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75 years ago
From the Greensboro Daily News, Jan. 16-22, 1936
Aerial photographs have been left with the Soil Conservation Office in Reidsville of the Madison soil conservation project.

The three pictures were taken at 15,000 feet and give much more detail about the entire project, including roads, fields, streams and types of forests, than could be compiled on the ground. The scale of the aerial map is 600 feet to the inch.

The project’s mapping party marks off the boundaries of each farm, and the soilsman in the party then determine the amount of erosion of that farm by noting the slope of the land and the type of soil.  

After this information is compiled and presented to the farmer, the farmer then can make a decision whether to participate by dropping a card to the county agricultural agent.

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Jake Johnson, sentenced to die for assaulting a woman last February, will be brought back to Superior Court in Wentworth this month for resentencing, having been improperly given a stay of execution.

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Roy Goodson, having waived a preliminary hearing in Reidsville Recorder’s Court, now is expected to be arraigned next week at the January term of Superior Court and to be tried at a subsequent term.

Goodson has been charged with the first-degree murder of Fred Hall of Williamsburg.

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The Reidsville Daughters of the Confederacy met in the home of Mrs. G.F. McBrayer, with Mrs. McBrayer and Mrs. R.H. Pleasants as joint hostesses. Following a business session, Mrs. R.G. Gweltney read a paper on Robert E. Lee.

Meanwhile, the William Bethel chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, held its first meeting of the new year and heard a report from Mrs. W.G. Ballard on the restoration of Williamsburg.

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The Reidsville tobacco market sold only 98,969 pounds, with rain deterring sales. This brought sales for the week to 468,838 pounds.

The tobacco averaged $14.12 per hundredweight at the rain-shortened sales.

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At the Carolina Theatre: Shirley Temple in “The Littlest Rebel.”

50 years ago
From the Greensboro Daily News, Jan. 16-22, 1961
A special term of Rockingham Superior Court to hear a case originally scheduled for Feb. 13 has been canceled for  the convenience of a Tennessee lawyer.

The case is Julius J. Gwyn, administrator, vs. Lucky City Motors Inc. of Reidsville and Ford Motor Co. of Detroit. Gwyn, a Reidsville attorney, is appearing in the case as administrator of the estate of Charles Woodruff, deceased.

The estate is seeking $100,000 in damages for Woodruff, who was killed in 1957 when a Ford truck he was driving went over the side of a mountain in Madison County. At the time, he was backing up, and it is alleged the brakes on the truck failed. It also is alleged that work to correct the brakes by Lucky City Motors was faulty and contributed to the accident.

Woodruf, an itinerant roof painter, is survived by a wife and two children. He also is represented by two Tennessee lawyers, while Lucky City Motors is represented by Bethea and Robinson of Reidsville and Ford Motor by C.S. Scurry of Reidsville.

The case was first tried in the fall of 1959, resulting in a hung jury.

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The Reidsville unit of the North Carolina Education Association held its International Relations Dinner at Pennrose Park Country Club and heard Greensboro City School Superintendent Phil Weaver tell of his recent tour of Russia and Russian schools.
 
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The Red Cross blood program received 178 pints of blood at the Reidsville Armory, well above its goal of 125 pints.

Mrs. C.S. Burton and Mrs. E.S. Penn  called it “a triumphant beginning.”

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William S. Ivie of Leaksville has assumed duties as president of the Tri-Cities Merchants Association, succeeding R. Moody Davis. Other officers are D.L Craddock, vice president; Glenn Dallas, treasurer; and James L. Sands, executive secretary.

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Neither Reidsvile High nor Morehead High fared well against Greensboro basketball teams, with Reidsville falling to the Page High Pirates 57-53 in a game at Reidsville and Morehead losing to the Whippet of Bessemer 59-34 in Bessemer.

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At the Center theater: Bob Hope and Lucille Ball in “The Facts of Life.”

25 years ago
From the Greensboro News & Record, Jan. 16-22, 1986
The homeless in Rocking­ham County who need  lodging for a night or two either get it in Greensboro or go without.

Neither Reidsville nor Eden has lodging for the  homeless , in large part because Salvation Army officials say they can make their money go further by helping with less costly projects such as goods and fuel.

Salvation Army Capt. Ron Dohmann says he either rents a motel room for the desperate or refers them to shelters in Greensboro. Sometimes he drives them to Greensboro or they hitchhike there, he said.

Reidsville police Chief James Festerman says his officers often find seven to nine people on cold nights who take refuge in abandoned buildings.

He discourages use of his police headquarters building, but when the weather turns so cold it could be fatal, “We do allow people to bed down for the night,” he said.

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Kenneth Whicker has been elected chairman of the Reidsville school board for a seventh straight year, but this may be his last year.

Newly elected school board member Larry Somers nominated Whicker for chairman this year but said he would not do so next year, feeling the board could use a diversity of leadership.

Whicker was elected unanimously, and so was board member Lucy Bolden, who was named vice chairman.

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Mayor Hassell Richardson has named Councilmen Lewis Bottoms and Jeff Button to study Mayodan water rates and come up with a fair price.

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The Western Rockingham Board of Education has sliced its capital improvement request from the county commissioners to $6 million from $15.7 million after hearing a plea from County Manager Hugh Griffin to consider building the western Rockingham High School in sections, with the first section to cost $6 million.

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The Reidsville school board cut its funding request from the county commissioners to $1.5 million from $4 million.

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At the Janus Theatre: Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in “Out of Africa.”

10 years ago
From the Greensboro News & Record, Jan. 16-Jan. 22, 2001
The city of Eden has negotiated a contract with Eden City Manager Brad Corcoran.

Originally from Martinsville, Corcoran, 40, entered into a contract after two months of negotiating. He will begin work Feb. 5 at $80,000 a year.

He has worked in New Garden for eight years and has 16 employees. Before that, he worked as a town manager in Vinton and Wytheville, Va.

Councilman Garry Tudor, who was on the recruiting committee that picked Corcoran, said Corcoran “wants to come to Eden.
 
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Montreal-based Gildan Activewear, which makes cotton T-shirts, sweat shirts and golf shirts for sale to wholesalers, said it plans to expand its knitting facility and distribution facility.

The expansion could mean 150 more jobs at its Eden distribution center, which opened this week on Meadow Road.

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Genie Harris, now gray-haired and soft-spoken and a former Marine, received  a Navy commendation ribbon, an honorable discharge button and a U.S. flag for the two years he served in the Korean War. U.S. Rep. Richard Burr presented the medals.

Harris tried to play down his accomplishments but admitted it did “feel good to finally be recognized.”

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The southwestern part of Rockingham County is getting a new school, and the school board wants residents to help with naming of it.

The new school will be ready in the fall of 2002, drawing 624 students from Dillard Primary and New Vision Intermediate schools.

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Shiloh volunteer fire officials hired part-time staffers to help the department get to calls quickly.
Six trained emergency personnel each work from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. one day a week at the Shiloh Fire Station. They will be paid from funds generated by the Shiloh fire tax.