10 years ago
* Jam-packed crowds marked the grand opening of Bojangles’ restaurant. “We are thrilled to open the restaurant in our hometown of Robbinsville and serve residents of the local community,” said Eve Davis Whitaker, co-owner of BoCo, LLC. The 3,800 square-foot restaurant provided drive-thru and indoor dining, along with breakfast and dinner. It seated up to 78 guests and offered free Wi-Fi and two large screen TV’s. Update: The Robbinsville Bojangles’ closed in 2018 and sat vacant until this year, when Caffe de Olla opened in the remodeled location off Tallulah Road.
* Mountain traditions came alive at the annual Harvest Festival in Stecoah Valley. The fair featured competition and exhibits of jams, jellies, pies, cakes, quilts and much more. The facility made the perfect canvas for the event, beginning with an evening campfire and story-telling with
Civil War era soldiers on patrol.
25 years ago
* Of all the road projects presented to Ron Leatherwood and the N.C. Department of Transportation Information Project, Graham County’s had been in the works the longest. Mac Magoo of the Corridor Coalition said that the project was first approved in 1965. Corridor K, also known as the A-9 project, would join Almond to Andrews with a 4-lane highway. Commissioner Dale Wiggins said, “We have waited more than three years, and at the rate things are moving now, we’ll have waited more than 40 years.”Update: Wiggins’ projection was inaccurate – but only slightly: construction on Corridor K is set to begin next spring.
* An accident at the intersection of U.S. 129 South and Berts Creek Circle claimed the lives of three young people. Derek Vause was driving an Escort with passengers Jamie Baker of Robbinsville and Joey Hawks of Tennessee, which was hit by a semi-truck driven by Wendall Oswalt of Robbinsville, who was unhurt, but all three passengers in the Escort were killed. The car had turned in front of the truck, moving about two miles an hour, while the semi had slowed down to about 40 miles per hour when it struck the car.
50 years ago
* Robbinsville’s Jaycees initiated a fundraising drive for the Black Knights Marching Band. The “kick-off” was a very generous contribution by attorney Leonard Lloyd. Larry Raines had met with Homer Colvard – president of the Jaycee officers – at their last meeting, as they discussed ways of raising the projected amount that was needed.
* Kent Kilmer, son of the late Joyce Kilmer – after whom the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest was named – along with Congressional Candidate Jesse Ledbetter of Asheville, were at the re-dedication of the Forest. Kilmer laid a wreath on the Kilmer Memorial Plaque in the ceremony. Ledbetter pledged, “to exert every influence to conserve, in their natural state, these great natural monuments to God.”
-Compiled by Diane West