Home Care In Currie, NC

CURRIE, NC (WECT) - Entire neighborhoods of homes have been gutted after heavy rainfall and flooding from Hurricane Florence hit Currie, a community in Pender County.

"We had over 6 foot of water inside the whole house. Everything is destroyed inside," said Alfred Mott, whose family with two kids lived inside the home for 29 years.

On Thursday, the Mott family went room-by-room, examining the damage. Black-colored mold with white puffs covered the walls, doors, and furniture. Three cars were also ruined by flooding

“My wife, she won’t even come and see the house. She’s sickly. So she won’t come, I said ‘You don’t need to come, no,’” said Alfred.

The family has homeowners insurance, but does not have flood insurance because the home is not located in an area prone to flooding.

“I’m not on a flood zone. I’ve been here going on 30 years,” said Alfred. “We did get flooded in 1999 with Floyd, but we had probably about 3 foot of water. Nowhere near as bad as this storm."

After this storm, he plans to purchase flood insurance. He said FEMA is scheduled to come to his house tomorrow.

The Mott family intially decided to ride the storm out at home, but chose to leave during the storm when the water started to rise. They were unable to reach a shelter or an open hotel, so they were forced to sleep in their car for two nights.

“It’s heartbreaking, it really is,” said Alfred. His wife had already purchased and wrapped Christmas presents, but those are now ruined by flood waters.

Driving through Currie, there are piles of personal belongings by the road next to homes. Furniture, mattresses, and electronics are clustered and waiting for trash pickup.

Joshua Strand and his wife live with 24 dogs and other animals in the Canetuck area in the Currie community. Since evacuating from Wilmington 12 days ago, they have still been unable to return home because of flooded and destroyed roads.

“Saturday at about one o’clock was when I finally panicked. I said, 'We’ve got to go and get out of here,” said Strand. “We actually had to cut our way out there. There were trees across the road, it was scary.”

The Strand couple made two trips to Wilmington curing the storm to evacuate their 24 dogs to safety. They rescue, shelter, and occasionally breed Cane Corso dogs on their farm with plans to open a non-profit.

The couple both served in the military and helps care for dogs of service members that are deployed. Now, their dream to expand is uncertain with the damage and flooding to their property.

FLETCHER − People have been enjoying the food and rides at the 2022 North Carolina Mountain State Fair at the WNC Agricultural Center for the past week, and at the same time, the Fair has been focused on its main purpose of promoting agriculture and local farmers.

With all the festivities, there has also been events highlighting the area's home-grown food. The Fair has several cooking competitions and as of Sept. 14, one woman has won the top prize twice: Clyde's Jennifer Currie. According to a press release, Currie took first place over the weekend in both the tomato and trout cooking contests.

The Fair also announced Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler has inducted two local men into the North Carolina Mountain State Fair's Livestock Hall of Fame: Jerry Plemmons and Jerry Roberts.

Currie takes top prize in two cooking contests

For the N.C. Tomato Growers Association’s “North Carolina’s Fresh Tomatoes” contest on Friday, Sept. 9, Currie took top prize with her Tomato BBT Pie and earned $100. Second place and $75 went to Stephanie Barringer of Buncombe County for her Cheesy Herb Tomato Bread, and Patricia Barringer of Buncombe County placed third with her BLT Pasta Salad and took home $50.

The next day, the N.C. Aquaculture Association held the “NC Mountain Trout Cook-Off," and Currie again placed first and earned $200 for her “Foiled Ya” Rainbow Trout. Zuerner placed second and earned $150 for her Garlic Butter Steelhead Trout, and Justin Pegg of Buncombe County placed third and earned $100 for his Teriyaki Trout Fried Rice.

