The honor fell upon Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers last Saturday night at the Hurricanes home game against the Ottawa Senators as part of an effort not only to raise awareness to the needs of Western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, but to also highlight the people who have worked tirelessly in the month and a half following the devastating flooding that swept across the region.

Past siren sounders have included musicians like Luke Combs and athletes like former Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, among countless other celebrities and dignitaries. While the siren is sounded before each of a game’s three periods, sounding it before the first period — as Smathers did — is considered the highest honor.

“To join the likes of Gov. [Roy] Cooper to [former Panthers’ linebacker] Luke Kuechly to [professional wrestling legend] Ric Flair, that’s rare air,” Smathers said, calling back to some of his favorite past siren sounders.

Smathers and his wife, along with Alderwoman Gail Mull, joined seven town employees in the suite. Kyle Perrotti photo

The process to get Smathers to sound the siren began on X when Andrew Schnittker, who lives in Raleigh and spent several years covering the team as a sportswriter, posted in the wake of Helene that it’d be cool to have the second-term mayor get the opportunity. After some thought, the next day, Schnittker reached out to one of his connections within the Hurricanes organization and the process began.

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Schnittker has a unique connection to the community. Although he has lived in Raleigh most of his life, he spent time in Haywood County at The Mountaineer as the paper’s sports editor and still has family in Waynesville. He said it was upsetting to see what was happening to the area that holds a special place in his heart.

“In my time there, I grew to love the community and the people in the community,” Schnittker said.

A few days after Schnittker reached out to the team, Smathers got a phone call inviting him and his wife, Ashley, to join the team for a game and sound the siren. Smathers said that would be great, but he also had a special request: he wanted to bring as many Town of Canton employees as he could. After all, they are the ones who were on the ground during the storm, and they’re the ones who’ve worked countless hours every day in the storm’s wake. Canton’s top administrators, Town Manager Lisa Stinnett and CFO Natalie Walker, who were both at the game, spent at least one night on air mattresses on the board room floor.

And uniquely for Canton, the adversity encountered as Helene moved through only added to the town’s woes as it had already experienced catastrophic flooding in August 2021 and a massive economic hit as the town’s largest employer, the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill, shut down abruptly in 2023, instantly eliminating hundreds of jobs. Like with Helene, town staff from top to bottom were working around the clock through those disasters.

At this point, pushing through the pain almost seems like a part of Canton’s DNA.

“The staff were the ones in the trenches, and they deserve a night out, and the team agreed,” Smathers said.

Once the Canton crew — 10 in total — arrived, they were brought through the VIP entrance at Lenovo Arena and straight up to their suite, which was stocked with food and drinks. While initially some of the Canton delegation seemed apprehensive, almost as though they might feel guilty to enjoy such a great opportunity, by the time the puck dropped, they sported smiles they couldn’t hide if they tried. Even though most were not hockey fans, with each goal and each hit, they cheered louder and louder. By the end of the night, as Carolina wrapped up a 4-0 victory, it felt like there may have been a few newly minted “Caniacs” in the suite.

Gov. Roy Cooper, seen here with Smathers, surprised everyone in the suite during the game. Kyle Perrotti photo

At one point, Gov. Cooper, a serious Hurricanes fan who typically sits in the owners’ box, popped in, much to the surprise of the people who were mostly too rapt watching the game to even notice right away. Cooper worked his way through the suite shaking hands and getting photos with anyone who wanted one.

During the visit, Cooper took a few minutes to talk to The Smoky Mountain News. As he has done over the last week or so, he railed against the Republican-led General Assembly for not providing enough funding quickly enough to address this disaster, especially when it comes to small business grants, even saying that funding approved for school vouchers takes away from that aid. However, he also marveled at how sports can be the “great equalizer,” something that can bring people together for the good of all. He said that Saturday’s game also serves as a good example of how organizations across the state can prioritize storm recovery by reminding people of the ongoing need in the mountains.

“It’s pretty clear that all of NC wants to make sure that they can help Western NC, and to get the Carolina Hurricanes and the Panthers and the Hornets and other teams to pull together to help Western NC is really important,” he said.

