20 Years Ago
Week of February 7, 2002
Resident Fondly
Remembers The Star Hotel
In Franklin
Editor, the Times:
Barbara Rexrode is looking to the future by remembering the past.
On October 21, 1942, I came to Franklin. I thought the town was beautiful. Trees in their yellow fall coats lined the streets. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. I thought it was the prettiest place I ever saw. I have not changed my mind.
My first meal in Franklin was at The Star Hotel. Hamburgers were 20 cents, hotdogs-15 cents, and cokes-5 cents. Rooms were $5.00 per week. But remember, this was at the end of the depression and my wages were $105.00 per month. That was tops for a Farmers Home Administration employee.
I remember roast chicken as a standard Sunday dinner. On Monday, you could depend on creamed chicken on toast. The bones had been picked from the roasted chicken. Incidentally, the chicken had been killed out back, dressed and prepared at The Star. They could truly say fresh dressed chicken.
Cole slaw was a staple. All vegetables came from the Eye farm near Brandywine at the time, I remember The Star.
My, things were different then.
When word got around that The Star was reopening, I heard such remarks as, “I used to love to go to The Star, best homecooking in town. Boy, am I glad it’s coming back.”
Well, The Star is back. It has changed with the times, and for the better. The old soda fountain is not there. The booths are gone. The stools and counters are gone but you will be delighted with the service, food and hospitality.
Barbara Rexrode Dolbec, a local girl, made good, now living in California, her daughter and son-in-law, Angela and Steve Miller, have re-opened The Star.
Barbara had never lost her love for Franklin and Pendleton County, a future for Franklin and Pendleton County, a future in the tourist industry. She not only bought The Star and opened it, she purchased the “Otis Shaw” house and the “MS Hodges” property. She has opened them as “bed and breakfasts” under the trade names as “The Shaw House” and “Victorian Inn.” She has other dreams to fulfill in other properties she has purchased.
Thirteen employees—some full—some part-time—have found employment at The Star.
The Star Hotel and Restaurant was built by Eston “Pete” Simmons after the Franklin fire in 1923.
People who we know that have operated as The Star are Eston Simmons, Tyler and Myrtle Eye Alkire (who also had a bus station with the restaurant), Stanley and Elsie Eye, Mildred and Bud Dice, and now, Barbara, Angela and Steve. Other businesses have been in the building but not named “The Star.”
Alice B. Hartman
The Old Truck…
look at my new shoes
Can you remember those first new shoes and how proud you were when you wore them? Most children want to wear them as soon as they get home. I have had several children over the years come to church and say, “look at my new shoes.” They are so proud of them. Well, it came time for the old truck to get some tires. They were beyond bald. When I drove home that day, you could just tell the way the old truck drove, it was proud of its new shoes. Every time we went by someone on the street, the old truck seemed to slow down, just saying…“look at my new shoes.” It wanted to show them off to all the trucks around.
This reminds me of the term “New Creature.”
When we turn our lives over to the Lord, the old things of the world are to be “gone–castoff–dropped” and the new is to come. Our activities are to be virtuous. We are to strive for more knowledge and develop self-control. We should show brotherly kindness to all and show a spirit of love. (Take time to read II Peter 1:5-8).
New shoes are hard not to notice. Yet today many people say they are new, yet they are still walking around with the same old pair (the life of the world). When is the last time you looked down and checked your shoes?
That’s all till next time…Remember…A good soul walks with God all the time and then when judgment time comes, He will not say “Shoo.”
Cow Gives Birth
To Triplets
Giving birth to triplet calves that are all healthy and survive is extremely rare, but Oden and Jean Thompson’s sturdy Charolais did just that at their Oak Flat farm on January 30, when she gave birth to three heifers. Members of the Eastern Panhandle Calf Marketing Association, the Thompsons are very pleased with these three new additions to their family, especially Jean, who has been known to call them her “new grandbabies.”
30 Years Ago
Week of January 30, 1992
What To Do When The Lights Go Out
Snow, ice, high winds and extremely cold weather can create problems for electric utility companies, occasionally breaking power lines and causing electrical equipment to fail. When this happens, don’t be left “in the dark” about how to cope.
