Lake Lure Classical Academy Generous Donation to the Town of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village
The Town of Lake Lure was devastated by flooding, debris, silt, and sedimentation during Hurricane Helene. The Lake Lure Classical Academy (LLCA) faculty, staff, and students designed a “Western NC Strong” T-shirt to inspire strength during the recovery process. They have been working tirelessly to sell the shirts to raise funds to help the rebuild the Town of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village. On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, LLCA School Director Barbara Cohen and several of the faculty presented Town of Lake Lure Mayor Carol Pritchett and Chimney Rock Village Mayor Peter O’Leary with a check to be used to help with the restoration process in their respective areas.
The citizens of the Town of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village are deeply grateful for the creativity and generosity of the Lake Lure Classical Academy faculty, staff, and especially the students.
The Rest of the Story...
The idea for the shirt came from 4of LLCA middle school teachers looking for a way to support our students, reminding them that they are stronger than the storm.
They reached out to Christy Miller, owner of Abstract Designs, who is well known for screen printing our cross country team t shirts. Christy's staff took the idea and created the awesome design. They also printed the shirts for free and sold LLCA the shirts at a steep discount. Quoting Christy, " I can't dig a new septic system, but I can print shirts!"
Her staff sent LLCA cleaning supplies, camp stoves and small heaters that we gave to the local fire department. Abstract Designs blessed LLCA with each box of shirts they printed.
They began selling the shirts through word of mouth, pushing them out to relatives, school staff, and anyone that would listen! Ozzie McFarland, the LLCA Athletic Director, bought 4 shirts for his family. Then, he encouraged everyone to sell the shirts at home basketball games. Visiting teams left with "Stronger" shirts. They printed pink shirts for Breast Cancer Awareness and long sleeved ones in the winter. All of the staff offices were filled with shirt boxes.
In December, the volunteers with Spokes of Hope helped set up the Christmas store in the LLCA gym. AND they bought shirts. Mary McFadden, with Spokes of Hope, began selling "Stronger" shirts to groups of Amish volunteers from Pennsylvania. Who knew that these really comfortable and cool looking shirts would travel all over the country?
All of these people wanted to support Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village. The shirts gave them a special souvenir that spread the message of “WNC strength”.