The winning tomato and trout recipes are listed below:

Tomato BBT Pie

(Tomatoes from Mills Garden – Mills River)

· 1, 9-inch pie crust

· 4 large tomatoes peeled and sliced

· ½ cup fresh basil

· 3 green onions – sliced

· ½ pound bacon – cooked and chopped

· ½ teaspoon garlic powder

· 1 teaspoon dried oregano

· ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

· 2 cups cheddar cheese – shredded

· ¼ cup mayonnaise

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Fill pie crust with tomatoes, basil, onions, bacon, garlic powder, oregano and red pepper. In a small bowl, mix cheese and mayonnaise. Spread mixture on top of pie. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

“Foiled Ya” Rainbow Trout

· 1-pound NC rainbow trout – fillets and fillet bites

· Salt and pepper to taste

· 2 tablespoons butter – melted

· 2 cloves garlic – minced

· 1 teaspoon dill – chopped fine

· Lemon juice from ½ lemon

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place 11x14-inch piece of aluminum foil on baking sheet and put trout fillet in center. Season trout with salt and pepper. Drizzle with melted butter. Top with garlic and dill. Fold foil until it forms a pocket and the trout is covered completely. Bake for 13 minutes. Open foil and broil on high for 3 minutes.

Plemmons, Roberts inducted into Livestock Hall of Fame

According to a press release, Agriculture Commissioner Troxler inducted two men into the N.C. Mountain State Fair Livestock Hall of Fame during the fair’s opening weekend: Plemmons and Roberts. Both are lifelong Buncombe County residents and were recognized for their longtime support to the fair and the livestock industry in Western North Carolina.

“We couldn’t have built this livestock program into what it is today without the contributions and support of men like Mr. Plemmons and Mr. Roberts,” said Troxler in the release. “I am honored to present them with this award and thank them for their support of the N.C. Mountain State Fair livestock program.”

Plemmons is from Leicester and has been a lifelong educator, working as a teacher at Swannanoa Elementary School and then serving as principal at four different schools in Buncombe County. Plemmons also raised beef cattle until he was in his late 70s and still participates in the Western North Carolina Beef Cattle Commission.

“Jerry Plemmons is a longtime supporter of livestock at the N.C. Mountain State Fair and an advocate for agriculture in Western North Carolina,” said Troxler. “His passion for youth and agriculture shows through his continued support of youth livestock programs.”

Roberts was raised on a cattle, poultry and tobacco operation, the release said. He is a third-generation farmer and currently is a cow/calf producer with a commercial Angus herd. Roberts graduated from North Buncombe High School, spent two years in the U.S. Army, including one year in Vietnam.

Roberts also worked for 25 years with the Standards Division of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Roberts serves on the Board of Director’s for the N.C. Cattleman’s Association, representing Buncombe County and the WNC Beef Cattle Commission Executive Committee, the Ag Advisory Committee for WNC Communities at the WNC Regional Livestock Center, and as vice president of the Buncombe County Farm Bureau Board.

“Jerry Roberts has been instrumental in youth livestock shows at the N.C Mountain State Fair,” said Troxler. “He continues to dedicate his life’s work to advocate for agriculture and livestock in Western North Carolina.”

The N.C. Mountain State Fair Livestock Hall of Fame was created by livestock show staff to recognize individual contributions to the livestock industry and livestock shows in Western North Carolina.

Daniel L. Currie, Jr., Captain, USN (retired) was born at home in Hamlet, N.C., on August 24th, 1938. His father was Daniel L. Currie, and his mother was Ailcey (Freeman) Currie. He has two siblings, Cecilia Pearl (1942) and Eugene Freeman (1950). When he was 12 years old, his father took a job in Aberdeen, N.C., 30 miles away from Hamlet. They moved to Aberdeen in 1950, and he entered the 6th grade.

After graduation from Aberdeen High, he headed to Chapel Hill to enter the fall class in 1957. The University had awarded him a small self-help scholarship that provided tuition and fees, and a job in Lenoir dining hall that provided meals. The rest was up to him. Despite the work load, he very much enjoyed his four years at Carolina, although he never settled on a major. He graduated in May 1961 and was accepted for employment at the National Security Agency (NSA). Before he left Aberdeen for Fort Meade, Maryland in August, he and Patsy Taylor were engaged. She was the love of his life.

Dan entered the training program at NSA in August and had long range plans for a career there until fate intruded. At that time the draft board was casting a wide net to fill ranks for Vietnam. He was about to be drafted. To forestall becoming an Army “grunt”, he joined the Navy and reported to Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island in the dead of winter. After four grueling months, he was commissioned an ensign in June 1962. Two days after commissioning, he and Patsy were married in Aberdeen. They then set off on an odyssey that would take them all over the world, from Germany to Japan, and from Adak to Oahu in the Pacific, interspersed with lots of time in the Washington, DC area.

