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Editor’s Note: This article is the second in a series in which the Tryon Daily Bulletin intends to highlight unsung heroes in the community who came together to help their fellow neighbors after Helene.

TRYON—Helene wasn’t Willard Teaster’s first hurricane. Teaster, who bought the Tryon IGA in 1997 and has managed it ever since he went through Hurricane Hugo in 1989 as a district manager working in Charlotte. When Hurricane Helene was forecast to impact Polk County, Teaster had one basic plan.

“Our plan is to always be open,” says Teaster. “We did make some plans with the warehouse to try to set up additional deliveries.”

After the storm passed on Friday, September 27, not enough of Teaster’s employees could make it to the store to open due to downed trees blocking roads. But by Saturday morning, enough of them made it in to open, and the store’s generator kept the lights and cash registers on and the food cold.

“We bought a generator for this store about 20 years ago. It was probably the best investment we ever made,” says Teaster. 

The store was without an Internet connection for more than a week but took both cash and personal checks. Teaster even allowed customers to get some cash back on their checks if they needed it. Some of the most in-demand items were milk, bread, and canned goods.

“Charcoal was a big item. Seems like we’d fill a section up, and it’d get emptied real quick,” says Teaster. 

Ice was also in demand, but the supplier couldn’t get to the store for the first three days after the storm. It’s been able to deliver every day since. 

With so few other stores open in the early days after the storm, demand at the Tryon IGA was high, but Teaster says customer patience was also high. 

“I’d like to thank all of the people of Tryon who were patient with us and shopped with us,” he says. “We appreciate Tryon and the surrounding areas so much.”

The feeling is mutual, Mr. Teaster.