The Story of Holler Creek

By Co-Founder Aaron Sebens

I’ve left these hills many times, but I’ve always returned. My family bought the land in the 1980s when it was a tract of the Levering Orchard. The 35 acres that is our campus is folded in between two hills, with several creeks meandering down the mountain and towering rock faces hiding amongst the poplar and sassafras. 

Our family of six lived in a 300 sq ft converted tractor shed with no indoor toilet while my dad built the house we would grow up in. That shed became the woodworking shop for my dad’s instruments and now is the main school building of Holler Creek. My parents first thought of running a commercial cider press, but the trees were past their prime producing years and as that idea fell away, my dad started  building dulcimers, mandolins, and guitars, and my mom worked with and advocated for students and families in the local schools. Over their 50 plus years of owning this land the Leverings and my parents cared for and worked hard to bring about positive change in this place and community, and in the wider world.

That legacy of stewardship and positive change is what we want Holler Creek to be for this region. These valleys and cascades have been refuge for those who need a safe place.  It has provided a place for childhood adventure. My three brothers and I roamed the hills, having rotten apple fights, swinging on cut grapevines on the steep slopes, and making quarter mile sled runs dodging trees in the orchard, depending on the season. This land has been an ambassador for the mountains to groups from around the world. I’ve brought groups of students here for more than a decade and it is always amazing to see them outside of the classroom walls as their true selves, climbing the hills, making up songs by hitting bamboo,  and deciding whether or not they want to climb into the cave where there may or may not be a vulture waiting.

Time brings about change, and there are only a few fruit trees left. You can now easily see the deer and turkey that walk the hills boldly. Our hope is that Holler Creek will be a place where learners young and old can pay attention and feel connected to these mountains, be proud of what they’ve learned and where they live.