All language subtitles for Born.In.A.Ballroom.2019.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX]

- My name is Eleanor Fahrner
Mailloux,

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

and I'm a woman of a certain
age.

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

Isn't that the Victorian novel?

Yes.

Age doesn't mean a thing.

You know that.

God, I've seen people dead at
30.

I mean, you know?

May as well.

You know?

Energy, they have nothing.

Dreams, you've got to have
dreams.

And then you've got to go after
them.

You can't just dream them.

You know?

You've got to... you've
got to go after them.

[light orchestral music]

- Eleanor was my grandmother.

She died mid-March of 2011.

I'm making this film because
years ago,

Mutter asked me to help her
write it,

and we didn't get that
opportunity.

I feel that I made a promise

to her to relay and capture her
story.

She knew that she had had an
amazing life.

And I think that she wanted
to share that with people.

And so whether you're
using the medium of pen and

paper or camera and footage,
it doesn't really matter.

- [Eleanor] 30 or 40 years
ago, I would have done this.

Now it seems like an awfully big
task.

When I go home, I just
want to relax and I don't

want to try to sit down and
write.

You have to write, I think,

in the morning when you're
fresh.

See, I've written this.

- [Clara] Several times in your
head.

- [Eleanor] Oh, yes.

- [Clara] Well, then
just do the same thing

you've normally done.

- [Eleanor] I have written it
and written and written it.

It's just a matter that
there seems to be no time.

I even have areas written--

- [Clara] On paper?

- [Eleanor] In paper.

- [Clara] Well, give me
those and I'll write,

I'll type them.

- [Eleanor] The spelling is,
see,

I don't write because I can't
spell.

- [Clara] I don't care about
spelling.

- [Eleanor] I can't--

- [Clara] I can't spell either.

- [Eleanor] Oh, God.

You can't even read.

[laughing]

- She knew that I had
a passion for writing.

Like, I truly love it.

I think she thought that I was
organized

and would help her get

things down in a way that
might be more of a story.

It would be a good way for her

because she was more
sporadic and more wild.

It was just like a lot
of stuff everywhere.

She approached me in 2007
and said that she'd like

to start not only recording
some of the stories

that she remembers on tapes
and mix those in to a story

of what it is like to be
an Appalachian woman who

has a Swiss heritage.

In order to tell her story,
because she's not here,

we've had to pull a lot of
archival footage together,

the audio tapes that I
had, and interview people

about her as a person.

That's been a difficult
journey to navigate because it

does feel very forced.

But I guess there's no other
way.

- [Jonathan] Is it going to
work?

- Yeah.

It's going to be all right.

[light orchestral music]

- Well, let's just start at the
beginning.

[light orchestral music]

The truth is that my mother was
English

and my father was the Swiss.

I was born in Virginia.

I was born the night
the house burned down.

This will give you a
little clue to some things.

It was a windy March night.

My mother was in bed with
labor for her fifth child.

Some sparks flew the wrong
way and the house got on fire.

My mother got out of bed and
walked

to the big plantation house.

I was born in the ballroom.

I've never stopped dancing.

I was born either before
or after 12 o'clock

so I can always celebrate two
birthdays.

It was a very great
beginning because... the fire

seemed to have carried me
many places to do many things.

I fell in love.

I fell in love with Helvetia.

- [Gerry Milnes] May I ask,
can we start that again please?

I didn't get a five second role.

I needed a five second role.

- All right.

Every move that I ever
made in my whole life was

made toward eventually coming
back to Helvetia and doing...

trying to do what I'm doing
today.

It's been a lot of fun.

It's a lot of work and it's a
lot of fun.

October the 20th in 1869, a
group

of Swiss walked over
that hill into Helvetia.

Why would you leave lovely,
beautiful Switzerland

and come to the wilds of West
Virginia?

There had to be some wanderlust

something in them that they
came.

Instead of bringing
hoes and rakes and guns,

they brought books with them
and musical instruments.

They were very musical.

They were very bright people, by
the way.

They weren't dunces.

Can you imagine how much fun it
must

have been to create a community?

Toot toot for the Swiss.

- Here we are at the Hutte.

The Hutte is the heart of the
town.

We have people who come
in, they don't feel good.

They want to tell us their sad
story.

Or they tell us their dreams.

It's much more than a place to
eat.

I don't know in reflection how

we ever got along without it.

But you see, you build it, be
courageous.

Be courageous, just do it.

That's how you get it done.

You can't get it done if you
don't do it.

Okay?

[phone ringing]

- [Debbie] Hello?

Hutte restaurant.

[light orchestral music]

- Hey, how are you doing, Henry?

- Oh, this is so good.

That banana bread.

- I told you.

- [Man] Is it really? Okay.

- [Woman] Very.

- [Clara] Do you want an apron?

- [Cecilia] Yeah.

- [Clara] Yeah.

There's some right over here.

- [Cecilia] Okay.

How about a pretty one?

- [Clara] Yeah, how did you do
that?

- Oh, there's a little,
I crossed it in the back

and then buttoned it.

- [Clara] Okay, you're smart.

- Sometimes.

- I can't do this.

Let's see, how did you do this
part?

- Okay, this goes to this
shoulder.

- [Clara] I see.

I have to unbutton this one?

