Happy McLeod headlines Live@Lanier

Tryon native Happy McLeod is leaving her interview about the upcoming talk at Lanier Library, noon on Tuesday, Jan. 16, when I ask her one last question: “Where does the experience of creating a museum to celebrate Tryon’s history fit on your list of life experiences?”

Her face lights up, and then there is a moment of introspection before she volunteers that her answer is perhaps “corny.”

“It was a gift,” she tells me.  “I was raised in Camelot—Tryon during the golden years—and was the beneficiary of so much, not because I deserved it, but simply because I was lucky.  The ability to give back to a place that means so much to me personally was a gift.”

She has told me of how the vision of a place to tell Tryon’s story began, and why; why she felt the story should be told through the voices of the many historic figures that made this place special, and how the community came together to make it happen.  It is a story filled with fabled equestrians, artists, writers, musicians and even a dental dynasty…and one woman’s passion.

To hear Happy McLeod’s story, join us at Lanier Library on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at noon for “Telling Tryon’s Story: the Birth of the Tryon Historical Museum.” It is a story of past, present, and even the future, for as she says, “You can’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been.”

– submitted by

Clare O’Sheel