Old Crow Medicine Show, along with Bandana Rhythm, took the stage at the Hilloween’s 2025 Benefit Concert, playing fan favorites such as “Wagon Wheel” to the many in attendance recently.
The Hilloween concert was more than a year in the making and was designed to serve as a celebration of the Mitchell County community as well as the heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
During the show, local emergency workers were honored, and North Carolina Heritage Award recipient Rhonda Gouge — who actually had taught many of the band members — joined with Bandana Rhythm on stage for a special performance.
Local dancers also took the stage to entertain the crowd, and to cap off the evening, Old Crow Medicine Show gave a high-energy crowd-pleasing performance to the people of Mitchell County.
Director of Hilloween Chandler Arnold said that the people of Mitchell County were what made this benefit concert and events like this possible. Arnold said putting on events like this is sharing and celebrating the many stories that are in the High Country.
Arnold also said that the people in this community are always willing to help one another, especially during difficult times. According to Arnold, one of the many driving factors that Hilloween was founded on in 2022 was to help bring the community together.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene (downgraded to a tropical storm after slowing down over land), Hilloween partnered with Mitchell County Development Foundation (MCDF) to support relief efforts.
Arnold mentioned that all of the proceeds from the event will go to the MCDF. Arnold said that it was an honor to partner with Mitchell County Development Foundation and the other organizations and agencies associated with this event.
“These people have grown up and lived here and worked in this community for years,” he said. “They are so thoughtful of the needs of the community, not only providing grant dollars but also a wide range of additional resources, such as coaching sessions and counseling sessions.”
Arnold said that there has been great support from the High Country and that the people in the community were excited to have something like this benefit concert, and looking forward to enjoying the night and having a “feel good moment” since the hurricane.
Arnold also mentioned that organizers have exceeded the goals for the event and raised $35,000 for MCDF. They also reached a max capacity for the event of 2,000 for the concert.
Sandy Buchanan, who is secretary of MCDF, said that MCDF is a non-profit organization that collaborates with local foundations, businesses, and the community to help rebuild in the aftermath of the hurricane’s devastation. Buchanan noted that the organization has been around for over 20 years.
Buchanan said that since Helene, the Mitchell County Development Foundation’s Small Business Resiliency Fund has distributed a total of $1,273,700 to 53 businesses in the area that were impacted by Hurricane Helene.
“Hilloween is an amazing organization to work with,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan was also thrilled with many of the people coming to the concert and coming to visit Mitchell County.
“This is amazing, and it’s not just our local community,” she said. “People really like this band and like what they do, so they are coming from all over. That is good for Michell County, they get to see our town and the wonderful facility we have here with the Y, and we are hoping that they come back.”
For more information on Hilloween and upcoming events going on around the area, or to donate, visit their website at www.hilloweennc.org. For more information on the Mitchell County Development Foundation, you can visit their website at mitchellcountydevelopmentfoundation.org/.
You can email them at contact@mitchellcdf.org. or call 828-467-7253.