- [Cecilia] Uh-huh.

- Okay, thank you.

Who knew that there was
a science to an apron.

- People come here so much,
we get to know their names

and their stories.

That's why I think they come
here.

It's more personal.

Everybody says that it's
like their grandma's house.

It's different, people
just really appreciate

it a lot more.

- [Jacob] It's not like my
grandmas place.

[laughing]

- It smells like cooking.

- Mm-hmm.

That's why people say that is
because

grandma's place always smells
like really good cooking.

It's not just about food.

It's about the whole experience,
really.

I mean, you know, it's like
coming in

and looking at everything and
the

atmosphere and the really
great home cooked food all

at the same time.

It's an experience.

It's not just going out to eat.

I think without the Hutte,

there wouldn't be Helvetia
anymore.

It's what keeps the community
together and that's what keeps

people coming here.

I mean, I think eventually
we would be forgotten.

- If you don't have an anchor

that no matter what, it's going
to get

cleaned up and the grass
is going to be mowed,

we're gonna fix

the fence, we're going
to clean up the trash,

people will see that

right there in the middle of
town, and

everyone else, it just goes down
the line.

Everyone else says, "Well, I'm
going to keep my stuff up."

And you're happy to be around
that.

You just got to keep going.
You can't give up.

♪ Grandma's in the cellar,
Lordy, Lordy ♪

♪ Can't you smell her baking
biscuits ♪

♪ On that darn old dirty stove

♪ In her eye there is some
matter ♪

♪ That keeps dripping in the
batter ♪

♪ And she whistles while the

Can you do this part?

[sniffing]

♪ runs out her nose

Okay, so we're going to be real
gentle.

Treat it like it's a little
baby.

- [Eleanor] My first memory,
my first memory is eating.

It was a warm,

sunny morning and my mother had
baked biscuits and biscuits.

My father had made the sorghum
molasses.

We were sitting around the
table in the Lynwood Plantation.

I couldn't make the biscuits
and the sorghum molasses

come out even.

My stomach was already achy.

- [Clara] Did it taste good?

- [Eleanor] Oh, it's wonderful.

It's very good for you.

- [Clara] Yeah.

- Can we have it with jelly?

- Here, can I put some on yours,
girls?

- [Lucy] No.

- Just a little tiny bit.

- Okay, yeah.

Sophia, I think you'll like it.

Okay?

- [Lucy] I think I will not like
it.

- You want to do it yourself?

- That's not a tiny, little bit.

- Here.

You want to try and do it
yourself?

You had to make the biscuits
or your mom made the--

- [Eleanor] My mother made the
biscuits.

I was four years old.

Yes.

My earliest memory is eating.

Oh, let's talk about food.

The first thing you get when
you go someplace is food.

[Huütte bell ringing]

You go visit your neighbor,
it's sit down, sit down.

Have a piece of pie.

Sit down, have a hosablatz.

Sit down, have a donut.

Sit down, have a hunk of cheese.

Food is the soul of this place.

- [Heidi] The food here is very
good.

It takes time.

It's homemade.

You're not going to have fast
food.

It's comfort food in some ways
so

it's so satisfying.

- I am Eleanor's daughter,
one of five children.

All of us pretty close apart.

Like, for instance, I'll be 61

and it would be 61, 62,

63, 64, 65.

- I was born first in San
Francisco.

Then 11 months later, Cathy
came.

Then about 11 and a half
months later, Mike came.

Then 11 months later, Robin
came.

Then we went to Guam.

Then Heidi was born about
a year and a half, right?

- [Robin] Yeah.

- [Anne] Because it was October.

- [Robin] She's 18 months
younger.

- She was the first baby born
in the Navy hospital in Guam.

In fact, it was such a new thing

that the gurney wouldn't even
fit

through the delivery room door.

They had to take mom off and

flip the gurney and get it
through and put her back on.

She said there were a lot, oh,

they only had hot running water
and she

was fed Navy beans the
morning after she gave birth.

[laughing]

- [Heidi] She was close
to 40 when I was born.

She waited late to have

children and once she started
having them, she went big.

That's typical of my mother,
whole hog about everything.

You know, anything in life was
whole hog.

- We had just a wonderful
childhood.

Oooooooh

- Oh my word.

What is it?

It's a dead Snake.

- Okay.

- I've got my scissors.

- Okay.

As far as a mom went, she
always wanted us to be

exposed to as much as possible.

She just always believed in us

learning how to be tolerant
of all different kinds

of people's and places.

- She never wanted to be called
grandma.

She's very Swiss,

she's very Swiss, Anne.

You're weird, Anne.

She's my oldest sister

but you know how older sisters
can be.

When the first grandchild
came, which was yours,

Lindsay, and he was born in--

- '70.

- 1970.

I think you must have asked
her, what do you want him to

call you because you lived
here in the area at that time.

And she said Mutter.
- No, she said Grossmutter.

- Grossmutter.

Grossmutter

- Which means grandmother--

- In German.

- Grossmutter, which the kids
had a riot

with. Grossmutter.

Grossmutter is Swiss for
grandmother.

And my mom wanted to be called
Mutter.

- Then everybody, the
people at the restaurant

that worked for her--

- Everybody started calling her
Mutter--

- If they were close to her.

they started calling her Mutter.