From the time the storm hit, Cooper has played a role in helping the Hurricanes raise money, even as early as Oct. 2 when the team donated the ticket sales from an exhibition game against the Nashville Predators to storm relief efforts, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Amy Daniels has been on the job as the executive director of the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation, the team’s nonprofit arm, for only a few weeks, but she said she’s already been excited to see how much good the organization is able to do. Since she took the job, hurricane relief has been a key focus.  

“We’re really trying to put our arms around people there as much as we can,” she said. “Y’all are not forgotten.”

Like the other professional sports teams in North Carolina, The Hurricanes have also launched a larger fundraising campaign, the most ambitious part of which is the “Raise Up” $1 million raffle, “Raise Up” being a reference to the Petey Pablo song that has been a sort of Tarheel State anthem since it came out in 2001. The benefactors of that campaign are the Children’s Council of Watauga County and Asheville’s MANNA FoodBank, which was just about wiped out by the flood.

Part of that campaign offers an opportunity for anyone buying concessions to round up the total price of their purchases to the nearest whole dollar amount with the extra change going toward hurricane recovery. There were also QR codes all over the arena people can scan that directs them a site on the team’s webpage where they can donate. The same link is included in all emails the team sends out to fans.  

The cornerstone of this effort has been a raffle the team has done at each home game. Fans can enter the raffle by purchasing tickets — one for $20, six for $100 or 14 for $200, and a winner is announced at the end of each game. That individual wins a crystal puck and an opportunity to go down to meet some of the players. In addition, winners are put into a larger drawing for a grand prize of up to $125,000. The final nightly drawing will be held at the Hurricanes’ last home game of 2024 on Dec. 28.

Daniels said she’s been heartened to see the level of participation in the raffle and the round-up campaign but noted that there’s work to be done. Right now, about $400,000 total has been raised.

“We’re just going to keep on pushing and trying to get that $1 million,” she said.

Smathers said he was thrilled to enjoy a night out with his people but added that a big takeaway for him was seeing how committed the rest of the state seems when it comes to helping those in Western North Carolina who lost so much. One thing Smathers made clear to the Hurricanes’ organization ahead of the game was that, as mentions of the devastation in Western North Carolina fade from national headlines, that they continue to bring in people from more storm-ravaged communities so that this area isn’t forgotten as it continues its years-long journey to recovery.

“I think The Canes will continue to highlight these towns, as they should, because we have to keep the attention of the region,” he said.

Hurricanes President Doug Warf told SMN that he appreciates how the team’s owner, Tom Dundon, has continued to emphasize the organization’s ability to be a “unifier” for both North Carolina and South Carolina following the disaster. While he said it’s great for the team to raise funds, he exuded pride when talking about the organization’s ability to give people like the Canton staffers who have experienced so much hardship and heartbreak a chance to enjoy a night they’ll never forget.

Smathers was also welcomed for an interview on the Hurricanes pregame show with Hanna Yates and Shane Willis. Kyle Perrotti photo

“That’s what’s exciting to me,” Warf said. “Pro sports, at its best, is a release, an outlet during a tough time, and they’re a way to bring people together.”

Warf said that as he’s heard the stories of the disaster response in the region and specifically in Canton, he’s been impressed by people’s resolve.

“Any time a crisis hits, you see communities come together,” he said. “Those of us who aren’t in it immediately, we want to help, but we’re also inspired by those that are going through it.”

In a sense, Smathers, who wanted to measure up well against past siren sounders, considered his go on the siren to serve as a reflection to anyone watching of the resolve Warf spoke of, an embodiment of the Papertown spirit. His siren sounding was impressive, and after about 13 seconds of furious spinning, a member of the Hurricanes’ production team had to pull Smathers away from the siren, like a ref putting an end to a one-sided boxing match.  

Even Gov. Cooper admired Smathers’ effort.

“It’s important that Mayor Smathers excelled on sounding the siren … He did it with 100%, and I’m very proud of him,” Cooper said. “It means a lot to me.” 

For Smathers, it’s an honor and a memory he’ll hold onto forever. Like Canton, he gave it his all.

“They said you just can’t warm up to it; you’ve gotta go full throttle,” Smathers recalled. “I said, ‘I’m going to square up and hammer down,’ and that’s what I did.”