30 Years Ago Week of February 8, 1996
DAHMER
20 Below Zero Not a Match For 40 Below in 1994
Twenty-four below zero was registered at the Virgil Rexrode and Kenneth Harr residences on the South Fork Mountain before daybreak Monday, February 5. On Sunday morning, they had a 20 below reading with six inches of snow on the ground.
If the above sounds cold, let us look back to January 19, 1994, when new records were set then locally. On the South Fork Mountain at Virgil Rexrode’s, -40, Bill Harr, -40; Buffalo Hills, Stanley Bible -30; Ned’s Mountain, Mary E. Propst, -30; Dry Run, Robert L. Propst, -30; Dahmer home, -24; nearby, Bill Munn, -24; at Moyers, John and Fanny Propst, -32 and John and J.C. Harper, -32.
Hevener Is Panther Player of the Week
Wesley Hevener has been named this week’s Fox’s player of the week. Wesley is a 6’1”, 150-pound junior reserve guard. He has one of the top field goal percentages on the squad and is a very sound fundamental player, especially on the defensive end. Wesley has been a member of the basketball team for three years and is currently in his first season as a varsity player. He is a three-sport athlete. He is a wide receiver for the football team and plays outfield for the baseball team. Wesley is the son of David and Diane Hevener of Franklin.
Indian Profile…
Coach on Mike Bogan: Mike is the only starter back from last season. He averaged 4.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore, but is currently collecting 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per outing.
He is shooting 61% from the free throw line and 42% from the two-point range.
Mike is the son of Jim and Carolyn Bogan of Onego.
Indian Profile…
Coach on Jeremy Harper: Jeremy is scoring 19.9 points per game and is one of the Potomac Valley Conference leaders in that category. He’s also grabbing 5.4 rebounds, dishing out 2.6 assists and collecting 2.5 steals per game.
Jeremy is shooting 79% from the free throw line and 44% from the two-point range.
Jeremy is the son of Lannie and Wanda Harper of Seneca Rocks.
Week of February 15, 1996
SUGAR GROVE
Braided Rugs Still In Favor After 200 Years of Popularity
Braided rugs are never out of style. They are as much in favor now as they were 200 years ago, when Colonial women hand-braided them out of rags and wood cloth strips to cover the rough wooden floors in their bare rooms. They come in all sizes and shapes, and remain popular for good reasons—they are durable, and easy to clean with soap and water. Their versatility is wonderful. To give your room a whole new look, all one needs to do is pick them up and move them around. Each rug is also reversible. The company “clean-as-can-be” side when visitors come calling can be flipped to a home side for every day use. Braided rugs have their own personality due to the variety of available materials and the wide range of colors and styles to choose from—whether it be the contemporary hues or the traditional look. Braided rugs are something that many “country folk” are glad to have underfoot all year long!
Byers Is Panther Player of the Week
Joshua Byers, a 5’7”, 145-pound sophomore, has been named this week’s Fox’s player of the week. Joshua is a starting guard for the Panthers. His quickness and speed make him one of the best ball handlers on the team and one of the leaders in steals. He has been a member of the basketball team for two years, but this is his first season as a full time varsity player. Josh is a three-sport athlete at Franklin High School where he is a running back on the football team and plays center field for the baseball team.
Joshua is the son of Larry and Lois Byers of Franklin.
40 Years Ago Week of February 13, 1986
50 Used Cars Donated to Pendleton Flood Victims
Flood relief for West Virginia at St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Bowie, Md., comes in a variety of colors and shapes — blues, greens, browns; monochromes, two-tones; sedans, vans, campers, even a snappy black and yellow sports model, according to an article in “The West Virginia United Methodist.”
If drowsy parishioners arriving for worship on a windswept winter Sunday thought they had turned instead into a used car pound, they hardly could be blamed, the article stated. Sitting on the church parking lot, and at a nearby school building, were almost 100 motor vehicles, each tagged with a number, awaiting transfer to victims of November’s floods in northeastern West Virginia.
Gordon Harvey, a U. S. Department of Energy employee, and a member at St. Matthew’s, got the idea for the drive while watching television accounts of the devastation.
“I knew there was a great need for transportation,” he told a reporter, so I thought, “Why not collect cars?”
Mr. Harvey was the first to contribute an auto. Then six more were donated by other members of the congregation.
A local newspaper picked up the story, sparking a response soon to include nearby areas in Virginia and the District of Columbia, as well as the Bowie region. By Christmas Eve, 30 cars were on hand, and two dozen more came in the next week.
In mid-January, when most of the cars were trucked to Parsons by transport drivers who volunteered their services, the number had exceeded 160.
Of the vehicles donated, 111 were sent to Parsons, and another 50 turned over to Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Baltimore for transfer to Riverton.
