Saluda, Perry Como, and Me

Perry Como
Saluda, NC (TLS). Thanksgiving Day is quickly approaching, and during this time of year my thoughts wax nostalgic and sentimental. The day marks the official beginning of the holiday season, although modern commercialism has moved that beginning earlier and earlier with each passing year.

I even saw Christmas trees in a few stores the day after Halloween.

Somehow or another, the uniquely American holiday has taken a back seat, wedged in between Halloween and Christmas, which are both retail bonanzas. While I have nothing against economic success, I do think there is something to be said for the quiet, serene, uniquely American holiday of giving thanks to God for His blessing, just as our Puritan forebears did at Plymouth.

This brings me to the topic at hand. I am spending the holiday with family in Saluda, North Carolina, a tiny mountain town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina near Hendersonville. Saluda is a wonderful setting for both the Thanksgiving and the Christmas holiday. The town itself is beautiful any time of year, but especially at Christmas with its elaborate downtown decorations. The people who live here year-round are deeply religious, devoutly holding to the traditions of their faith during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

One can find many outward signs of this faith in the manner in which the residents go about life.

I have spent quite a bit of time here throughout my life, and it remains as one of my favorite holiday hideaways.

One of the more interesting aspects of the town, however, revolves around Perry Como, the late, great crooner. Como sold over 100 million albums for RCA records in his long and distinguished career. The Pennsylvania-born barber-turned singer lived in Jupiter, Florida for much of the year. But what many people did not know is that he also had a home in Saluda, North Carolina.

Perry believed that Saluda was the perfect place for a famous person to have peace and quiet, the perfect place to hide from the flashing cameras and reporters. And he was right.

The residents of Saluda are by and large Protestant, Baptist, and conservative. They have the same level of distrust of the media as do many performers in the public eye. The townsfolk guarded Perry's privacy with a passion. And for that, the devout Roman Catholic crooner always held the residents in high esteem and kept them close to his heart.

Each day Como would walk from his home, which was hidden in the forest of one of the North Carolina peaks, to the local Saluda post office to retrieve his mail. Rather than staring or asking for autographs, the townspeople would do their normal 'tip of the hat' or a friendly 'good morning.' Beyond that, it was all small talk. He was one of them. And they didn't take kindly to strangers who sought to encroach on Como's privacy.

Perhaps the favorite eatery for the locals in and around Saluda is a restaurant called, 'The Caro-Mi.' This long-time family owned and operated restaurant is famous for it's dish called 'Ham What Am.' Regardless of one's personal culinary tastes, one can always find something on the Caro-Mi menu that provides for an exquisite dining experience. The restaurant was one of Como's favorites, and he could often be spotted with his wife at a table in the corner.

I overheard a couple next to my table one evening ask the waitress if the man in the corner was Perry Como because, as she put it, 'I heard that he lived up in here somewhere.' The waitress, who was an honest soul, said merely, 'ma'am, we are not allowed to say, and even if it was Perry Como he would not want his meal interrupted any more than you would.'

They left him alone.

When Perry and his wife got up to leave, he came by my table, and, without stopping said merely, 'Hiya, Martyn.'

'Evenin' Perry,' I said.

That couple at the next table turned to me and said, 'See there, I KNEW that was Perry Como!'

I said, 'No, ma'am, that was just an old retired barber who lives in town.'

Ah, there's no place like home for the holidays....