Opinion

In an earlier time, Sim Sherrill Hooper recalled seeing the Cherokee’s playing a game of stickball on Hooper Bald. Photo by Marshall McClung/The Graham Star

In an earlier time, Sim Sherrill Hooper recalled seeing the Cherokee’s playing a game of stickball on Hooper Bald. Photo by Marshall McClung/The Graham Star

Cherokee stickball: a rugged game

Marshall McClung
Thursday, March 4, 2021
The game of stickball – played by the Cherokee’s – is a physically-challenging game and certainly not for the faint of heart.  I first saw a game of stickball being played at the Cherokee Indian Fair as a child. We would go to the fair with our Cherokee neighbors, John and Florence Jackson Rattler.

The Equality Attack

Jeremy Wiggins
Thursday, March 4, 2021
The Democrat party has spent years trying to pass legislation amending the Civil Rights Act. When I say years, I am speaking about a span of almost 50 years.  The Equality Act was first proposed in the 1970s and the House of Representatives has finally passed it. It will now go before the Senate.

They got the gold mine; we got the shaft

Kevin Hensley
Friday, February 26, 2021
You simply cannot tell me that a team that went 13-1, outright won the Smoky Mountain Conference and defeated the defending state champions twice this year, is a No. 8 state playoff seed. Yet, here we are. The N.C.

Lent: a time of self-examination

Eric Reece
Friday, February 26, 2021
The Christian season of Lent is here.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, continues for 40 days – not counting Sundays (Little Easters) – and goes through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.  Lent comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word, meaning “lengthening.

The tale of Rush Limbaugh

Roger Carlton
Friday, February 26, 2021
Last week, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh passed at age 70 from lung cancer.  President Ronald Reagan said that Rush “was the voice for conservatism and he should not worry that liberals call you the most dangerous man in America.

Southern gentleman learns to be careful with hand motions

Phil Hudgins
Friday, February 26, 2021
It’s not likely a respectable newspaperman would dare write this sentence: “I picked up a prostitute Monday night.” Well, my nephew Clay Wilson wrote that sentence as the beginning of a column in 2004, when he was working as education reporter and columnist for the Daily Herald in McDonough, Ga.

It may be hard to tell, but spring is coming

Phil Hudgins
Thursday, February 18, 2021
This may sound crazy, but one of my favorite days is Dec. 22. That’s the day that daylight hours start getting longer – little by little – and the cold nights shorter. Spring is coming. At one point in my young life, I told my wife I’d like to live and work in Alaska for a couple of years.
The steep mountains on the upper reaches of Hares Creek rise above 4,000 feet elevation to form the boundary between Graham and Cherokee counties. Photo by Marshall McClung/The Graham Star

The steep mountains on the upper reaches of Hares Creek rise above 4,000 feet elevation to form the boundary between Graham and Cherokee counties. Photo by Marshall McClung/The Graham Star

The history of Hares Creek

Marshall McClung
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Often, a story that appeared in The Graham Star some time ago will bring a response from someone seeking information about it.   This was the case of a story entitled “Early Family Settled Hares Creek,” which appeared in the June 30, 2005 issue of The Graham Star.