News

Mike Clapsaddle (left to right), Janet Clapsaddle, Lynn James, Duane James, Bill Watson, Sherry Jenkins Brown, Beth Pedersen, Nick Lambert and Dottie Nelson on the Maroon Devils football field 50-yard-line Sept. 5.

Mike Clapsaddle (left to right), Janet Clapsaddle, Lynn James, Duane James, Bill Watson, Sherry Jenkins Brown, Beth Pedersen, Nick Lambert and Dottie Nelson on the Maroon Devils football field 50-yard-line Sept. 5.

Class of 1970 begins a new giving trend

Sara Eisinger
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
The Swain County High School Class of 1970 made a surprise appearance at the hometown football game Friday evening. Since the class was prevented from holding a 50-year reunion, due to the surge of the COVID pandemic in 2020, they reconnected on Facebook.
Photo/Marty Pressley. Bryson City Church of God delivers its message of salvation and love to an upward 40 children at Casa Hogar Alfa y Omega, an orphanage in Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico, in Oct. 2025.

Photo/Marty Pressley. Bryson City Church of God delivers its message of salvation and love to an upward 40 children at Casa Hogar Alfa y Omega, an orphanage in Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico, in Oct. 2025.

Church blessings for orphaned children

Sara Eisinger
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Bryson City Church of God held a fundraiser over the weekend to buy Christmas presents, school supplies and essential items for children at Casa Hogar Alfa y Omega, an orphanage in Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico. Donations will be accepted through December for the 40-plus children at the orphanage.
SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. Swain County EMS first responders Steve Pack, Brandon Wiggins, Jon Waldroup, Ian McCauley and Earlene Leonard remember 9/11 outside the EMS building Sept. 5.

SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. Swain County EMS first responders Steve Pack, Brandon Wiggins, Jon Waldroup, Ian McCauley and Earlene Leonard remember 9/11 outside the EMS building Sept. 5.

Courage and sacrifices made by EMS, rescue squad members

Sara Eisinger
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
The great courage and sacrifice made by first responders on Sept. 11, 2001, meant the loss of 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel at the Pentagon at least eight EMTs and paramedics … never forgotten.
Submitted photo. Swain County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Jason Ashe with a Polish flight crew at Baghdad International Airport circa 2004-2005.

Submitted photo. Swain County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Jason Ashe with a Polish flight crew at Baghdad International Airport circa 2004-2005.

Sheriff’s Office remembers 9/11

Sara Eisinger
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Swain County Sheriff’s Office deputies remember the nation’s fallen heroes 24 years later. Lt. Det. Dennis Elliott cited a quote from the late General George S. Patton: “It is foolish for us to mourn the men and women who died but rather thank God that such men and women lived.
Mike Colcord

Mike Colcord

Why I volunteer at Bryson City Fire Department

News Staff
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Mike Colcord   I was in Atlanta when I saw the first airplane hit the World Trade Center on TV. Believe it or not, my brother, David “Roddy” Colcord, May 19, 1953 — October 6, 2015, worked for Kemper Insurance, located in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. Bryson City Police Department Chief Charlie Robinson opens up about his 9/11 experience and community support Sept. 5.

SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. Bryson City Police Department Chief Charlie Robinson opens up about his 9/11 experience and community support Sept. 5.

Police chief answers call to Bryson

News Staff
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger airliners and crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, leaving a total of 72 law enforcement officers among the dead during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. Deanna Crew, 911 manager, and Misty Tabor, 911 director, walking into the Swain County Administration Building together Sept. 5.

SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. Deanna Crew, 911 manager, and Misty Tabor, 911 director, walking into the Swain County Administration Building together Sept. 5.

How 9/11 shaped dispatch

Sara Eisinger
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
New York dispatchers handled calls under one of the most extreme events imaginable on September 11. Misty Tabor, director at Swain County Emergency Management/911, was serving as a dispatcher that morning.
Submitted photo. West Swain Volunteer Fire Department fights flames rising from a tractor trailer in the Nantahala Gorge Nov. 1, 2024.

Submitted photo. West Swain Volunteer Fire Department fights flames rising from a tractor trailer in the Nantahala Gorge Nov. 1, 2024.

3 fire departments: 1 team

Sara Eisinger
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
On Sept. 11, 2001, 343 firefighters from the New York City Fire Department and Fire Patrol who ran toward burning buildings  gave their lives answering the call to duty.
SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. Veterans Eric LaPlante, John Parris and Alex Parris remember 9/11 at a Friday night football game at Swain High School Friday, Sept. 5.

SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. Veterans Eric LaPlante, John Parris and Alex Parris remember 9/11 at a Friday night football game at Swain High School Friday, Sept. 5.

Call of duty post-9/11

Sara Eisinger
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
The terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, killed approximately 2,996 people, stunning America, but many answered a call to service. According to the Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs, between 1.9 and 3 million U.S.
SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. P.A.W.S. Animal Shelter raises approximately $20,189 during its annual P.A.W.S. Wine Tasting fundraiser at Lands Creek Log Cabins Saturday, Aug. 30. A total of 95 businesses and individuals donated money and auction items to the cause.

SMT photo/Sara Eisinger. P.A.W.S. Animal Shelter raises approximately $20,189 during its annual P.A.W.S. Wine Tasting fundraiser at Lands Creek Log Cabins Saturday, Aug. 30. A total of 95 businesses and individuals donated money and auction items to the cause.

P.A.W.S. raises $20K

Sara Eisinger
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
P.A.W.S. Animal Shelter raised approximately $20,189 during its annual P.A.W.S. Wine Tasting fundraiser at Lands Creek Log Cabins over the weekend. It was the first year P.A.W.S. Director Beth Cline organized and solicited donations in absence of her dear friend of 40 years, Yvette McClure, Feb.