May 5
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 Years ago – 1924
The Garden Club announced plans to hold a Flower Show in Martinsville in late October. Prizes were to be given on all seasonable plants and cut flowers, such as geraniums, begonias, roses, ferns, dahlias, zinnias, roses and chrysanthemums, and a special prize would be given on the best collections of cut flowers.
75 years ago – 1949
The State Corporation Commission granted the Norfolk and Western Railway company permission to discontinue two passenger trains, Number 33 and Number 34, which served Martinsville, effective June 5. Train 34 went north at 9:45 a.m. and Train 33 arrived from Roanoke at 9:16 p.m.
Miss Anita Arnold of Fieldale was the Queen of the [Henry County] Exposition, chosen from among 61 contestants from the six high schools in Martinsville and Henry County. She was crowned by Gov. William M. Tuck. Miss Helen L. Grant of Chatham Heights was chosen as runner-up.
1960
City Police rounded up 40 persons, including many women, indicted on charges of violating State liquor laws. An additional 26 defendants were indicted in the county. Most were charged with selling whiskey illegally to an undercover agent.
To address the overcrowding at Albert Harris Elementary School, the Martinsville City School board approved purchase of a ½-acre site for a four room addition to the school. Financing of the purchase of the land and construction of the building, about $44,000 would be achieved through Literary Fund loans.
50 years ago – 1974
Do remember phone books? And paper drives? This was the time of year new phone books were coming out. People could bring their old ones, and any other papers, to collection sites. The Order of the Eastern Star had a van stationed across from High Street Baptist Church to receive old papers. Students at Martinsville High School were receiving paper during this week in 1974. The Collinsville Recreation Center had a paper truck in its parking lot for people to drop off papers. The Woman’s Club had collection boxes at each supermarket during this week 1974, taking up paper for its drive to be held the third Saturday in May. (That drive would take up 38,000 pounds of paper.)
25 years ago - 1999
Martinsville stores had plenty of the new Star Wars toys everyone was expecting to be such a big hit – but no one seemed to be buying. It was two weeks before “Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace” would be released. Carolyn Basham of Kmart told the Martinsville Bulletin that sales of the toys were “not that great. We’ve got plenty of it left.” Brian Strand of Kay-Bee Toys at Liberty Fair Mall said, “I don’t think we’ll sell any until the movie comes out.”
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.