10 Years Ago
Week of September 1, 2016
SUGAR GROVE
Monarch Butterflies Gear Up For 2K Mile Trek
It’s that time of year when monarch butterflies are packing up their gear to make a long trek south. The iconic orange and black butterfly marks the changing of seasons.
West Virginia designated the monarch butterfly officially as the state butterfly in 1995. Other states claiming the butterfly as its own are Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas and Vermont.
Both caterpillar and butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning since they ingest toxins from the milkweed plant which are poisonous to their predators. In human population terms, that is the equivalent of losing every living person in the US except for those living in Florida and Ohio. Part of the problem lies in the lack of milkweed, which is critical to the butterflies’ survival.
However, it is quickly disappearing as farmers cultivate more land for agriculture use. The agricultural practices in the fields and along fences, are causing the monarch to head to its death. Round-up herbicide is used to kill the milkweed which is the monarch’s only food source.
With cold weather just around the corner, these butterflies instinctively know that it is time to head south. This tiny flier undertakes an incredible 2,000-mile journey every winter in search of a few specific fir forests.
About 60 million to one billion monarchs migrate to the Sierra Madre Mountains of central Mexico, an area protected from logging. They instinctively know where to find these isolated mountaintops year after year. These fliers sometimes rack up to 80 miles a day, spreading out their journey over two months, to arrive in late October to the reserve’s tree tops which are enveloped in a blanket of orange and black—a sight to see.
It is in these treetops that monarchs spend the next five months until the cycle begins all over again in February and March. The Mexican climate is just right for them.
They then desert their southern home for the promise of the milkweed up north. They lay their first generation eggs which will then hatch into baby caterpillars that typically enter the world in May and June.
During the next two weeks, these caterpillars spend time eating and growing until they are ready to attach themselves to stems and leaves and transform into a chrysalis. Ten days later, they emerge as a stunning butterfly and fly away.
20 Years Ago
Week of September 14, 2006
Couple Passes Through County During ‘Walk of Faith’ Journey
Chris and Judith Raywood of Arlington, Miss., passed through Pendleton County this past weekend as part of their walk of faith.
They stayed in the fields beside the home of “Peanut” and Jamie Thompson.
The Raywoods have to date walked 600 miles. Their goal is to make it all the way to the West Coast.
In New York state, they witnessed a flood in which 13 inches of rain fell in 12 hours.
The Beaverkill River overflowed, flooding the home of a 74-year-old man. The Raywoods spent several days in his yard and helped him recover from the aftermath of the flood.
“We’ve had so many people come out of the woodwork and be so gracious,” they said. “They just appear. It’s been so wonderful.”
30 Years Ago
Week of September 12, 1996
Fran Tears Up Pendleton, Damages in Millions
Pendleton County residents began digging out this week from the merciless beating by Hurricane Fran last weekend that left three area people dead and millions of dollars in damage to homes, farms, livestock, roads, utilities and other property.
Flood Damage to Farms Estimated at $4,150,000
Damage to farms in Pendleton County caused by Hurricane Fran has been estimated at $4,150,000. The Pendleton County Emergency Board met Monday morning to assess agricultural damages in the county and report their findings to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
40 Years Ago
Week of September 11, 1986
207 Persons Employed To Run Pendleton County School System
Pendleton County schools began their second week of classroom studies Monday with 101 classroom teachers and principals and 16 special education personnel employed for the 1986-87 term.
Employed in addition to the teachers are 16 teacher aides, seven secretaries, 10 cooks, 10 custodians, 27 school bus drivers and five contract bus drivers.
Pendleton Volunteer Fire Departments Get Funds
Four Pendleton County Volunteer Fire Departments have each received a payment of $4,575.93 from the State of West Virginia.
The funds are distributed by the office of State Treasurer A. James Manchin who said, “These funds are distributed by my office by allocating portions of the one percent state tax on gross fire and casualty insurance premiums to departments certified as eligible by the State Fire Marshal.”
Receiving funds in Pendleton County are the Franklin Volunteer Fire Department, South Fork Volunteer Fire Department, South Branch Volunteer Fire Department and North Fork Volunteer Fire Department.
Payments of $4,575.93 are being made to 355 all-volunteer fire departments in the state and payments of lesser amounts are being made to 12 part paid/part volunteer fire departments. The total amount being distributed this year is $1,661,805.78, up slightly from the $1,480,727.25 distributed last year.
DAHMER
When asking folks how are you—there are many answers.
For example, the late Rev. Henry Schulz, “better than I deserve.”
The late Bud Dahmer, “pretty good, thank you. How do you find yourself?”
The late Jacob Mitchell, “tolerable, tolerable.”
Eston Simmons used these words Friday, “I am thankful I have a good mind or at least I think I have.”
