.png)
Date: 12/22/25
Duration: 19:12
Guest: Madison Owenby
Listen on Spotify:
Summary:
Living Local with Frisbee Real Estate | Night to Shine Hendersonville NC 2026 with Madison Owenby
In this heartfelt and community focused episode of Living Local with Frisbee Real Estate, host Ed Frisbee sits down with special guest Madison Owenby, local Realtor and one of the lead organizers behind Night to Shine Hendersonville, North Carolina, happening February 13, 2026.
Madison shares the powerful mission of Night to Shine, a global event sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation that provides a prom night experience for individuals ages 14 and up with special needs. For the first time ever, Hendersonville will host this unforgettable evening at Crosswalk Ministries at First Baptist Church in downtown Hendersonville. Every guest is celebrated like royalty with formal attire, crowns, a red carpet entrance, dancing, food, and an atmosphere built entirely around dignity, joy, and belonging.
This episode dives into why bringing Night to Shine to Hendersonville matters. After learning that nearby events had to turn away dozens of participants due to capacity, Madison and a group of passionate local leaders stepped up so no one would be turned away. The goal for 2026 is to serve 150 honored guests, which means the event also needs 300 to 400 volunteers, including one on one buddies, makeup and shoeshine teams, food service, and caregiver respite support.
Madison also shares her personal connection to the special needs community through her daughter’s medical journey and how that experience ignited a deeper passion for advocacy, inclusion, and awareness across Western North Carolina.
Beyond Night to Shine, Ed and Madison talk all things Hendersonville life and real estate. From why young families are choosing to move to the area, to favorite downtown restaurants, events like the Apple Festival and Christmas parade, and what the local housing market looks like heading into the future, this conversation captures what it truly means to live local.
If you are looking to:
Volunteer in Hendersonville NC
Support special needs events in Western North Carolina
Learn about Night to Shine 2026
Discover what makes Hendersonville such a special place to live
This episode is for you.
How to Get Involved:
Search “Night to Shine Hendersonville North Carolina” on Facebook to volunteer, register as a participant, or learn how to donate formal wear like dresses, suits, shoes, and accessories.
As always, thanks for listening. And from all of us at Frisbee Real Estate, keep living local.
Watch on YouTube:
Transcript:
Thanks again for joining us. I'm excited to have our special guest. This is Madison Owenby, and she's representing Night to Shine that's taking place for the first time in Hendersonville for 2026. And there's other stuff we're going to talk about shortly. But so Madison, thanks again for hanging out with us and talk for a few minutes. Tell us a little bit about Night to Shine, what it is and when it is, where it'll be. it's going to be in February 13th. It's always the Friday before Valentine's Day.
in 2026 at Crosswalk Ministries, which is affiliated with First Baptist. So it's like in downtown, so it's kind of nice. It's a great location. It is a prom, essentially, for special needs kids. So age 14 and up, we have even 65-year-olds signed up, ready to come. So every male and female gets crowned with like a tiara and a crown, and we just pretty much throw a big party for them and just making sure they feel loved and welcome and
Just a place for them to have fun. That is awesome. So is this the first time for Hendersonville? I believe so. But Asheville has had it before? Asheville has it, yes. We found out last year that Asheville had to turn away 50 participants. Oh, wow. And so another friend of mine, Amy Seigler, we were like, we got to do it because we can't turn away kids. So any idea how many will come? We're aiming for 150. We have about 50 signed up right now.
So, and we just opened up registration. And people have to sign up to be a part of, okay. Just to help us get some idea of numbers with food and everything, but yeah. And is this something you've been a part of before? No, never. And so what drew you to it? Well, my daughter has congenital muscular dystrophy. She's 21 months. We found out her diagnosis at six months and it's been a whirlwind of just figuring things out through the disability world.