- [Willie] Eleanor was my
grandmother.

We called her Mutter.

She was just one of the most
lively spirits I've ever known.

A wise person, inspiring to
a lot of people around her.

And you know, got things done.

[light banjo music]

- Eleanor was very fun.

She always had neat outfits on
and

jewelry and pearls.

I mean, just so sophisticated
and put together.

- [Heidi] She liked to dance

and she liked to sing and yodel.

She liked to have a good time.

That's very important to
all of us here in Helvetia.

We're a fun loving bunch.

- Yeah, she was frisky and she
sang,

sang songs with you and

all kind of happy things like
that, and...

Laugh with people and when
it got down to brass tax...

She was pretty strict too.

- She was not someone to mess
with.

She was stern, would tell you

it's time to do this or go help
do that.

You know, no bullshit.

Did what she said.

But she wasn't mean in any way.

She just had been around so
long, she knew all the tricks.

She was going to have,

her family was going to act
the way that you should.

- [Jerianne] She would tell
you exactly how she felt.

She also can make you cry
in like a second or two.

- That was my mom.

She was, she expected
perfection.

And you could do everything,

you could be waitressing
and you could be doing

everything you can.

And then she would create
a little bit of stir

because she'd come slam banging
through and grabbing things

off the table like you
weren't working fast enough.

That drove all of us crazy.

And she expected a lot of a
lot of people that worked here.

I think that people don't
see that side of her.

In a way, they just see the
graciousness.

I don't mean to speak ill
of my mother but, you know,

you can stay until three or
four in the morning and make

sure the floors were waxed and
everything was spotless and

everything ready for the next
day.

That's what was expected.

- Whatever she told you to do,

she figured it ought to be done

one way or another.

There are not too many
excuses for not doing it.

[chuckling]

- I know there's been
plenty of girls crying

on the back porch or leaving.

She was pretty blunt.

I mean, I feel like she always
did it

in the most graceful way
that she possible could.

She wasn't ever like
being mean or hateful.

She just was pretty blunt.

- Well, there was one time
when we were all working, at

the end of the day, and you
know how mom used to find

cobwebs where, not even
a mouse could find,

I mean really, it was amazing.

At the end of the day
we were all exhausted.

We sat down and then she'd
start, "Do you see that?

Right up there in the window,
there's a cobweb right there.

Girls, clean it."

And so we'd run and we would,

because you know you ran
when Mutter said, didn't we?

- Yeah.

- When Mutter said to go do
something, you pretty much went

and did it.

- [Eleanor Betler] As I got to
know Eleanor over the many...

years, right or wrong, she was
right.

Sometimes feelings were hurt.

But I think she always

tried to have her heart in
the right place for Helvetia.

She took great pride in
being in the community

and keeping the Swiss story
alive.

[grand orchestral music]

- [TV Narrator] This town,
settled by Swiss immigrants

after the Civil War is one

of scores which were
almost completely isolated

until new roads were
constructed.

Many of its people
still speak their native

language and preserve the arts

and customs of their birth
place.

Even to the making of
excellent Swiss cheese.

- Helvetia is 35 miles from
anywhere.

Now, 35 miles on I-79 is not
much,

but you go 35 miles up
and down and around and

meeting coal trucks and
wood... hauling wood out.

And in the winter time, you
know, you slide and slip around.

It is not an ea... Thank God,
it's not easy to get here.

It's just wonderful.

[laughing]

[light piano music]

I'm possessed, okay?

You have to be possessed.

This is life long.

This... I am possessed.

When I came here and I was up on
the hill

and I looked around,

I said to my father, and I'm
five or six or seven years old,

I say, "I wish I could
own everything I see."

I am positively possessed.

- [Eleanor Betler] The
reason I live in Helvetia

is because my dream was to live
in

Helvetia since I was about four
years old.

I wouldn't want to live

any place else, no matter
what the opportunity was.

The people who are living
here really want to be here.

I just think it's a real
privilege to live here.

Being non typical West Virginia,

when people come here
they never forget it.

[laughing]

- [Betty] I was born and raised
here

and it seems to be that
everybody

who was born and raised in
Helvetia, it is in your blood.

They just can't wait to get
home.

I mean, there's something about
Helvetia

that you just can't get
it out of your system.

- You know, we love Helvetia.

We, most of us live here because

this is where we want to
be and we always come home.

- People involve you.

They say, "Hey, come join me for
this.

Let's have a beer, let's have a
cookout."

People weren't afraid to

speak to their neighbors
because they know them and knew

their family.

They know everything
about them for 50 years.

- You can ask a lot of people.

It feels like home.

Like they feel like they can
relax and be nurtured here.

- We're a living history
and the ones of us who

want to be here, know
it's a living history.

Heidi, my Heidi, she's a bit
possessed.

- I like the way of life.

I liked running out in the woods
along the

sheep paths.

And I spent a lot of time
outside when I was younger.

I loved that.

And I think maybe I loved
the outdoors anyway.

I love nature.

I think I liked it right away.

I don't know the reasoning why.

Maybe because people were so
real.

I think people can

come here and they always
know what to expect.

It's always here for them.

- My grandson, Willie, who
is six foot seven, possessed.