Kate Raines, Pendleton Nursing Home, “Indeed not good. I want to go to the McGuffey reunion Sunday.”
Mr. Pennington, “I feel dead, just walking around to save burial expenses.”
50 Years Ago
Week of September 7, 1976
Hechler Wants Names Of Soldiers for Book
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The publishers of U. S. Rep. Ken Hechler’s (D-W. Va.) best selling war book “The Bridge at Remigen,” are planning a new edition which will include the names and addresses of West Virginians who played a part in the surprise capture of the first crossing of the Rhine River during World War II.
“Capture of the first crossing of the Rhine saved thousands of lives, and probably shortened the war by many months,” Congressman Hechler said. The dramatic event occurred on March 7, 1945, when a small band of American infantrymen and tankers rushed down the hillside overlooking the Rhine, and dashed across a bridge which the Germans had planned to blow up but was still intact. “It was an incredible feat of courage,” Congressman Hechler reported.
Congressman Hechler was close to the bridge when it was captured on March 7, 1945, went to the scene and filled several notebooks with interviews with the first soldiers across the bridge. He later returned to Germany to get the German side of the story.
60 Years Ago
Week of September 8, 1966
Old Log House – – –
The old log house on High Street across the street from the Fire Department was torn down recently to make room for a used car lot.
One of the oldest houses in Franklin, it probably was built by John McClure shortly after he came here from Augusta County in 1798 and constructed a tanyard on adjoining property, according to Randolph Ruddle.
The old log structure had been covered with weatherboarding for many years. Sites Chevrolet, Inc., is present owner of the property.
72 Is Magic Age For Cash Benefits social security coverage for all
A change in the social security law this year provides for a special cash benefit to be paid to men and women age 72 or older even though they have never worked under social security, according to Joseph W. Houston, manager of the Staunton, Virginia, Social Security District Office.
Single men and women born before 1896 will receive $35 a month. An eligible couple will get $52.50—the husband’s share $35 and $17.50 for the wife.
EDITORIALS
Let’s Open the Post Office – – –
The innocent sometimes must suffer with the guilty. Citizens of the Town of Franklin have been painfully aware of this unhappy fact for the past several months.
Ever since Franklin’s new post office was opened on October 29, 1962, patrons have had 24-hour access to their boxes in the post office lobby. This service was abruptly terminated several months ago because one of the boxes had been tampered with.
Since that time the post office has been closed on weekdays from 7 o’clock in the evening until 7:30 o’clock the next morning, and on Sundays the lobby is open only from 10:30 o’clock in the morning until 12:30 in the afternoon.
The reaction by the patrons of the post office to this limited service has been overwhelmingly negative. This is understandable.
There are many occasions when persons are not able to get to the post office until after 7 o’clock in the evening, and on Sunday one must indeed step fast to get his mail during the short interval after it arrives at the post office and before the door is locked at 12:30.
We are inclined to agree with the many postal patrons that the action taken in locking up the post office from 7 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. perhaps was too severe a penalty for the incident that brought on the change.
We realize, of course, that the mail must be protected and that risks of loss and theft must be avoided. But we do not believe that proper care of the mail is inconsistent with 24-hour access to the post office lobby.
Even though there would be times when no postal employee would be in the building, the large windows make the lobby open to the view of the public at all times.
And police protection here certainly is more than ample. Two state policemen, a town policeman and a sheriff living in our little town should give us a high degree of security.
4-H’ers Exhibit 327 Projects At Tri-County Fair
Pendleton County 4-H members exhibited 327 4-H projects at the Tri-County Fair August 17-20. Of the above projects, 264 received blue ribbons, 58 received red ribbons and 5 received white ribbons.
Bill Adamson showed the grand champion and reserve grand champion feeder calf at the fair. His Hereford was grand champion of the show and his Angus was reserve grand champion.
Donnie Teter showed a Hereford steer that stood second in his class. Gary Teter’s Hereford steer stood third in his class. Ben Adamson’s Angus steer stood third in his class.
Jeffrey Mallow showed the champion Suffolk ewe in the state junior sheep show at the fair. His ewe was also champion Suffolk in the junior show at the State Fair at Lewisburg.
70 Years Ago
Week of September 13, 1956
Farming For Better Living – – –
Myrtle Armstrong, operator of a 325 acre farm in Pendleton County near Doe Hill, Va., has been a consistent enrollee in the Pendleton County Farming For Better Living program.
She has been active in the program for the past eight years. Using the FFBL recommendations, she says, is a “sound outline to follow in her farm work.”
Her farming program is a diversified operation with beef cattle, a small dairy herd, a flock of sheep, several brood sows, and the production of broiler chickens.
