Saving Seven Acres In Saluda

Seven acres in the heart of Saluda could have turned into another development, but one community chose a different future and then did the hard work to pay for it. We sit down with Cheryl Spencer, chair of the Keep Saluda Green campaign, to unpack how the Saluda Community Land Trust went from “we don’t have any money” to securing the land and launching a new public park vision that keeps green space in the middle of town.

Along the way, we talk candidly about what real fundraising looks like: building a case for support, hearing “no,” and pushing through the momentum lull that hits in the middle of a campaign. Cheryl shares the turning point when a simple video reached Saluda’s summer residents and contributions started pouring in, ultimately raising more than $200,000 and unlocking possibilities like benches, improved trailheads, and plans for a more accessible trail for people with mobility issues.

We also connect conservation to everyday life in Western North Carolina, including the steady Henderson County real estate market and the reason so many people want to live here in the first place. Cheryl highlights farm preservation efforts that protect rural character in Polk County, plus the opening of Henry’s Nature Center in partnership with Conserving Carolina, where trails, gardens, and school visits turn land stewardship into something kids can feel in their bodies and remember for life.

If you care about land conservation, community parks, accessible trails, and protecting the places that make our hometowns worth calling home, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review to help more listeners find these local stories.

Transcript

Ten Years On WHKP

SPEAKER_03 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 on Friday morning, and it's always a pleasure to welcome you to the George Real Estate Group Hometown Heroes Series. And this morning we welcome our friend Noah George.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Good morning. Well, there we go. Good morning and happy Friday. So much to be thankful for, and it's a privilege and honor to be here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Hero Series.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

Well, we are so glad you do, my friend. So glad you do.

Henderson County Market Update

SPEAKER_03 1:12

Tell us about uh catch us up on the real estate market. I know you uh are busy every single day.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Well, the market continues to move in Henderson County. The demand is steady. Uh, I think I've shared over the last few months we've had uh almost a hundred more homes sell in Henderson County versus the previous 12 months, current 12 months versus previous 12 months. You know, the thing is though, this community for all the things that it's special, the the the four distinct seasons, the quality of life, the community, the people that make it what it is, you know, the the secrets out, right? It's not it's not uh a secret anymore, but we're so thankful for our community and being able to help our clients navigate. Sometimes, you know, it's it's uh you know it can be a really positive reason why people are buying or selling, can be a challenging reason. You know, life happens, therefore real estate happens, but you know, really it's a privilege and honor to help our clients navigate through life and how that how real estate's impacted there. We have incredible staff, incredible agents, and ultimately incredible clients, and we love helping our clients navigate through all that. But on our Facebook page and Instagram, you can see that our upcoming open houses are the activity going on, and in our website, realestate by greg.com. And and then we're also here every Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Uh with the George Real Estate Group Radio Show, sharing about what's going on in the community, uh, and and just again grateful to be part of it.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

You can be contacted at uh the George Real Estate Group in Flat Rock, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Yes, sir, in Flat Rock, uh dangerous location next to the Flat Rock Bakery, uh, the barbecue, uh, Campfire Grill, all those great local independent restaurants and businesses and the wrinkled egg, and you can stop by our office there in Flat Rock on Rainbow Road, George Real Estate Group. You also call us directly at 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. Find us online. Also, we podcast all of our radio shows.

SPEAKER_03 3:04

Yeah, they're all over the place.

