This Week in Local History: Oct. 22, 2020

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10 years ago

* Gary Russell Wiggins, 63, was arrested Oct. 11 after officers executed a search warrant at his residence and found several bags of marijuana. Sheriff Russell Moody and the Sheriff’s Department had an informant make several buys from Wiggins over the course of a few weeks and decided to conduct a search. Wiggins was charged with several counts and placed on an active bond amount of $9,999.99.

* The Black Knights fans had their fill of excitement last Thursday during Robbinsville’s junior varsity championship game against the Murphy Bulldogs at Big Oaks Stadium. Although the Knights had already beaten Murphy early in the season, this game was for all the bragging rights and Robbinsville didn’t disappoint in their 31-6 win. 

25 years ago

* Timber lands in Graham County received heavy damage from Hurricane Opal. Jim Buckel, Timber Management Forester, and Forestry Technician Randy Shook viewed the damage by plane. Buckel estimated that more than one million board feet of timber was blown down by storm on the Cheoah Ranger District. U.S. Forest Service personnel have begun the process of marking the damaged timber for salvage sales. 

* Robbinsville was in the game, right up to the final minutes, before the Rosman Tigers pulled away for a 25-8 victory over the Knights. Robbinsville began the scoring in the first quarter when quarterback Brian Gross capped a long Knight drive with a 4-yard plunge. In the second quarter, the Tigers bounced back to score 13 points. The Knights defense held strong through the third quarter, but faltered in the fourth quarter when Tigers scored a touchdown. Rosman added a late touchdown run to close out the game.

50 years ago 

* A Graham Star for this week could not be located.

-Brittany Davis and Diane West