And we met Amy through that because she's an OT. And we just kind of hit it off and had been talking about things that special needs kids need. And there's not a lot here. So we're trying to just bring more awareness and making them all feel welcome. And tell us a little bit about Night to Shine. So it's the Tim Tebow Foundation. don't know when he started it, but he just, I guess, just felt the heart for it and the need for it to just kind of
make the awareness of special needs mentally and physical disabled kids. ⁓ And so he just wants them to really just have a great time. I mean, we all get dressed up. We just wear prom dresses. Men wear suits and then they get crowned. And our theme this year is the carnival like circus theme. So they'll have a red carpet that they can ride like limos to. So, yeah, just make them feel special and have fun. That's awesome. So when you said ages 14 and up.
and up to 65, meaning those are people that are part of Night to Shine. It's not volunteers or 65. No. Yeah, that's part of... That's amazing. Yeah, I was looking at the registration yesterday, and I think the oldest we have is 65, and the youngest is 14. So, yep. That's super cool. And how do people help? We have a Facebook signed up on Facebook, Night to Shine. The registration for it is on there. It's really simple. You just click it.
Put your name in, I get it all, and kind of pair you up with where you're going to want to be and serve. And then if you want to be a participant, it's on there as well. It's really easy. Just sign up and we get it and then we'll send information. And the Facebook page is called Night to Shine. And I think it Hendersonville. Hendersonville, North Carolina. Yes. In case people aren't sure of that. That seems to happen a lot. Yes. That's awesome. So anything else comes to mind about that event you could share?
⁓ Mean we really need a lot of volunteers. Okay, the main thing volunteers as in people to help with not necessary just participants We don't I mean we we don't really need donations We are having a like shopping event for the people who are signing up ⁓ so if you have like old prom dresses and suits or Shoes jewelry anything of that sort you want to like donate you can take it to Mud Creek Baptist Church
I think Monday through Thursday, nine to two, somebody's there kind of accepting the stuff. And so we're gonna allow them to just pretty much shop January 17th and pick out a dress if they want it or a suit or shoes and it's free. That's really cool. ⁓ And that Night to Shine, that's all over the country, right? Yes. If not all over the world. Yeah, it's all over the world.
And is it that same date for everywhere? Yep. It's always the Friday before Valentine's Day. Wow. Yep. And do you have any idea why? I don't. Okay. I don't know. I might need to look into that. I've never, I've seen pictures of it, like, taking place in the past, but I don't know much about the ministry. I guess you would call it ministry. Yeah. The Tim Tebow. That's really cool. I think we've had some friends who've been a part of it in the past ⁓ that participated. hoping Tim Tebow will show up.
I would think a lot of people are hoping. gotcha. That's cool. So if he hears us, you know. Yeah, because yeah, the podcast is. Yes. Far reaching. Yeah. All right. So people can sign up on the Facebook page. It's night to shine Hendersonville. It's held at ⁓ Crosswalk building at First Baptist downtown Hendersonville, North Carolina.
people could email or call somebody also or just the Facebook page? don't know if our email is on the Facebook page. If it's not, I'll go at it after. If not, we can message. get all the messages on there too. But most of the stuff is going to be on the Facebook. And a lot of our churches around, like local churches, we're all coming together for this event. So if you know of anyone like in those churches, they'll have information too. OK, that's great. And so Madison also is a realtor in the area.
⁓ Some competition. We've talked about that. I'll be candid. I was hesitant to talk about real estate with another realtor on the podcast, but I thought, heck, we have to work together. We discuss things. We represent our clients. And why would we not talk about real estate? So let's talk about real estate for a few minutes. ⁓ What do you think is happening in the real estate world lately versus the future? What's your gut tell you?
Well, I'm still fresh into the real estate world. ⁓ I think I've been at three, I'll be three years. So from those three years, I think we're still booming, to be honest. I don't see it going down by any means. Obviously everybody's like, when are the rates going to drop? We don't know. We never know. ⁓ But I think Hendersonville is picking up.
pretty good. There's a lot of people that want to come to this area. So it's a great location. And then even just Saluda like going out that way. It's getting pretty busy. And are you from the area? No, I am from Marion, North Carolina. What's the vicinity? ⁓ So below Black Mountain, it's a little tiny town. We have one high school. So then everybody knows everybody and everybody is related to everybody. We could say you're from Western North Carolina. Yes. Yeah. I'm only like an hour from here.
And even that's McDowell County. Yes. So even that's seen a lot of growth through the years. Yes. Yeah, it has. But it's a little tiny town. And it's a beautiful area. It is. In case you've never been east of Asheville, out I-40, ⁓ just be prepared to drive up and down the mountain. Yes. If you car sick, just don't go. So how long have you been in this area then, Hendersonville?
