Sugar Grove
By Paula Mitchell
Just for interest’s sake, the writer wishes to take the reader down memory lane to 1923…100 years ago. Taking a look at the main events might prove to be quite interesting when using 2023 in comparison.
- The 450-foot-long “Hollywood” sign is erected on Mount Lee as a promotion for the Hollywoodland subdivision in Beachwood Canyon, California.
- “Runnin Wild” opens on Broadway, introducing the Charleston dance to America.
- The U.S. Attorney General declares that it is legal for women to wear trousers.
- On June 12, Harry Houdini frees himself from a straight jacket while suspended upside-down, 40 feet above the streets of Manhattan.
- A retail war drops gasoline prices as low as six cents per gallon.
- African-American inventor Garrett Morgan patents the first electric traffic signal.
- On Oct. 16, Walt Disney and his brother, Roy O. Disney, found the Walt Disney Company.
- Opera singer Maria Callas, authors Norman Mailer and Nadine Gordimer, musicians Hank Williams and Tito Puente, actor Charlton Heston and test pilot Chuck Yeager were born.
- The U.S. Steel Corporation initiates the eight-hour work day, reporting that it benefits employee relations and productivity.
- Edwin Hubble uses the 100-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson to establish that the Milky Way is only one of many galaxies in the universe.
- “The House that Babe Ruth Built,” Yankee Stadium opens in the Bronx. Then Babe hits .398 with 41 homers for the season and leads his club to its first World Series title.
- Following the sudden death of Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as the 30th president of the United States.
- Teapot Dome, the nation’s most notorious political scandal prior to Watergate, comes to public attention. The case will eventually result in the conviction of Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, the first cabinet member in history to go to jail.
- Howard Carter opened King Tut’s tomb.
- Price of a man’s Mohair suit was $14.00.
- Big movie was Cecil B. DeMille’s first version of “The Ten Commandments.”
- The number one song was “Yes! We have no bananas.”
- Clarence Birdseye invented frozen food.
- The Model T was one of the most popular cars.
Indeed, the American way of life has certainly changed, due to the factors involved 100 years ago.
Life’s little instructions include the following:
- Never eat a sugared doughnut when wearing a dark suit.
- Put love notes in your child’s lunch box.
- Keep a pencil and pad by every phone.
- Don’t ride in a car if the driver is either drinking or taking drugs.
- Occasionally let your children help you, even if it slows you down.
Fog burned away to a beautiful Saturday that boasted of warm temperatures. Very little moisture fell on Friday…something the area needs so much of. Nine-degree temperatures lasts Wednesday called for a two-hour delay for the schools.
Christmas lights are beginning to take on the eye of the beholder. Brandywine is getting pretty lit up. So too, is the Snowy Mountain Road off of Route 220.
This week’s quotes are as follows:
“Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.” — Margaret Atwood
“Winter is not a season; it’s a celebration.” — Anamika Mishra
“If you learn something new every day, you can teach something new every day.” — Marth Stewart
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are harmony” — Mahatma Gandhi
“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir…mighty scarce.” — Mark Twain
Sitting by the fire is a good place to hear the “Talk of the Grove.”
William and Donna Arrington went to Morgantown to celebrate the second birthday of their youngest grandson, Zane Lee Thomas.
Mary Puffenbarger returned home the day before Thanksgiving.
On Saturday, Sandy Temple visited with Willard and Judy Rader.
Ava and Leslie Bowers, along with Reshella Leary and Tammy George, spent the weekend in Lewisburg. While there, they attended the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Greenbrier, and took a tour of the bunker.
Clickety-clacks for the chin waggers are as follows:
- Chickens cannot sweat.
- The last day of 2023 will be 123123.
- Barbados is named after a tree (the bearded tree).
- Chinatown in Victoria, British Columbia is the oldest in Canada, where one can walk down the narrowest street, Fan Tan Alley, which measures 35 inches across.
Pendleton County was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1788 from parts of Augusta, Hardy, and Rockingham counties and was named for Edmund Pendleton (1721–1803), a distinguished Virginia statesman and jurist.
Concerns for this week are many. They are as follows: Bob Adamson, Rick Adkins, Charles Anderson, Roger and Joan Ashley, Mercedes Aumann, Judy Austin, Lynn Beatty, Jimmy Bennett, “Bo” Boggs, Jane Conrad, Marie Cole, Norma Propst Cunningham, Christian Dasher, Bethany Eye, Isaac Eye, Marie Eye, Mary Eye, Neal Eye, Donna Fleisher, the Monika Flippin family, Loralee Gordon, Lola Graham, Jordan Greathouse, Marlene Harman, Marvin Hartman, Steve and Armanda Heavner, Grace Hedrick, the Miranda Henderson family, Jackie Hill, Edsel and Mary Ann Hogan, Virgil Homan, Jr., Adelbert Hoover, Myrtle Hoover, Debbie and Enos Horst, Mike Jamison, Alice Johnson, Richard Judy, Marsha Keller, Boyd Kimble, Danny Kimble, Dennis Kincaid, Kim Kline, Tracie Knight, Melissa Lambert, Robert Lambert, Rex Landis, the Angela Lung family, Linda Malcolm, Betty Mallow, Roger and Skip Mallow, Yvonne Marsh, Neil McLaughlin, Rose Miller, Bruce Minor, Barbara Moats, Melvin Moats, Aaron Nelson, Ruth Nelson, Don Nilsen, Cheryl Paine, Barbara Parker, Shirley Pratt, Alda Propst, John O. Propst, Kathy Propst, Harley Propst, Sheldon Propst, Mary Puffenbarger, Nicole Reel, Charles Rexrode, Jason Rexrode, Pam Rexrode, Donna Ruddle, Annie Simmons, Phyllis Simmons, Erin Simmons, Eva Simmons, Kent Simmons, Robbie Sites, Donnie Smith, Connie Sulser, Rosa Tichenor, the family of Marilyn Kay-Uhl, Sandra Vandevander, Wayne Vandevander, Raymond Varner, Amy Vaus, Sheldon Waggy, Judy Williams, Ann Wimer, Junior Wimer and Margaret Wimer.’
