news-record.com

75 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro Daily News, July 5-11, 1934

The annual picnic of the Rockingham Granges will be held next week at the county playground in Wentworth, beginning at 10 o’clock.

The program will start with a short business session and then various games and contests will be held, with prizes to be given to winners.

At present, only four Granges are meeting regularly in the county and are in good standing, but Grange officials are hoping that a picnic and countywide get-together will help strengthen the organization in the county.

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The Civil Works Adminstration of North Carolina created 10,182 jobs in Rockingham County in the past year, according to a report by Mrs. Thomas O’Berry, state administrator.

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Rufus Covington, who had entered a well on the farm of Joe Joyce near Madison, was overcome by poisonous fumes from recent dynamite explosions in the well. Dr. A.M. Cox, who was summoned to the farm after Covington was stricken, almost lost his own life trying to save Covington. He lowered himself into the well but became unconscious. He was revived but nothing could be done to save Covington.

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An underpass is now under construction just below the railroad station at Ruffin and will replace a railroad crossing deemed too dangerous . A rerouting of U.S. 29 will be necessary to make use of the underpass.

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D.P. Coffee: 27 cents per pound

50 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro Daily News, July 5-11, 1959

Eighty Rockingham County citizens, mostly farmers and their wives, left Reidsville’s Kiker Stadium on a chartered bus Friday for the seventh annual Out of State Farm Tour. They’ll cover 2,500 miles and be back next Sunday.

The tour is organized by the offices of the county farm and home agents. Assistant Farm Agent Charles Turner and Miss Isabelle Buckley, county home demonstration agent, are with the touring group.

On the agenda are “Chucky Jack,” an outdoor drama at Gatlinburg, Tenn.; “Hermitage,” home of president Andrew Jackson; and a tour of the Grand Ole Opry.

They also will see some Western cattle and dirt farms, visit Iowa State College and the University of Missouri, and  be guests of the Purina Co.

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James Burgess Smith, 22, of Spray, died instantly when shot through the heart by a pistol witnesses said was held by William Howell, 32, also of Spray and a brother-in-law of Smith. Howell was charged with murder although he contended he brought the gun to Smith’s house for Smith to work on. Smith, father of a little girl, was employed at Spray Cotton Mill.

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The county commssioners tentatively adopted a 1959-60 budget $1,760,940 and set a tax rate of 85 cents per $100 valuation. The tax rate is based on property valuation of $165 million, or $15 million more than at present, thanks to a new countywide property evaluation.

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Homer (Burrhead) Nantz of Mooresville won the sportsman stock car race at Bi-State Speedway in Draper, taking the 30-lap feature for  his third win in four starts this season. Carl Burrus of Leaksville was fifth. Some 2,400 fans watched the races.

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Pvt. Jerry L. McFadden, son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond McFadden of Jackson Street, Reidsville, has been transferred to the 32nd Medical Depot at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

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New Day Coffee: 49 cents per pound bag

25 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro News & Record, July 5-11, 1984

Three of the four county school systems spent about $200 per pupil less than the statewide average in 1982-83, according to figures compiled by the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research in Raleigh.

Placing in the bottom third of the rankings were Rockingham County, Eden and Western Rockingham based on total funds spent, including money from state, federal and local sources. Rockingham schools spent $1,884 per pupil, Eden $1,818 and Western Rockingham $1,895.

Reidsville City Schools ranked 56th in total per pupil spending at $2,043, scoring in the top 50 percent.

The state average was $2,033. The national average was $2,473.

Mayor James Collins voted to approve Mayodan’s 1984-85 budget of $3,711,733, breaking a 2-2 deadlock. The town’s tax rate remains the same at 55 cents per $100 valuation.

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Sgt. R.E. Wooten, 60, Trooper L.C. Odom, 59, and Trooper D.B. Durham, 42, all based in Rockingham County, are retiring from the Highway Patrol. Durham’s retirement becomes offcial July 31 after 19 years of service. He currently is on leave because of a heart condition.

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WRNC-AM, an adult contemporary radio station mixing light rock and country music, tentatively has been sold to the Statesville Broadcasting general manager, Dave Bradsher, 42. Bradsher said he offered to buy the Reidsville station and Statesville Broadcasting, which owns five stations total, had agreed. No sales price was disclosed. The sale must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

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Lindy Tate and Frank Ward of Eden set the first round standard in the 11th annual News & Record Golf Classic but then lost to Jim Feree and Don Trotter of Asheboro in a playoff after the four men were tied at 125 at the end of the second round.

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Folger’s Coffee: $2.29 per pound

10 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro  News & Record, July 5-11, 1999

The owners of the Family Dining Room restaurant have declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy and plan to close the popular eatery Sunday.

“It’s a sad thing for the area,” said Brenda Durham, director of the Reidsville Chamber of Commerce. “Anytime you lose a restaurant that’s been around that long, it leaves a void, especially for the older people that have eaten there for many years and come to depend on the quality, affordability and that they know everyone there.”

Plagued by road construction, competition with national chains and a loss of staff, the 38-year-old restaurant saw a 20 percent decline in sales since January. The restaurant’s owners, Trulah and George Emerson, were saddened to close the restaurant but decided there was no way they could go on.

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A 17-year-old Reidsville resident, Eric Early of 150 Early Drive, has been released from Annie Penn Memorial Hospital after accidentally shooting himself in the abdomen while cleaning his gun at his home.

Early told a deputy sheriff he thought the gun was unloaded  when he began cleaning it. He  pulled the trigger and the bullet hit his lower abdomen.

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With Moore’s Grocery Store on Henry Street closed since the March 1998 tornado, residents of Stoneville are looking for alternatives beyond going to Mayodan or Eden to buy their groceries weekly. Mayor Rex Tuggle said the town has contacted five major grocery chains but they require about six acres for the store, plus parking, and Stoneville doesn’t have that much empty space downtown.

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The Madison aldermen voted 5-0 to approve the interlocal sewer agreement with Mayodan and Stoneville. Under the agreement, the three town’s waste will be treated at a new sewage treatment plant at Mayodan.

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One year after becoming an incorporated town, Wentworth still has yet to have a post office big enough to serve all its citizens. The present one-room office doesn’t have enough boxes to go around and consequently many residents still have Reidsville addresses.

The town’s lone employee, town clerk Brenda Ward, has her office in a 200-square-foot room inside the N.C. National Guard Armory that barely has enough space for her and her copier, a computer, polished red oak desk with hutch, and filing cabinets.