Leaving Cherokee, North Carolina, we began the slow, winding ride up the southern slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains. It was rainy, and we kept an eye on the digital temperature readout above the rear-view mirror as it dropped slowly yet dramatically. It was already in the 40s and rainy, and I reminded Teresa that each 1,000 feet in altitude climbed is supposed to mean a three-degree drop in temps.
She knew what that meant. We snaked upward in a line of cars, with not much color to show on the near and distant ramparts due to the miasma of clouds. However, being socked in did not keep the numeric gauge from working … 48 degrees … 45 … 41 … 38 … and still falling. Our ears had already popped a thousand feet lower.
As we neared the summit at Newfound Gap, where photos can be taken with one’s feet in both Tennessee and North Carolina, there was white stuff along the roadside. Snow in October! My wife erupted in a mini-squeal of delight.
Of course, we stopped and got out like most everyone else. The parking lot was full of vehicles, their inhabitants disgorged to happily take cellphone pictures for sending back home to family and posting online. Snow, in October. In the South? Who could have imagined?
The confluence of weather at 5,049 feet above sea level to produce the white stuff — and perhaps give us an early glimpse of winter — was serendipitous. Our actual plan was to attend the Celebrators conference in Pigeon Forge, a gathering of Christians to listen to music (and sing along with much of it), hear messages and fellowship with what looked like to me around 2,000 other people. Did I mention that most of the other attendees were old? I mean, uh, seasoned citizens? But not us. We had tuned into a classic oldies station on the way up, with me joking that even some of the rock songs were more than 50 years old — but we hadn’t aged with them!
Promotional material states the annual conferences are “specifically planned for today’s active, mature adults to experience spiritual fulfillment, Bible teaching, fellowship and fun!” The email I received about it didn’t state the above implicitly, but when it mentioned well-known pastor and teacher David Jeremiah would be there, along with singers Jason Crabb and native Irelanders Keith and Krysten Getty, plus bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs would be there, you could count me in. Having my bride along was just icing on the cake.
However, there was a snag or two. Crabb was in nomination for a Dove Award and his recording contract stipulated he had to be at that concurrent ceremony; so hearing his signature and soul-stirring “Through the Fire Again” live was not going to happen. Dr. Jeremiah, whom we’ve seen a couple of times in the past, was ailing and also would not attend. I saw Ricky Skaggs in Ellijay years ago, and his fellow stringed troubadours, Kentucky Thunder, would be there to perform on the last night of Celebrators.
Longtime host and organizer Phil Waldrep can also preach a lick, and took on four messages in four days in Jeremiah’s stead. I will never be able to ascertain whether God allowed someone to take ill so somebody else would have to fill their role, but Waldrep’s messages on treating everyone with dignity and respect, Psalm 23, praying for our children and grandchildren, and becoming influencers of the generations coming behind us, were not only timely but priceless.
And there were testimonies of faith. Dennis Parker, a Kentucky Thunder member, spoke of being free from substance abuse for seven years and getting reconciled with a son after a 12-year hiatus. Buddy Mullins of The Booth Brothers — a Southern gospel group who replaced Crabb and is known for “He (the Blind Man) Saw it All” — made a statement I wrote down and hope is never forgotten: “God’s never finished with us.”
As we climbed the north side of the Smokies from Gatlinburg to head back to Ellijay, the skies opened and revealed vistas of full autumn plumage among the asymmetrical grandeur of the mountains, as if a multicolored quilt had been unfolded and gently laid upon their flanks. We were glad we went and plan on going back next year for another spiritual shot in the arm. Even with the cancellations, Celebrators was still worth celebrating.
It’s good to go, and it’s good to be back home again. But it’s good to go, for there’s no telling what you might see.
Mark Millican is a former staff writer for the Dalton Daily Citizen.