The Seven Acre Park Plan

SPEAKER_03 3:07

Well, join me in welcoming uh Cheryl Spencer to the microphone. Good morning, Cheryl.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Good morning. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_03 3:14

It's good to have you. You are the uh chair of the Keep Saluda Green Campaign.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

And we've been talking about this all week long, how you guys uh just successfully uh launched uh you really launched a new park in Saluda, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:34

We did. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

Tell us about how this all transpired and what uh what got you started and in making the purchase of like almost seven acres of land right in the heart of Saluda.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Absolutely. Um well it was about this time last year that the idea was floated around that the Bellamy family, Jan and um Jan Bellamy and her husband, John, wanted to sell this piece of property and they didn't want it developed. Um so they approached the Saluda Community Land Trust to see if we would be interested in purchasing it. Well, we were interested, but we didn't have any money. So as it goes, a campaign began to take shape. And we decided that this was just too good an um an opportunity to pass up. And we had never raised this much money. Um we didn't know if we could do it, but we certainly were going to give it the a yeoman's try. And um we started building our case for support and telling, as you do in any campaign, telling your story. And this organization is a um Saluda Community Land Trust, is only 19 years old, and it started, it didn't start out as preserving land, it started out spraying kudzu and knot weed and helping people that had problems with their land. So this amount of money was gonna be a challenge. But we told our story, we got, we wrote our case, and we um started the first week in October having groups of people in to listen to what we did and what we wanted to do. We didn't know exactly what we wanted to do with this property. It had some problems on it, and it seemed like it was not suited for development, although, as we know, a developer probably would have developed it. Um, but it seemed like it was more suitable for recreational activities. And um we just listened to people mostly um give their ideas about what we might do with it and see if they wanted to be a part of this. And um, we had a no judgment zone in this campaign, which I think is really a helpful thing to have. Um explained that.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

We we listen and we don't judge.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Yes, that's it. We got turned downs. I don't I don't think we thought we would I think we thought we were on fire and everybody was gonna be for us and they would open their pocketbooks, but it didn't happen that way.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

But it but that was part of the journey, right? I mean like it's remarkable though, and you gave it sounds like you gave the community a chance to give give feedback and what what would you envision this space to be and you know what could the what could it be for future generations? I have to say though, of course, as a real estate company, we we talk a lot about you know uh you know property values and development and growth, but I think the part of this conversation is, and it's just as important to protect the long-term uh you know value of our communities, is protecting our natural beauty and and rural character and our open spaces, which is why people want to live here. Yes. I mean, so this is all so beautifully tied together, and and I think where the Saluda Community Land Trust mission connects, and this is why it's such a beautiful tie-in with real estate, but it's land conservation is not necessarily about stopping growth, it's just being thoughtful in in regards to how uh you know what we develop, what we preserve in the community that we want to see for our next generation.

Fundraising Lull Then Viral Breakthrough

SPEAKER_00 7:20

That is exactly it. Exactly. And so the more that we visited in homes, um the the more um encouraged we were that people really wanted this to happen and wanted to preserve that piece of land. And out of one of these um gatherings, um a former landscape architect said, I was wondering, you all don't have you have a lot of trails, but you don't have any for people that have mobility issues. Have you all ever thought about using this in this way? And we said, No, but we're open. And that's what right now we are exploring is making it a more accessible trail. We have we have trails in Saluda, and they are not uh some of them are rigorous, um and that's good, that's good, but at least one of them could be more accessible, more accessible, and that's what we're working on right now, building um a better trailhead for this one. There are options going on. Um so that's what that's where we're working, but as it went on with this campaign, momentum gathered, and then we reached this lull about January or February where we wondered, and we wondered, but we didn't give up. And um a person who was on our board um created a video and it went viral. And we have a lot of summer residents in Saluda and they love Saluda, and they um they love being here six months of the year, and that video reached them, and boy did the contribution start pouring in.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

And you raised $200,000 for the exceeded more than that. We didn't we money is still coming in for future projects for the development of the park, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Yes, yes, it's gonna be a park, nice benches, things now that we didn't even envision. Now we have the money for them.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Remarkable. Yes. It's remarkable. What what was your how long have you been involved in this organization?

SPEAKER_00 9:28

I've been on the board for four years.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Well and what drive drove you to be involved, and what would you tell somebody else that's listening uh to maybe consider being involved in volunteering?

