Interview of Mark Shrunk
Story
This story was submitted on October 30, 2025 by Beth Davison
- Title
- Interview of Mark Shrunk
- Description
-
Okay, I'm just going to read a statement to get started. So good morning. My name is Beth
Davison and I'm here today and I'm interviewing Mary Schrum. Great. So it is September 20th,
2025 and we are recording this interview at the Blow and Rock Art and History Museum in
Blow and Rock, North Carolina. This interview is part of an oral history project documenting
personal experiences and memories of Hurricane Helene. So Mary, thanks so much for coming in
today to share your story with us. And just to begin, would you tell me just a little bit about
yourself and your ties to this area? Well, I'm originally from Hickory. My husband and I have
had a place up here since 1997. We're not downtown Blow and Rock, but we are out from, we're in
Watauga County and I can't be honest with you, I can't remember not ever coming up to Blow and Rock
in Watauga County. So this is my second home. Always has been, always will be and I love it.
It is a lot cooler than Hickory. Yes, at least 10 degrees, 10 or 15 degrees on a good day,
good summer day. Well, great. So if you will, just I'm just going to have you start and you can just
go from there. But you know, what was your first memory of hearing about this storm?
Well, my husband and I do live up here permanent. And the Thursday night before Helene hit,
we realized how bad it was and then Friday, the devastation. Of course, we lost our power.
And luckily, we didn't have damage. We were without power for about nine days. I think we got it Sunday,
the 6th. I can't remember quite when it was. Well, when we drove up off of Sampson Road
and we got to the point where there was a mountain slide, there was over a quarter of a mile.
You couldn't get past the whole side of the mountain slid down and went down part of Sampson Road.
Luckily, we could go down the south back end of Sampson Road to get to Happy Valley 268 Buffalo
Cove Road. And what was fortunate for us that we could get out is we could tell neighbors,
people that lived up here. And it was something amazing to see that the community because we were
cut off and it weren't for the good old neighbors, good old boys that they would get with their
chainsaw tractors, saw many excavators. They literally went in and cut through where the
down trees were where one car could get past. So we were fortunate enough. I would say that was
Sunday or Monday after Helene. When we finally got our power back on that following weekend,
I think that was October the 5th or 6th, we had, I started seeing all the devastation. And I told my
husband, I said, I cannot sit home. I said, I'm going to volunteer with Samaritan Purse.
So I called one of my friends that lived in downtown Blow and Rock, Debbie, and I asked her,
I said, would you mind me coming and staying with you? I said, because I am signing up with Samaritan
Purse, I'm going to do my first full day on Monday. I think that was October the 7th.
I'll have to check that day. And of course, she was graciously said, yes. So that day,
that Monday morning, I'll never forget getting up about five o'clock in the morning, getting dressed.
I did. I've never done this before. Sat on her back deck, had a cup of coffee,
and I'm trying to do this without crying. I sat there because you've seen
people lost their lives. They lost everything. And I prayed. I've always thought myself as a
religious Christian, but I never had experienced anything like this. I said, all I could remember
was the woman that lost her son and her parents off the roof in Asheville, and she just prayed and said,
be still. And I did. Because I was like, God, I'll be still just leaving where you want me to be.
I've never experienced anything quite like this from top of my head to my toes to my feet.
I had this every nerve ending just there was a sensation that I have never felt before.
Just sweep over my body. And I knew and I became very calm.
I went to the thing. I didn't know what to expect. We were at Alliance Baptist. I think it's the
Alliance Baptist Church or not an Alliance Church that's off of 105 in the
Reading Boom. And so there were so many people. And it was just so strange. So I've got a son.
You have to go through a prep. They have to tell you a thing. And then you get assigned to groups.
And we went out and for the life of me, I can't even figure out. And you have to drop your own car.
You're given an address. You get a body system. And I actually try to remember her name that
wrote with me. So we get out there. It's in Watauga, but it's the northern part of Watauga.
So we got out there, pulled in. And first thing you see, I come to houses and I thought,
we're just going to go muck out houses, do everything. Well, they took us down the hill
and we came out to a pasture beside a river or a very large creek. And then they informed us that
we were to clean the debris around the trees. That some of them, I would say the debris was
about as high as the ceiling. So I don't know, about 15, 20 feet and deep. And I remember just
being struck going, I prayed. I said, please do not let us find somebody that we're just at sea.