His nearly 30 year career was spent in the Naval Security Group (NSG) due to some serendipity. Since his lengthy security clearance for work at NSA had been completed, the Navy saw him as a ready candidate for the NSG, and snapped him up. The NSG and sister services were the collection arm of the NSA. He served at several of the so-called listening posts located around the world including Germany, Adak, Alaska, the Philippines, Okinawa, and Hawaii. These listening posts contained giant antennas that vacuumed up radio emissions from foreign countries. The intercepted radio signals were provided to NSA for analysis and intelligence exploitation. His limited sea duty was spent on aircraft carriers and in submarines. His command tour of duty was as commanding officer of the NSG activity in Okinawa.

He served in the Navy with great joy and pride for nearly 30 years (29 years, 5 months, 22 days) and was quite sad when it came time to retire. His service was enhanced exponentially by his wife, Patsy, who was a wonderful Navy wife. Every three to four years they would pull up stakes and move, and she always was eager to go with a smile on her face. She gladly entertained legions of guests to their home, and was by his side at the many, sometimes boring, social events. She maintained a happy home under often difficult conditions and during his frequent absences. Along the way, she gave him three fine sons who are married to equally fine women. He has five wonderful grandchildren.

They retired to Pensacola, Florida, the closest place to Pacific island weather they could find, hurricanes and all. Dan worked in real estate for five years after retirement. After that, he began volunteer work at the National Museum of Naval Aviation (tour guide and security) and the Pensacola Historic Village (tour guide and archives). They moved to Azalea Trace in March 2013.

A graveside service will be held at 9:30 am, Friday, August 14, 2020 at Barrancas National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research https://www.michaeljfox.org/donate

The Carolina Reaper has been officially dethroned as the world’s hottest chili pepper.

PuckerButt Pepper Co. founder and pepper expert Ed Currie has spent the past 10 years working on Pepper X, a chili pepper that emits an “immediate and brutal heat,” according to reporting by the Associated Press.

Five of those years were spent proving Pepper X was a different plant with different fruit and documenting its average heat over different plants and generations.

“We covered the genetics, we covered the chemistry, we covered the botany,” Currie shared.

Pepper X, which has a rating of 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units was named hottest chili pepper in the world by Guinness World Records on Oct. 9.

The heat of the pepper lingered with Currie hours after he completed his initial taste test.

“I was feeling the heat for 3½ hours. Then the cramps came. Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain,” Currie shared with The Associated Press.

The greenish-yellow Pepper X has an earthy flavor unlike the spicy-sweet taste found in the bright red Carolina Reaper. Pepper X was crossbred with a Carolina Reaper and a pepper from Michigan that is “brutally hot,” Currie said.

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Pepper X makes first appearance on 'Hot Ones'

Currie chose to unveil Pepper X on “Hot Ones,” a YouTube talk show where celebrities are interviewed over an assortment of spicy chicken wings.

He was joined by the show’s host Sean Evans, Claus Pilgaard “Chili Klaus” and Noah Chaimberg from Heatonist, the hot sauce company that partners with Hot Ones to source their hot sauce lineup.

Currie talks all things Pepper X, receives his Guinness World Records plaque and facilitates a Pepper X taste test to end the video.

“There’s an intense burn that happens immediately. Then your head kind of feels like ‘Oh, no. What’s going on?’ Then your body just starts reacting. You get it in your arms. You get it in your chest. It has no real throat burn like the Reaper but that comes on later when you are in pain,” Currie says in the video.

How does Pepper X measure up on the Scoville scale?

The Scoville scale measures the spiciness of chili peppers numerically based on the pepper’s capsaicin concentration, which causes a burning sensation when it comes into contact with human tissue, according to Guinness.

The burning sensation produced by capsaicin also releases endorphins and dopamine into the body, AP reported.

Currie, who began to grow peppers after overcoming substance abuse addictions, says the kick from the peppers is akin to a natural high.

He has shared his inventions with medical professionals in the hopes of helping people who suffer from chronic pain or discomfort.

Currie has hinted at the possibility of pepper hybrids much hotter than Pepper X but has kept his cards close to the vest.

