Long-time residents Charles and Robbie Wehunt are on the verge of marking a relationship milestone that only one-tenth of one percent of marriages achieve: their Platinum Anniversary.
That’s because the happy Dahlonega couple will commemorate the 70th anniversary of their nuptials on Tuesday.
“Of course, everybody looks at us and says ‘That’s impossible. Seventy years never happens.’ They just can’t get past it,” Robbie told The Nugget during a recent sit-down interview. “They said ‘What do you attribute it to?’ And I said ‘Commitment.’ It just popped out of my mouth. We’re committed.”
Charles was born at his home off South Chestatee street on October 4, 1935, the middle child with an older and younger sister. Robbie was born a Sullens at their home on June 15, 1937, just inside of Hall County. She, along with her eight brothers and sisters, grew up in Lumpkin county off of Loy Road and Old Dahlonega Hwy.
Both Charles and Robbie attended Lumpkin County High School and worked together at the “Pine Tree” carpet plant in Dahlonega. They began dating in 1955.
They married on April 28, 1956, at the Sullens’ home off Old Dahlonega Hwy. The house still stands and is occupied by her niece, Robin.
The pair are blessed with three children, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren, whom they cherish greatly.
For 22 years Charles was the owner/operator of Charlie’s Grocery on Morrison Moore Parkway, where the popular Foothill Grill restaurant stands today, while Robbie provided decades of service to both the Lumpkin County School System and North Georgia College & State University.
HARD WORKERS
Despite the longevity of their relationship, Charles and Robbie didn’t date while they were in high school.
“I’d seen him around, but he’s two years older so he was two years ahead of me—His younger sister and I are the same age,” Robbie said.
The couple first took serious notice of each other while working at the Pine Tree Carpet Mill.
Robbie conducted time studies meant to optimize efficiency and establish productivity standards at the plant. Charles started out as a floor sweeper before advancing to a critical role in the company.
“I worked my way up to Production Control Manager. I ordered raw materials, scheduled it through the plant, scheduled shipping. Of course, I started out doing it all myself. But once we really started to get things going I had two assistants: Vernon Dockery and Wyman Walden. You’ve probably heard Wyman’s name … the three of us, we took care of scheduling all of the orders that came through the plant, and shipping,” Charles recalled.
At one time the plant had around 700 employees over ran around the clock, 24/7, a revolution for Lumpkin’s previously agriculture-based economy.
“Some people raised chickens … But it was the first industry this area had,” Robbie remarked.
And the plant provided jobs for more than just Dahlonega.
“We had people that drove all the way across the mountain from Suches to work over here, and we had people from up around Cleveland and down toward Gainesville,” Charlie said.
When asked how they met on the job, Robbie said it was likely Charles that first approached her. “If I was doing a time study, I stayed with that machine and that operator,” she said.
“She was cute,” Charles commented with a grin.
FAMILY FIRST
Robbie left the plant first, when she became pregnant with the couple’s first child, Deborah. She would stay at home to raise all three children.
“When our youngest [Jimmy] started to kindergarten, I went to work for the school system. He was born in ’63, so he would have been kindergarten at five. So ’68 is when I started working for the school system,” she said.
After that, she served in Rogers Hall at what is now the University of North Georgia as the secretary for the Physics, Chemistry and Biology departments.
After UNG switched from the semester system to the quarter system in Fall of 1998, Robbie was promoted to Assistant to the Dean of the School of Sciences.
“Actually, I was just a secretary. They just gave it a name,” she said with a laugh.
After retiring from the mill, Charles bought Greenways Groceries and ran it as Charlie’s Grocery for 22 years. He said it represented a refreshing change of pace from factory work.
“I enjoyed it. Of course, instead of an eight hour shift I had a 12 or 14 hour shift,” he noted. “I opened up at 7 in the morning and closed at 7 or 8 at night.”
He said a lot of people he had met in his decades at the plant became customers of the store as well.
“Charles did great, because his mother and daddy grew up on this side of the county: the Wehunts and the Waters. Charles knew everybody in town, and everybody on this side of the county. That’s how it went. They would stop in every day,” Robbie said.
Robbie said the customers would continue to shop to this day, if Charles was still there: “We have people now that were still around when he had the store saying ‘Why don’t y’all open up again?’ And I said, ‘We’re 90 years old.’”
“I don’t believe I ought to do that now,” Charles said as the pair laughed. “I would love to.”
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS
In addition to their lengthy careers, Charles served on both the Board of Voters Registration and the County Industrial Authority, while Robbie is a lifelong Master Gardener and served on the committee that helped Dahlonega earn the Tree City USA certification the City has held since 2001.
“That’s when Greg Sheppard was the County [Extension] Agent. I know Dr. [Larry] Sorohan was involved in that. I don’t remember any other names—it was a while ago. But Greg wanted the Master Gardeners to help with it, so I set up the program and we worked it. I set up the scheduling and whatever had to be done. We’d have teams that would go out and cover certain areas, and identify and count trees,” she recalled.
Robbie said gardening is in her blood since she grew up on a farm. Her favorite plants to grow now are flowers, but she said keeping the deer away is a bit of a challenge.
Both Charles and Robbie have been members of Dahlonega Baptist Church for over 60 years and were on the committee that organized the church’s first children’s nursery at their original location which is not part of the UNG campus.
Andy “Sully” Sullens contributed information for this article.