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75 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro Daily News, Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 1935
Robert M. Cardwell, a prominent Madison resident and great-grandson of former Gov. Alexander Martin, died in a Leaksville hospital after a critical illness of four weeks.

He had been retired for eight years, but before that was in the automotive business in Madison. Prior to that, he was in the real estate and livery businesses.

Born on the family estate about 3 miles east of Madison, he was the son of James and Sarah Martin Cardwell. He was educated at a private school in Madison and at Oak Ridge Military Academy.

He married the former Ida Webster. They had five daughters and four sons. She died in 1932.

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An inter-city meeting of six Rotary Clubs was held at the Belvedere Hotel in Reidsville with Dr. Mike Cummings, president of the Reidsville Rotary, and Benton Pipkin, also of the Reidsville Rotary, serving as hosts.

Clubs represented at the meeting were Leaksville-Spray, Madison, Reidsville, Greensboro, Gibsonville and Burlington.

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Clarence Dishman, serving 10 to 15 years for attempted criminal assault, escaped from a state prison camp at Crabtree Creek near Raleigh. Although camp officials sought to track him down with the use of bloodhounds, he had the advantage of thick woods, mud and a considerable lead time.

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The faculty of Mayodan High School attended a Northwestern District teachers meeting in Greensboro.

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Both Reidsville and Leaksville High schools were victorious on the football field Friday night. Reidsville easily handled Spencer High, 19-0, and Leaksville beat the Burlington Bulldogs on a last-second 70-yard touchdown pass from M. Edwards to J. Robinson for a 13-12 victory.

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Cadillac two-door LaSalle, $1,175.

50 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro Daily News, Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 1960     
John Motley Morehead III, former chairman of Union Carbide Corp., celebrated his 90th birthday at his Rye, N.Y., home and so did North Carolina, where he is famous for his philanthropy.

Gov. Luther Hodges spoke about him on a special public television broadcast, and the University of North Carolina proclaimed it John Motley Morehead Day in recognition of his gift of Morehead Planetarium, the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower and the Morehead Scholarships.

He also is well known in Spray, where he was born and started working in his father’s aluminum mill. It was there that he discovered more economic ways to produce calcium carbide and acetylene gas. This led to the founding of several chemical companies and eventually to Union Carbide.

He occasionally visits his family home in Spray where a new Morehead Memorial Hospital is named after him. He goes to his New York office daily and comes to North Carolina at least twice a year.

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J. Ed Foil, Rockingham County farm agent, will receive the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Agricultural Agents when they meet this year in Miami. Foil, a native of Rowan County where he grew up on his father’s dairy farm, came to Rockingham in 1935 as a vocational agriculture teacher at Wentworth School. He was named farm agent in 1945.

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Tri-Cities churches, in cooperation with the YMCA-Church Youth Council, helped youngsters enjoy Halloween but in a safe way. The children reported to their respective churches to receive street assignments for trick-or-treat solicitations to certain charities and then later returned to the churches where they turned in the money they had collected and enjoyed special Halloween parties.

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A one-day glance at Rockingham County’s three tobacco markets: Madison, 106,600 pounds sold, averaging $55.47; Reidsville, 132,648 pounds sold, averaging $53.76; Stoneville, 75,478 pounds sold, averaging $55.22.

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Reidsville High School beat Mount Airy, 32-20, but Morehead High of Leaksville-Spray fell to Winston-Salem Gray, which clinched the Western 3-A Conference title with a 45-7 triumph.

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1961 Rambler four-door sedan, $1,845.

25 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro News & Record, Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 1985
Mayodan’s longtime mayor lost, Stoneville and Eden kept their incumbent mayors while Madison got a new mayor and Reidsville will select a mayor from among its council members later.

James Collins, mayor for 20 years, was dethroned by former Councilman Hassell Richardson, with Richardson polling 605 votes to Collins’ 479. Richardson is a real estate agent. Collins is distribution manager for Tultex.

In Stoneville, Bill Crews ran unopposed for re-election while Eden Mayor Lawrence W. Cox Jr., a fifth-grade teacher at Draper Elementary, easily beat William Spangler, 2,476 to 352, to cruise to a second term.

Madison got a new mayor when incumbent J.P Carter decided to run this year for the Board of Aldermen instead of another term as mayor. In the resulting mayoral race, George M. Hayes Jr. defeated William E. Wall, 433 to 109.

Reidsville does not know yet who will succeed Earl M. (Pat) Grogan as mayor. Grogan declined to seek another term. Mayor Pro Tem Clark Turner, American Tobacco Co. traffic manager, was the top vote getter with 1,334. The new council will pick a mayor from among its members when it organizes.

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Sales ended on Rockingham County’s three tobacco markets, with about 25 million pounds being sold for $45.8 million, an average of $175.50 per hundredweight. These figures were down from a year earlier when the three markets sold 29 million pounds for an average of $181.02.

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The $1.4 million Belvedere Hotel project moved closer to getting government approval when the Reidsville City Council and Planning Board held a joint meeting to discuss it.

The two bodies delayed an immediate decision while they get a better reading on parking and traffic problems likely to result from the project.

Belvedere Associates, a partnership formed to acquire and rehabilitate the Gilmer Street landmark, want to turn it into 34 apartments for the elderly.

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Rockingham County’s jobless rate dipped to 5.9 percent in September, but this may be only temporary.

A number of textile workers were hired for a special textile project and could be laid off when the project is completed. The rate was 8.1 percent in August.

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Grimsley High School Whirlies left Jamieson Stadium in Greensboro with smiles on their faces after beating Morehead High, 14-7, for their first win of the season.

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1985 Chrysler LeBaron convertible, $12,999.

10 YEARS AGO
From the Greensboro News & Record, Oct, 31-Nov. 6, 2000
Steve Hall, principal of Rockingham County Middle School, was named the county’s Principal of the Year by the Principals and Assistant Principles Association of Rockingham County.

Hall came to Rockingham in 1993 from Greensboro, where he was a teacher at Kiser Junior High and then assistant principal at Smith High School.

He chose to leave the urban community of Greensboro for the more rural Rockingham County lifestyle because he had grown up on a tobacco farm in Stokes County and missed the rural setting.

He started as assistant principal at Rockingham County High School, then moved to Morehead High as assistant principal for a year and a half before being named principal of Rockingham Middle when it opened in July 1999.

As principal of the new school, he combined the students and staff from four smaller schools.

In its first year, 85 percent of the students scored at or above the grade level on the state-required ABCs of Public Education tests.

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The Lowe’s home improvement center to be built off N.C. 14 in Reidsville could employ as many as 200 people when it opens next summer. A construction company has begun clearing 34 acres at the corner of U.S. 29 Business and N.C. 14 for the $15 million center.

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Kent Greene, 31, training officer with Catawba County Emergency Medical Services for the past two years, has accepted the position of director of the Rockingham County Emergency Medical Services, effective Nov. 27. Greene said he is eager to begin as head of a service that handles nearly 40 percent more calls than Catawba County and with less staff.

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Reidsville community leaders and YMCA officials honored Bernice Penn Moore for her contributions to the YMCA and other community programs at a banquet at the YMCA.

Moore’s most recent contribution was $50,000 to the YMCA on Main Street that allowed it to complete a first-floor expansion, but she also has made gifts to the Annie Penn Memorial Hospital, Salvation Army, Rockingham Community College, Free Medical and Dental Clinic of Reidsville and the Reidsville Police Department.

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It was a bad night on the gridiron for Morehead High and Reidsville High. Morehead was stomped, 60-13, by Northeast Guilford while Reidsville was dumped, 28-7, by Western Alamance.