Shady Valley, TN
Imagine driving into a week ahead of you, greeted by a pitch-black sky, trees surrounding you, no cell phone service and a sign that says the town is “unincorporated.”
It sounds scary, but seven Keene State College students had the time of their lives while living technology-less in the heart of Appalachia.
Shady Valley, Tennessee, is a community that holds a population of 1,018 people. We had the pleasure of living in close contact with the McQueen family, who has had generations living in the area since the 1800s. Charles McQueen, a volunteer firefighter who works for The Nature Conservancy, let us live in his family’s one-room, lofted cabin for the week. We had a fireplace, wood burner and two lofts for us to sleep in sleeping bags.
Zak Koehler / Webmaster: KSC students stayed at volunteer firefighter Charles McQueen’s home in Shady Valley, Tennessee for a week during spring vacation.
McQueen told us, “This would be the closest way to live like Daniel Boone, with only a few modern day conveniences.” He was certainly right.
We warmed up to the cabin instantly and made many memories within it. Between s’mores, scary stories, family dinners, card games and some of the most amazing three-hour conversations, one can say we had cabin fever in the best way. This allowed for our group to get very close, very fast. During the daytime, we volunteered in a natural cranberry bog, learned the ins-and-outs of the ecological differences of Shady Valley, trekked through Cherokee National Forest, visited an enormous TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) dam, built a fence made of logs, learned about bog turtles, survival methods and simply how to live your life doing what you love, thanks to McQueen.
We have all a special place in our hearts for Shady Valley, a place we would not have known existed if it were not for The Nature Conservancy. Any stereotypes or pre-notions we had for Tennessee and even the South have been shattered and we only have the upmost respect for that culture and the environment within it.
The biggest lesson we learned, that we are happy to share with the rest of KSC, is that it is important to respect and preserve the natural land that we live on, and to absolutely love what you do with the rest of your lives-—and hopefully the two go hand in hand.
Lisa Bryant can be contacted at lbryant@ksc.keene.edu