The Old Crab Is Back in Cruso, and So Is the Day That Bears His Name

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  July 16, 2026

An old roadside joke from 1979 just crowned its newest honoree. Cruso, the small mountain community in southeastern Haywood County, brought back Old Crab Day on Saturday, July 11, for the first time in a decade, and it named Ray Ewart this year's Old Crab.

Ewart has waited a long time for the title. He has lived in Cruso for 42 years, tucked in the East Fork Pigeon River valley along US-276, about 20 minutes southeast of Waynesville and roughly 45 minutes from Asheville. For him, this was not just an honor. It was the settling of a 20-year-old score.

What actually is Old Crab Day?

The whole thing started with a sign. When Cruso's welcome sign went up in 1979, it read "Welcome to Cruso: 9 miles of friendly people." Then one night that October, someone tacked on a second sign that read "And one Old Crab."

Someone took the addition down about a week later, but by then Cruso had grown attached to it. The community put out a request in The Mountaineer to bring it back, and to this day nobody knows for sure who returned it. By the next year, locals were driving around with license plates reading "9 miles of friendly people plus one old crab."

Over time, that jab turned into something warmer. Instead of pointing at a neighbor, folks made it a game. People paid to vote on who would be named the year's Old Crab, and the money helped keep the community center running.

Why did Cruso bring the tradition back now?

The honest answer is money, and the building that needs it. The Cruso Community Center is aging, and board members were looking for new ways to fund upkeep when they landed on reviving a tradition that had not happened since 2016.

"The building is aging, and so we were talking about how to bring more money in," said board member Ken Galbreath.

But there was a second reason, and it runs deeper. Back in 2005, a disagreement over who deserved the Old Crab title split the community. Ewart believed he had won that year, and someone else got the recognition. The details are fuzzy now, but the hurt was real, and a whole stretch of Cruso carried bad feelings about the community center for years.

This year the board settled it by naming Ewart with no votes cast at all. The plan is to return to the coin-vote fundraiser next year, likely at a dollar a vote, but 2026 was about mending the rift first.

"It really hurt my heart to hear that a whole branch of folks up a road have bad feelings about the community center, of all things, and so this is a chance to hopefully heal that rift," Galbreath said.

What was the day itself like?

Rain threatened, but Cruso showed up anyway. Maddy Mullany and Clarke Williams played live music while Fat Belly's, Hit the Pit BBQ, and Rathbone Farm Stand handled the food.

There was a watermelon eating contest, a seed spitting contest, a water slide, a dunk tank, face painting, arts and crafts, and flea market vendors. It had the feel of the community reunions that used to fill these valleys before people started knowing fewer of their neighbors.

Cruso has been through a lot. This is the same valley that took a brutal hit from Tropical Storm Fred flooding in August 2021, when the Pigeon River tore through homes and roads and lives. A community that rebuilds from that kind of loss and then throws a party to laugh at itself tells you something about the people who live here.

"Old Crab Day is about the people in the community getting together and just fellowshipping, and that's what happened," said community center President Sandra Trull. "Our goal is to bring it back to the way things were when everybody knew their neighbors."

Ewart put it in his own way, with the kind of dry humor the title seems to require. "Being Old Crab, you can't get along with everybody," he said, before adding that he thinks the world of the people in Cruso and Haywood County all the same.

If a place where an old joke becomes a way to heal a 20-year rift sounds like the kind of community you would want to be part of, Jon Tharp is always glad to talk about what living in these mountains is really like.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Cruso, North Carolina?

Cruso is an unincorporated community in southeastern Haywood County, tucked into the East Fork Pigeon River valley along US-276. It sits roughly 20 minutes southeast of Waynesville and about 45 minutes to an hour from Asheville, depending on the route. The valley climbs toward the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Cold Mountain area made famous by Charles Frazier's novel. Cruso is rural and close-knit, known for farms, river frontage, and multigenerational families. The Cruso Community Center serves as the main gathering place for events, meetings, and traditions like Old Crab Day.

What is Old Crab Day in Cruso?

Old Crab Day is a Cruso tradition that grew out of a 1979 roadside sign reading "Welcome to Cruso: 9 miles of friendly people," to which someone anonymously added "And one Old Crab." Locals embraced the joke, and over time it became a lighthearted fundraiser at the community center. People paid to cast votes for who would be named the year's Old Crab, turning a potential insult into a community celebration. The 2026 revival, held July 11, brought back live music, food, and games after a decade without the event.

Why did Old Crab Day stop and then come back?

The last Old Crab Day was held in 2016, and the tradition quietly went dormant afterward. Community center board members revived it in 2026 as they searched for new ways to raise money for the aging building. The revival also gave organizers a chance to heal a rift from 2005, when a disputed Old Crab title divided the community. This year the board recognized longtime resident Ray Ewart with no votes cast, choosing reconciliation over competition. Organizers plan to return to the coin-vote fundraising format in 2027.

What is there to do near Cruso and Haywood County?

Cruso sits at the doorstep of some of the best outdoor country in Western North Carolina. US-276 leads up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Cold Mountain and Shining Rock Wilderness areas offer hiking, trout fishing, and long mountain views. Waynesville, about 20 minutes away, has a walkable Main Street full of shops, galleries, and restaurants. The broader Haywood County area includes Maggie Valley, Lake Junaluska, and easy access to the Great Smoky Mountains. Community events like Old Crab Day give visitors and newcomers a real feel for local mountain culture.