My husband and I moved here, gosh, I want to say 2017. So, yeah, we he's from Fairview. OK. And so we wanted to kind of come near family. We didn't have kids then and just didn't love Charlotte area. It was way too busy for us. So we came back here and landed in Hendersonville and we've been here since then and we love it. So that's exciting to hear because you're younger.
Hendersonville is known for lot of retirees. Yes. To show up. Yeah. And it's exciting to watch younger people choose to live here earlier in life. Yes. So what drew you to the area? Maybe because I'm an old soul. I love downtown. I love just walking downtown, especially like holidays, like the lights. And I love all of the events, the Christmas events. Like, it's just I don't know. It's a it's a bigger version of Marion. So maybe that's why I like it as well.
Marians too small for me. So gotcha Henderson's done a great job with their downtown I think yes So who are you with by the way as far as a firm? E clay realty E clay realty and they're on Main Street. Yes, which is a great location beside McFarland's So get you a donut then come see us. We don't need to give too much information about the competitor. Okay I actually looked at that space because of McFarland's honestly. We smell the donuts and it's best that I didn't because yeah, that's our favorite place No one's ever asked me my favorite restaurant
And I might say McFarland's. it's pretty good. It's delicious. It can't be a meal, though, especially at my age. So how about food? Do you have any favorite places or places you recommend? We so we like to do date nights, my husband and I. So when we do, we like to go to fancier places. I love Postero. I like Shine as well. But we actually tried that new place, Cafe Raelle. I don't know how you say it, but it was really good. It was great food. Great service. So.
I love new places popping up, so I think we should support there for lunch one day and really enjoyed it. Yeah, it was great. It's a great atmosphere as well. Yes. Yeah. And we, what's the one on seventh? There's Claywood. Claywood. We But then there's also... Claywood's our favorite. Okay. I haven't eaten there. It's great. It has a great just like vibe, just atmosphere. We'll see when your kids are younger, you still have a little extra money, but as your kids age...
You don't have as much extra money. So I don't know about that. Our date notes don't exist anymore. So the one next to Claywood, though, have you tried that? No. OK. You know what I'm talking about? No. Shoot. I think it's a horse and hound or I've seen it, but I think for at least. Yeah, I've not tried it yet. OK, maybe we'll go there next. There's so many great restaurants in the area. There's across the street from Claywood.
I'm not talking about Marco's pizza, but a little bit further down the bakery. Yes. They have delicious pizzas. I had it in years, but thinking about that area. Yeah, it's awesome. So how about parking? Do you, when you go downtown, do you pay to park or have a pass or? I wish I had a pass. It's kind of annoying, but I'm not going to complain about it. But yeah, just park, try to find a spot where I can. Do you have any people give you a hard time about that? yeah. With an office downtown? Yeah.
It's been challenging. but it's all right. Yep Do you ever park in the garage? Yes. Yep, and just walk. Yeah, it's good. fresh air. Yep. It's good for you Did you go so we're recording this in December. Did you go the Christmas parade? I did we love it We sat right in front of the office. So we got good We got to go back and forth to get you go in and warm up. Yes. It was great We set our chairs up and it was was really good. I've heard great things about it. We couldn't make it because of
other commitments, but how long did it last? That's the ⁓ gosh. Right at an hour we were kind of like hungry. We had kids were like, we were getting kind of cold. So I think it was only maybe like 15 minutes after that. So maybe an hour and a half. Nice. Okay. But it was, it's always great. I love it. So how about top events for the Hendersonville area? Top events? I don't know. Night to shine. Christmas parade. Yeah. Let's see. We have something in September.
Something related to apples that the Apple Festival festival. Do you enjoy that? I do but my husband doesn't it's too many people. Yeah, and three kids in that crowd. It's a challenge Yeah, it's a lot. So we've been many years. So I think we're trying to like Slow down until they can figure out. Hey, you can't go runoff everywhere. So Chasing them through the crowds. It's not fun
No, and actually when our kids were younger, we used one of those little it looked like a monkey backpack and had a long tail. Yeah, might as well call it a leash. Yep. I was so embarrassed by that. That's all right. My wife took advantage of it. It's hard to keep track of three young kids. Yes. When you have visitors come to town, you say, hey, you got to go check this out. don't I don't know. spots, favorite views, anything come to mind?