And it's weird. You just, you just go through it. You start doing and you work like you have never
worked before. I did things. I was 61 years old, I'm 62 years old. I was like, and mopping my floor
could throw my back out. Which was funny, which didn't happen. I worked and you just put your head
down. I've never seen you. I've looked at people that around that you would just think, I can't
believe that these people, it was every walk of life was there helping. And what struck me funny
was I saw this beautiful dress, elegant, everything, hair, everything. She was, you know, makeup,
what expect to see. She put on the tieback suit, went in the bottom of this house.
She's mucking this out. She had mud all over her. It was like she did not care. But that was the
one thing that I noticed with everybody. They pulled in together. They did things that you,
that you're going, no, no. So I'm going to read you something that I think this stuck out. I had
to go back and pull up one of my posts that I did on Facebook. This wasn't on the day.
But I think this kind of sums up. This is on, I posted this on October the 12th. And I'm just
going to read it. It said, I haven't shared this story for Monday's volunteer. Late afternoon,
I was walking across the pasture beside the river where we were cleaning the piles of debris from
the standing trees. A volunteer named Ruth Ann had stopped. She had found a book. And after we
were going through the waterlogged pages and read where it was turned to about how God is with us,
we found the title. When bad things happen to good people.
That's when I cried. I realized with the destruction that was around us. And I can't
say why terrible things happen. I'm sorry. And if we believe in him, he knows why.
That, I'm sorry. I'm getting tears out of my eye. I said, I realize that with the destruction
that was around us, I can't say why terrible things happen. And if we believe in him, he knows why.
That was my first day volunteering. And I realized we were going to go through the piles
that we could find a deceased person. But luckily we did. And I just knew he was with us. And we
were where we needed to be. This is life changing. That pretty much was the beginning of the realization
that not only that brought me, and I'm not sorry if this offends people,
and I've come closer to God more than I have ever in my whole life, but another thing I noticed.
Everybody that was affected by this, now, I don't know if it's because I was with Samir
and the first, those first two weeks, but not one person turned and blamed God.
They actually did the reverse. I witnessed, this was, I don't know, because I don't want to make it.
Don't censor. Whatever you want to hear.
Okay, I'm just going to say it. We were at, and I can't remember if that's, might have been near
Tennessee. I've been all over that we're at a trailer, single-wide trailer with a rebel flag,
a Confederate flag. And it just so happened, woman, that you have team leads, and there was a church
that had come in, and they wrapped American flags. I witnessed something that goes to show that
his heart, he hugged her. I saw a transformation. I'm going, this went from somebody that,
a little racist, to actually realizing it doesn't matter the color of the skin.
You can come together, and it was awesome to see.
It gave me hope. It improved my outlook. Now, sometimes, I mean, I'm just talking about, you
know, it just, it was very little change because when I did two weeks, now three days each week
was Samir in the first two weeks. Then the next four weeks, I went out on my own, because I'll be
honest with you, you work with Samir in the first, which they do a wonderful job. They're so organized.
I've never seen it. It's hard manual labor. And I got to the point that it was just, I was,
I was 61 years old. I'm not young. I wish I was 20 years old. I wish I could do, I wish I could be
that way, but it was so funny as I pushed myself further and harder than I have in my whole life.
And it felt good, but I was like, I needed to, I needed to change.
So I went to Spruce Pine and worked at a distribution hub. I think it was called Keeping
Amy Warm. Did that on my own. I would travel, and I thought, well, it was so funny because I went
from days that you'd have to go down. You couldn't do the back roads to get over to Spruce Pine.
Well, you could, but you couldn't. It was, it was different. It was, it was hard. It would,
it took me from my home to Spruce Pine took two, over two hours.
And then it got down to an hour and a half. And you could see where you're driving, you go through
all this apocalyptic destruction. And what that was so weird, I told Bill, I said, it's so strange.
It's so surreal. You'd go through this area is where everything's devastating.
And then you get past and it was like, untouched, completely untouched. And then you would go back
through the destruction. It was like, oh, it's going to be okay. Then you, it was continuously
like that. So I saw the improvements. I saw the hope in people. Like I said, I've never witnessed,
even when I was at, I think it was called Keeping Amy Warm. Don't quote me, but it was Spruce Pine.
The, I was helping with the distribution, cleaning, keeping things sort of close. I mean,
anything that was needed to be done. I even was on there knowing that laundry detergent was like
gold. It was like gold. So when I would come over there and I realized we couldn't keep it in. So
I went to Facebook and I asked my friends going, this is what I need.
