news-record.com

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

Thieves blew two safes in the offices of Meador Wholesale Co. of Madison during the night and then fled without a trace.

While they made off with some valuable papers, they did not get any money. The cash was in the inner section of the safes and the explosives used penetrated only the outer door.

The force of the explosion scattered office furniture and caused considerable damage. The noise was heard by occupants of homes several blocks away. The first explosion occurred about 5:30 a.m. and the second about a half-hour later.

The thieves originally had planned to haul away the safes but these proved to be too heavy and so they resorted to explosives.

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Mrs. J. Frank King, chairman of the Leaksville-Spray History Club’s finance committee, presented plans for a community arts festival to be sponsored by the club this spring. After her report was received, the club then heard a piano solo interpreted by Mrs. Lawson Ivie and a talk by Mrs. Allen T. Hopper on noted women novelists of recent times.

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Preparations were made for the Masonic and Eastern Star banquet to be held in Mayodan during a meeting hosted by Mrs. M.L. Webb in Mayodan. At the close of the business session, Mrs. Fletcher Thomason was feted at a shower. She is the former Miss Katherine Matthews of Stoneville.

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Mrs. Allen Gwyn was hostess to the Reidsville Art and Travel Club, which heard a report by Mrs. R.P. Richardson on the life of Madame de Lafayette.

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Now playing: Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter in “One More Spring.”

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

The county commissioners told school Superintendent Allan Lewis and the county school board they will need to come up with money from some other sources and suggested they would do well to keep their heads above water.

The county has $150,000 for school projects but that is not enough to do what the school board wants to do.

A proposed 11-room Stoneville school would cost about $232,000.

A Reidsville architectural firm has estimated that building only seven rooms would save about $47,000. The report noted that savings also could be obtained by using such materials as asphalt tile but the tile would have to be replaced in about 10 years.

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A storm dumped several inches of snow on Rockingham County, covering the roads and causing schools to close. While there were no fatalities, a number of people were hurt when they slipped and fell on the snow or when their cars crashed. It was the second snowfall in a week.

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Fire destroyed a sheet-metal maintenance garage on Reidsville’s Vance Street. City Clerk Numa Baker estimated the loss of the building and the equipment in it at $35,000 but fortunately the property was insured. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

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Dr. William D. Huffines, a Reidsville native, has been named recipient of a five-year, $30,000 cash grant as a Merkle scholar in medical science at the University of North Carolina. The award is one of the top honors available for young men in academic medicine.

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Thomas Clark Ealy, 41, a Leaksville furniture dealer, filed with the State Board of Elections in Raleigh as a candidate for the 5th  District congressional seat, joining lawyer Allan D. Ivie in a bid for the seat. Incumbent Ralph D. Scott is seeking re-election.

Ealy, a newcomer to politics, is a World War II Navy veteran who has had his own business in the Tri-Cities since 1946.

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Now playing: Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds in “The Gazebo.”

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

Judge Julius A. Rousseau sentenced Perrie Dyon Simpson to die April 19 at Central Prison after a Superior Court jury found him guilty of the murder of a 92-year-old retired Reidsville minister and recommended the death penalty.

It is unlikely Simpson will die in April since a death sentence verdict is automatically appealed. Simpson is the first person to be sentenced to death in Rockingham County since 1976.

Simpson pleaded guilty to the murder of the Rev. Jean E. Darter. A deputy testified that Simpson told him that Darter smiled at him and said, “Go ahead and kill me, I’m going to heaven anyway.” He said Darter continued smiling as Simpson clutched his throat and demanded money.

He choked the Baptist preacher with a belt, bashed his face with an empty soft drink bottle and slashed his arm with a razor blade.

In addition to the death penalty, he also was given 40 years for armed robbery and three years for conspiracy to commit murder. His co-defendant is to be tried next month.

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At Stoneville School, complaints about headaches, dizziness and breathing problems have increased since classes began last fall, about the same time Stoneville Furniture operations across the street began emitting fumes believed to be the cause of the complaints.

Assistant Principal Robert Wyatt said the vapors bother students and teachers in primary and elementary buildings across Mebane Street from the factory.

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The county commissioners allocated $45,000 for a study aimed at bolstering the county’s economic development prospects. Fantus Co. of Millburn, N.J., will conduct the study.

The prospects for the county’s three foundation industries — textiles, tobacco and beer — are dim and something needs to be done to attract other industries, the board was told by Dick Cranfill, County Development Commission chairman.

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The county’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.3 percent in January, down from 11.2 percent in December. The rate means that 9.3 percent of the county’s 40,730-member labor force are without work.

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Reidsville needs a planner to streamline the government processes that now slow down housing development, according to Bob White, executive vice president of the chamber of commerce. With a planner on hand to create housing zones, it would be a big help in attracting residential developers to the area, White said.

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Now playing:   John Cusack in “The Sure Thing.”

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

Four people were injured in a two-car collision on Price Grange Road about two miles north of Stoneville.

The Highway Patrol said a car driven by Patsy Little, 43, of Plantation Road in Eden, and a vehicle driven by Salvador Guadia, 43, of Contessa Loop in Stoneville collided on the highway.

Jorge Barroso, 36, of Winston-Salem was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where his condition was listed as critical. Little also was taken to Baptist; her condition was reported as satisfactory.

Guadia and Salinas Santiago of Stoneville, a second passenger in Guadia’s car, were taken to Morehead Memorial Hospital in Eden, where their conditions were reported as stable. The Highway Patrol said the victims were wearing seat belts, with the possible exception of Barroso. It could not be determined if he had on a seat belt.

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The county commissioners have joined others who want to see a stretch of N.C. 14 widened to five lanes from Meadow Road in Eden to the Virginia state line. The State Highway Commission recently completed a study that estimated traffic on the road will nearly double, to 21,600 vehicles, in the next 20 years.

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The Rockingham Community College board of trustees approved a 2000-2001 budget that includes a 9.3 percent increase over last year’s budget and raises for RCC employees. RCC President Robert Keys said much of the increase is due to contracted services and fixed costs over which the college has no control.

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More than $100,000 in repairs to City Hall in Reidsville are in the works as a result of city staffers’ complaints about the draftiness of the building, which was constructed 63 years ago. The repairs include $60,000 to fix a leaky roof and $50,000 to improve heating and air conditioning.

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The nationally acclaimed Osborne Brothers will bring their bluegrass act to Eden in May when they perform at the annual Charlie Poole Music Festival. The festival is a salute to a pioneering country musician who worked in the textile mills at Spray.