Robbinsville – Planning inched forward for events to celebrate Graham County’s sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary.
The third planning meeting for the celebration was held May 5, with more than a dozen people attending at the Graham County Community Building. The next meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at the community building.
Meanwhile, organizers with Graham County Travel and Tourism – and Graham County Historical Association – are seeking to hire an event organizer to oversee the celebrations.
In a change, the events will be split over two consecutive weekends in August, instead of grouping them into one long weekend. Also, a planned community-wide church event may be moved to its own separate date in the fall, to escape the summer heat.
Possible events range from a homespun canning contest, custom aprons, quilting and square dancing to Graham County’s farming and logging heritage. Its history as a moonshine county may also be recognized.
Events could also blend with other events including Music on the Square, Farmers Market, and Graham County’s Got Talent, a previously-scheduled event on Aug. 20 in Robbinsville to raise money for cancer support, will be included in the celebration events.
The county-wide celebration includes Robbinsville, Stecoah and the Town of Fontana Dam, which are all planning their own events.
Dates are not set in stone, but are leaning toward around Aug. 12 in Fontana Dam, Aug. 13 in Stecoah, and Aug. 19-20 in Robbinsville.
Fontana Dam is considering showing movies in its ball field and tours of the historic Gunter Cabin. Stecoah is planning a concert as well as other events.
Debbie Beasley, a Robbinsville alderman who is leading organization efforts for Robbinsville, is hoping to stir up pride among classes from high schools that no longer exist – the Mountain View High School Highlanders in Meadow Branch
and Stecoah High School Tornados in Stecoah. There could
also be a chance to remember the original mascot for Robbinsville High School – once the Blue Devils, before being replaced with the Black
Knights.
“These are pieces of family history,” Beasley said. “It would be awesome to bring our past to our present.”
Something that will be missing from the celebrations is the Graham County History Museum, which is still raising money for renovations and isn’t suitable for public viewing.
Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Snowbird may be asked to demonstrate stickball, perhaps even have an exhibition game at Big Oaks Stadium.
Robbinsville Middle School students are being taught about Graham County history with the assumption that they will be leading the county’s bicentennial celebration in 2072.
Graham County turned 150 in January and organizers are paying catch-up to put together some kind of celebration to observe the sesquicentennial milestone. The process to plan a celebration started two years ago, but COVID-19 outbreaks have thwarted all previous efforts.
Graham County Travel and Tourism Director Daniel Allison said there is a window of opportunity to hold the celebration, a window centered around the county’s innkeepers and their ability to accommodate guests for the once-in-a-lifetime event. That window is the five weeks between the week after July Fourth until mid-August, when the new school semester starts.
Graham County Travel and Tourism plans to be an event sponsor. The Graham County Historical Association also plans to participate.
Volunteers are needed at all levels, from servers and ticket takers, to marketing, and even event planners.
Graham County was founded on Jan. 30, 1872, when it was carved out from Cherokee County. It celebrated its centennial in 1972, when organizers took about a month to plan the celebration.