troublesome creek stringed instrument company

#TROUBLESOME CREEK STRINGED INSTRUMENT COMPANY DRIVER#

Visit the Appalachian School of Luthiery at: When you purchase a Troublesome Creek instrument, you get more than a terrific handmade heirloom you take ownership in a legacy that you helped build. Using the finest in locally-sourced, Appalachian hardwoods, they create stunning instruments that are both tonally and environmentally excellent, while each sale contributes to the regrowth of our post-coal economy. The company trains people in substance abuse recovery to become some of the best luthiers in the country. 'But that's the truth, hell or high water.Troublesome Creek instruments are handmade in Hindman, KY. We're going to take care of them, come hell or high water,' he said, laughing. 'I am thinking rebuilding a factory would be good. Maybe they'll make a special run of dulcimers from wood that survived the flood, he said. He plans to keep payroll going for his staff. 'I have some people who are having extreme psychological distress, and for people in recovery, this is not a good thing,' he said.Įven though the first order of business is mucking out the building and using lots of Lysol, Naselroad said he is already thinking about ways to spin what happened into a new opportunity. Some get so skilled, they are hired to work in the factory, Naselroad said. The school also has a social mission, training people referred from drug court and local recovery centers to craft high-quality instruments. Right: Remnants of recent flooding is seen at the factory. Left: Doug Naselroad inspects recent flood damage at the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Co. 'Our community as a whole is devastated,' she told attendees. During a recent meeting convened by the Kentucky Department of Education, Letcher County school superintendent Denise Yonts broke down when describing their losses: two staff members dead, six schools damaged. 'Where her store is, is a food desert,' Whaley said.Īnother major institution, the schools, have also suffered. Getting the store ready to open again would be prohibitively expensive, Christon told The Herald-Leader, but if it closes for good, the community loses a vital business. Whaley shared the example of Gwen Christon, who owns an IGA grocery store in Isom.Ĭhriston poured money into upgrades, such as a new HVAC system, coolers and solar panels before the flooding began, Whaley said. Painstaking efforts to build up small businesses have been literally washed away overnight. And that could mean more residents will leave.

Now, Whaley worries that climate change, which makes inland flooding like this worse, is creating another challenge for the region. The decline of coal mining led to mass layoffs in the area, and many have pulled up stakes and moved away.

Volunteers help remove flood debris from Messenger Florist and Gifts in Whitesburg on Friday. The organization also lent Lucas a truck to drive after the flood destroyed his vehicles. The organization has provided housing to some, as well as sending supplies to communities up in the mountains, according to Tim Hatfield, an executive who oversees six of the ARH's hospitals. Lucas now manages medical equipment there.ĭozens of ARH employees have lost their homes.

#TROUBLESOME CREEK STRINGED INSTRUMENT COMPANY DRIVER#

His father was a coal truck driver who Lucas said kept getting laid off, so he went back to school to become a nurse at Appalachian Regional Healthcare - one of the single largest employers in the region. Lucas' family is intimately aware of these economic shifts. Health care and education have emerged as the largest employers in parts of eastern Kentucky as coal production waned in the region. Piecing together a sense of normalcy following tragedy You have families that live close to each other and have lived close to each other their whole lives,' he said. Lucas and his family have been staying with his in-laws, just across the street from his waterlogged house in Isom, Ky., and a few miles from where he grew up. A Hindman Fire Department truck sits wedged underneath a bridge on Wednesday.

Troublesome creek stringed instrument company