10 years ago
* John Zimmerman of Atlanta and Peter Rockers of Boston entered the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness Area at the Ike Branch Trailhead. After making their way up Slickrock, they became lost. The two men spent hours trying to find their way before becoming exhausted. Finally – after managing to get a call out – the Graham County Rescue Squad was able to determine their location near Naked Ground; 12 miles from their vehicle, deep in the forest. Squad members Drew Ford, Tory Lynnes and Marshall McClung finally were able to make contact with the men and took them back to their vehicle near Topoco.
* Robbinsville kept the Hapeville Charter Hornets scoreless for the first three quarters to win their season opener at Big Oaks, 41-29. Coy Jordan scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to hold off the Hornets late rally to seal the win for Robbinsville. The Knights steadily worked the ball down field until quarterback Dakota Crisp found receiver Tevin Smoker open. He connected for an 11-yard touchdown pass to get Robbinsville on the board. “I think we turned a few heads with our performance. It was definitely a good way to start the season,” Crisp said.
25 years ago
* Robbinsville fourth- and ninth-graders were among the first in Graham County to take a water safety class, according to Rick Davis, Associate Superintendent of Graham County Schools. The two-week course began with swim coach Pat Briggs testing the students’ swimming abilities and teaching the basics of water safety. Superintendent Donald Andrews was also on-deck to lend a hand. According to Briggs, he was “concerned that more people learn to be safe around the water.” About 200 students were involved in the first group of swimming classes. Ninth graders Blake Cable, Matt Carpenter, Jesse Adams, Josh Phillips, Austin Adams and Ryan Beasley participated in the first class of the year.
* Local sisters Pam and Priscilla Jumper had just returned to Robbinsville from playing basketball with Sport Challenge International in Switzerland and Germany. Coach John Moll of Chapel Hill led a team of nine players from North Carolina – and one from South Carolina – to a tournament there. The Jumper sisters enjoyed touring Switzerland and were very grateful for all of their supporters that had helped raise the money for this opportunity. “We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of the businesses and all of the supporters for donating their time and money,” said the sisters. Priscilla and Pamela were the daughters of Willie and Gertrude Jumper.
50 years ago
* The body of a 59-year-old U.S. Park Service employee was pulled from the bottom of Fontana Lake, according to Graham County Sheriff Melvin Howell. John Childers – employed about two months – and five other employees were thrown from a barge, loaded with heavy equipment, after they struck a wake and capsized in the lake. The six men on the barge were transporting a backhoe to the head of Hazel Creek, a trip of about five miles over the water. None of the men were wearing life jackets when the barge capsized.
* The Graham County Rescue Squad was called out to search for Gladys Cunningham and her four grandchildren, when they had failed to return home after a hike in the woods. They had gone to the Slickrock area, but were supposed to return home that same evening. The group was found in good condition about noon the next day, in spite of spending the night in the mountainous area. Cunningham told the rescue squad members that she suddenly realized that they had taken a wrong trail, so they built a fire and waited for daylight. She was a native of the area and very familiar, so she didn’t panic.
-Compiled by Diane West