It is with a heavy heart that I pass along the following information. The article is printed on the Asheville Citizen Times website. It is a sad, sad day.
Beloved pub owner dies in wreck
By Jonathan Austin, editor@newsrecordandsentinel.com
updated November 5, 2008 4:40 pm
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Residents of Hot Springs were in shock Wednesday after learning that Patrick Anderson, a beloved town businessman, had been killed the night before in a one-vehicle accident.
“Most everybody in Madison County knew Patrick,” said Marian Gentry. “He had friends from all over the world.”
Anderson died late Tuesday night while driving his Jeep CJ-5 on U.S. 25-70 near Hot Springs. According to a crash report done by N.C. Highway Patrol trooper J.L. Sorrells, Anderson was traveling southeast about 11:30 p.m. when his vehicle ran off the road to the right and struck a guardrail. Anderson overcorrected, crossed the centerline and ran off the road to the left.
His Jeep overturned twice, ejecting Anderson, who was not wearing a seatbelt, according to Sorrells’ report.
First responders from Walnut Volunteer Fire Department responded to the wreck, and said Anderson was unresponsive at the scene.
Anderson, 40, was owner of the Paddler’s Pub and Grill in downtown Hot Springs, a popular gathering place and stopover for people hiking the Appalachian Trail, which runs down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street.
“Everybody stops at the pub,” said Gentry, coming off the Georgia-to-Maine hiking trail “just to say hello.”
But the pub is more than a tourist destination, said Hot Springs resident Mike Roberts. He said Anderson welcomed residents and strangers alike. “They were more family to him,” Roberts said. “They weren’t just customers.”
Residents and friends were gathered at the pub Wednesday morning to mourn. As they sat around the patio sipping coffee, they cried and occasionally laughed, telling stories about their friend.
“Patrick was the kind of person who, if he saw us here crying, he’d say ‘stop it,’” Roberts said. Gentry picked up on the thought. “He’d say, ‘Go on, get busy.’”
Roberts said Anderson was preparing Tuesday night for a two-day fishing trip to the coast. “He hiked, rafted on the river, and went on fishing trips,” he said. Roberts and others said Anderson loved to take children fishing and swimming.
“We loved him,” Gentry said. “The whole town has (suffered) a loss” with his death.
Mikey Meininger, who helped Anderson with a rafting and fly-fishing guide business, said Anderson was the kind of man who would feed a stranger or help a friend who was down on their luck. “He’s the kind of guy where, if you went to Peru and got stuck, he’d come get you, no questions asked,” Meininger said. “He didn’t just have a few friends; he had a million.”
Kae Heninger, who sat silently while others spoke at length about the late pub owner, finally asked if she could say something about him.
“There are two things I want to say about Patrick,” she said. “He didn’t have any enemies, and he didn’t know a stranger.” With him, “it was all about love and family.”
Funeral arrangements are pending, though friends in Hot Springs were already planning a wake for Wednesday night at the pub.
GWilder