you know, I haven't been to the new like Acoustic Market or ⁓ I guess that's what you call it. It's the cafe. Yeah, i've heard great things about it. I have not been able to go yet. ⁓ I want to go because I hear their coffee is great. I love coffee. So maybe that place. Southern Streams is on the Acoustic Trail. Yep. That's a great, ⁓ location and a great environment. lot of people
I should say a lot. A few people have said jump off rock. Yes. At Laurel Park. It's amazing how many. don't go because of kids. don't want them to jump. No. It would be dangerous. they would because they're wild. Yeah. So you you told me earlier, but just tell everybody real fast. You have twin boys. Yes. Six year old boys and then a 21 month old. That's a lot. That's a lot. Gray hairs. Yeah. At 32. Just great.
So what's... let's jump to real estate, back at real estate. Any exciting stories? Anything that caught you off guard? Showing homes? ⁓ No, I don't think anything's caught me off guard, but I was able to help the North Carolina Baptist on Mission disaster relief people. they were affiliated with my pastor at Ebenezer and was able to find them two buildings to help...
Basically, they have the volunteers come and stay and they feed them and then they go out the community and rebuild the homes. That's awesome. Yeah, they're over East Flat Rock. Yeah, that's the building. And then they bought a property in Black Mountain as well. Awesome. Yeah. And they're doing, well, that's a whole other podcast, but they're here for several years helping with rebuild. told me about five to 10 years. Hurricane Helene. Yeah. And I think they do that across the country in these situations. Yep, they do. Which people on
in general aren't aware of taking place. Yeah, it's a great mission field as well. Even just local people just go and ask how they can help. And that's a big long term commitment. Yes. Mucho gracias to them. Yeah, that's huge.
So popular places, we test on that. Food choices. You named some nice ones, which is impressive. You didn't say hot dog world. No, no, my kids love hot dog. see, there we go. Good job. Try not to eat hot
world. Try to stay away from it. have great tater tots. They do and we actually get their chili and slaw a lot when we have like events for church. So we run the t-ball team or the t-ball thing at church and we have hot dogs so we'll get their slaw and chili to put on top. It's great. I've never had slaw on my chili. Me either until hot dog world. Still haven't. Well you need to try it. I've never had a hot dog in a hot dog world. It's pretty good.
I've had a salad and I've had the Yee-Rows. I have not had those yet. And the BLT and a chicken salad sandwich. Everything but a hot dog. At Hot Dog World. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not a big hot dog fan, ⁓ kind of, yeah, that's enough said. All right, so back to Night to Shine. Yes. They can check it out on Facebook. Yep. They can sign up on Facebook. Need volunteers. Always. It's a great opportunity.
We're needing like 300 to 400. That many? We do. Wow. That's impressive. So every student, I guess, they will each have a buddy to be with them through the whole night. some of them can't, they like to wander off, so we have to make sure they're safe. Got it. So we need at least, if we're aiming for 150, we need at least 150 buddies. And then with everything else, the food, the makeup, the shoeshine, the prom.
the dance floor, all this stuff. That's really cool. Yeah. Shoe shining and everything. Yeah. And then we have it's called the respite area. So a caretakers parents, for instance, if I took my daughter, right, we just kind of like give them just like a little bit of break. We need that always. So like it just allows them to just kind of like hang out and just eat, have some food and let their kids have fun while they get to just kind of chill. So and that's February 13th.
2026. I'll probably sign up. It's right near my anniversary, well, this is more important. And you get to dress up. So I don't fit in anything, but that's OK. Well, yeah, you go. All right, Madison, I'm very excited to got to meet you. Thank you. Night to shine is a great ministry. Being a realtor is a lot of fun. Yes. I'm glad you haven't had anything scary happen to you yet. Don't want it. It'll happen. ⁓
Guaranteed so How can they reach you? Related to real estate ⁓ Facebook we have our equally realty website and then we're downtown My numbers on there. I try to put my cards in places. I don't do it a lot. I'm more of a relationship type person. I like to just build a relationship but Yeah, I mean everything's on Facebook and then our our website. Okay. Yeah, awesome. Yeah
Thank you for taking time. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Appreciate it. And for all you watching or listening, as we like to say, keep living local.