Latest news with #ZumaCoffee
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mad Co. Brew House reopens, affording residents place to 'enjoy each other's company'
MARSHALL - One of downtown Marshall's longest-running businesses announced its reopening, another significant step in the town's rebuild. As spring nears and Madison County gears up for its official reopening in Marshall and Hot Springs in early May, a number of local businesses and establishments have reopened, including the downtown Marshall tag office. Additionally, Zuma Coffee hosted its famous bluegrass open jam March 20, its first post-Helene event at the shop. Mad Co. Brew House celebrated its grand reopening March 27 and featured live music from Jim Hampton. The ownership team plans to reopen the pizza kitchen by the end of April, according to Rhesa Edwards, who owns Mad Co. Brew House with her husband, Brandon, adding that the owners' priority was reopening the taproom first. "Everybody's excited, just that we're open, to just have a gathering place to come to seven days a week," Rhesa Edwards said. "Everybody's wanting pizza, big time. So people are sometimes maybe a little disappointed when they come in and find out no pizza. But I think everybody's pretty understanding of what we've gone through." The North Main Street building took more than 8 feet of water in Helene's Sept. 27 floods. 'To watch everything you worked for, for 10 years, washed down the river in a matter of hours was heartbreaking," said Brandon Edwards. "But there was no doubt we are going to rebuild." Rhesa Edwards recalled not being able to access the building until Sunday, Sept. 29. "When we walked in, we had a shovel, some backpacks and some water. We got to the front, and really couldn't even walk up the front patio because there was about 15 inches of mud," Rhesa Edwards said. "So, here we are with a shovel, and we're like, 'This is too much for one shovel.'" After assessing the damage to the building, the couple decided to go back to their Marshall home to regroup and put a plan together, they said. They got back to it on Monday, Sept. 30, and went to work. "We just started chucking stuff on the street, thinking, 'Everything's got to go,'" said Brandon Edwards, shouting out the work of heavy equipment operators in Marshall like Matt Yeakley of Red Shed Woodworks for their help in Marshall's cleanup. All of the contents and equipment in the taproom and pizza kitchen were destroyed. Extensive renovations were necessary, including the removal of all drywall, floors, kitchen equipment, tables, chairs and even the tile and bathroom fixtures. According to Rhesa Edwards, the owners were fortunate to have received donations from a GoFundMe established to raise funds for the business, as the owners awaited compensation from their flood insurance. The brewery held a soft reopening March 17 to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. "We're excited, and I know everybody else in the community is excited, too," Rhesa Edwards said. "Everything that happened was pretty shocking, but we came through, and we're ready to welcome the community back into Mad Co." Flow Gallery also celebrated a grand reopening March 27. "It's just good to have people downtown," Brandon Edwards said. Brandon Edwards said he was overwhelmed by the support and turnout at the March 17 soft reopening. "They don't know what it means to us, because if people don't come back, it's all for nothing," he said. "But to see people come out in the numbers that they did when we were first opening, it's overwhelming. I mean, we really, really appreciate our community and our people." For Rhesa Edwards, Mad Co. Brew House's reopening affords the town and Madison County a little sense of normalcy, too. "That has been pretty uplifting for everybody," Rhesa Edwards said. "I think everybody's just excited to have a place to come to and get together, and enjoy each other's company." More: Amid the rubble in Marshall, residents caution about toxic conditions amid Helene cleanup More: After Western NC Helene floods, small town starts recovery 1 shovel of mud at a time Mad Co. Brew House will temporarily operate under limited hours: Monday through Thursday, 4-8 p.m. Friday, 2-9 p.m. Saturday, 2-8 p.m. Sunday, 2-6 p.m. " This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Marshall's Mad Co. Brew House reopens
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
‘This is a story of human resilience': Marshall, NC still working to come back 6 months after Helene
MARSHALL, N.C. (WNCN) — There's an old saying that locals sometimes use to describe Marshall, North Carolina. It's 'a block wide, a mile long, sky high and hell deep.' Toward the end of September 2024, those words took on new meaning. 'No one alive has ever seen that. I mean, we were expecting 19 feet, and our crest was 27 foot two inches here in the town, and that's verified. So that's like where we're standing. People were like, where is the water line? There's no water line, not in this room. I mean, the whole thing would tear the whole ceiling out. So, I had 11 feet of water in this building,' said Josh Copus. Helene 6 months later: An artist's lifeline to another in western North Carolina Copus first watched the French Broad River from the historic jail, which he bought from the county and turned into a hotel and restaurant. 'And I went to the courthouse and just watched it and just cried in absolute shock, disbelief. I left about 1 p.m., you know, I watched all the windows in Joel Freeman's Zuma coffee just shatter. And the whole restaurant just floated down the street and that's when I was like, I can't take it anymore,' said Copus. Days passed before Joel Friedman could see the real damage Copus saw unfold. 'I had to climb in through sharded glass, glass shards through the window through about a foot and a half of muck, mud,' Freidman said. Helene 6 months later: Rebuilding neighborhoods in Buncombe County, NC Friedman's Zuma Coffee sits on a corner that is the cornerstone of downtown Marshall in the truest sense. He was among the first to see the town's potential 23 years ago. 'I'm at a loss and I'm saying you know what… I don't think is going to happen again,' he said. Friedman took a few days, leaving the devastation behind, to just clear his head and think. When he came back and parked his car, he knew what to do. 'As soon as I stopped the engine and opened my door I was surrounded by a community with hugs and love and asking me to come back and that we need to. That you're the heart and soul of this community. You're the one that got us started, we can't do it without you. So, at that moment I knew exactly what I had to do,' he said. 'I didn't think that it would be that hard, but it is': 6 months of grieving 11 family members after Helene in NC Through the same mud and destruction, Connie Molland was also soon surrounded. 'I'd say within two hours of starting, helpers came—people we didn't even know, people we knew just showed up and just started helping and without that help and so many people that came even this week to help be open today we would not be where we are,' Molland said. Officially back open six months to the day, Flow Gallery is flowing normally again just like the French Broad. 'We care about each other for our uniqueness and our quirkiness and what we've gone through,' Molland said. Proudly showing off his progress, Copus is getting there too. But he said the story book ending is not quite there yet. 'We've done an incredible job as a town. You know, I always like to tell people like, look at our progress and it's worth celebrating,' he said. 'But at the same time, like, this is going to take years and so we're not okay. We're still not okay. This is not over. Like that's just the first chapter. This is a story of human resilience, compassion and love and community. That's the story that we're actually writing.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