- Helvetia is in Randolph
County, West Virginia.

It's sort of north, central

part of the state, so the
Allegheny,

Appalachian mountain range.

A lot of people come here

and say it's like being
in another country.

But it's also very much just
American, you can sort of

do what you want as long as
you aren't hurting anybody else

and being a nuisance,

people let you do what
you want around here.

- [Eleanor] There is a need
for this place to continue.

In order to do that, you have to
be crazy.

You have to be possessed.

Yeah, really.

- [Vasco] Possessed by what?

Just say it.

- The people, the place.

I mean, if you don't understand
it, you don't understand it.

If you don't get it,
you just don't get it.

You're lost.

- [Heidi] Right now I'm getting
ready

to go pick some greenery

and some natural flowers to
mix with my arrangements.

We do care that we present
something beautiful

from our surroundings.

I think the restaurant
becomes alive with flowers.

I mean, I think that if you
don't have flowers there,

there's just something missing.

There's a spirit missing.

And so flowers, real flowers,
brings life to the Huütte.

It brings warmth and life,
and I think that's a very

important thing to have.

I mean, if you took a
picture at your table,

you would know what season
it was because of the

flowers on the table, which is
nice.

- [All] Hi.

- [Heidi] Hello.

I didn't know you were here.

My mother always saw everything.

I do too, which is not good in a
way.

It's a terrible thing
and I feel bad about it

because it's like

not very nice of me,
but if it's not right,

I can't handle it.

I mean, I would like to
be the kind of person

that just says, oh, that's
lovely

and good enough and thank you so
much.

But no, it's not right.

Sorry.

It's going to be changed.

My sister Anne did some

flowers for me this summer.

They were horrible.

She's so talented in many areas.

But it was awful.

And she knew, she knew that I

would be jumping on them
and getting rid of them

as soon as possible, which I
did.

- I'm a better picker.

I'm also a better arranger.

- Anne, should we use these or
not?

- Sure.

But mom, apparently Heidi
thinks that mom thought

she was the best,

but mom always told me that
I had the most creative and

the most beautiful little
arrangements.

She wouldn't have to go

through and alter or fix mine.

But she had to go through
and do Heidi's, so--

- We can't pick those
flowers over there, right?

Because Heidi would have our
heads, right?

- [Anne] Those ones don't
go as well, Heidi said.

- What about that purple one
over there?

But who wants to go into
the river to get it?

- I'll go.

- Well no, I'll go but actually,
I will.

- It's not really actually
too far into the--

- No and also, Anne, listen.

Is it half dead anyway or no?

Oh, Lord, help us all.

Oh my word, if I fall in that
low,

I'll fall in and kill myself.

Hey, that's a good idea.

Hang on to the old lady.

Oh, I'm getting a long stem.

Did I get the stem long enough?

- Yes you did.

- Now watch out now.

Now when you get old...

okay.

- Now you can see, look at the
buckets?

Who's are more beautiful?

Robin.

So mom would say--

- Oh, there's a bee.

There's a bee.

There's a bee.
- Mom would say-

- Sorry.

- You know, Robin is really the
best

with the flower picking and, you
know?

- Well, you talk.

Oh, what pitiful.

Oh, the bees, bees, bees.

- Do I have something on my
face?

Like a bug?

- Not a thing, not a thing.

No, you've got that
diamond in your nose but,

honey, I love that.

- Okay, here we go.

- Are we back on track?

- Can I get a cookie?

Thank you.

- [Gerry] No, put it back.

- No.

- [Gerry] You cannot have a
cookie.

[speaking Swiss-German language]

- Yeah.

I've envisioned it

as the Huütte restaurant is the
center.

That's the focus.

Then we keep darting in and out
with

phases of things that happened.

But always coming back to the
Huütte.

It's the center of my life.

Come on.

You can't get away from it.

- [Clara] Yeah.

- We're going to capture the
spaces that she enveloped.

You know, that she danced
through.

We're going to capture the
places that she invented.

And we're gonna explore

and interview the people that
she probably

had a lot of impact on.

And try to get it from her
directly

as much as we can but it's
not going to be perfect.

And there's going to be a
lot of things that we'll

have to forgive as far as the
quality.

But I think we can get some of

that and piece it together
to express who she was.

- [Clara] The Huütte can
be the focus, I think,

but I think it's going to have
to

be more, there's got
to be more of a thesis.

As time goes by,

you may have something in
your head that you're like,

oh, this is what it's really
about.

- [Eleanor] Mm-hmm.

- [Clara] You know?
- [Eleanor] Mm-hmm.

- [Clara] Well you've
spent more of your life

here than you really
have spent anywhere else.

- [Eleanor] Yeah, right.

- Things start here and end
here.

I've observed much of Helvetia
from here.

40, 50 years I've been here.

Till I was five years
old, I was in Virginia.

My father and two brothers did
what,

at that time, they called the
wander yar.

A young man was expected to go
out

into the world and find himself.

First they went to Kansas and
Oklahoma

and they were cowboys.

I think they were out
there two or three years.

Then they came home and my
father

said they had a bag of gold
money, gold.

Can you believe that?

Gold.

Then they hadn't had enough of
wandering

so the three brothers
went south to Virginia.

