The Cope Family
Andy's Trout Farm opened to the public in 1965. It was founded and developed by Andy and Hazel Cope, with some help from their family. In the late 1950's, while Andy was operating a service station in Dillard, Ga, many travelers inquired about places to fish and camp. The Copes used some mountain land, which they owned in the Betty's Creek Community to develop Betty's Creek Recreation Area. Later, they changed the name to Andy's Trout Farm and built rental cabins along the stream. They had found the ideal spot to raise rainbow trout . The cold mountain stream flowing from the mountains of North Carolina into Betty's Creek provided the water needed. It took the family several months to get a hatchery in operation for hatching and ponds built for growing the trout. they began running the fish farm selling trout that were caught from the catch-out ponds. They dressed the catch and even had a restaurant across the road from the fishing office.
In 1968 Andy and Hazel Cope were granted the "Farm Family of the Year Awards" in both North Carolina and Georgia.
Andy Cope passed way Jan 30, 2012
read about his amazing life.
I’ve been thinking about Papa’s life and the man that he was. It seems to me like he was a very versatile man and depending on the nature of your relationship or dealings with him you would experience a different side of him. It is amazing the experiences he had throughout his life that made him the man be became. He is a part of what has been called “the greatest generation” and that generation certainly lived through rapidly changing times.
Several years ago he began journaling the story of his life beginning when he was a young boy . He was born on July 21, 1924 in the Nantahala Community. His family survived from what they could get from the land, the crops they could grow and the animals they raised. In talking about his home as a child he writes, “ it took lots of wood to keep us warm. No insulation in the houses. It took lots of cover for the beds. Most beds were feather. They were very warm with 4 or 5 quilts. I have woke up and found snow on top of my quilts…little fine balls of snow would blow under the split boards and fall on bed.” Papa’s family survived by hard work. Papa said, “My dad would never take anything from the government. …of course we didn’t know we was poor until the government told us.” His dad bought an A model pickup in 1931. He kept it until about 1936. Pa said when his oldest boy got old enough to drive he would sell the truck. He said it would be too much worry owning the truck and worrying about his boys using it. He sold it when Ben turned 16.
Papa wrote about how they spent their days….working, hunting, fishing…a big thrill was to go to the store for groceries and get some candy from the store owner because each time his dad settled up his bill. He did make note that although he never did get a bicycle he did get a big red wagon with sides on it. It was store bought and not homemade.
Papa wrote about his first paying jobs…picking beans for 10 cents per gallon. He worked for the Hall family doing odd jobs. His first job of big money was with the English Lumber Company. He got a job helping with the Utah Construction Company that was building the Nantahala Lake Dam. Later he went to work in Ducktown Tennessee in the tunnels, where he was seriously injured in an accident when a flat car jumped the tracks and throwed a bottle of gas into him. Papa spent 31 days in the hospital and was not able to work for nine months.
Papa didn’t write much about how he and Granny met but it was at the Hall place in Nantahala. He writes about some pretty funny escapades he and his buddies had during his late teen years.
He was inducted into the Navy in May of 1943. After his training he went aboard the USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier and for the next 26 months he was stationed on this ship in the Pacific. Just four months after going to sea they took their first hit from enemy planes. He writes,”we was in battle with the Jap navy and land based aircraft on Guam and Truck Islands. At 12:03 am a jap plane dropped a torpedo that hit our ship…..later we got hit with two suicide planes. Later we was hit with another suicide plane at Phillipine Islands. We lost 112 men when the two planes hit us. I made it through without a scratch. “ We were 2-3 months bombing Okanawa from carrier before the army went on shore. Outside Okanawa we were hit with 3 suicide planes and lots of damage to the flight deck….We were 2000 miles from Japan main island heading to bomb mainland when the first atomic bomb was dropped. We were ordered to hold back. We ran in circles for days until the next atomic bomb was dropped.