“The first thing to do when the power goes off is to see if your neighbors have electricity,” said Jim Haney, manager of Monongahela Power Company’s Elkins Division. “If they have lights and you don’t, check your house for blown fuses or tripped circuit breakers.” (There is a service charge if a Monongahela worker is called out to replace your fuse or reset your breaker.)
“If the problem is with our facilities, we’ll take care of it,” said Haney. “Call Monongahela and give us your name, good directions to your house, your phone number and the time the electricity went off. If the lines are busy, please keep trying.”
After reporting the outage, take the following steps to minimize your inconvenience until power is restored:
• Turn off major appliances in use when the power went out; this will help to avoid an overload whe power returns.
• Leave one light turned on so you will know when service is restored.
• Do not open refrigerators or freezers anymore than necessary. Food will keep for two or three days if the doors are not opened and closed frequently.
• Be alert for downed power lines and report them immediately to Monongahela Power. Always assume that a downed wire is energized and keep away from it.
Customers can prepare for a power outage by keeping an emergency kit on hand. A typical kit should include flashlights, candles, matches, a battery-powered radio, extra batteries, a portable heater, a supply of water for drinking and cooking and camping gear such as sleeping bags, portable lamps and cook stoves.
In homes where life-support medical equipment is used, contact Monongahela promptly and call the police or fire department for emergency equipment or transportation to a hospital.
40 Years Ago
Week of February 4, 1982
Area Flue Fires Kept Franklin Firemen
Jumping During 1981
Flue fires were the principal reason for calling out the Franklin Volunteer Fire Department during the past year. Fire Chief Steve Roberson reported at the recent annual banquet meeting of the Franklin Fire Department.
Franklin firemen answered 30 calls as a result of flue fires during 1981, Roberson said.
“Flue fires have increased dramatically in Pendleton County in recent years as more and more of our residents have reverted to the old wood stove as an alternative to the soaring cost of oil and electricity,” chief Roberson explained.
“This surge in flue fires points up the need of frequent cleaning of flues,” the local fire chief emphasized.
50 Years Ago
Week of February 10, 1972
Farming Brings $6,286,836 Income
To Pendleton County
Family farming is important to the economy of Pendleton County. In 1964, county farmers sold $6,286,836 of products, averaging sales of $6,738 per farm.
“The trend is toward part-time farming. Each year there are fewer full time farms, but they embrace a larger acreage,” said Jerry R. Teter, County Supervisor of the Farmers Home Administration.
Pendleton County has 788 farms in the category of more than 50 acres. “Families are attracted to farm living today, where they can supplement their off-farm jobs with profits from crop and livestock sales,” commented Teter. It affords an opportunity for members of a family to work jointly in a satisfying, income-producing enterprise.
60 Years Ago
Week of February 8, 1962
100 YEARS AGO
Roanoke Island Falls;
Ft. Henry Captured
By LON K. SAVAGE
Editor’s Note—The following is one of a series of articles on the Civil War. Each weekly installment covers events which occurred exactly 100 years ago.
The federal army and navy lashed out at the Confederacy 100 years ago this week with a powerful one-two punch that left the Southern military machine staggering.
In the western theatre, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Commodore Andrew H. Foote, with 15,000 men, captured the Confederacy’s newly-built Fort Henry on the strategic Tennessee river just below the Kentucky-Tennessee line. Two days later, another land-sea expedition stormed Roanoke Island in North Carolina’s inland waterway, knocked out three forts and captured the island and more than 2,500 prisoners.
The capture of Roanoke Island was made by the long-struggling Burnside expedition, nearly 15,000 men in a 65-vessel fleet commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside. It had taken the expedition nearly a month to get from Norfolk to the inland sounds of the Carolina coast.
Soldiers Go Ashore
But once there, the federals wasted no time. On February 7, while the transports unloaded troops on the island’s south-eastern side, a line of federal gunboats bombarded the forts and a fleet of Confederate gunboats that were guarding them. By night, the southern gunboats had exhausted their ammunition and retreated up the coast.
