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75 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro Daily News, Nov. 15-21, 1934:

The Public Works Administration is prepared to fund a major project in Rockingham County involving the draining of high water from the Haw River and its tributaries.

At a meeting with farmers in the affected areas, a PWA representative said that the high water of these streams, the chief of which is Troublesome Creek, now makes it impossible to work 5,000 to 10,000 acres that otherwise would be suitable for farming. The land is covered by water or in swampy condition.

The proposal, if carried out, would make this land available for farming.

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A general strengthening of prices on all types of tobacco and a decided improvement in the quality of offerings pushed Reidsville’s tobacco market average back to about $30 per hundredweight. About 100,000 pounds were marketed Tuesday.

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The Mayodan Parent-Teacher Association met in the school auditorium, with the largest crowd in the PTA’s history. Among other business, the PTA raised money for the current Red Cross drive.

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The Dolley Madison Club of Madison voted unanimously to donate 24 books to the Rockingham County Library at a meeting that also heard Mrs. W.T. Lanten talk about the life of Charlotte Bronte.

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Reidsville and Mount Airy battled mightily but neither could score and consequently the game ended in a 0-0 tie and the Western Class B championship was undecided. Officials decided to play another game between the two teams next Friday in Memorial Stadium in Greensboro.

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Movie at the Carolina Theatre: Mae West  in “Belle of the Nineties.”

50 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro Daily News, Nov. 15-21, 1959:

The Chinqua Penn Council of Girl Scouts held its last meeting, but not because of lack of girls or leadership. Rather the council is joining the Rockingham-Caswell-Guilford-Randolph Scout area.

Mrs. Robert Taylor told the final Chinqua Penn meeting that the four counties have been working toward a goal of combining forces and, on Nov. 30, delegates from all four counties will meet in Greensboro to make this a reality.

Mrs. Taylor noted that “more program service can be given to a larger number of girls with less expense” when several counties combine.

Girl Scouting started in the Reidsville area in 1926 when a troop was organized at the suggestion of Mrs. Jefferson Penn. Mrs. Mabel Burnett was the first executive director and, after leaving the job for several years, returned and became its last executive director.

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Prices and averages on Rockingham County’s three tobacco markets for one day during the past week: Madison, 73,820 pounds sold for an average of $48.61 per hundredweight; Reidsville, 41,958 pounds averaging $52.59; Stoneville, 91,430 pounds averaging $46.08.

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Jamie Jones of Route 6, Reidsville, said he never realized the importance of proper ventilation when curing tobacco until this year. But with so much rain, if plenty of ventilation had not been provided during the early part of curing, tobacco would have decayed and fallen off the stick, he said. Assistant County Agent Horace Hux concurred with Jones, noting that proper ventilation also gives tobacco a better color.

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Morehead High School dominated the Western 3-A Conference All-Star team chosen by the conference’s six coaches. Of the first 11 players named, four were from Morehead, with the high school notably having quarterback Glen Ogburn named Back of the Year and Ronnie Woods named Lineman of the Year.

In a game scheduled to be played at Spray, Morehead High takes on Waynesville High for the Western 3-A Conference title and a shot at the state championship game.

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Movie at the Center theater: Rock Hudson and Doris Day in “Pillow Talk.”

25 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro News & Record, Nov. 15-21, 1984:

Reidsville, Stoneville and Madison-Mayodan United Way drives have surpassed their goals, but Eden apparently will not meet its goal.

At week’s end, Reidsville had raised $371,900, or 105 percent of its $345,922 mark. The Madison-Mayodan campaign had a goal of $104,000 and raised $104,491. Stone­ville, for the first time in three years, exceeded its goal, raising $13,652, or 111 percent of its campaign mark of $12,350.

Meanwhile, in Eden, a goal of $378,500 has not yet been met, with campaigners so far raising $334,883, or 88 percent of its goal. Campaign Coordinator Cindy Furstenberg was not optimistic that the goal will be met, noting that the total could rise by a few hundred dollars more by the end of next week but not thousands more.

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Mayodan apparently will get additional federal funds to go ahead with its plans to build a new wastewater treatment plant. Mayodan was notified in August that it would receive $1,594,500 for 75 percent of the plant’s costs, then estimated at $2,126,000. But when bids were opened, the lowest came in at $2,205,007, leaving the town about $500,000 short. Town Manager Jerry Carlton has met with state officials about getting more money and was assured additional funds would be available.

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The Federal Aviation Administration has approved plans for construction of North Carolina’s first heliport, to be built on Morehead Memorial Hospital property at Kings Highway and Van Buren Road. The estimated cost is $30,000.

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Eden’s Spray industrial complex — a group of mill buildings near Church and Morgan roads — could have “national significance,” says historian Claudia Roberts Brown of Carr­boro, who has studied Eden architecture since August.

“It sort of encapsulates the whole industrial evolution,” she said.

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Madison-Mayodan High was an 18-6 loser to West Caldwell, advancing West Caldwell into the state 3-A football quarter-finals.

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Movie at the Janus theater: Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator.”

10 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro News & Record, Nov. 15-21, 1999:

The State Board of Elections, by a 3-2 vote, has cast even more doubt on the outcome of Reidsville’s City Council elections but it also means the results will stand since state law requires at least four affirmative votes to overturn an election.

The state board’s vote was in favor of throwing out the results of an election marred by errors. So, the result is that incumbents George Rucker and John Henderson have won, retaining their council seats. They contended the errors were too minimal to affect the final result.

The errors involved 21 people who voted in the wrong district.

Don Powell had appealed the election results but, in a statement to the state board, said he would not continue to contest the election.

According to official results of the Oct. 5 election, Henderson and Rucker successfully defended their seats with votes of 409 and 379 respectively, while challenger Powell came in a losing third at 336 votes.

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Three blood drives have been scheduled in the county this month: 4:30-7 p.m. Wednesday at Lowe’s Food Store, Freeway Drive, Reidsville; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday at the Red Cross building, Highway 14, Reidsville; 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the City of Reidsville Recreation Center, Franklin Street.

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Johnny Junior Brown, 65, of Eden died in a Winston-Salem hospital of injuries suffered in a traffic accident southwest of Eden when he attempted to make a left turn from N.C. 135 onto N.C. 2148 in front of an oncoming tractor-trailer. His wife, Eva, 61, was dead at the scene.

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The Reidsville planning board delayed making a decision on a proposal to require property owners to bear the cost of cleaning up graffiti on their property. After board member Rick Crescenzo questioned whether the ordinance might violate property owner rights, the whole board voted unanimously to table the proposal and to have Reidsville city staff study it further.