Papa had a mind that was always thinking. He was planning his next project before he finished the current one. After returning from the war he tried his hand at several businesses, learning from each one things that would eventually bring him to developing the trout farm. He writes, “when I started work on Andy’s Trout Farm I didn’t have many people who thought I would make a go of it. Hazel though for sure we would starve….I don’t believe that nost of the people I dealt with in the FHA thought I would succeed. …They gave me a 40 year loan. I never missed a payment or was late on one. After 28 years I paid it off. I could have borrowed more money after the first five years but I didn’t care to. I have been more interested in having a job and being my own boss than anything. There have been many things I’ve had to experiment with, not knowing if it would pay off or not. I have always known its not what you make working that counts the most. Its what you can do with what you make that counts.’”
Most of Papa’s time was dedicated to hard work and innovative thinking. There were a few things that he was passionate about. He was a Christian and contributed to the church in many ways. He gave both his money and his time. He believed in fun and fellowship. He believed in worship and he believed in singing. Papa was the song leader for many years. He was part of the Rabun County Friday night singing and writes about the first one. It was held in 1946 in the home of John Welborn on Persimmon. and there was rarely a Friday night that he missed one, even when it was flooding. Not only did he enjoy the gospel singings but he felt the shape note singing was an art that could not die out. He was part of the group that got the North Georgia School of Gospel music started.
I think Papa was probably a pretty ruthless business man and I know he was a hard task master. When you worked for him there was no slacking off. If he didn’t have anything else for you do he would have you empty rocks from one hole and fill up another. He taught us the importance and value of hard work and doing a good job. He trained many a young worker on Betty’s Creek over the years. He valued the dollar. He worked hard to earn it. But he was generous with it, too. He was a great gift giver. He seemed to like gadgets and was often among the first to purchase new things that came along.
Papa was able to develop a plan, research what he needed to do to make it happen and then put it all together to become a reality. He was such a hard worker here at the Trout Farm it was amazing when he and Granny started going to Arizona in the winter’s and he became a “retired man.” He did go about recreating with the same intensity as everything else and became a champion horseshoe pitcher. He writes about their time in Arizona,” Hazel just came back from her gambling trip to Laughlin. She is feeling good. She won 50.00 this year. We are living high on the hog now with all her gambling wins to go with my horseshoe wins. We might retire this year.”
As much as he was a good grandfather he refined his skills when he became a great grandfather. He seemed to mellow with time and took the time to spend with our kids. They were constantly tagging along after him. Some of his babysitting techniques were definitely outside the box.
While we always knew that Papa loved us we didn’t see the affectionate and tender side of him until the last few years. Its pretty funny how many times he talks about Granny and her hair dressers in his writings….apparently this took a good portion of their time and energy. Granny pampered him all of his life and sometimes that really aggravated us. I really don’t think it was what he expected it, but that she expected to do it. But he really had it made. And then when she got sick and couldn’t pamper him anymore and his care and concern for her became more and more apparent.
There is a quote that says, “The measure of a man’s success must be according to his ability. The advancement he makes from the station in which he was born gives the degree of his success.” Another quote says, “If there be any truer measure of a man than by what he does, it must be by what he gives.” So I think, what is the measure of this man, Andy Cope, my grandfather. He came from the poorest of beginnings. He worked hard, loved his family, served his country, helped his fellow man. He left a legacy to his family of knowing the importance of loving God, caring for family and friends, working hard for what you get and not expecting hand outs, being a generous giver, taking responsibility for yourself and your actions. He recognized the beauty of God’s creation and used it to create a place for families to enjoy being together. Andy Cope left his world a better place for being the man he was and sharing with his community, his friends and his family.
To sum it up in his own words:
Andy’s way of thinking:
You got no right to take something out unless you first put something in. So shoot square, play 50-50. Don’t do much fighting to see how much you can take out. But give a little serious and unselfish thought to what you can do to make a better community to live in and yourself a better person.
