Tar Heel Traveler: Blueberry Patch in Black Mountain

Sylvia Hatchell coached women's basketball at UNC for 33 years and even won a national championship. She now owns a house in Black Mountain, with 300 blueberry bushes, and invites people to pick their own. In return, Sylvia asks that they donate money to the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center. In 2013, Sylvia was diagnosed with an acute form of Leukemia, and in the years since, donations from her blueberry patch have helped the center build two workout rooms for patients undergoing treatment.

Posted 7/23/2024, 10:20:56 PM Updated 7/24/2024, 12:58:06 AM

JOB THAT.

>> IT IS BLUEBERRY SEASON.

AND TONIGHT WE FIND OUR TARHEEL

TRAVELER IN A BLUEBERRY PATCH

DEEP IN THE MOUNTAINS. SCOTT

MASON TAKES US TO FAIRVIEW EAST

OF ASHEVILLE FOR SWEET STORY

ABOUT PICKING AND CARING.

BLUEBERRIES NEAR BLACK

MOUNTAIN.

>> THE PATCH.

>> FOR A CAUSE. I LOVE

BLUEBERRY AND HOW ABOUT A

COBBLER? BLUEBERRY COBBLER?

I REALLY LIKE IT. IT'S PRETTY

HEAVY. THIS BUSH HERE IS SLAM

FALL. WHO CAN PICK THE MOST

WELL STAGED ALL ALL MY OUT OF

MY BAG AND DUMPED IT IN HIS

BAG. THE BLUEBERRY THIEF TRYING

TO PICK VERY WORRIED. YOUR BEST

FRIENDS. I STAY. YOU WANT TO

HOLD YOUR BAG FOR A FEW

MINUTES. PICK YOUR OWN

BLUEBERRIES. IT'S AN HONOR

SYSTEM. SOME NEW ONES AROUND

HERE THAT A SAMPLE HOME.

THEY'RE DELICIOUS. THEY'RE ALSO

A MEANS TO A CALL, COME IN PICK

AND THEN THEY MAIL CHECKS AND

TO THE UNC LINEBERGER CANCER

SON SAY YOU'RE HAVING PEOPLE

DONATE TO THAT CANCER CENTER.

>> AND THEN YOU WERE DIAGNOSED.

THAT'S RIGHT. STILL BE A

HATCHELL COACHED THE WOMEN'S

BASKETBALL AT UNC FOR 33 YEARS.

I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ACUTE

MYELOID LEUKEMIA. THE WORST

DAMAGE YOU CAN HAVE. SHE WAS

DIAGNOSED IN

2013. I WROTE A BOOK BECAUSE

I COULDN'T FIND ANYBODY THAT

HAD SURVIVED WHAT I HAD AND I

JUST BEEN INDUCTED INTO THE

NAISMITH BASKETBALL HALL OF

FAME.

>> WHICH MID THEN GETTING

BETTER THAN THAT FOR A

BASKETBALL COACH. ALTHOUGH

THERE WAS THE NATIONAL

CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1994.

>> WITH 7 TENTHS OF A SECOND,

NOT A WHOLE SECOND 7 TENTHS

OF A SECOND.

>> WE WERE DOWN BY 2 POINTS.

WE MUST STAND ON CRAZY IDEA.

GO CRAZY.

YOU'VE GOT TO BELIEVE IT'S

GOING TO HAPPEN. YEAH. SAME

THING WITH CANCER. IF YOU'RE

GOING TO NEED IT, YOU GOT TO

BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE GONNA BEAT

IT. WHAT WAS THE TREATMENT WOW.

>> IT IS TOUGH. THOSE

TREATMENTS IT WOULD TAKE YOU

BEHIND THERE.

>> WHAT SHE DID BEAT THE CANCER

AND HOUSE WHEAT WAS THAT.

>> SHE USED THE MONEY FROM THIS

TO MAKE SOME FITNESS ROOMS AS

IF THEY GOT TO HAVE A PLACE

EXERCISE WEATHER IN HERE TAKING

THESE TREATMENTS. I THINK IT'S

JUST A GREAT CAUSE, FLORIDA

AND, YOU KNOW, LIFE IS MORE

THAN BASKETBALL. I'M IN THEIR

HUGE LIFE IS NOT ABOUT WHAT

YOU GATHER, BUT IT'S ABOUT WHAT

YOU SCATTER.

>> BRAD, A GOOD THEIR SWAY.

>> WE CAN SCATTER HELPING

PEOPLE CARING ABOUT PEOPLE WITH

A BIT OF A PATCH. NICE OF PICK

UP FRONT.

>> WE KNEW THAT. I HAVE TO COME

BACK TOMORROW. SO HATCHELL STOP

COACHING IN 2019, HER BLUEBERRY

PATCHES IN FAIRVIEW NEAR BLACK

MOUNTAIN ABOUT 300 BUSH'S WITH

BLUEBERRIES. THAT WILL LAST