[piano intro] - [Narrator] Funding for the North Carolina "Year of the Trail" series is provided by... - [Narrator] SECU Foundation, proving how contributions from SECU members can generate the support needed to make a difference across North Carolina in the areas of housing, education, healthcare, and human services.

[upbeat music] - [Narrator] Today, join us to meet people whose passion, creativity, and talent are making a positive mark and blazing new trails for others.

It's all on "My Home", coming up next.

[upbeat music] - [Narrator] All across the state, we're uncovering the unique stories that make North Carolina my home.

♪ Come home ♪ ♪ Come home ♪ [water splashing] [gentle music] - Paddling in this area is incredible because every time you go, you can always do something different, and you can always push yourself and improve on your skills because you're not doing the same thing, you're not paddling the same river every time.

The Cheoah, it's kind of a hidden gem.

Being a dam released river, it's a great gateway or stepping stone for those that are looking to advance in their kayaking career.

My name is Ty Caldwell.

I am an avid kayaker.

Grew up in Robbinsville, been paddling the rivers around here for as long as I can remember.

It has changed my life for sure.

I have traveled the world paddling different rivers, you know, from Chile to Africa, and it started right here in Graham County.

It's an incredible experience to have this river in our backyard.

So, made it to the put-in here at the start of the river.

It's about a nine mile stretch.

Today, the river kind of starts off at the top and progressively gets harder.

Towards the bottom, you have Bear Creek Falls, which is the largest drop, and from there, the last bit of whitewater in the last 15 minutes is kind of the hardest and the most technical, so we consider that the most fun for us.

And sun's coming out.

Water level's gonna be a little bit higher from the rain today, so it's gonna be a good day out there for sure.

A lot of fun.

[gentle music] Growing up, the first Cheoah release that I recall, my mother, she was a school teacher, had the summers off, and worked as a raft guide in the summer.

She dragged my brothers and I along with her, and we hung out on one of the swinging bridges across the river pretty much all day, just watching the kayaks come through and people running the drops there.

And I remember it wasn't too long between watching people go down and a couple years later that I was out here paddling for my first time.

[upbeat music] - The evolution of the Cheoah has been interesting.

When I first had the opportunity to get on the Cheoah, we were the only people in town that had a kayak on our car.

You hear the term river hippie and everything, you know, and now it's known in the United States and the Southeast, people come from near and far to paddle the Cheoah.

When there is a Cheoah release, you can feel the energy and the happiness and the fun that the Cheoah creates for all people.

From rafts to kayaks to people sitting on the bank, watching 'em come through, the stoke is high, as people would say, and that just makes me wanna laugh, you know, out loud 'cause it makes me so happy.

People are discovering that there is value in ecotourism.

There's value in being outside.

- The Cheoah releases 20 times per year.

It was dewatered for around 77 years, and starting around 2005, they started doing releases originally for the wildlife habitat to mimic floods.

The Cheoah in Cherokee means where the otters play, and one of the unique features that you'll see when you're out there is so many otters hanging out, and if you pay attention during those high water runs, you'll swing into a calm spot in the river and one will pop up beside you, and sometimes it'll scare you, but you know, they're out there having fun, enjoying the higher water as well.

[gentle music] - [Mel] The Cheoah is such a unique river, and if you are a whitewater enthusiast, you understand the difference between it and some of the other whitewater in this area.

One reason it's very special is it is a mixture of big water from, like, out west, but yet creeky with a southeast twist.

And it's constantly rapid after rapid after rapid after rapid, and people love that.

- Paul, how are you vibing today?

- Vibing pretty good.

A solid seven.

- Yeah.

- Just gonna try to keep it going that way.

- Paul's got himself a new kayak, trying that out.

A little different, so these are a little bit more playful, they have the smaller sterns, so.

And they come in all different shapes and sizes like people.

You know, growing up in Graham County, kayaking, there was not a lot of individuals that kayaked.

My family and a few others would go out there and kayak, and they'd, you know, think that we're crazy and shooting the rapids, and back then, they really didn't have kids gear, so we were all paddling boats that were three times longer than us, as tall as we were, and oversized paddles, oversized life jackets, but we got into it, we loved it, and still doing it today.

