GrahamCountyNC

A celebration of Linda Buchanan’s 31 years of service at Tallulah Health Clinic will take place Saturday at Robbinsville High School. Buchanan is pictured with Dr.  Patricia Johnson, who has organized the event.

A celebration of Linda Buchanan’s 31 years of service at Tallulah Health Clinic will take place Saturday at Robbinsville High School. Buchanan is pictured with Dr. Patricia Johnson, who has organized the event.

"Party for Poss" Saturday

By Dr. Patricia Johnson Special to The Graham Star   On Saturday, our community – led by Dr.
Pinto beans are a pivotal part of any Appalachian diet. Photo by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

Pinto beans are a pivotal part of any Appalachian diet. Photo by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

Pinto beans, the winter staple

“No matter the day, no matter the weather, no matter what else was happening in the world, I was sure of this: cracklin’ cornbread and pinto beans with fat back would always be found in her house.
A tobacco barn on Hwy. 143, captured after snow fell in Graham County in Jan. 2018. Photo by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

A tobacco barn on Hwy. 143, captured after snow fell in Graham County in Jan. 2018. Photo by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

Fading barns harken simple times

Half a million tobacco barns once sat in North Carolina fields.  In recent decades, many states have actively discouraged tobacco production, while industrialized farming methods rendered tobacco barns largely irrelevant to the modern farm.
Madison Coffey, Isabelle Handy, Daniella Giese, Ashley Ruston, Catherine Cloutier, Matthew Griffin, Craig Bucci and Slesha Tuladhar (clockwise from bottom left) work on Valentine’s Day cards for troops stationed overseas Friday at the Snowbird  Community Library. Photo by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

Madison Coffey, Isabelle Handy, Daniella Giese, Ashley Ruston, Catherine Cloutier, Matthew Griffin, Craig Bucci and Slesha Tuladhar (clockwise from bottom left) work on Valentine’s Day cards for troops stationed overseas Friday at the Snowbird Community Library. Photo by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

Love from afar

Snowbird – The Snowbird Community Library hosted the second annual Valentine’s Cards for our Troops event Friday, which saw nearly a dozen visitors from all over the world crafting Valentines for soldiers deployed overseas.
This building in downtown Robbinsville has a massive field of kudzu growing adjacent to the structure. Photos by John Colwell/Contributing Photographer

This building in downtown Robbinsville has a massive field of kudzu growing adjacent to the structure. Photos by John Colwell/Contributing Photographer

Just say no to change

By John Colwell REVVED UP *Editor’s note: The views expressed in this op-ed do not reflect those of The Graham Star. Your hometown newspaper remains neutral on these topics and will continue to impartially print both sides of the issue.
A bald eagle, in-flight over Lake Junaluska in Haywood County. Photo by Amy Boggan/Contributing Photographer

A bald eagle, in-flight over Lake Junaluska in Haywood County. Photo by Amy Boggan/Contributing Photographer

Soaring from brink of extinction

The most majestic of birds, the symbol of our nation, the most sacred bird in Cherokee culture – crouched by the side of the highway, choking down hunks of roadkill opossum – has prompted Graham County residents to wonder: is this normal?  Is the bald eagle population increasing?

Census needs workers

As the U.S. Census Bureau prepares for this year’s count, Murphy and Andrews have only half the number of census workers needed. Graham County has even fewer.  Though temporary, these jobs pay well, at $17 per hour and 58 cents per mile.
Lex Hooper, Wade Hamilton, Samson Jones Candler Edwards and Drey Keener (from left) handle some weaponry, which was part of the Civil War unit at Robbinsville High School on Monday. Photos by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

Lex Hooper, Wade Hamilton, Samson Jones Candler Edwards and Drey Keener (from left) handle some weaponry, which was part of the Civil War unit at Robbinsville High School on Monday. Photos by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

Civil unit

Robbinsville – The Civil War came alive Monday inside the Robbinsville High School auditorium, as re-enactors Austin Walls, Carol Hensley and Annette Hensley shared both their knowledge and extensive collection of artifacts with students and teachers.