IN GOD WE TRUST
CAROLINA TROPHIES Our 33rd Year • Over 25,000 Weekly Readers ISSUE NO. 1 • January 2, 2025 • RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408
12/28/23
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79th Annual Basil Whitener Holiday Breakfast held
The 79th Annual Basil Whitener Holiday Breakfast was held Dec. 21 at Copper Penny. Whitener served Rutherford County for many years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman-elect Tim Moore was in the house with a couple of his staff members. Pictured here in random order are Moore, Mike Benfield, Wiley Thomas, Jordan Bame, Danna Stunshury, Phillip Byers, Jake Johnson, Steph Matheny, Margaret Annunziata, Tommy Davis, Mike Saunders (who wore the Jack Hunt memorial red plaid jacket) Jonathan Bland, Bryan King, Kristi King, Basil Whitener Junior, Mike Gavin (who hosted the event, along with Sherry and the staff
at Copper Penny) Kevin Bradley, Chivous Bradley, Dr. Bobby England (who received many tributes at the breakfast,) Pat Jobe, Bill Jobe, Cole Francis, Holly Wall, Maxi Jolley, Shawn Moore, Doug Sheets, Jimmy Dancy, Walter Dalton, Lucille Dalton, Stan Clement, Deb Clement, David Eaker and Ronda Eaker. Some of the people who attended may not appear in this cutline or in the photo for reasons beyond our control. In the past members of the U.S. House who attended included Woodrow Jones, who later served as a Federal Judge, Charles Taylor, Lamar Gudger, Bill Hendon, Jamie Clark, Virginia Fox and Roy Taylor. Article Provided By: Pat Jobe
Three state parks remain closed after Helene, including Chimney Rock
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visitors in 2021, had a 34 percent increase over the 308,145 visitors in 2020, beating its previous record set in 2019 of 333,128, according to statistics listed on the website. The year 2023 was record setting for visitors. Access to the Chimney Rock attraction is also closed to the public until further notice due to the bridge outage and other damages. Five NC State parks damaged by Hurricane Helene reopened Nov. 1 at least partially while others - Grandfather Mountain, Gorges, Crowders Mountain, Lake Norman and Rendezvous Mountain opened later in the month. Many of the parks still have some facilities or trails that are not ready for visitors and people are encouraged to check an individual park’s website for the latest information.
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Access to the Chimney Rock attraction is also closed to the public until further notice due to the bridge outage and other damages.
Three North Carolina State Parks remain closed since the devastation of Hurricane Helene, just over three months ago on Sept. 27, 2024, including Chimney Rock State Park. Chimney Rock State Park remains closed because the bridge that brings visitors into the park was destroyed by Helene and has to be rebuilt. The bridge was over the Rocky Broad River and during the historic storm, the bridge was washed down the river. After Helene flooded Western North Carolina, the state closed all 13 of its parks west of Interstate 77. Most of them have reopened except for the three mentioned. There is no estimated time when the three parks will be able to accept visitors. Chimney Rock State Park (8,000 acres) with 412,684