GrahamCountyNC

Duane Wilkey looks at the silt-filled raceway at his trout farm on Hunting Boy Branch on Aug. 25. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Duane Wilkey looks at the silt-filled raceway at his trout farm on Hunting Boy Branch on Aug. 25. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Out of business

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Snowbird – For more than 30 years, Duane and Linda Wilkey operated a trout farm in western Graham County on Hunting Boy Branch, a stream that feeds into Little Snowbird Creek. In June 2017, they noticed the creek was unusually muddy following a light rain. The problem grew worse.
Almost two dozen members of the Noble Knights, a group that looks out for the welfare of fellow students, leads the Graham County Board of Education in the Pledge of Allegiance at the board’s meeting on Tuesday. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Almost two dozen members of the Noble Knights, a group that looks out for the welfare of fellow students, leads the Graham County Board of Education in the Pledge of Allegiance at the board’s meeting on Tuesday. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Funding, test scores punctuate meeting

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Robbinsville – Tuesday’s meeting of the Graham County Board of Education reflected hard financial times, recovery from low school scores – and a glimmer of hope for the future.
Donnie Orr (left) reads to children at Robbinsville Elementary School’s media center on Friday, as his sister Debbie Orr (right) waits his turn. The siblings were at the school to dedicate a reading nook in honor of their late mother Maxine Orr, who was a teaching assistant at the school for 30 years. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Donnie Orr (left) reads to children at Robbinsville Elementary School’s media center on Friday, as his sister Debbie Orr (right) waits his turn. The siblings were at the school to dedicate a reading nook in honor of their late mother Maxine Orr, who was a teaching assistant at the school for 30 years. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

‘Castle’ dedicated to teacher

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Robbinsville – Maxine Orr was a teacher’s assistant at Robbinsville Elementary School, whose presence will be felt at the school for years to come – thanks to a reading nook. Orr worked at the school for 30 years as a teaching assistant and occasionally – when needed – school librarian.

Nettie Jean Eller Lewis

News Staff
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Nettie Jean Eller Lewis, 80 of the I U Gap community in Robbinsville, N.C., went home to be with the Lord on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva, N.C. A native of Graham County, she was the daughter of the late Herbert Rufus (Red) and Amy Ethel Carver Eller.
Graham County Commissioner Dale Wiggins (left) cuts the ribbon at a re-dedication ceremony of the Santeetlah Lake Trail South on Sept. 27. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Graham County Commissioner Dale Wiggins (left) cuts the ribbon at a re-dedication ceremony of the Santeetlah Lake Trail South on Sept. 27. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

‘Nature at its best, everywhere’

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Lake Santeetlah – County Commissioner Dale Wiggins cut the ribbon for a trail re-dedication that he has been working on since 2000. The Santeetlah Lake Trail South is 8.5 miles long, with Carver Cemetery at one end and the intersection of Snowbird and Santeetlah roads at the other.
Patsy Owens Rogers (center) goes over high school yearbooks with Mountain View High School alumni Nahala Ayers Nichols (left) and Judy Williams Biddix during a reunion on Saturday. Rogers started the annual reunion in 2019 along with her late brother, Richard. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Patsy Owens Rogers (center) goes over high school yearbooks with Mountain View High School alumni Nahala Ayers Nichols (left) and Judy Williams Biddix during a reunion on Saturday. Rogers started the annual reunion in 2019 along with her late brother, Richard. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Keeping memories alive

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Meadow Branch – More than 30 alumni of Mountain View School gathered for their annual reunion at the Meadow Branch Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday. Mountain View School didn’t exist for all that long. It opened in 1953 and operated only as an elementary school during the 1953-54 school year.
Dignitaries participate in a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Corridor K highway project in Graham County at Robbinsville High School on Monday. From left are Ronnie Keeter, Wanda Austin, Brian Burch, John Sullivan, Eric Boyette, Chris Peoples, Dirk Cody, Connie Orr and Jacob Nelms. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Dignitaries participate in a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Corridor K highway project in Graham County at Robbinsville High School on Monday. From left are Ronnie Keeter, Wanda Austin, Brian Burch, John Sullivan, Eric Boyette, Chris Peoples, Dirk Cody, Connie Orr and Jacob Nelms. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Corridor K breaks ground

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Robbinsville – Fifty-seven years in the making, the ceremony to mark the start of the ‘Corridor K’ highway project in Graham County on Monday morning was delayed by another hour and a half.

Jane Ann Singleton

News Staff
Friday, September 30, 2022
Jane Ann Singleton, 90 of the Forest Lakes community in Robbinsville, N.C., passed away peacefully at home with family. She was preceded in death by her husband of almost 60 years, William C. Singleton. A native of New Jersey, she had lived in the Robbinsville area for more than 25 years.

Harold Andrews, Sr.

News Staff
Friday, September 30, 2022
Harold Andrews Sr., 75 of the Wolf Creek community of Robbinsville, N.C. passed away Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, at his residence. He was a native of Graham County, and the son of the late Edd and Lois Tayler Andrews.

Dolores Roberts

News Staff
Friday, September 30, 2022
Dolores Roberts, 83 of the Cross Creek community of Robbinsville, N.C., passed away Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. She was a native of St. Louis, Mo., and the daughter of the late Thomas Carl Romine and Iris Nickels Romine.