10 Years Ago
Week of October 6, 2016
SUGAR GROVE
A Good Corn Crop Provided a Happy Year Ahead
President Thomas Jefferson hailed those who tilled the earth, calling them “the chosen people of God, if He had a chosen people.” Corn was destined to become the main crop per hill, leading to the old folk saying:
“One for the blackbird,
One for the crow,
One for bad weather
And one to grow.”
A good crop of corn would translate into fat hogs, meat for the table, lard for the biscuits and grease for the lamps. Surplus corn meant whiskey while the fodder and shocks fed the family’s milk cow during the winter months.
Corn production flourished during the settlers’ time. There seemed to be no end to the many blessings it brought. This love of corn dates back to the early 1600s, when the Jamestown settlers were struggling to survive.
It was maize that saved them, thanks to the help of the Algonquin Indians who were so kind and always kept a year’s supply in storage. Chief Powhatan was very cooperative. He sent some of his people to teach the English how to use the grains of his country. They soon learned how it provided them with a variety of food.
The pioneers in these valleys used corn husk mattresses, which were soft and comfortable. They used corn cobs for fuel, kindling, pipes, stoppers in jugs and even fertilizer. The children made corn husk dolls and played with hair, beards and mustaches fashioned of corn silk. Women made corncob syrup, which became a delicacy. The gristmill ground the corn into flour, and from there, there were biscuits and many other good foods to enjoy. Corncob jelly used to be a favorite jelly and is one of the more unusual Appalachian jellies. Corncob jelly comes out with a surprisingly red color and tastes a lot like apple jelly.
Week of October 13, 2016
New Kids Club, AWANA, Is Being Formed In North Fork
The Riverton United Methodist Charge will soon begin a new kids’ club program for all kids ages pre-school through eighth grade. AWANA is an acronym for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, which comes from 2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” God is changing the world through the ministry of AWANA by equipping leaders to reach kids with the gospel and engaging them in long-term discipleship.
20 Years Ago
Week of October 19, 2006
Pendleton Offers Prescription Drug Discount Card
Pendleton County had launched a discount card program to help consumers cope with the high price of prescription drugs. The county is making free prescription drug discount cards available under a program sponsored by the National Association of Countries that offers average savings of 20 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs.
The card may be used by all county residents, regardless of age, income, or existing health coverage, only if prescription drugs are not already covered by their health plan.
30 Years Ago
Week of October 17, 1996
DAHMER
The first killing frost and freeze was October 4, and these cold temperatures and frosts continued for three mornings. The late freeze in the spring was May 14 with a 26 degree reading. This makes the growing season the shortest for a number of years or about 142 days with plenty of rain. One Franklin gardener stated, “It was the worst garden I ever had.” For the writer, it was one of the best gardens. Although for some gardens, it was too much rain. The big pumpkin at Kenneth Harper’s driveway is a sight to behold. This big, sweet pumpkin (old name hog pen pumpkin) was a surprise from Herbert and Mary Lee Eye and was grown in the Eye garden.
Everett and Dennis Mitchell found some native chestnuts to eat on their farm Sunday evening.
40 Years Ago
Week of October 16, 1986
Properly Cured Garden Vegetables May Keep Through Winter Months
Sweet potatoes, pumpkins and winter squash will keep for four to six months if they are harvested, cured and stored properly.
Horticulture specialists with West Virginia University Extension and Public Service say that the leaves of sweet potato plants provide the signal of harvest. Once the leaves start to turn yellow, they explain, the tubers won’t get any larger and they should be dug.
The first frost is also a warning not to delay digging. Sweet potatoes readily deteriorate under cold, moist conditions.
Harvest pumpkins and winter squash when the fruit has developed its mature color and the surface can no longer be easily scratched with a fingernail. Cut the mature fruit from the plant with a sharp knife, leaving an inch or two of stem attached.
Senator Byrd Says Air Force Will Expand Presence In West Virginia
U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W. Va., said that an Air Force task force recently sent to West Virginia at Byrd’s request has come up with “a promising list of initiatives for the state,” including the creation of a 50-member Air Force Reserve civil engineering squadron.
Byrd, who received a briefing on the initiatives from Tidal McCoy, assistant secretary of the Air Force, called the proposals “an excellent first step” on behalf of West Virginia.
In addition to the civil engineering squadron, Byrd said the initiatives include:
- An increase in the number of security police at the Charleston and Martinsburg Air National Guard units from 30 to 44 personnel at each site;
- A stepped-up military construction schedule for Guard projects at Martinsburg and Charleston; and
- Coordination with West Virginia University’s artificial intelligence laboratory to examine possibilities for cooperation in science and technology programs.
