Feb. 8 through the years
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
1924
The Virginia Gay Orchestra of Martinsville High School, under the direction of Professor D.C. Pedigo, presented a concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, in the auditorium, to benefit the High School Athletic Association.
The Current Events Club (which is still active in Martinsville in 2024) met at the Church Street home of Mrs. J.P. McCabe at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8.
1949
The preliminary hearing for the Martinsville Seven, initially set for Feb. 11, was delayed, because the victim reportedly had not recuperated well enough to testify. Mrs. Glenn Floyd, 32, was a patient in Duke hospital in Durham, N.C., being treated for “internal infection,” the Martinsville Bulletin reported on Feb. 8, 1949.
1960
Mrs. Albert Harder won the high score award at this week’s meeting of the Bid ‘N’ Pass Bridge Club, which met in the new home of Mrs. Herman Obstler of Bassett. The Patrick Henry Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution meets Wednesday in “The Hut” (now known as El Norteno). Mrs. Newton Colston will host.
1974
For 18 months the Henry County School Board had been searching for a 45-acre tract of land on which to build a high school for Bassett. School Board chairman Robert L. Taylor told the school board and 21 Bassett residents at the board meeting that the cost of the proposed high school had risen an estimated $1 million during that time.
1999
The Exchange Club’s Officers of the Year were Cpl. Anita Akers of the Martinsville Sheriff’s Office, Coretha A. Gravely of the Martinsville Police Department, State Troper Kevin S. Holt; and Sgt. Steven D. Johnston of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.
In a case that made national news, Alfred Odell Martin, who had escaped from Martinsville Prison Farm 25 years prior, was given 10 additional days on top of his original 1-year sentence on a drug conviction. In 1973 he had been convicted of selling $10 worth of marijuana to a coworker at Globman’s Department Store. He walked off an outdoor work site just one day after he entered jail the first time and moved his family to Detroit, where he worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, then opened a mortgage company.
2024
The Governor's Office announced Wednesday that the city of Martinsville will receive $189,500 for site remediation at the former BB&T building at 1 Ellsworth St., the Martinsville Bulletin reported. Brownfields are properties in which redevelopment or reuse is complicated by the presence of hazardous materials, pollution, or contaminants.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.