June 5, 1986
* Tapoco, Inc., employees joined ALCOA Aluminum workers by going on strike. Tapoco, Inc., employees were members of the Local 309 United Steelworkers Union. The strike came after a new contractual agreement was unable to be reached before the previous deal expired. Tapoco employee Mickey Long said that The Aluminum, Brick and Glass Workers International – along with the United Steelworkers of America – failed to come to terms with ALCOA officials, with wage cuts of $2.50-$3 per hour and insurance reductions being proposed.
* Ninety-two Robbinsville High School students received their diplomas at the annual commencement exercise. Forty of the graduates had plans to attend either a four-year college, a community college, or a trade school. "This is not your end; this is your beginning," said principal Gary Steppe.
June 5, 1980
* A retirement party was held at Joyce Kilmer Restaurant for Hazel Millsaps, who was retiring after 42 years of teaching for Graham County Schools. Her career started at Cable Cove, before moving to Mountain View and concluding at Robbinsvile.
* At the time, Stecoah and Ocracoke schools had the lowest enrollment in North Carolina (Stecoah, 170; Ocracoke, 107). Despite being 526 miles apart, the two institutions participated in an exchange program that had just wrapped up: Stecoah students sampled bluefish-and-potatoes casserole from the Outer Banks, while Ocracoke pupils dined on the finest leather britches Stecoah could offer.
June 5, 1970
* Former state legislator Donald Boone Sherrill passed away in Greensboro, at the age of 56. A native of Graham County, he served as a legislator from 1941-43, before moving to the North Carolina Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
* The Honor Guard at Sweetgum Baptist Church's annual Memorial Day service was comprised of locals who had spent time in Vietnam: Gary Carpenter, Lamar Crisp, Olen Long and Cecil Rogers.
-Compiled by publisher/editor Kevin Hensley.