10 years ago
* Steve Hooper was the only candidate to qualify as mayor and would officially begin after the Nov. 5 general election. According to Hooper, he will serve as a full-time mayor and be in the office five days a week. “I’m a team player,” Hooper said, as he praised the existing board of aldermen. Update: Hooper served until the November 2021 election.
* The annual Great Robbinsville Duck Race was held on Tallulah Creek, with “more than a few” participants and town officials. The event raised more than $800 for future events due to ticket sales. The first-place winner was Paul Brooks, winning two tickets to Dollywood and $25 in gas from Aztek.
* Courtney Lyvers – a senior at Robbinsville High School – attended Western Carolina’s Summer Symposium for the Marching Arts. This five-day camp gave Lyvers the experience to be taught by some of the biggest names in band-leadership, such as Robert W. Smith, a prominent band composer. This opportunity prepared Courtney for many future experiences, as she was set to lead the Marching Knights in the fall.
25 years ago
* New evidence surfaced from the Oct. 20, 1997 murder of Ella Mae Holder. According to deputy Spencer Weeks, lead investigator for the county, a missing purse from Holder’s home was recovered. The purse was sent to a crime lab in Raleigh for testing, as local deputies were still investigating the location of the find. Shane Lynn remained in custody for the murder.
* The manhunt continued for Eric Robert Rudolph, as more than 200 federal agents – along with state and local law enforcement officers, and bloodhounds – were involved in the hunt. Rudolph was accused in the Birmingham, Ala. abortion clinic bombing. Agents had searched a 10-square-mile section of the 30, where Rudolph was suspected to be hiding. Update: It took until 2003 for Rudolph to be apprehended – scavenging food out of a dumpster in Murphy.
* Ronnie Hedrick II was inducted into the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame, after competing in a National Baseball Tournament for 12-year-olds in New York. He is the grandson of Earl and Minnie Jo Watts and Earl and Polly Wall of Robbinsville. Hedricks’ team was undefeated through five preliminary games, defeating the top-ranked California team with a score of 9-4.
50 years ago
* Unfortunately, an edition from 1973 could not be located in our archives.
-Compiled by Diane West