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Um because I had started a Montessori school in Columbia in 1973, and that it was a nonprofit. So I had experience running a nonprofit and in raising money. Um raising money there was easy. You satisfy parents and and you do what what is good for their children and they'll remember and they will give. And farming is important to me. Um and and I just had an opportunity to join the board in 2022 and I was the treasurer. Um I've always liked um I don't know that I've liked it. You're good with numbers. I'm good with I like numbers. Yes, I'm good with numbers. And um and so I just it was a great opportunity for me, and the more involved I've gotten and the more I've gone on the land, and um especially the farmland. We have preserved two farms um in Polk County.

SPEAKER_03 10:47

Yeah, I wanted to talk about some of the other things that are going on.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

So I just got involved with that and and to to get to meet the farmers and see that they don't want a farm forever, but they don't want it to become um a warehouse. You know, they don't want some company to they don't want it to become a car dealership. Um so I just I have really just loved it. It speaks to

Henry’s Nature Center And Youth Hikes

SPEAKER_00 11:10

my heart.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Incredible.

SPEAKER_03 11:11

Some of the uh you you were telling us about a uh a camp uh yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

His Nature Center.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

Nature Center.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yes, Henry's Nature Center, um, which is partly in Henderson County. Part of the property is Henderson County, and part of it is in Polk County. And we have partnered with Conserving Carolina. And um yesterday we had a dedication, an opening. This is a project that has been in the works for about five years. But as we go as we went along, we found out other ways that we were gonna use it. We're gonna get ch um school children, buses there. Um, the signage, the gardens there, the trails are absolutely fabulous. And we had a probably 50 people yesterday show up, and it was the most incredible experience I think I've had in a long time. To see in the morning at nine o'clock, to see that you can hike up a mountain at nine o'clock in the morning, and the feeling you get and from seeing those beautiful gardens, and there were children there.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

It was really amazing.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Powerful. I mean, it really is you experience this vision. I mean, it it came together this vision, and you're experiencing it, and you're seeing what it can do for our our community and our children. Yes, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

And what it does for people's mental health and their well-being. We have um a youth partnership challenge in our land trust, and um there are hikes that that they can do with an adult, not their parent. Now, if the parents are not available, there are people on our land that will volunteer to take these children on a hike. In fact, yesterday at 10 o'clock, there was somebody taking some kids up the mountain on a hike. The trails are all named, and then they do a service project. And this is helping these kids learn to give back.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

Empowering.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Yes, very empowering.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Very there's so much to this. I can tell how passionate you are about what you're doing, and we're so thankful for what you do.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Well, it is it's it's a real love. I mean, it in it involves the brain, the hands, and the heart, I believe.

SPEAKER_03 13:22

I can tell. I can tell. Well, Cheryl Spencer, uh, thank you so much. Uh how can folks

How To Get Involved Locally

SPEAKER_03 13:30

get involved? How can people contact you? How can there be uh more help here?

SPEAKER_00 13:36

We have a great website, um saluta community land trust.org. And you can go on our website. Um we have two employees, young people, that when I first came on the board, we had no employees. We were all volunteers, and man, that was a heavy load for just volunteers. But they um, Julia and Josh, are there and they would be happy to answer any emails or call. Um how the best way for people to get involved is visit Henry's Nature Center. Come, come get on the land. And if it speaks to you as somebody, one of the summer residents yesterday said, I didn't know about this. This is really opening up possibilities for me. And I thought, I don't know what they are, but we but but come back. Come back. And that's how you just get on the land and see what it does for you being out in nature.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Cheryl, thank you again so much and your organization. We're grateful for what you do, and we're proud to give you a hometown hero certificate and some other goodies for uh later use around our town, and we thank you again. Noah, we always thank you for bringing us the uh George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Series every Friday morning. We love doing it. It's amazing to hear these stories every single week. It really is. There are some really fantastic stories, and we'll have another one for you next Friday morning, right here on WHKP, AM 1450-107.7 FM and WHKP.com.

Closing Thanks And Next Steps

SPEAKER_03 15:12

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.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

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 rise-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 realestatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.