The blackbird roost on Danville Avenue in Stanford was showing signs of improvement as property owner Doug Basham spent his evenings firing a cannon at the flock. Basham said the loud boom emitted by the propane-fueled noisemaker seemed to be scaring the birds and driving them away from his row of pine trees. The state pest control division provided Basham with the machine after a story about the birds appeared in The Interior Journal. The blackbirds and starlings had caused some damage to Basham's property and also created a health hazard on the ground with droppings and dead birds.
50 years ago...
Highland School teacher Mrs. Jess Faulkner collaborated with her brother-in-law to win $10,000 worth of General Motors common stock and $3,350 in cash to pay for the taxes on the prize. The first-grade teacher assisted her brother-in-law, Kenneth Murry of Detroit, a GM employee, by giving advice and supervision in the writing of his essay on the subject of "The Golden Milestone and What It Means to Me, My Family and My Community." The contest was sponsored by GM in recognition of its 50-year anniversary. The 2,000-word essay won second place in the nationwide contest in which 285,000 entries were submitted. Mrs. Faulkner and Mr. Murry were splitting the prize equally. Other prizes in the contest were a $35,000 home, a Cadillac, two Buicks, seven Pontiacs, seven Oldsmobiles and 20 Chevrolets. Faulkner, Murry and all of the winners were notified that they had won, but their actual awards were not disclosed to them until a special awards banquet held in Detroit.
Miss Priscilla Lynn of Hustonville was appointed Lady-in-Waiting to participate in the ceremonies of the annual Court of Pegasus Derby Ball at the Louisville Gardens, where the 1958 Derby Queen was to be crowned. Lynn, a candidate for the Derby Queen, was sponsored by the Hustonville Lions Club and Gibson North.
70 years ago...
The Hustonville community was saddened by the death of Harry Wallace Rigney, the nine-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Rigney. According to classmates, Rigney had seemed happy and healthy at school. But the youngster was suddenly stricken with scarlet fever and died three days later.
Highland High School's "Gymless Wonders" returned from the state high school basketball tournament with the sportsmanship trophy.
Troop No. 148 Boy Scouts of the Stanford Christian Church went on an overnight camping trip. The troop hiked about seven miles out Hubble Pike to Mr. Stith Noe's farm where they spent the night and they hiked back the following afternoon. Master E. Tipton Carroll was in charge of the troop.
Highway crews resurfaced and widened by two feet U.S. 27 south of Stanford.
Of all second class post offices in the state, the Stanford Post Office led the state in per capita sales. Mrs. Mary Helm was post mistress.
90 years ago...
Crab Orchard boy James Orwin Hall was a fireman on the missing naval collier, Cyclops, overdue from South America. There had been no word to clear up the mystery of her disappearance. The Cyclops, which was bringing a cargo of manganese from Brazil, carried 57 passengers, 15 officers and 21 men in her crew and had been overdue at an Atlantic port since March 13. The vessel was last reported at a West Indies island on March 4.
Julian Riffe of Hustonville left for New York to join his ship of hospital crew on the Abraham Lincoln. This was Riffe's third trip back since he entered the service.
Total assessable property in Lincoln County amounted to $10,645,709, more than $2 million more than ever before. Assessor was E. D. Kennedy.
Stanley P. Stephenson organized a troop of Boy Scouts in Hustonville. The following youngsters had joined: John Wesley Hocker, Carl Hicks, Redd Thomas, Sam Reid, Harold Childress, Charles Adams and John Riffe. Stephenson was scout master and A. J. Adams was assistant scout master.
