‘Life in the Carolinas’ television crew coming to Gold Hill for Christmas special
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 20, 2019
- Bluegrass music was provided by Rob Kepley, James Shoe, Elmer Edwards, and Mary Lamber at the E.H. Montgomery General Store during the annual Lighting of the Fires in Gold Hill Village in 2014. Wayne Hinshaw/Salisbury Post file photo
GOLD HILL — Carl White’s “Life in the Carolinas” 2019 Christmas special will be filmed in Gold Hill.
White and his film crew will be in Gold Hill during this Saturday’s Lighting of the Fires, then be back again for the community’s Christmas in the Village on Dec. 7.
As host, White will conduct interviews with event organizers, store owners and visitors.
The special, titled “A Carolinas Heritage Christmas,” will air the week of Christmas on WJZY FOX 46 in Charlotte and on CBS affiliates in North Carolina and South Carolina. Television guides will provide show times.
White said Sunday he wants the special to focus on a small community that embraces Christmas. He has done previous segments of his television show in Gold Hill, and he said in talking with people, the village always has had a comfortable feel.
“It makes us feel good,” he said. “I think it’s a good choice.”
For past Christmas specials, White has taken his show to places in both Carolinas.
White’s syndicated, Emmy-nominated television show “documents the people, places and events that shape the culture, vibrant life and diversity of today’s Carolinas,” according to public relations material.
Vivian Hopkins, co-owner of the Montgomery General Store in Gold Hill, said a film crew will arrive by midmorning Saturday and set up for filming at Gold Hill United Methodist Church, the store, the main bonfire by the lake and several other locations throughout the evening.
The crew will return for Christmas in the Village on Dec. 7.
Lighting of the Fires kicks off the holiday season in Gold Hill, and it will be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday. It was first held in 2000. Bonfires outside and pot-bellied stoves inside some of the stores provide warmth during the evening.
Tickets are $18 and can be purchased in the Gold Hill village shops. More information can be found at www.historicgoldhill.com.
Visitors who buy advance tickets can pick up their “gold nuggets” at the Russell-Rufty Shelter in Gold Hill Mines Historic Park.
The nuggets provide admission to the shops. A trolley will be available from the shelter to the village. There also will be carriage rides, live music, food samplings and treats in the shops, as well as Brunswick stew by the bonfire.
Bluegrass and country music will be offered at Montgomery Store and Mama T’s restaurant. The Windsong Recorder Ensemble will play at the church, and the Salisbury-Rowan Choral Society will sing carols and seasonal tunes along the streets and on the restaurant’s porch.
The historic village of Gold Hill is on St. Stephens Church Road. Visitors using GPS for directions should use 770 St. Stephens Church Road, Gold Hill, as the address.