Poem by An Old-timer
[By Jacob Harman, written while almost blind from cataract of the eyes. He was the author of the poem “West Virginia.” Mr. Harman lived at Macksville.]
“Long Ago”
Three score and ten years ago, I was a school boy then;
Our schoolhouse was little more than a rough log pen.
The floor was of puncheons split from an oak tree;
Was lumpy and bumpy, as you plainly could see.
Had a four-light window in one longest side,
Of glass ten inches long by eight inches wide.
It had one other window across the one end,
In which nine such glass in row did extend.
There was a square hole on each side of the chimney,
Closed with greased paper, which let in the light dimly.
We studied at night by a wood fire light
Supplemented by pine-knots, which made it more bright.
The benches were made out of thick slabs of pine;
They were not very soft, and not very fine,
And they were so high one’s feet dangled in air.
And our legs got so tired, it most made us swear.
The terms were from two months to ‘long about three,
So our chances for wisdom were meagre, you see.
Our clothing was all of the good homespun kind;
Very little of “store clothes” could anyone find.
In the winter we had jeans, and in summer had linen,
Which kept women folks busy with weavin’ and spinnin.’
We carded the wool with steel-wired hand cards;
It took time and hard labor to make “rolls” for ten yards.
We raised flax seed every year to make summer clothes.
And the hustling it took no young person knows.
We lived from our labors—were beholden to none,
But we surely worked hard, parents, daughter and son.
But with hunting and fishing, diversions galore,
We had as much fun as they now have, or more.
School Doesn’t Stop Even for ‘Snow Days’
Each winter students get unplanned breaks from school called “Snow Days.” But, if you’re a parent or a teacher, you’re concerned about the missed time at school and the break in the educational process. Bad weather and illness may stop teachers and students from traveling, but they don’t prevent learning from traveling the air waves.
The lessons viewed at home will not be as effective without the guidance of a teacher, just as a textbook would not, but students will be exposed to top quality programs and series.
50 Years Ago Week of February 12, 1976
Nursing Home Needs $1000 for Piano
At a recent meeting of the Pendleton Nursing Home Auxiliary, Mrs. Delton Rexrode, president, told the group an urgent need exists for a piano for the home as the borrowed they have used is no longer available. The cost would be approximately $1,000.
The auxiliary is asking that 500 people donate $2 each. Honorary and memorial gifts will be recognized with gratitude and all gifts will be appreciated. If contributions exceed the cost of the piano they will be used for other needs in the home.
60 Years Ago Week of February 10, 1966
Harold Dahmer Announces His Candidacy for Sheriff
Mr. Harold Dahmer, well-known local business man, is announcing his candidacy for Sheriff of Pendleton County.
Mr. Dahmer is the owner and operator of Dahmer’s Restaurant and service station, the only local business open to serve the public 24 hours daily. He is also the owner of a motel and cabins adjacent to his restaurant and the Coffee Shop located by the ground floor of the Dyer building.
For the past six years Mr. Dahmer has been a member and vice president of the County Board of Education during which time he helped promote the erection of a new school building on North Fork and the completion of the new high school gym in Franklin.
He served four years in the service, 18 months of which were spent overseas where he was wounded in action during the liberation of France. He is a member of the local VFW and American Legion clubs.
70 Years Ago Week of February 9, 1956
DAHMER
We often wonder how many people remember the snow of 1890 which was three feet deep, 76 years ago.
Johnny Arvin Dahmer had a bevy of 60 snowbirds of Juncos which were daily visitors at his home for food last week.
We have experienced lately, zero temperatures, snowfalls of about 21 inches in depth, windy weather and snowdrifts that almost defied traffic and church services were canceled.
HEAVY SNOWFALL PROMISES
Better Fishing This Spring
Recent heavy snowfalls will mean more and better fishing come spring time, reports the Game and Fish Division, Department of Natural Resources.
So, in some cases, the heavy snow was welcomed.
Without the snow, there might have been a scarcity of water in which to fish during March and April.
Some Remarks Overheard During Recent Snows
Remarks overheard from local residents concerning the recent 30 inches of snow that Pendleton County received from January 22 through February 1st.
A poultry and livestock farmer at the breakfast table after having cleared his mile of road to reach the highway for the second time only to see it covered by 12 inches of new snow when he arose that morning. “If I had a buyer this farm would go cheap this morning.”
A Franklin resident who had advertised a home for sale for the last two months. “I’m going to lower my price, sell and leave.”
A Brandywine lady who quoted her grandfather: “I wish it would start raining hot water and melt this snow.”
Overheard from a North Fork farmer talking snow shoveling. “It was six below zero and the wind was really whizzing by, as I was shoveling out drifts higher than my horses’ backs, if it hadn’t been for the whiskers on my face (about two inches long), it would have frozen off. Why, when I go to bed at night, all I dream about is shoveling snow!
