May 26
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 Years ago – 1924
Advertisement (featuring a sketch of a bride and groom) for Peoples National Bank: “You owe her a duty. Deposit your money regularly in our bank. Every man knows that it is his duty to provide for his wife and children … Try it … Begin with what you have in your pocket NOW. We will welcome your account.”
75 years ago – 1949
Hay had been on the ground for days, but farmers couldn’t harvest it because it was wet from steady rains.
1960
As spring thunderstorms assailed the Henry/Franklin/Patrick County area, disrupting power and electric utilities, City Manager Julian Hirst unveiled his proposed $4,614,305.82 budget, an increase of $438,262.83 over the past year. He stated the need for a 17-cent increase per $100 assessed value in the city’s tax rate. That was an increase from $1.85 per $100 to $2.02 per $100, raising the required $38,092.90 to balance the proposed budget. Hirst claimed that the budget would not allow a 40-hour week for city police since reducing the hours to 40 from 48 per week would require the hiring of 3 additional patrolmen at an initial annual cost of $10,530. The $38,092 amount was attributed primarily to the increase in the proposed school budget. The councilmen, several of whom were disgruntled, had the previous year voted to reduce the rate from $2.25 to $1.85. A public hearing was planned for June 21.
Ms. Betty Jo Norton’s government classes at Martinsville High School attended the City Council’s meeting and read along with Manager Hirst’s presentation of the proposed budget for the following year. That was a great session to attend!
50 years ago – 1974
The Auxiliary of Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County had about 100 active and five life members, with another 100 inactive members who contributed financially. The organization, still active, raised funds to purchase hospital equipment and provide hospital and patient services. Mrs. James W. Roberts was the Auxiliary president in 1974. The group took in books and magazines for patients and sponsored Candystripers and Red Coat youth volunteers and provided scholarship to 11 nursing students and 39 graduates.
Playing at 220 Drive-In, a Triple Horror Show: “Doctor Death,” “Tales that Witness Madness” and “Vault of Horror,” and coming in three more days, “Dirty Mary Crazy Larry” with Peter Fonda and Susan George; at the Rives Theatre, “Huckleberry Finn,” with “The Sting” coming in three more days; at Martin Theatre, “The Wrestler;” at Town & Country, held over for a third week, “American Graffiti.” At the Castle Drive-In, there are movies, but with at least one title we cannot repeat here.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.