Dec. 11
100 Years ago – 1924
The Girl’s Circle of the Christian Church conducted a Calendar Social at the Municipal Building, the Henry Bulletin reported on Dec. 16: “The four booths beautifully decorated, representing the four seasons of the year, were well patronized, and in their arrangements showed much talent. Throughout the evening an informal program of music numbers and readings were given by members of the Circle, which added much to the occasion. In the midst of the festivities, a squad of five men, representing the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, entered the room and presented each of the booths with a gift of five dollars, a most thoughtful act on their part and deeply appreciated by members of the circle.”
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The Domestic Science Class gave an attractive supper to the Foot-ball Team and the Domestic Science Class of 1923 at the dining room of the Grammar School.
75 years ago – 1949
Two-year-old Rebecca Davis, daughter of Mrs. Ella Griggs of 54 Dillard Street, was recuperating in the hospital in Roanoke. Two days before, she had swallowed a lot of navy beans while playing. Her mother found her choking and coughing and rushed her to a hospital in Roanoke. A surgeon used a bronchoscope to remove five beans from her left lung. Had they not been removed, hospital authorities said, she would have died of pneumonia.
1960
In the Dec. 11 Stroller column, Mrs. Gussie Price of Ridgeway Road near English Village complained that each year some people cut down dozens of trees from her property. “’It’s not that I begrudge them one Christmas tree,’ said she, ‘but it is such a senseless waste to slash several trees and then leave them. Cedar posts bring a dollar, and I just can’t see that kind of waste.’”
50 years ago – 1974
The Martinsville Police Department followed a nationwide trend by adopting a larger caliber pistol. Some policemen were issued .357 magnum revolvers, which were bigger than the former standard .38 caliber special revolver they had been given. In Henry Conty, policemen chose their own weapon and bullet.
25 years ago – 1999
Big Bird’s 7th Annual Toy Run to benefit Christmas Cheer had at least 298 motorcycles riding from Ridgeway to Collinsville. The bikers raised about $6,230 and collected more than 1,000 toys. “Big Bird” was Ricky Holcomb, proprietor of Big Bird’s Big Twins in Ridgeway.
Gov. Jim Gilmore’s proposed budget designated $13.2 million for a new building for the Virginia Museum of Natural History and $319,751 to replace obsolete equipment at Patrick Henry Community College. Mayor Mark Crabtree was in Richmond for the announcement. The funding would have to be approved by the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. Don Lawson of Henry County was a member of that commission.
Unemployment benefits ranged from $50 to $230 per week, for a maximum of 26 weeks.
The Ridgeway Town Council was Mayor Ed Page, Vice Mayor William C. Hairston, Brenda Campbell, Alice Turner, Gary Johnson, Craig O’Der Jr., C.W. “Ace” Adkins and Duke Secrest.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.