- You know, all my boys have a background in whitewater.

And to this day, they all still paddle, but Ty, you know, he seems to be the one that likes the more high adventure end of it.

You know, he and his friends, they love big water, so that took him a lot more places all over the world because of whitewater.

When you're in whitewater, you're in the moment.

You're not thinking of anything but just what you're doing at that particular moment.

You know, I believe it's physical, spiritual, mental.

You're one with the river, especially on the Cheoah.

I don't know, something about the outdoors is just healing.

[gentle music continues] - A lot of the time when you're in your kayak, the focus is on the whitewater or the rapids that you're paddling, but you've gotta remember to stop and look up and see how beautiful the surroundings are around you.

I invite everyone to try kayaking, to try rafting, to get outdoors in whatever way they see fit.

Check out the Cheoah, check out your local river, and you know, just get outside and experience nature in a different way.

It's always such a great time to come out here and to get to experience the river.

Always come home with a new story of excitement and a memory that I get to keep, and it keeps me coming back.

- I just don't enjoy driving, you know?

So I'd really rather just ride my bike.

[gentle music] I talk to people all the time and they say, "Oh, I remember riding a bike when I was a kid," and it's like that every time you get on a bike.

It's so much fun.

You know, a lot of people say, "Oh, well, it's cold, it's rainy, it's windy," whatever, but any bike ride is better than no bike ride at all.

People say, "Oh, well, you're always smiling," it's 'cause I'm always on my bike, you know?

You know, I just started riding bikes.

I was teaching my kids to ride bikes.

This is on the New River Trail.

And I started riding more and more, and then I started riding to work, and then I started riding every weekend, and then I started riding, you know, more than that.

- What do you think it is that is so terrifying to people about riding a bike?

- Oh, they're afraid of all the cars.

- Okay, yeah.

- They're afraid of being hit by a car.

I mean, you know, most people would say, "Oh, I would ride bikes, but I don't"- - I'm afraid of being hit by a car.

I could see it, yeah.

- I mean, but they're not out to hit you.

I mean, would you hit somebody riding a bike?

- Well, no, not purposely.

- Okay, well, see?

That's what I'm saying!

[gentle music] The classes are to empower people to let them know the possibility that it is totally fun, it's not death defying to ride your bike wherever you want to go.

And so do you see how that can be helpful?

Because you need to be prepared to stop at all times.

I mean, it's better to do an emergency brake and know how to do it than fly over your handlebars and land on top of a car.

- Okay.

- You do have to have a healthy respect for traffic on the roadways, and that's what we do in the three hour classroom portion, followed up by a three hour on bike skills portion so that they can actually execute these things.

And then we follow it up with a road ride or a ride around, so we explain everything in real life.

Instead of seeing it in an animation or in a movie, then they can experience it real time.

You know, I haven't been here for weeks, I don't even know what I need.

Okay, I'm all done with my list.

Now I gotta get my trailer.

This is my trailer, this is what I'm gonna put all my groceries in.

When you're riding a bike, you're doing a lot of different things, right?

You're doing route planning, you're looking at the weather, you're planning ahead.

See, there's my little thermometer right there.

That's how I get dressed.

So tonight is gonna be 64, 68 to 64, so I'm gonna need some gloves and arm warmers and a neck gaiter.

It's just like life.

If you can break it down, right, then you can do whatever you need to.

We generally are not on arterial roads unless we need to be.

So you have a more scenic, pleasant ride, and you can see other things and connect the city in a different way.

It'll be more fun.

It's like you're riding by everybody's house.

[gentle music] A lot of people will say, "Oh, I only ride on the trails now," or they mountain bike because they don't wanna ride in the road.

And it's like, but the roads go everywhere.

If you're not gonna get on the road, you're not gonna go anywhere, right?

The main thing that you can do to help climate change is to replace our car trips with other forms of transportation, whether it's biking, walking, public transit.

Most trips that people make are usually less than five or 10 miles, and it's not hard to ride five or 10 miles.

So, you know, that's why we do the Tuesday night ride, is to get people over all of those obstacles.

