Nearly 30 retirees were recognized for their service at the Gadsden County School Board meeting. Among them, long-time employees Fred Bates, Maureen Daughan and Mae Cato (also a Midway City Commissioner) were honored for their years of service to the children of the county.
The first annual Gadsden County Men of Action Golf Tournament was held on July 23 at the Golf Club of Quincy. Golfers enjoyed a beautiful day of golf, laughter and competition which culminated with lunch, awards and trophy presentations. Proceeds from the tournament were earmarked for the group’s educational and mentoring programs for 2005-06. Some winners were: Longest Putt, Reginald James; Closest to Pin, Eddie Harris; and Longest Drive, Benjamin Joseph.
30 YEARS AGO
The Coonbottom Volunteer Fire Department officially broke ground for its new firehouse in Concord. Present for the ceremonies were County Commissioner Bill McGill, Gadsden Fire Coordinator Oliver Sellers, Coonbottom VFD President Wayne Hooks, Fire Chief David Houston, Assistant Chief John Browning, and Founder Bob Walsh.
Day Leaders whose responsibilities included coordinating work crews and providing meals for workers for the Havana Blitz Build, a seven-day Habitat for Humanity project in Havana were announced. They included Vic Vickers (Stone’s), Carrie Durden (Farm Bureau Insurance), Duane Hicks (Havana Ford), George Rude and Nesta Cumbie (Quincy State Bank), Jimmy Suber and Molly Wilson (Capital City Bank), and Nick Bert and Trish Yahn (Havana Herald and Coastal Lumber Co.).
40 YEARS AGO
Three members of the Pakistani Davis Cup tennis team were in Havana for a couple of days to practice their tennis and have a little fun. The players, Jaleel Riaz, Islam-ul-Haq and Mushaf Zia, were staying in Reno, Georgia with relatives.
According to County Commission Chairman Louise Blackburn, the county’s controversial new hospital located in Quincy came within a ‘gnat’s hair’ of passing its third state inspection. She expected the hospital to pass and receive its Certificate of Need within the week.
50 YEARS AGO
Over 3,000 channel catfish found a home in the ponds of 20 cooperators of the Gadsden Soil and Water Conservation District. Catfish stocking was the first of three phases in the fishpond management program with bream second and bass third.
Too wet to dry clothes on the line but that didn’t bother Rev. Ben Spivey. He was shown in the Herald on a sunny day admiring two of his tomatoes, both almost two pounds, grown in his back yard at Salem United Methodist parsonage. The plants were tied to his clothes line.
60 YEARS AGO
Fire destroyed four barns full of shade-grown tobacco at the Jimmy Boynton farm near Concord. The barns and tobacco were owned by M.D. Peavy, Jr., who had purchased 4 1/2 acres of land and the barns from Boynton. A fifth barn in the vicinity escaped the flames. Peavy put the loss at approximately $60,000.
Havana Jaycees were pictured in the Herald wiring a building at the Boy Scout camp east of town. They planned to also install windows so scouts could use the facility in the near future. The “energetic Jaycees” included Edward Batts, Don Butler, Jim Henry Slappey, Gary Alexander, Bill Shelfer and Terry Whigham.
70 YEARS AGO
The public was invited to inspect Gadsden’s newest educational facility, the $570,000 Carter-Parramore High School in Quincy. Superintendent M.D. Walker announced that “open houses” would be held for both white and black citizens who were interested in seeing the school.
Farmers of the area pledged their support of the Gadsden County State Farmers Vegetable Market in Quincy by indicating they would plant about 400 acres of fall and winter vegetables to be handled through the market facilities, according to G.W. Harbin, Jr. chairman of the Advisory Committee.
