Betty Holt
Betty Holt, a real estate broker at Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices Meadows Mountain Realty, is a fourth-generation Highlander who muses that the Highlands she grew up in the 60s was very different from Highlands today.
There were fewer people-year rounders and visitors – and the season was short, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Winters were quiet and often snowy. Many businesses shuttered forthe winter.
1953
Both of Betty’s parents had small businesses. Her dad, Bill Holt owned Bill’s Soda Shop, and her mother owned Anne’s Beauty Salon. Summers were their busy season and it was long hours and all hands on deck.
From a young age, Betty helped where needed and learned her work ethic at her parents’ side.
At 16 she started her first real job at the Galax News, a summer publication put out by O. F. Summer, who owned the Galax Theatre and was principal of the school. He advertised his movies in the Galax News. The movies were two or three years old by the time they were shown here.
1957
There was no shortage of entertainment – swimming lessons at Lee’s Inn, movies at the Galax Theatre, nature study classes at the Nature Center, riding horses at Crane’s Stable, and playing putt-putt golf. She and her friends would get together and explore the woods, play board games such as Monopoly and Parcheesi, or ice skate on Mirror Lake in winter.
As a teenager she enjoyed clogging at Helen’s Barn, basketball, cheerleading, volunteering at the Highlands Playhouse, and of course, hanging out at Bill’s Soda Shop. She also took piano lessons and played for several area churches, including her home church, First Presbyterian of Highlands.
1965
Through all the changes Betty is thankful Highlands has retained its beauty, small-town charm, and that the people remain as honest and friendly as ever.
In her own words: “In addition to being born and raised here, I feel that living in Highlands has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. To wake up every morning into a forest of beauty and take a walk in my sweet neighborhood that my grandparents once owned is in itself calming and grounding. To know that there are any number of people I could call on in an emergency is reassuring. To walk down the street and be known and spoken to pleasantly enhances my sense of self. To be a part of a local population that remembers “how things used to be” creates a sense of belongingness. My genetic roots run deep here. I am proud to call myself a native Highlander.”
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