Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2013 - 20

C Grove Park Inn Turns 100

Country
Roads

The Grove Park Inn’s classic Great Hall
retains its warmth after renovation.

“they have built for the ages.”
William Jennings Bryan, Secretary
of State, spoke those words at the
opening of Asheville’s famed Grove
Park Inn on July 12, 1913. Built by
E.W. Grove, the grand resort marks its
100th birthday this year with special
events including a concert by B.B. King
on July 4 and a fireworks display. There
will also be a big bash on the actual
anniversary of July 12, with vintage
music, complimentary cake and a

champagne toast for the next 100
years.
The inn will also unearth and reveal
the contents of a 1913 time capsule
sometime during the month of July, as
well as gather items for a 2013
capsule.
“We won’t encase the 2013 one
until the end of the year,” says Tracey
Johnston-Crum, director of marketing
communications at the resort.
The celebration coincides with a

$25 million renovation and restoration
project that’s underway following the
sale of the historic property in the
spring of 2012 to the Denver-based
KSL Capital Partners.
Johnston-Crum says renovation
highlights include covering the columns in the great hall with arts and
crafts panels handcrafted by a local
company called Earth in Home; hanging lanterns; opening up the front desk
area to provide more light; adding a
Great Hall Bakery; and a viewing of the
north fireplace, which hadn’t been lit
since the 1950s until logs blazed once
again in January 2013.
The Grove Park Inn is offering the
Once in a Lifetime Centennial package, including a two-night stay, spa
day passes, daily breakfast buffet, a
limited-edition resort history book and
the opportunity to have guest names
included in the centennial time
capsule.
Visit groveparkinn.com for rates
and other details.
–Marla Hardee Milling

“the waltons”: 40 years later, its creator still marvels at the success of the ‘70s tv series

When creator Earl Hamner, Jr. first introduced
American viewing audiences to the Waltons,
40 years ago this TV season, the climate for a
sentimental series about rural Virginia could
hardly have been more unlikely. Yet Hamner,
with his gentle tale of faith and family, would
make an indelible mark on television, transforming the Hollywood Hills into the stunning
Blue Ridge, and turning a handful of Burbank
soundstages into a Depression-era farmhouse where, despite the myriad on-screen
hardships, generations of TV viewers still
longingly wish they could have grown up.
“The Waltons” cast and crew as it
appeared in the 1970s.

20 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

“It’s a kind of wish fulfillment,” says Hamner.
“It’s the way they wish their childhood had been
– the sort of family they wish they’d had.”

Despite basing “The Waltons” on his real-life
adolescence in rural Schuyler, Va., Hamner is
quick to admit he always sought to portray
his family in the most positive light.
“His father liked to party a little bit more than
Earl allowed me to party on the show,” says
Ralph Waite, who portrayed a fictionalized
version of Hamner’s father throughout nine
seasons on CBS. –Matthew Worley
The rest of Matthew Whorley’s story on “The
Waltons,” including quotes and reminiscences
from the cast, video highlights from the 40th
anniversary reunion celebration, and much
more from Hamner, appears in Blue Ridge
Country’s inaugural digital edition, available at
BlueRidgeCountry.com/Waltons.

http://www.groveparkinn.com http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2013

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