They bought the Lynwood
Plantation,

it was 1,000 acres.

But they spent all their gold.

Then when I was five, my father
said,

"Irene, we have to go to
Helvetia.

I'm just too homesick.

We have to go home."

So that's when we came to
Helvetia.

And we came to Pickens on the
train.

And wouldn't you know, it was
snowing.

And wouldn't you know that

my father met us with a horse
and sleigh.

If that was not a delight

with the sleigh bells,
it was just unbelievable.

And I had never seen Hemlock
trees before.

I had never heard the language,

everybody speaking this foreign
tongue.

Everything so different.

When I went to school,
the teacher spoke Swiss.

She also spoke English.

Many of the kids spoke Swiss.

And I thought, You know
we're in another country.

[light acoustic guitar music]

- Pickens School did not
have the last year, I think.

They only went to the eleventh
grade.

In order to graduate at that
time,

you had to go to Elkins
or Buckhannon [WV].

The two people that I knew

that came were my mother and
I think Mary Zoller maybe.

They did go to Elkins and
they lived as housekeepers to

pay for their room and board.

They went to high school the
last

year and graduated from
Elkins High School.

After that, she taught here in
Helvetia.

That only lasted for a few
years.

And she joined the Red Cross.

[light orchestral music]

It was right after World War II

because she was in Europe
right after the war.

She did Red Cross work there.

Then she went to Guam.

That's where she met my father.

And then they went to San
Francisco, had four babies,

and went back to Guam and had
me.

He was working as a private
guard for the military.

Then, of course, she was
there raising children.

- [Willie] I think that what
she did is... she always

had a sense of adventure.

I think that she decided to
go see what was in the world.

She traveled all over the place.

Then when she came back, I
think that she brought a lot

of those experiences with her
and made

the whole area richer for it.

- When we opened the Huütte
restaurant,

everyone said, "You're crazy,
Eleanor.

Nobody is going to come this far
to eat."

And I said,

"Well, let's just give it a
chance."

So we gave it a chance and guess
what?

The old adage about, "if you
build it,

they'll come," is absolutely
true.

They came and they come from
miles.

[bluegrass music]

- [Anne] When we first moved
here,

the Huütte restaurant was the
home

of Stella Carlin

and she was the Helvetia
telephone operator.

And then we got the telephones
in the regular system.

That was in, I think, about
1966.

Then I think Stella sold the
building.

And then that's when they
changed it into the restaurant.

- In 1968, Mutter and Dolores
Baggerly founded The Huütte.

Honestly, I do think that it was
a means

for supporting her family.

She had recently divorced
my grandfather and had

moved back to Helvetia within
the last couple of years

and needed to support
five children and herself.

Like, she needed something

besides just raising children, I
think.

I honestly think that she

wanted something to do.

- Dolores Baggerly came to
Helvetia when Eleanor moved back

from Guam.

Dolores had helped the
Ford Foundation create the

Ford Village up in Michigan,

so she had all kinds of
experience and expertise.

Eleanor knew this and
they had been friends on

Guam and I guess both of them
were ready

to leave there at the time.

Mrs. Baggerly had bought these
buildings

that were being repaired.

And she decided that the
community needed a restaurant.

She said it couldn't be
like a short order thing.

It had to be classy.

[light banjo music]

- Mrs. Baggerly got sick
and that is when Eleanor

took it over full time.

She was here every single day

for like 40-some years.

She was really like the
matriarch

of Helvetia and kind of
the boss and the mayor.

Pretty much everyone's role
model.

She kept things going in
a town that's not easy

to keep things going.

- Eleanor became the Huütte
and the Huütte became Eleanor,

as far as I'm concerned.

In order to financially get
along,

she decided when she wanted

to keep the restaurant
open seven days a week,

that the only way
financially she could do it

was to do it herself in the
winter time.

And she was not a woman who
wanted to

be in the restaurant
sitting down and cooking.

She didn't knit or crochet or
anything.

So when she was here, working
and reading

was what she did.

And I was so proud of her
that she could do that

because she just wasn't
that kind of a person.

She was all about the story, you
know?

She wanted to have fun and laugh

and give you ideas, and you do
the work.

- I use the royal we.

[laughing]

Shame, huh?

No, that's not true.

It's us.

No, no.

It's always, it no.

As I've said before, I just
pushed, I just

gave a little push.

Then I'm lazy.

You know, I'm lazy.

I don't work.

Everybody else works, I
just push a little button.

- She tried to incorporate

and include a lot of families
within the

identity of the Huütte,
which was really important.

She knew that if a
small business like this

is gonna survive in the middle
of

Appalachia where it's very
rural and hard to get to,

it needs to be unique

and it needs to be embraced
by the local people.

So she had that opportunity

to really make the community
feel like it

was part of their identity as
well.

For example, the antiques in

the building and some of the
recipes are actually from the

families within Helvetia.

So it felt like home.

Like, that is home and

you can ask a lot of
people, it feels like home.

[laughing]

- [Clara] And the staff
only make it feel that

way much more because they're

primarily women and they are
lovely women.

They have an Appalachian charm

that you can't find in other
places.

- [Debbie] Wow, oh mercy.

Goodness, goodness.

[light acoustic guitar music]

What do they say, "Messy
cook, a good cook?"

