A 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb Challenge was hosted at East Burke
High School on Sept. 12, 2026.
LISA PRICE Photos / THE PAPER
A 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb Challenge was hosted at East Burke
High School on September 12, 2026.
LISA PRICE / THE PAPER
A 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb Challenge was hosted at East Burke
High School on September 12, 2026.
LISA PRICE / THE PAPER
A 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb Challenge was hosted at East Burke
High School on September 12, 2026.
LISA PRICE / THE PAPER
The U.S. Army’s Asheville Recruiting Company hosted a stair climb honoring the memory of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Sept. 12 event also served as a fundraiser for the Eric Cranford Foundation, a nonprofit that gives a Burke County graduating senior every year a scholarship to attend N.C. State. Cranford was a Drexel native, an N.C. State graduate, and naval aviator who lost his life in the attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
Anyone could participate in the event at the East Burke High School football stadium — some choosing to wear 50-pound packs or full firefighter turnout gear.
Burke County Tourism CEO Ed Phillips unveils the time capsule as
(from left) commissioners Phil Smith, Mike Stroud, and Brian
Barrier watch.
JACOB CHRISTOPHER Photos / THE PAPER
Commissioner Randy Burns (left) helps Ed Phillips lift the top
of the time capsule.
JACOB CHRISTOPHER / THE PAPER
Commissioners Randy Burns (left) and Brian Barrier (right)
listen as Ed Phillips explains what will go inside the time
capsule.
JACOB CHRISTOPHER / THE PAPER
Burke County Tourism CEO Ed Phillips officially unveiled the America 250 Burke County Time Capsule at the County Commissioners meeting Monday.
The capsule, built by students and faculty at Western Piedmont Community College, will hold 110 pieces of memorabilia — letters, newspapers, records, photographs, and ordinary objects — from today’s age.
“There’s something particularly meaningful about imagining the day this capsule will be opened,” said Phillips. “Many of us who helped assemble the capsule will no longer be here, yet the things that we choose to preserve will speak for us.”
The dedication of the capsule is on Friday, Oct. 2, at 11 a.m. at the Burke County Register of Deeds, 201 S. Green St., Morganton.
“We will fill it on-site, seal it up, and it will be housed in the lobby over there for the next 50 years.”
— JC
MICA BANKS / THE PAPER
The time capsule was constructed by Western Piedmont Community
College faculty and students. Seen here is woodworking instructor
John Ferguson as he tightens a screw into the Burke County
America250 time capsule in July.
Page A11 | e-Edition | The Paper
MICA BANKS / THE PAPER
The time capsule was constructed by Western Piedmont Community
College faculty and students. Seen here is woodworking instructor
John Ferguson as he tightens a screw into the Burke County
America250 time capsule in July.
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