Next morning, an army of some 7,500 federals moved in on the Southerners, pushing through thick swamp, and charged from two sides, their red fezzes swarming through the Confederate works.
By evening, the Confederates had been driven to the island’s northern end. Approximately 2,500 of them surrendered.
While the Burnside expedition was preparing its attack, Grant and Foote were bringing their men on transports up the Tennessee river toward Fort Henry, under escort of four federal gunboats.
On February 4, three days before Burnside’s attack, the federals came into view of the fort, and the men debarked, fanning out into the fields, making camp and throwing their pickets forward. That same day, the gunboats opened fire on the fort, then withdrew after the Confederates sent a shot crashing through one of the federal vessels.
Next day, as the federals completed their preparations, Confederate Gen. Lloyd Tilgham ordered his 4,000 men to abandon their fort and head for Fort Donelson, 11 miles away. Only enough men were left to man the guns.
One Hour’s Battle
On the 6th, the federal gunboats opened fire in earnest, and the battle lasted scarcely more than an hour. The gunboat “Essex” was struck severely by a Confederate shot; its boiler blew up and a number of men were scalded to death. But inside the fort, the Confederate guns were silenced one by one.
The gunboats did it all, while Grant’s men floundered through the mud toward the fort. By the time Grant arrived on the scene, Tilghman had surrendered to Foote aboard a gunboat.
The capture amounted to only 78 men, and on both sides were less than 60 casualities. But Grant was able to wire St. Louis: “Fort Henry is ours…”
Then he added a nearly accurate prediction: “I shall take and destroy Fort Donelson on the 8th and return to Fort Henry.”
Next week: Fort Donelson Falls.
Bow and Arrow Hunters Take 113 Deer in 1961
A total of 113 deer were taken during West Virginia’s bow and arrow season in 1961 the Department of Natural Resources said today.
The season ran from last October 14 through December. The department said 80 deer were taken during the comparable season in 1960.
Kills were reported in 29 counties with the three leading ones being Hardy with 16, Pocahontas 12 and Pendleton 11.
DAHMER
Why the Calfpasture, Cowpasture and Bullpasture received their peculiar names is not clearly known. The legend is that some hunters killed a buffalo calf on the first stream, a cow on the second and a bull on the third. Of course, this is legendary of Highland County.
70 Years Ago
Week of February 14, 1952
Interesting Bits
Of Odd News
While cutting poles for a light line on the Hyre place near Brandywine during the middle of January, E. A. Mitchell killed a blowing viper. Snakes are seldom encountered in cold weather. Mr. Mitchell said the viper couldn’t move very fast and he had no trouble in dispatching it.
M. C. Roberson of Ruddle told us of an egg which one of his hens produced. The egg measured 7-1/2 inches one way and 9 inches the other. “It was the biggest egg I ever saw,” Mr. Roberson said, “and I’m 80 years old.”
E. C. Dahmer was in from Deer Run Monday and told of finding four nice large Baldwin apples lying on the ground on his farm. The apples weren’t frozen, although they had apparently been subject to weather that was below the zero point at times this winter.
Charley Elyard and Lloyd Simmons cut a red oak tree on what is known as the Conrad place four miles east of Franklin. The tree measured 63 inches across the stump and made two truckloads of logs.
How “big” should government be? – – –
Lincoln was President at a time when the federal government had to take away from its citizens more rights and responsibilities than ever before.
But he didn’t like it. He believed, with the writers of the Constitution and the Declaration, that our government should protect people’s independence, not push people around.
“In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere,” Lincoln once said.
Lincoln never let Americans forget that. He kept reminding the nation that the government’s vast wartime powers must be only temporary.
He made powerful enemies. For there are always those who want to see government fun things—and run people—permanently.
We have them today. They think up all kinds of reasons why the federal government should take over this or that business, industry or service. They never say they want socialism. Maybe they don’t even realize it. But that’s actually what they propose.
Most Americans don’t want socialism anymore than you do. The job is to recognize it—and halt it—no matter what disguise it wears.