“I will continue to work closely with the Air Force, the Army, and the Navy to identify future prospects, missions, and programs,” Byrd said. “I believe there remain a great deal of untapped potential in West Virginia.”
Prisoners to Help Beautify State
A limited number of inmates in the West Virginia Department of Corrections have been formed into work crews to assist the West Virginia State Highway Department in cleanup and beautification efforts throughout the state, Governor Arch Moore said today.
The Governor said the department has made 42 inmates available for cleanup work. Those inmates will be divided into seven six-man crews. Once accepted by the highway department for work, the inmates will be transported to the job sites from Work Release Centers in Charleston, Huntington and Beckley, the Anthony Center in Neola and the Huttonsville Correctional Center.
To date the highways department has accepted a total of 24 of the inmates to work in four crews throughout the state.
Two crews consisting of six members each have already assisted the Department of Highways in Kanawha and Cabell counties. The two crews removed trash and brush from along a number of roadways and performed improvements to medians and limited landscaping. Other crews will begin cleanup work this fall.
50 Years Ago
Week of October 21, 1976
Exercise Machine Given School
The Franklin High School Sports Boosters Club has purchased a weight machine for use in the athletic and physical education programs at the high school. The machine has many uses and will help the athletes with their training in the different sports. The cost of the machine was $1080.95.
Over the past year the club has been busy raising funds for its many activities. Members have sold advertisements for football and basketball programs, sold chances on game footballs and sold chances to shoot baskets at home basketball games. Club activities include serving snacks for visiting ball clubs, helping the athletic department with money wherever needed, holding a sports banquet for all the athletes of the school and purchasing trophies.
DAHMER
Our first snowfall fell Sunday morning with accumulation of one inch on the South Fork Mountain range. Then Monday morning there was a general freeze. This explains why the black and turkey buzzards were passing through Saturday.
A number of folks are predicting a bad winter. The wooly bear or worm has more black showing than last year.
60 Years Ago
Week of October 20, 1966
County Boy Wins Highest Degree Offered by FFA
Curtis Wimer, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Wimer of Cherry Grove, was awarded the American Farmer Degree offered by the Future Farmers of America, at the 39th Annual National FFA Convention in Kansas City, Mo., last week.
Wimer is one of six West Virginia farm boys who received the high degree which is given for obtaining achievement in farming and rural leadership. Each received a gold key, certificate, and a $100 check from the National FFA Foundation.
Young Wimer is a 1963 graduate of Circleville High School. His present farming program consists of 21 breeding ewes, three brood sows, 45 acres of mixed hay, five acres of clover, a half acre of potatoes and eight feeder calves.
His record in FFA activities in the Circleville chapter has been outstanding. He served as sentinel, parliamentarian and secretary of the chapter, and as state vice-president for a year. He now is a sophomore agriculture education major at Potomac State College at Keyser. His FFA advisor was Eston Leatherman, vo-ag teacher at Circleville High School.
Approximately 10,000 FFA members and guests from 50 states and Puerto Rico attended the national convention.
70 Years Ago
Week of October 25, 1956
Simpson Selling Out I-H Business
Walter G. Simpson, owner of Pendleton Supply Company in Brandywine, announced yesterday that because of ill health, he is selling out his business and that he will retire. He said his doctors have advised him to get out of business just as soon as possible.
Simpson has had the local agency for International-Harvester farm machinery and appliances and International trucks for a number of years and has built up a thriving business in Brandywine.
He has been associated with the International-Harvester Company since 1919 with the exception of nine years when he was with the West Virginia Conservation Commission.
He said yesterday that he has been reluctant to give up his business but that his health will not permit him to continue with it any longer.
EDITORIALS
Trick or Treat – – –
At least some of the little witches, ghosts, goblins and scarecrows who ring your doorbell this Halloween will not be up to their usual “hi-jinks.” Instead they will be collecting pennies, nickels and dimes for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund which provides milk and medicine for children in under-developed countries. And in learning to “share instead of scare,” they will be part of a new and growing Halloween tradition.
This activity will be sponsored locally by the Pendleton County Council of United Church Women. You will be able to tell the children that are participating in it by the distinctive UNICEF arm bands and tags that they will be wearing.
The children will meet at the Fire House at 5:30 p.m. where they will be assigned to supervised groups. At the conclusion of the drive they will return to the Fire House and join in the annual Halloween parade and party which is being sponsored by the Franklin Volunteer Fire Company.
Both the United Council of Church Women and the Franklin Volunteer Fire Company are to be commended for the constructive approach they are taking to this day which was looked upon by many with considerably less enthusiasm not too many years ago.
