The curative powers of a fox hunt, celebrating New Year s in a dry county, the search for a city manager and more were reported on this day in Johnson City
ELIZABETHTON — A half-acre parcel of land at the intersection of Broad and North East streets that once was the location of the Elizabethton Bureau of the Johnson City Press
Editorâs note:
In this column, former journalist Bob Robinson remembers a trip behind the Iron Curtain to the Soviet Union.
Bob Robinson
It was a cold and rainy evening at LaGuardia Airport in New York City when we boarded the overnight TWA flight to Brussels, Belgium and then on to Moscow. I was the youngest of 25 Tennesseans traveling to the Soviet Union as part of President Dwight Eisenhowerâs People to People Goodwill trip. It was an agriculture mission led by the director of the Tennessee Dairy Association.
Most in the group were state legislators, including my dad, Sen. Herman Robinson of Elizabethton. I was a student at the University of Tennessee and a news reporter for WBIR Radio and TV Station in Knoxville. The 1963 trip was paid by each participant, approximately $2,500, which included airfare, hotel and food, a cheap price compared to todayâs standards.
This year’s production of “Liberty!” is underway on the grounds of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area near the banks of the Watauga River in Elizabethton. After taking a year off