When I first visited Maggie Valley thirteen years ago, it was winter. My father had just let his…read moregirlfriend pick out the business that we would own, and, thus, our fate. Thanks a lot, poor visoneer. I remember having bad pizza and trying to be hopeful that there had to be more action than a Burger King and Walmart. Maggie itself was wholesome and hibernating. I still say that Maggie, the town sweetheart, had a colorful nightlife on the side in that there valley. (The present Maggie mascot walks the streets, waving sweetly.)
I moved outside of Maggie the following summer. Life plodded on. I worked at the family business. Defying rumors, the petting zoo never reopened. "Ghost Town in the Sky" would open for a month or two, only to be beleaguered by a poltergeist who always caused the main attraction- the roller coaster- to cease producing fun. "Carolina Nights", dinner theatre for seniors, eventually closed and caused a Carolina Blight. No, really, cause Maggie was not the same after that happened.
The Eaglenest, a concert hall, was built but failed to soar. The lack of alcohol and Walton-level of fun killed it. The pizza place stopped tossing and closed. Bakeries would pop up from time to time, only to burn out. At least two motels burned out and down to the relief of the owners who then drove away from Maggie in new RVs. I was glad when Joey's got a new owner. The old one had an inflated ego with prices to match.
When my grandmother with Alzheimer's walked down the street naked, an outraged citizen called the cops. Nope, brain diseases are not allowed in Maggie. My grandmother was shipped off, never to be free again.
So, now the fun part. As I have stated before, when my father died, his wife, T., and her alcoholic brothers who lived (!) at our business threatened my husband, F., at our business within a week of my dad's death. We never returned to our business, and it quickly succumbed under their influence. Neighboring businesses started to complain about drug use and trash. I contacted the health department, but they did not care that the things living at my business had by choice stopped using running water. That is a public health hazard.
One neighboring business joined forces with my ex-stepmother by buying stolen business property off of her after F. had asked them to stay away from her. When F. confronted the man that he had spoken to, the cops were called. F. said that the cop put his gloves on. F. was told not to go to our business again. He checked it daily. He was doing more for Maggie than the police were. And without gloves.
The police stated that they could do nothing about the property theft. What the...huh? Isn't that your job?!
We had also asked for a police escort to the inside of the business so that we could access the safe that was in my ex-stepmother's living quarters. We told them that my brother and I owned more shares of the business than T. They would not provide us with an escort.
F. decided to go to the town manager, Mr. Clark. We went to the town center building. We got separated. I went up to the office window to ask for help. The phone rang. The woman that worked the desk looked at me, ignored me, and picked up the phone instead. How rude. I walked away and looked at photos of Maggie, who in her older days was no Ava Gardner. I found F. by wandering the weird halls. (The building has several ill-placed additions.)
Our meeting with Mr. Clark seemed promising. F. asked Mr. Clark if he could evict T. and co. from our business premises. He said that he would contact people, and that it had been done once before, when addicts had resided in front of "Wheels Thru Time", the central cog of Maggie. We told him about the accumulating trash, and how we were not sure if we had enough business funds for to be picked up promptly. Oddly enough, Mr. Clark said that Maggie Valley would remove the dumpster, and F. had to tell him that that could be viewed as theft. Mr. Clark's rude secretary appeared and announced that Mr. Clark had a meeting.
We left. My kid and I went to a playground that was built for listless toddlers. It is behind the town center building. I suddenly saw Mr. Clark on his cell phone outside, done with his "meeting" within seven minutes of us leaving. Yep, that's what you get when you try to be positive. Self-important announcers and fake meetings because real ones require too much effort.
In the end, no one helped. We reached out to numerous entities to no avail. A naked woman walking down the street caused more concern than drug addicts living at a local business.
Maggie is still there, despite one cop stating that it was dying. A dollar store was added. Gift shops are the main breed. Frankie's is doing great. Mini trucks are still truckin' at a yearly event, along with leather and cycles. Spirits- the drinking kind- have ben added to add new spirit. There are new sidewalks, but I will never walk down them and into the sunset.