They literally sent me money. They wanted to say, I posted the receipts and everything.
I was the first time I can't even remember now how much I raised.
I think it was like $500. I really can. I don't even have, I've got to think so.
We, the people just gave me money and trusted me. And yes, I took pictures and posted it anyway to
God. This is where I spent the money. But it was, it just, it was the things that we take for granted.
Laundry detergent. Another thing I was trying to get and I did get was bread. I went down to Hickory
to, oh, what is the, the output there? When it, there's a, flowers? I think it's flowers.
Oh, people went, I got love for it. I bought bread and just halter. So I was normally going
from here. I went down to Hickory from blowing rock area to Hickory from Hickory to Spruce Pine
and bringing bread in. But it was just so refreshing to see people just opening up their hearts,
their pocketbooks. You know, not everybody can go off and do what I did. I mean, a lot of people
did. There were so many volunteers and it just was, with all the destruction, something good came out of it.
But there's other stories. I'm just giving you a short snuff. That's, that's great. Just let me,
are we, are we, okay. So you've obviously thought about this reflection and I mean, you've, you've
definitely covered a lot of Tory, a lot of territory, excuse me, but it's, you know, upon reflection,
anything you would, from this experience, change or recommend to others or, you know, what, it's,
it sounds like there was a lot you've already shared, you know. Oh, there's a lot. Yeah. Because
I'm just trying to condense and try to be, I'm trying to be on the positive course because there
are negative. The only thing is, is always be prepared. I mean, I don't even know how to even
say that. Keep in contact with your neighbors. Check on your neighbors.
Don't take things for granted. And all of these things that are unnecessary,
you really don't need. I mean, I've seen people that lost everything, literally lost their house,
lost every possession. And I think with life, how I can say is, I mean, I've got, I definitely have a
different outlook on life because you can't go through something like this. Don't take things.
I mean, the main thing is don't take things for granted. Keep your necessary, you know,
keep in contact with your neighbors. Keep in contact with friends. If you're questioning yourself,
I mean, I don't want to be religious. I mean, some people do. I don't care anymore. If you want to be
religious, get in touch with God. If it were not for him, I'm just going to be honest with you.
I don't think I could have done what I did. And one other thing that I will say, this is kind of
funny because I got lost and ended up in Tennessee by myself and ran up in Buttonham, Tennessee
without cell phone. No cash. I now travel with a map and cash. And also, don't let it, it's my cell
phone got crushed that day too. I was in Elk Park. I ended up in Buttonham, Tennessee. And then I
finally got over to Elk Park. It was that's a complete too long of a story because
passwords on your cell phone because I couldn't retrieve anything. We depend way too much on our
cell phones. I like that you were kicking it old school with a map. Yes. Oh, I definitely, I keep
my map with me now. I was like, because I was literally out in the middle of nowhere. The man
that helped me, he ended up, I ended up in Buttonham. I went from a paved road to a gravel road from
gravel turner to dirt from dirt to where you just had the two lanes where the wheels went to grass.
I'm a southern, what you call a hog's path. And how I got through the mountains because when I finally
ended up where I did, the man that helped me, he goes, ma'am, where did you come from? And literally,
I pointed across the river, which was this was the part, the destruction was so bad. I said,
I came from the road across the river. He looked at me. He goes, how? He said, I don't know how you
made it here. And I said, all I know was I did. He said, you were trying to get I think it's Elk Park,
which was nowhere near because you were off your GPS system. Everything with this was not
working. But he was amazed. He goes, I cannot believe you made it here with all of the destruction.
I said, Trust me, it was a little hairy. And I was by myself. Oh, my husband was so upset with me
because he couldn't get a hold of because when I got to finally got to Elk Park, my phone fell out
of my pocket and was crushed either by excavator or a scheduler or a tractor. So I had no communication.
Oh, there's other stuff. But yeah, it's just like, learn how to read a map.
Tarry cash, because I had nothing. It made me realize that with all the technology,
you still need to remember old school. So that's a hint. And I, if someone was going to go,
I don't know how to read my I said, you need to learn. I said, because that was a little scary
for me to be by myself out in the middle of nowhere. And getting he had to tell me physically.
And it just ended up getting back to North Carolina from Tennessee.
So I've got other stuff for them. That's that's for you. Yeah, that's great. That's wonderful. Okay.
>> We will call it a wrap-in. - Spatial Coverage
- Blowing Rock Art History Museum
- Date
- Interviewed September 20, 2025
- Item sets
- Unknown
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