This weekend is the 50th anniversary of the Nantahala Outdoor Center(NOC).
Payson and Aurelia Kennedy founded the organization with Horace Holden in 1972. Aurelia and Holden both passed away in 2019.
Payson spoke with BPR in 2019 about the founding of NOC.
“The first summer that we were here we lost money - only grossed $45,000 dollars and we showed a loss,” says Payson. “But after that first summer I was just so caught up in being in the flow state and in being out on the river.”
The start of Nantahala Outdoor Center happened just as the whitewater industry was taking off.
In 1972, canoeing became a part of the Olympics for the first time with the slalom event in Munich. Whitewater sports also boomed following the release of “Deliverance.” The film was shot mostly in Rabun County Georgia and Western North Carolina. Payson was a consultant and stunt man on the film along with other local kayakers like Doug Woodward. Woodward’s son Canyon also worked as a river guide. Today he is a political strategist and was most recently the cover story of the Smoky Mountain News where he discussed his co-authored book on rural politics, “Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On It.” Many other local leaders also trace their roots to the center.
Similarly, Ken Howle came to the region to work at NOC. He has served as the executive director of Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center since 2018. Olympian Wayne Dickert is now the pastor at First United Methodist Bryson City. The church runs the Restoration House which offers food, shelter, medical care and connection to other services. The Smoky Mountains News interviewed Howle and Dickert for a special on NOC this week.
Twenty-three Olympians, including two Olympic Gold Medalists, have called NOC home. Most recently in 2021, Evy Leibfarth, became the youngest female to compete in the Olympics for slalom C1 race at age 17. She grew up in Bryson City and trained at the center.
Mark Singleton, director of American Whitewater, also marks NOC as his introduction to the outdoor industry. Singleton is retiring from the conservation position at the end of June after 18 years.
Overall, the Nantahala Outdoors Center has become a key part of the local economy. Outdoor recreation has since become a multi-billion-dollar industry pulling in over $28 billion just in North Carolina. NOC is one of the largest outdoor recreation companies in the nation with over 700 employees. NOC estimates that 7 million guests have floated down the Nantahala River.
The anniversary celebration is June 11th with a list of events ranging from vendors, art and live music.
The Nantahala Outdoors Center is a sponsor of Blue Ridge Public Radio.
