John Shearer: Remembering When Donald Trump Came To The Area For Homecoming

  • Monday, January 16, 2017
  • John Shearer
Donald Trump on Friday will move into his new home in the White House after taking the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States.
 
Way back in 1991, he was in a rare supporting role while his woman friend stopped by her old home community near Chattanooga.
 
On Oct. 18, 1991, Marla Maples and Mr. Trump, who were then dating, attended the homecoming football game in Tunnel Hill between her alma mater, Northwest Whitfield High School, and Murray County.
 
 
It was the 10th anniversary of the former Lady Bruin basketball player’s selection as the school’s homecoming queen, and she was being welcomed back with her famous boyfriend.
 
It was definitely a case of small town charm meeting big city glitz. And Ms. Maples had experienced both in her life up until that point.
 
According to one biography, she and Mr. Trump had met and began a relationship as early as 1986 or early 1987 while he was still married to his first wife, Ivana. They had dated off and on during the early 1990s.
 
In fact, it was not completely clear whether Mr. Trump would be there with her, although her appearance was expected beforehand.
 
Chattanooga Times sports columnist Stan Crawley alluded to this fact when he wrote in that day’s paper about her expected appearance, “There’s no word if Donald Trump or (noted singer) Michael Bolton will be her escort.”
 
A group of television reporters met her when she arrived at the Chattanooga airport, and, yes, Mr. Trump was with her. Among those media members on hand for her appearance at the stadium and school in Tunnel Hill and covering for the Times was a young recent Sewanee college graduate named Jon Meacham.
 
Mr. Meacham was just beginning an accomplished career that included serving as editor of Newsweek magazine and as the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Andrew Jackson and other statesmen.
 
In recent weeks, he has come full circle with Mr. Trump, as he has been seen on various TV news talk shows discussing the history of the presidency in connection with Mr. Trump’s upcoming inauguration.
 
On that night in 1991 in the school auditorium before the homecoming activities, Mr. Meacham and other reporters were told by Mr. Trump that it was great that Ms. Maples was being honored.
 
“She’s a great lady and it’s a fantastic tribute to her. I’m just happy for Marla tonight,” he said.
 
When Ms. Maples was asked if she and Mr. Trump were back to dating, she replied, “Well, he’s just very supportive and a very close friend of mine. We’re just spending some time together to make sure.”
 
She was also taking a little time to enjoy the past, too, and remember when she was named homecoming queen.
 
“It was a very, very nervous time,” she recalled. “Winning was just such an honor, because it’s not just the students – it’s the faculty, too. It’s just such an honor to be loved by everybody.”
 
The Cohutta, Ga., native – whose father, Stan Maples, had been a subdivision developer and Baptist church deacon and singer -- also said she missed being “out in the country” now that she was a resident of New York.
 
That year’s Northwest Whitfield homecoming queen, Traya Miller, was excited that the modestly famous actress but better-known dater was on hand.  “I like it that she is here – it’s exciting,” she said. “Everybody kept talking about this all week, and we’re nervous anyway.”
 
Another student, Northwest junior Mandy Stanley, was more interested in Mr. Trump. “I want to marry Donald,” she said. “I want his money.”
 
Earlier that summer, Mr. Trump had given Ms. Maples a $250,000 engagement ring, but she was not wearing it, giving more fuel to the discussions about the on-again/off-again relationship.
 
All of this news about him evidently made him more appealing to the North Georgia crowd. At the auditorium gathering before the game, Mr. Trump reportedly was walking down the hallway to leave when he was called back for more photo opportunities in those pre-selfie days.
 
“It’s just another night out,” Mr. Trump said in his typical self-confident manner. “We come to Dalton and it even happens here.”
 
According to the write-up on the game by Times sports writer Dave Link, Mr. Trump and Ms. Maples apparently missed the teams running out on the field before kickoff. Mr. Trump might have been glad because the green-colored Murray County Indians ran through a banner that read, “Ivana says, ‘Go Big Green.’ ”
 
The celebrity couple went on the field sideline near the end of the first quarter, and left right after halftime in a helicopter, Mr. Link wrote. Murray County, which was coached by Bill Napier and had a 2-4 record going into the game, won, 21-14, over the Don Murray-coached Northwest Bruins (5-2).
 
Ms. Maples had flown from Los Angeles to New York the day before, to Chattanooga with Mr. Trump that afternoon and then flew back to New York that night.
 
Ms. Maples, the daughter of the now-late homemaker and model Laura Ann Locklear, married Mr. Trump in 1993, the same year their only child, Tiffany A. Trump, was born. Tiffany spoke during the Republican National Convention, with Ms. Maples waiting backstage, according to news reports.
 
The couple had separated in 1997 and divorced in 1999. Mr. Trump married his current wife, Melania, in 2005.
 
Ms. Maples’ personal website says she attended the University of Georgia for a period before moving to New York to pursue a career in the arts. She has lived in Los Angeles since 1999.
 
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, will soon begin living in Washington, D.C.
 
Jcshearer2@comcast.net
 
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