- Happy Tuesday!

- Happy Tuesday!

- Perfect!

Welcome to the Tuesday night ride.

We have five rules, repeat after me.

Stay in one lane.

- [Bikers] Stay in one lane.

- Do not pass the leader.

- [Bikers] Do not pass the leader.

- [Announcer] Be prepared to stop at all times.

- [Bikers] Be prepared to stop at all times.

- Use both brakes.

- When braking, use both hands.

- [Bikers] When braking, use both hands.

- And follow all traffic lights and signs.

- [Bikers] Follow all traffic lights and signs.

- [Announcer] Perfect, great job, guys.

- Tell me when you're ready, okay?

- I'm ready.

- You ready?

Okay, we're gonna let these two cars go, and then we're gonna go, okay?

Now we're giving 'em an opportunity to get more confident to ride on the road with a group, and then we'll give them the confidence to ride by themselves.

I mean, 'cause if I can do it, anybody can do it.

'Cause I am not an intimidating person, I'm not, you know, necessarily an athletic or fit person.

I'm not a mechanical person.

But you can ride a bike 'cause they're that simple and it's that easy and it's that much fun.

I mean, I always have fun on my bike.

[gentle music] - I came to this earth to create.

That's why I came.

I didn't know that when I was younger.

I didn't know that I was gonna take art this serious.

But now, from everything that I've witnessed and everything that I've experienced, I truly know my purpose.

I've always been fascinated with trees ever since I was a child.

And now whatever comes out of my spirit is what goes on the canvas, you know?

When I discovered camouflage, it showed me a different perspective.

It was crazy.

I had never seen colors flow like that.

Immediately I said to myself, "I wanna embody the whole thing."

It was the energy, it was undeniable, the beauty and the way the camouflage, I watched it evolve over time.

I know what comes with the camouflage in the hunting industry, and I know this is a predominantly white man's thing, but for some reason, it chose me.

And I just felt it.

It's hard to explain, but my connection with nature, truly, the true connection with nature, it changed my life, it got me out the hood.

It brought an inner city kid from North New Jersey all the way to North Carolina and got him surrounded by trees and dirt bikes.

Just to one day grow up to be a Black guy that paint camouflage.

Just to give people perspective.

And you know what?

100 from now, somebody gonna have my trucks in a museum.

I promise you.

They will.

They will.

My name is Artie Barksdale III.

I am a freelance artist, and my home is Burlington, North Carolina.

♪ Oh, oh ♪ Burlington is one of those cities that you can make a name for yourself.

When I came to Burlington, I found a way to merge the different cultures, my Black audience with the white audience, camouflage on one side, graffiti on the other side.

I said, "I'm gonna make this work."

And I started getting a name for myself.

- Oh my God.

What's up?

- [Artie] What you say, brother?

What you say, man?

- Looks great, Artie.

You done great a job, man.

- That's the man I wanna see right there.

What's going on, man?

[laughs] - Man, looks good, looks good.

- It looks good, right?

[Artie laughs] When I create beautiful art, it just sends chills.

It's like they can't stop looking at it, it's doing something to their soul.

And I know what that feels like.

It's been sitting in my soul for years.

It's just hitting yours.

I create whether I'm getting paid for it or not.

It's gonna come out.

I love to inspire and I love the sound of, "Ooh," and, "Ah."

I love it.

[laughs] I love it.

- It's amazing, I mean, just everyone wanted to know, "Where'd you get that done?

Who painted your truck?

Is it a wrap?"

That's the biggest question, "Man, I love your wrap."

Well, it's not a wrap, it's a custom hand painted paint job.

I'm very, very impressed.

You know, the man pulled it off again and looks great.

[upbeat music] - It's kind of funny because people don't understand.

Say, "There's nothing going on in Burlington."

To them, it's a dead place, but to me, it's a blank canvas.

Now, my plan for this entire strip is to decorate it up with murals.

This is the second one that I did, is inside a Crazy Cuts.

Come on in.

So when I first came to the neighborhood, the owner, Mike, he told me I can do what I wanted to do.

So I just put this together for him.

The '90s colors.

I got the colors from Artie, right?