“Is this the pinnacle?” Currie said of Pepper X, a mischievous smile warming his face. “No, it’s not the pinnacle,” AP reported.

Winthrop University in South Carolina spent the last four years conducting tests on specimens to determine Pepper X’s Scoville score.

Here’s how Pepper X compares to other chili peppers in Scoville Heat Units:

? Jalapeños (3,000-8,000)

? Habanero (100,000-350,000)

? Carolina Reaper (on average 1.64 million )

? Pepper X ( 2.693 million)

Contrary to popular belief, the seeds of a pepper pod don’t make it hot. Capsaicin is held in the placenta, or the tissue that holds the seeds.

Peppers aren’t the only thing that have a Scoville score, pepper spray has a score of 1.6 million Scoville Heat Units while bear spray has a score of 2.2 million Scoville Heat Units, respectively, the AP reported.

ICYMI:Here's a hot new product: Vlasic pickles made with Frank's RedHot sauce

Contributing: Jeffrey Collins, Associated Press

Columnist

For those of you latecomers to Asheville, things were not always as they are now. Oh, the downtown in the 1950s was bustling all right with department stores and small shops. We dressed up to “come to town,” and that often meant lunch or dinner at the S&W Cafeteria on Patton Avenue. Ask anyone who grew up in the '50s and '60s and you’ll find the adoration for that place is universal. Most people will tell you what that got to eat every time they went. In the days when eating out was a luxury, going to the S&W was a special occasion.

What started me thinking about restaurants we once knew and loved was the mention of banana pudding. That brought to mind the Barbecue Inn on the west side of town. The BI specialized in Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue with vinegar sauce. The banana pudding came with the barbecue dinner, and it was a big draw for this nothin’ fancy restaurant filled with displays of little ceramic pigs in every nook and cranny.

Mentioning some of our favorite restaurants from the past will place us “of a certain age,” but there are plenty of other people who share our memories.

The crème de la crème of dining spots was Buck’s on Tunnel Road. It shared the odd combination of a very popular drive-in food business with indoor dining including The Red Carpet Room. The Red Carpet Room was the destination for birthday, anniversary and special occasion dinners, and for us it was a rare treat. That was the place to go for a good steak and for the once ubiquitous gulf shrimp cocktail. Business deals were made there, and when celebrities came to town, it was to the Red Carpet Room they were taken.

Down on Broadway, there were two stalwarts: the Paradise Restaurant and Tingle’s. The Paradise served up Americanized Chinese food, very exotic to us in those days. The friendly owners knew their customers and welcomed them grandly. The food was fast and hot and we thought it was delicious. Tingle’s was the typical meat and three, but one of my happy memories from there was eating some tasty and crispy fried oysters.

Tingle’s had a table with a sign on it that read “The Liars’ Club,” reserved for a group of men, mostly lawyers but not all, who came there regularly for good conversation and good fun. My father often ate there, and when we first came back to Asheville, he took his son-in-law there for an introduction and initiation.

On Pack Square was Peterson’s Restaurant, also a favorite “meat and three” eatery. What I remember about Peterson’s is the bright yellow gravy served on the chicken and dressing. I didn’t like the color but I loved the dish.

When we were teens, our favorite cheap place to eat was in the basement of Kress, which we called Kresses. There it was all about the loaded hot dogs, fries and Cokes, foods we didn’t get much at home. My favorite sandwich place was Teague’s Soda Shop, just past Pritchard Park. It was a place to get standards like pimento cheese, chicken, egg and tuna salads with a handful of chips and a pickle. The bread was white or wheat, toasted or plain. Sandwiches like those are hard to find now.

When our children were small and we were feeling flush, we made a run to the famed Royal Steak House in Fletcher and ordered the Greek salad and sirloin for two. It was enough for all four of us, with the steak lapping the edges of a large platter. Jimmy, the owner, always came by the table and offered the children Tootsie Rolls, to their delight. The Royal is long gone now but not the memories.

Asheville is filled now with wonderful restaurants of all types and ethnicities. We would have been amazed back then to see what the food scene has become. Still, sometimes we wish for roasted chicken, rice and gravy in the old style, and we have to look a little hard to find it.

This is the opinion of Carole Currie. Call her at 658-1914 or e-mail [email protected].