Change happens and has happened through the years in this special valley. When Bishop Levi Silliman Ives first rode his horse into this valley in 1842, he changed as well as the people living here. When he named this place Valle Crucis, he forever changed it. When Bishop Ives decided to build a cabin as his residence, he changed the place. When Bishop Ives built a school and established a monastery here at Valle Crucis, the lives of the men and boys who attended the school and joined the monastery were changed. When Bishop Ives hired a humble man, from Eastern North Carolina to be the farm manager, the life of this man, William West Skiles, changed as he became the first person to take monastic vows in the Anglican Church since the Reformation. Brother Skiles changed the lives of countless people in these mountains through his ministry of service and love. When Bishop Ives resigned his Episcopacy in the Diocese of North Carolina and sailed to Rome to convert to Roman Catholicism, one door closed but a new door of change opened. Bishop Cheshire came to Valle Crucis in 1896 to rejuvenate what Bishop Ives had started and talked Squire Taylor into giving the church three acres of land where Bishop Cheshire built the Mission House (still used for groups today), Holy Cross Church (which moved to its new church building in 1924) and a classroom building (today used as meeting space and known as Crab Orchard Hall). When Bishop Horner and his sister Mary started their ministry to educate the children of the mountains and began the building program which saw The Annex and The Inn built here at Valle Crucis, things changed. Bishop Horner contacted and received funds from the Women’s Auxiliary in New York City and Mrs. Auchmuty of New York to construct buildings and to educate and change the lives of generations that followed. When Bishop Horner began to buy back the original land (sold by Bishop Ives) and start a farm, build a hydroelectric dam (that generated power for the people of the valley), build the Apple Barn, the Bunk House, the Farm House, a tea room, chicken houses, a sawmill, the wagon and cheese factories, lives of the people in this valley changed with the new resources for employment and Christian education. When the school changed to an all-girls school, a new era began as the Center became a place of both education and recreation. Valley residents enjoyed square dances on Friday nights and plays performed by the girls (sometimes joined by local boys for the male roles). Again things changed when the girls’ school closed in 1942 and the buildings were used as a site for a Rural Ministry School; a seasonal Inn for lodging; and finally; a year-round Diocesan Conference Center facility under the current leadership of our Bishop Robert H. Johnson. I share this long litany of historical changes, because we are about to undertake a new and exciting building program in 2002.

Two of the needs which our Board identified from our recently completed year long strategic planing study were the need for new meeting spaces and the need for a new maintenance building.

We need additional meeting space to adequately serve the needs of our already existing groups, as well as those groups who haven’t been able to experience our hospitality because we lack the size or number of meeting rooms. Constructing a new maintenance building will allow us to move the present facility out of the basement of the Annex to its own separate site behind the Mission House. In addition, we are getting very close to finalizing, with the State, our plans for the new septic/sewer system that has been on the drawing board for the past four years.

We have hired a contractor, Mike Galleher, Inc., and the architects Bob Mann and Grace Strange of the firm, ATTIC Design, who have designed a magnificent building to be named The Bishop Robert H. Johnson Hall. This building will have two stories with two meeting spaces on the top floor and one large meeting space on the ground floor. Each floor will have restrooms, hospitality areas and storage rooms, and, of course, each floor will have wonderful porches with rocking chairs. In addition, there will be outdoor areas designed for groups who wish to have their breakout meetings outside. This new space will be located on the hill behind the dining hall which will offer wonderful views of our sacred valley and access to existing parking areas. The building will be completely accessible to all our guests and we plan to break ground this summer and be ready for occupancy in the late spring of 2003.

There are three naming opportunities for the meeting spaces for large gifts, but we certainly welcome all gifts made by our many friends in this Diocese and nationwide to help us furnish this new space with all the needed items. As always all gifts are tax deductible (to the extent of the law). Please indicate on your check how you would like us to designate your gift.

The Board of Directors trusts that our guests will enjoy using this new space and that all of you will help us in celebrating this brand new CHANGE at the Valle Crucis Conference Center. Thanks be to God!

- Tom Eshelman, Executive Director

In May a group of Davidson College Students were on a leadership retreat here and, while doing a service project in our hayfield, came across an injured Peregrine Falcon that had been shot in the shoulder. Leslie Hayhurst from Genesis Animal Sanctuary, Inc on Beech Mountain came down right away and retrieved the bird from the field. The falcon’s shattered bone has healed and Leslie reports that the falcon had an excellent release on July 8th.

Keep up to date on all of the happenings at the Valle Crucis Conference Center with our Schedule of Events.

The Biological Assessment of the Valle Crucis Conference Center (PDF, 2624K) is now available on our web site. This is a very large document so our webmaster says please be patience when downloading. This remarkable document lists all of the plant and animal species found on the Conference Center property and makes fascinating reading.

Our kitchen manager "Esh" Donaldson moved to Asheville early this summer to start her own landscaping business. We miss her, but wish her well in her new endeavor. Temple Throneburg, who has been our assistant kitchen manager for the past year, is our new kitchen manager, ably assisted by Jennifer Greene. We are blessed to have a wonderful and dedicated staff in our kitchen who work long hours to provide great food for all our groups throughout the year.

The Sustainable Agriculture Department of Appalachian State University under the leadership and guidance of Cristoff den Biggelaar, PhD has come to the Valle Crucis Conference Center. They are using a seven acre plot of our hayfield off Dutch Creek Road by the Red Barn to grow a variety of vegetables, herbs and other plants and to conduct experiments in sustainable living. One of the fortunate by-products of this relationship with ASU is that our kitchen is a recipient of the excess vegetables grown by the students. At this time we have been having some wonderful varieties of lettuce to serve to our hungry guests. Thanks ASU!

Blue Ridge Learning Centers has upgraded our ropes course and has exciting plans to add additional new elements in the coming year. In June they built a 36 foot tall climbing wall and added a new dynamically belayed element called Boson’s Loops (which is an element where a participant traverses by stepping into loops and swings from one loop to another). Call them at 828-265-0602 about these and other exciting programs they now offer through their Mountain Quest Programs. They can create a program designed to fit the needs of your group which can include the ropes course, team building exercises, inter-disciplinary courses designed for the NC School System, caving, night walks, rafting, and more.

Our special thanks to these individuals & organizations for their generosity in giving to the Center in recent months:

The mission of the Valle Crucis Conference Center is to inspire, by loving example and service, those who break bread with us and share in the quest for spiritual renewal, Christian community, and stewardship of this sacred place.

The Right Reverend Robert H. Johnson
Bishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina

David Yates, President
Ralph Tilden, Vice President
Diana White, Treasurer
The Rev. Tim McRee, Secretary

Brenda Binning
The Rev. Brian Cole
Billy DuBose
Tom Eshelman (ex officio)
Jaan Ferree
John Huie
Nina-Jo Moore
Judy Teele