news-record.com

75 years ago
From the Greensboro Daily News, Feb. 7-13, 1935:

Wheeler Sparks, 45, was in critical condition in a hospital after being shot by Robert Noell, 19, who lives near Sparks’ home in the Pelham-Ruffin community.

Noell was arrested and placed in jail in Reidsville but was released when no charge was brought against him.

According to Deputy Sheriff Roy Fowlkes, Noell had been at the Sparks home most of the day and was toying with a gun when Sparks cautioned him about playing with the gun. Then the gun went off, and its discharge struck Sparks in the chest.

Mrs. Sparks tried to get help by flagging down passing cars, but none of the cars stopped. By the time Deputy Fowlkes arrived, Sparks was taken immediately to a hospital.

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The 126 Boy Scouts of Leaksville, Spray and Draper will participate in the national celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Boy Scout movement.
 
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The enlargement of the county courthouse and an addition to the Negro section of the County Home were discussed by the county commissioners at their monthly meeting, and plans were laid out for securing these improvements.

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The Parent-Teacher Association of Wentworth consolidated school met at the school, with Mrs. Numa Reid presiding. Because several officers have resigned since the last meeting of the PTA, new elections were held with the following people chosen: Mrs. Jesse Comer, president; Mrs. Jesse Carter, vice president; Mrs. M.D. Field, secretary; Mrs. Thomas Cobb, treasurer.

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The Draper Y’s girls basketball team has a 15-0-2 record, with the two ties subsequently being avenged with victories when the teams met again. 

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Men’s suits, $16.10 to $22.50.

50 years ago
From the Greensboro Daily News, Feb. 7-13, 1960:

Thomas Milton Wray, 26, of Route 1, Martinsville, died in Tri-Cities Hospital in Leaksville of head injuries sustained in an auto collision at Shiloh crossroads three miles east of Stoneville.

Wray was a passenger in a car driven by Norman Trillman, 24, of Martinsville. Trillman was driving north on Settles Bridge Road when he ran a stop sign and his car crashed into one driven by Richard I. Bullard of High Point. Trillman suffered a cut face and throat, and Bullard suffered a leg injury and cuts. Both were treated at Tri-Cities Hospital.

Highway Patrolman Leonard Cheek said Trillman told him he was unfamiliar with the road he was driving on and did not see the stop sign.

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Walter Barnes Fred, 60, retired automobile dealer of Westwood, N.J., died of a heart attack at McCollumn Service Station on Highway 158 west of Reidsville. Accompanied by his wife, Fred was returning to New Jersey after a long vacation in Florida when he was stricken while stopped at the service station for a brief rest stop.

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The Rev. D.S. Lindsey resigned as pastor of Spray Baptist Church effective March 1 to accept a call to a Baptist church in Hartford. He has been at the Spray church for eight years, during which time membership grew by 250.

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R.M. Durham of Route 5, Reidsville, said “farming is a highly technical business” after selling his latest tobacco crop. Durham explained that tobacco fertilized according to soil test recommendations did much better than that planted primarily by guess.

Assistant County Agricultural Agent Horace Hux said the experiment has made Durham a firm believer in soil testing and he will use it for all of his crop in the future.

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Reidsville’s Golden Lions dealt the Greensboro High Whirlies a 47-35 defeat in a game played on Reidsville’s home court. Meanwhile, Morehead High of Leaksville-Spray-Draper was embarrassed by the Bessemer Whippets 61-45 in a game played at Bessemer.

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Men’s spring suits, $55.

25 years ago
From the News & Record, Feb. 7-13, 1985:

The county commissioners got to see what their new government complex in Wentworth will look like, but now they must decide what goes into it.

Jerel Boone, an architect with J. Hyatt Hammond Associates of Greensboro, went through a series of site, structure and floor plans with the board based on information gathered from directors of the departments initially intended to go into the complex. The two-story, L-shaped building will be on county-owned land adjacent to the current Mental Health Center on N.C. 65.

But the size and occupants of the new building are yet to be decided. Commissioner Garland Edwards said it would be best if the board made that decision soon.

County Manager Hugh P. Griffin said there has been a change in thought about the location of the Register of Deeds office. Originally scheduled to go into the new building, that office now will remain in the present courthouse .

The commissioners agreed to meet again later this month to decide how to proceed with the complex.

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Total cost of renovation and construction at Senior High School in Reidsville is estimated at $2.99 million, while renovation of the city’s elementary schools is put at $1.09 million and roof repairs is placed at $741,000, School Superintendent Jim Hardy said.

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Bill Goldston, 59, was chosen 1984 Citizen of the Year by the Eden Chamber of Commerce. Goldston, elected last November to the State Senate from the 24th District,  made his fortune through Goldston Trucking started by his father.

He since has left that and  is owner of Southern Printwear, an Eden distributor for Tultex Corp., and Eden Impressions, a screen printing company.

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A school bus carrying about 25 children ran off the side of Faucett Road, an unpaved Rockingham County road about five miles from Reidsville, and overturned, injuring three students.

The Highway Patrol said no charges would be brought against bus driver Betty Lou Slade, 34, whose attention was distracted briefly by a call from a student on the bus. By the time she looked ahead again, the bus had run off the highway and overturned.

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Reidsville boys took two games this week, beating Ragsdale 59-56 and then Northeast Guilford 82-52. Morehead High boys also claimed two wins, defeating Northwest Guilford 56-49 and Rockingham High 69-55.

Rockingham, in another game this week, beat Southeast Guilford 62-56.

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Suits, $99.90.

10 years ago
From the News & Record, Feb. 7-13, 2000:

A 108-lot development, the largest ever in Rockingham County, has been proposed for Bobcat Road, a dead-end road off N.C. 65 in Bethany. But some Bethany residents have expressed concern about the development because of traffic it will generate, lower property values and demands on public service.

A county review committee has approved a tentative sketch of the development, which will consist of both stick homes and double-wide mobile homes with brick underpinning. It will be the first new subdivision to tap into a 17-mile water line recently laid for a nearby power plant. Lot sizes will range from just over a half acre to 12 acres.

Kearns & McDowell Developers of Asheboro must still get approval from the State Department of Transportation, and the county commissioners must OK rezoning, but an official of the firm said these should be coming soon.

Some residents of the area indicated they will oppose the company because of safety factors primarily, but also because of the number of people who would be moving into the development. Jennifer Anderson, who lives across N.C. 65 from the development site, said she expects more than 200 cars coming in and going out of the development every day if it is built.

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The Eden Rescue Squad received a new “crash truck” with equipment to free motorists from wrecks. The rescue squad, composed of 27 volunteers, already has two ambulances, a first response vehicle, two boats, two rafts and an older crash truck.

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The Madison aldermen unanimously approved a change to the town charter to allow the town manager to live within a five-mile radius of Madison. The previous month they OK’d an amendment permitting the police chief to live within five miles of the town limits.

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Reidsville will use a $40,000 federal grant to purchase several pieces of public safety equipment, including an outdoor public address system, a computerized voice stress analyzer and a wireless surveillance system that will make it easier for police to videotape stores and other places subject to seizure.

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Dr. Tiffany Roberson, a Reidsville dentist, will be hired to start Rockingham County’s first public dental clinic, which is to begin in April. She will begin getting the clinic ready for operation in March.