- [Clara] Debbie is our
breadmaker.

She is the one that has it
perfected and

no one messes with her on
her bread days whatsoever.

I mean, she has it down to an
art.

She usually makes about eight

to 10 batches and then freezes
them

so that we always have it.

- Now you see why I can't sell
it.

It's too hard to make.

Keep enough made, I don't
know how many other places

you'd run across where
people make it like this.

Not hardly a day goes by
that somebody don't ask

if we sell it.

- [Willie] She's been there for
years.

She was always, you know, always

down there helping Mutter out.

They would bounce ideas off

each other, I'm sure, during the
day.

Just a great lady, always... as

soon as you walk in, she'll
say, "Hey, are you hungry?"

Yeah.

Be ready to make you something
to eat.

- [Customer] My mom used to
say she wished she had a nickel

for every loaf of bread she
made.

- [Debbie] Oh man, I'd be--

- [Heidi] You'd really be rich.

- Yeah, if I had a certain
amount for each loaf

I've made since 1977,'78.

- [Sharon] Have you ever
sat down and figured it out?

- No.

I probably don't want to know.

- I would be rich, I could
retire.

I could have retired.

- [Heidi] She's been with us for
years

and she's an amazing woman.

And she's got a lot of heart and
soul.

- I went to school with Heidi at
Pickens.

Then of course her mother had,
Eleanor,

had the restaurant then.

They just called me one day

and asked me if I would like a
job.

My dad brought me over and I sat
down

in there, nervous as could be.

You know?

Gee whiz.

And they asked me about...
if I wanted full-time.

I said, no, just part-time.

Well, I ended up
full-time, five days a week

because we closed on Mondays
then.

I started out as a dishwasher.

[laughing]

The girl that was cooking here,
she was

going away to college, so I
took her job of cooking then.

And I've been doing that ever
since.

Cause it's become like
a home, a second home.

Does that make sense?

[light acoustic guitar music]

- Cathy, I believe, was
her second oldest daughter.

She came back home

after several years when she
was married and so forth,

moved back here and just became
the cook.

And she could cook.

- [Heidi] Excellent cook, big
heart.

She was quite feisty.

She had a little bit

of mother in her, that's for
sure.

She worked really hard
and I think it took a lot

of the weight of the worry

of the Huütte off of
Eleanor for many years.

- She was there pretty much
every day.

She worked there for

years and taught my cousin
Henry, probably my best friend.

It's good to have a couple good
friends up here to hang out.

He's the cook on Sundays.

His mother was the cook and she
taught

him in about five minutes how
to make everything one day.

Just, "Oh, that's how you do it.

Just go ahead."

- [Henry] Now, when mom got sick

and started showing me, probably

eight or 10 years ago.

She just showed me there was
nothing

written down or anything.

Once I learned it, you
know, you don't forget it.

- Cathy at that time had
been diagnosed with cancer.

She was trying to pass on,

because Henry stepped up to the
plate and

said, "Yes, I'll cook."

So she was teaching him how to
cook.

Cathy, she's the kind
that throws everything

and no measuring, just
throw, throw, throw.

Henry is there looking
and he's just like in

shock and terror that
this is, you know?...

And she had no patience teaching
him.

It was like, ugh, you know?

Everyone should know how to do
this.

Dun, dun, dun.

And Henry cooks that way.

He's an excellent cook.

And he cooks the same way.

He just throws, throws, throws.

And he knows what to do.

- Henry is a very quiet
person, as far as I know.

I mean, just ultra quiet

and I couldn't imagine
anyone even convincing him to

come in a public place and work.

- He is just shy and introverted

and wants to make good food but

is bashful about making good
food.

- [Eleanor] Henry is very good.

He's here.

Man, he has gotten it.

- [Clara] He is excellent.

You know, when I worked
with him, it was a joy.

Keeps the kitchen neat.

- [Eleanor] He's here on time.

The food is out.

There's no bickering.

- [Clara] He stays calm.

- [Eleanor] Yeah.

How does he do that?

Very good.

- [Jerianne] He likes to
hear his cooking is good

but he doesn't really want,

you know, he almost doesn't
want people to tell him.

He wants them to tell me
and then I can tell him.

He would just kind of

prefer to be by himself.

I usually try to get here by
eight a.m.

Then I set up the whole buffet.

Then I have to get the green

beans ready, the carrots
ready, the sauerkraut ready,

apple sauce, the potatoes.

I tried not to work here.

My aunt, Heidi, asked me.

I said no immediately
because it's a fine line

between family and
relationships.

I didn't want to make
things more complicated.

But here you see where I am now.

[upbeat bluegrass music]

- [Kay] I started probably in
'87.

I've been here ever since and I
started

out actually waxing floors.

The first two times that I waxed
the

floor, I waxed them all
on my hands and knees.

And I had went to Eleanor and I
told her,

I said, I can't do this, you
know?

Eleanor did not like change.

You know, so I went to her and I

said, you know, we need to do
this with a mop or something.

It's just, you know, crazy.

So she agreed.

Things just evolved after that.

As you work here, of course
I started waitressing.

And then I started cooking.

And you just kind of get
thrown into everything.

You know, wherever you're
needed.

I came here when I was
probably 20 years old.

