh God just blessed me. I don't deserve it, but He's blessed me.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Amen.

Faith And Perspective Through Cancer

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Let's talk about your faith. I know your faith has carried you through even before the battle you're currently facing, but Yeah, I mean I put my faith in Christ.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Um, found out I had cancer. You know, uh there's a lot of things people go through in life, but one thing is we're all gonna die. And um I would hate to know that I was gonna die and didn't know where I was gonna spend eternity. But thankful for the word that's been taught me and thankful that I can understand it and believe in what Christ did. And um, you know, I'm just thankful for every day. If I die tomorrow, if God's given me fifty-four wonderful years with a wonderful family and wonderful men that work for me. And like I said, a lot of people put up with me and my nonsense, and I'm just grateful for everything. I could never ask for anything better. Just could I'm I'm just blessed.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

Perspective. And again, the as incredible as what you're doing with your work, the the even more important work you're doing is with your family and the legacy you're leaving with them and how you're pouring into your family. The example you had with your own father, and now what you're doing with your you know, your kids and now grandkids, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Well, I'm just thankful.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

I hope you've got some big strong arms. I know you do, because uh, we've got a whole bunch of prizes and gifts and things that we want you to haul away from here. We want to take your picture before you get gone and and put it on social media so those grandchildren and children will always be able to see what pop pop was honored with today.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Well, it's a real honor, but I'm just going to tell you there's a lot of better dads out there than me. A lot of men who work, there's a lot more heroes out there than me. Uh, like Toby Keith just sung that song, What About Me? Sung that song, it's it's not about me. It's it's about all of us, and I'm just a little speck. Thankful to be here.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

Well, happy Father's Day to you, Dale. Uh happy Father's Day to you, Noah.

Nominate A Hometown Hero

SPEAKER_02 15:11

It's a great weekend, and uh, and we uh want to, like I said, remind you that we are always open to receiving a hometown hero nomination here at WHKP. When you run across these special people like Dale Emerson, please let us know, and we'd love to talk about them on the George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero series. Noah, again, thank you for sponsoring the show, and we'll see you again next week. The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, North Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygreg.com. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-3930134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, North Carolina. Tune in live each week on Thursdays at 1005 a.m. on WHKP 107.7 FM and 1450 AM, or stream online at WHKP.com, 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.

Your Next Chapter In Real Estate

SPEAKER_01 16:26

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 transition, 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 write size, simplify or start cracking, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group, local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.