So I'm just out here in the neighborhood just trying to spruce it up and give some people to talk about, bro, something to talk about.

So, yeah.

The type of art that I want to produce is if you can stand right here in this one spot, you'll be able to see art on this wall, that wall, the walls behind it, and even the ones far beyond.

It's kind of like how my head is.

I've got all of these ideas.

And you know what's so crazy?

I've had this in my dreams.

I keep dreaming about a place that I can build up artistically, creatively.

I just want a whole entire neighborhood to myself, you know?

I love this place.

[upbeat music] My art, it's my first love.

What it made me want to be is something different.

When I was living in Newark, we lived in the projects.

It's the same story that you hear all the time, and it was bad.

And I started getting into my art, and I realized from a very young age that I didn't wanna be no thug, I didn't wanna be a gangster.

I said, "You know what?

I wanna go back home and I wanna get on my sketchpad."

Before you know it, time went by, and my art just got better and better and better, and I could see my future is bright.

And it was so crazy because everything that I went through, I didn't realize that it was shaping my creativity, getting me prepared for something.

It wasn't about the money.

I'm one of those artists that I don't paint just for kicks.

I like to go into an area and say, "Okay, this area needs this type of artwork."

I'm really good at that.

["The Queen"] ♪ Everywhere I go, the people really wanna know ♪ ♪ Who I is and who I be ♪ ♪ They stop and stare when they see me ♪ ♪ If I said it once no need to repeat ♪ ♪ Run up on me watch ya fall to ya knees ♪ ♪ Tip my hat when it's time for the kill ♪ ♪ Ain't no beefs when you're really real ♪ ♪ I am the boss, I am the Don ♪ ♪ I am the one they call Lucky Charm ♪ ♪ Sturdy and still when I plant my feet ♪ ♪ Got it out the mud, now it's racks in my sleep ♪ - I started painting murals.

I wanted to create what you call a landmark or a mark in time.

And I do it because I want my art to speak for me.

I wanna create wide open and stop traffic.

And Burlington has a lot of open, empty canvas here with my name on it.

And if nobody comes and gets it, I'm gonna take the whole thing to myself.

I really am.

This mural was commissioned by Skram Furniture, and it was a project where I was allowed to do exactly what inspired me the most.

And this is pretty much a group of hematite magnets that my son plays with.

Come here, Denim.

This is Denim.

And "CCC" is the mural, and he's the inspiration for the mural.

And what's so special about this mural is it's a landmark for my son to know that this is his daddy's home, you know?

Denim and I have a long distance relationship, so I take the Amtrak train to Charlotte, and when it returns back, this mural is the first thing he sees.

And 40 years from now, he's gonna look back at it and say, "My father painted that many years ago."

- Yeah?

- Yeah, it's timeless.

When people tell you that art tells a story, it truly does.

It truly does.

I'm connected to it all.

You know, I paint by emotion, I paint by feeling whatever I'm connected to.

You have to truly, truly want it.

And it has to be important to you.

My art hasn't made me rich, but I got some rich memories.

A lot.

It's a beautiful thing, you know?

Oh, yeah, how you feeling?

- [Denim] Good.

- [Artie] We had an awesome day today, right?

- [Denim] Yeah.

- [Artie] Daddy love you, man.

- [Denim] I love you too.

- Hm?

- I love you too.

- You love me?

- Mm-hm.

- This much?

- Mm-hm.

- [Artie] Right?

All right, cool.

Gonna miss you.

[gentle music continues] [gentle music continues] - [Narrator] Next time on "My Home", come hear North Carolina's musical range and some songs like you've never heard before.

[upbeat piano music] [upbeat music] It's all on "My Home".

- [Speaker] Music is a magical thing.

[bright upbeat music] ♪ [bright upbeat music continues] ♪ [bright upbeat music continues] ♪ [bright upbeat music continues] ♪ [bright upbeat music continues] - [Narrator] Funding for the North Carolina "Year of the Trail" series is provided by... - [Narrator] SECU Foundation, proving how contributions from SECU members can generate the support needed to make a difference across North Carolina in the areas of housing, education, healthcare, and human services.