So, I grew up in the Huütte.

I mean, I might have been
20, but I hadn't grew up yet.

It was a lot to digest
right off the... you know?

I had a big responsibility
and I was pretty young.

Like I said, I grew up here.

I really grew into a person
here.

[light ambient music]

- Everybody does everything.

You know, you wash dishes.

You mop floors.

You wax floors.

You sweep porches.

You do laundry.

I cooked.

Oh, I hated it.

I cooked and I would go several
times to

the corn crib and cry in my
apron.

I mean, the pressure.

I would rather do anything,

clean the bathroom, waitress
tables, deal with the public.

It just makes me so nervous to
do cooking.

If there was a major difference
between my mom and how she

ran things and what we do now

is I think that there were times

that people did not feel
appreciated.

I think that that is

something that we really
actually,
it's not what we work on.

It's how we feel.

We really do appreciate
everybody. And for every little

thing they do.

I know everything.

I mean, I,

I'm sorry.

We have good people.

[light piano music]

- [Heidi] There's just
people that come in and say,

"We really miss your mom.

We had wonderful times."

It's almost like an
extended family for her.

She was genuinely happy to see
people that

hadn't been here for a while or
that,

you know, came frequently.

She loved people.

- [Dave] Of course everybody
knew Eleanor.

She made it a point to know

everybody and remember their
names and that kind of thing.

Just about everybody that came
there

for a meal would come in to see
if she was in the breezeway.

- [Debbie] She was always here.

She was always available and sat
back

there in her chair and was there
to talk

to the customers to tell them
the history,

tell them stories.

They loved that.

♪ And drift with bones

♪ When all our days are washed
away ♪

- [Dave] When I was working,

I was just here on the weekends.

I'd get up here Friday evening

and I would go down about
the time the restaurant's

going to close.

A lot of times we'd sit till way
late

at night and talk about things.

You know?

I really liked her old stories.

- And I would like to put a
little story in here if I may.

I think I'm five

and I was going to get ice
cream. He had

an ice cream stand.

And I walked on the grass.

He had done it new, it was new.

And he had put a wire around it.

But you know, I'm from the
country.

We've never heard of not
stepping on the grass.

So he screams at me, "Little
girl, get off the grass."

And I said, "you see my money?

Well you're not gonna get it."

- There was just times that I
would sit

and talk to Eleanor for two,
three hours.

And it was as a friend,
it wasn't as my employer.

I enjoyed those times more than
anything.

[upbeat accordion music]

- [Heidi] Mom always had fun.

She always had fun with people.

She loved having a glass
of wine with everyone.

I think she loved

entertaining and loved for
people to have a good time.

Senator Manchin came and
she always had a wonderful

time with he and his wife.

Andrew Zimmern came and
she had a blast with him.

Actually, when Andrew Zimmern
came and he filmed the show,

he was hours late because it
took him on a goat path is

what they said.

I mean, it was hours and hours.

- [Heidi] After Andrew,
there was an influx of people

that came to the restaurant,

which we were so appreciative
of, because we're a

small business and we
don't do much advertising.

So it has to be word of mouth.

It was so funny because
it was almost like she

was a movie start.

You know?

[upbeat jazz music]

♪ See what the boys in
the backroom will have ♪

♪ And tell them I'm having the
same ♪

♪ Go see what the boys in
the backroom will have ♪

♪ And give them the poison they
name ♪

♪ And when I die

♪ Don't spend my money

♪ On flowers and my picture in a
frame ♪

♪ Just see what the boys
in the backroom will have ♪

♪ And tell them I sighted

♪ And tell them I cried

♪ And tell them I died of the
same ♪

[light ambient music]

- When I came home and I've
been home how many years,

I tell you?

50 years.

Things were slipping.

Traditions were slipping,
foods were slipping.

The old people who were the

keepers of these treasures were
dying.

- Things were going to pot.

A lot of families had moved off
the farms,

maybe put a trailer in here or
there.

And Eleanor knew that was
going to take the beauty away

from the community.

- You see how nice it looks
today,

what had once been the lovely

community flower garden was a
briar patch.

All they needed

was somebody that wanted to
do something about it and

somebody that cared.

- I feel that she did a
fantastic job

keeping the history alive
and the Huütte alive.

Her history keeping
alive was mostly through

the Huütte because she was always
here.

She was in the public
eye seven days a week.

That's who they saw as
the face of Helvetia.

[mandolin music]

[singing in Swiss language]

[yodeling]

[singing in Swiss language]

[yodeling]

- Good.

- Even though, you know, the
restaurant's still going and

everybody is doing everything
they can to keep it

the same, it still is not quite
the same

without her sitting back in her
corner.

She is very much missed here.

- [Heidi] I know after she
died we got a lot of letters.

She touched a lot of people.

I think that is something
that helped me after she died.

Something of a comfort to know

that she had touched their
lives.

That gives you comfort when
you lose someone that you

care about.

[dramatic orchestral music]

- What I miss the most about
Mutter

is just her knowledge, her
wisdom.

A lot of times I'm wrestling
with ideas in this society.

You know, what's going on in the
news,

what's going on in the world.

I always loved her
ability to look at things.

She had that vast
knowledge of seeing years

and years of watching how things
pan out,

how humans act by themselves

and with others.

It was a great resource to say,

"hey, what do you think about
this?"

When she said something,
you listened because it was,

you know, it had some weight
behind it.

- She was diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer.

She was already 93, so,
honestly,

I never think of it as
the disease killed her

because screw that.

She lived an amazing life
and she wouldn't want to

say that that is what killed
her.

She died from an old age or

having too much wisdom.

I think she was actually very
surprised.

I think she told herself
that she would be over 100,

hiking the mountain and die
on the top of the mountain.

[light ambient music]

♪ My heart will be with you

♪ Wherever you may go

- [Clara] So one day we drove
to Cleveland to see a doctor.

And on the way home, she
told me that her father,

when he was working
really hard in the fields,

he often would quote,

and I don't know that they
were particularly religious

but it was a quote from the
Bible.

It was, "I lift mine
eyes unto the mountains

from whence come with help?"

And she was looking at the
mountains, I remember, almost

like she still didn't want
what was happening to happen.

Help should come.

♪ Oh, if I were Queen of France
♪

♪ Or still better Pope of Rome

♪ I'd have no fighting men
abroad ♪

♪ Nor weeping maids at home

♪ All the world should be at
peace ♪

♪ And the right should be the
might ♪

♪ I'd have those that
made the quarreling ♪

♪ The only ones to fight

- [Clara] You know, you
always have fear of failure,

that you're not gonna

do something justice and things
like that,

but I think this story
would be better with her.

What film wouldn't be better
with the

person telling you themselves
straight from the horses mouth

what they experienced?

But I am her.

And she is me.

So thus, she's kind of here too,
right?

And my mother is her and The
Huütte is her.

So she's still here.

You don't really have to
have the person in order to

express the story.

[light orchestral music]

I think that's what is
special about it. It's, like,

she lives in the walls, and...

in the people.

- Today we're celebrating
the Hutte's 50th anniversary.

We will be dancing and
having some live music,

and some food, and homemade
wine.

And we're roasting a pig in a
pit.

We are remembering someone
that impacted us immensely

and created this amazing
gift, which is The Huütte.

- Yay, come on girls.

[all clapping]
[all cheering]

[light piano music]

Have you seen the moon tonight?

- [Heidi] Eleanor's spirit
will always be in here

because it was a part of her.

It absolutely was an
intrinsic part of who she was

and who she evolved into after
being here for so many years.

I don't think you can separate
the memory

of Eleanor Mailloux and The
Huütte.

I think that became her vocation
after all the setting up

of the community and doing
things.

It just was an important
thing that happened.

And it's still happening.

- [Clara] She was driven.

And when you have drive
to create or explore,

it makes you more inclined
to inspire people.

And I think she did inspire
people.

- [Debbie] She worked hard
to get it where it's at

and personally I'll do what

I can do to keep it going.

I'm sure the others tha t
work here, you know, we try.

- [Kay] Well, this was
Eleanor's dream, you know?

She always wanted to have
a restaurant in Helvetia.

It was just always her dream.

That's what she would tell me,
you know?

She dreamed about it for years.

- [Eleanor Betler] I can
remember
so many times coming down

and sitting in the rocking
chair around the fire with her.

And we'd just had such a
pleasant time.

And I always expect her to
come slipping around the

corner whenever I'm sitting
there

and that little old stove
is going in the back.

- [Vernon] I still have a
picture of her in my mind

when she danced, she
always had a good time.

I can see her how she smiled.

She will be remembered
every place you look,

here in Helvetia.

- [Clara] She was born the
night the house caught on fire.

So maybe we're all a little bit
fiery

because Mutter was born the
night

the fire enveloped her home.

- [Eleanor Betler] She
had a story to tell.

She really had a lot to say in
this world.

- [Eleanor] That's how we did
it.

- [Vasco] You are wonderful.

- Oh, I am not.

- [Vasco] Really, Eleanor, you
are.

- You just don't know.

You just haven't been around,
honey.

- [Vasco] You are an incredible
thing.

- You just haven't been around.

- [Vasco] Well...

[laughing]

- I haven't been out.

[laughing]

♪ Mama said boy you
better keep the faith ♪

♪ Stay strong

♪ Even when it slips away

♪ Be wise when you're younger

♪ Hold onto the hunger

♪ Broken

♪ Every part of me is used

♪ I can't fake it like I used to
do ♪

♪ Step on and push me down

♪ Way into the ground

♪ But I'm back

♪ Like Jesus

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ Yeah, I'm back

♪ Like Jesus

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ One day

♪ All of this will have its end
♪

♪ You'll see

♪ Laughter in the sky again

♪ Work out who is worth you

♪ They're all gonna hurt you

♪ Mama said boy you
need to keep the faith ♪

♪ Stay strong

♪ Even when it slips away

♪ Stay strong through the cold
and rain ♪

♪ Let go of your pain

♪ And I'm back

♪ Like Jesus

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ Oh yeah, back

♪ Like Jesus

♪ We're resurrected

♪ We're resurrected

♪ Oh no, no

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm back

♪ Like Jesus

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ Oh, I'm back

♪ Like Jesus

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ I'm resurrected

♪ Oh no, no

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪

♪ Ain't nothin' gonna hold me
down ♪