Sunday, December 3, 2017

Old newspaper excerpts from The Monroe Journal newspaper in Monroeville, Alabama

16 YEARS AGO
DEC. 7, 2000

The Monroeville Planning Commission took the first step in approving the new YMCA at Veterans Memorial Park by granting a conditional use permit for the residential-zoned property.
YMCA representatives will later submit to the Planning Commission site plans that will include architectural drawings of the building, parking area, driveways, buffer zones and requirements for sewage, water, drainage and fire protection. The commission granted the conditional-use permit instead of rezoning it agricultural.
Hunter Lindblom, chairman of the YMCA capital development project, said the campaign to raise $180,000 is nearing completion with the finish line in sight.

Excel High School’s varsity boys upended McIntosh High School, 69-65, Friday in Excel.
Bobby Brown, a 6-3 senior center, posted career numbers with 25 points and 17 rebounds.
(Other standout Excel players in that game included LaShun Brown, Josh Dees, Greg Houston, Nathan Mixon, Wesley Qualls, Kyle Thomas and Lee Thomason. Scott Daniels was Excel’s head coach.)

Jessica Sawyer has joined The Monroe Journal as a staff writer
Sawyer, a 1999 graduate of Monroe Academy and Monroeville native, is the daughter of Bob and Karen Sawyer of Monroeville.
Sawyer was Monroe County’s Junior Miss for 1999 and represented the county at Alabama’s Junior Miss in Montgomery.

31 YEARS AGO
DEC. 5, 1985

Skeleton discovered by hunter: The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and state investigators are trying to identify the remains of a man discovered last week in an old, discarded freezer between Burnt Corn and Bermuda.
Sheriff Lenwood Sager said the bones of a man who was apparently murdered were found Friday by Mark Steadman of Burnt Corn, who was hunting in the wooded area.
The body is that of a black man between 18 and 25 who weighed about 160 pounds and was five feet, seven inches tall, Sager said. The man has apparently been dead for about two months, he added.

Repton High School’s Bulldogs took advantage of five turnovers by the Beulah Bobcats’ offense Friday to take a 13-7 victory in the semifinals of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s 1A state playoffs at Repton.
The Bulldogs picked off three passes and recovered two fumbles on their way to upping their record to 12-2 on the season.
(Top Repton players in that game included David Dukes, Mitch Harrell, Walter Millender, Allen Nettles, Mitchell Rankins, Greg Rudolph, Leon Rudolph, Rodney Rudolph, Mark Taylor and John Thompson. Hugh Wilson was Repton’s head coach.)

Retired Col. Armistead Harper of Monroeville was guest speaker at the November meeting of the Old Federal Road chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
Harper is a graduate of Auburn University and was commissioned in the Horse Cavalry of the U.S. Army in 1939. He served in England, North Africa, Sicily and Italy in World War II and in Japan during the Korean conflict.

45 YEARS AGO
DEC. 2, 1971

Finchburg residents form fire department: A group of Finchburg area residents have formed the first of Monroe County’s new rural volunteer fire departments.
Nineteen active members attended an organizational meeting at Eureka Church last week. William Hardy was named as chief, Robert W. Turberville and Charles McKenzie were named as assistant chiefs, Maiben Williams and Samuel Bayles were named as captains, and Alfred Stabler and Howard O. Turberville were named as lieutenants. Clay Rowell was chosen secretary-treasurer.

The Monroe Academy Volunteers continue to dominate the Alabama Private School Athletic Association’s playoffs by out-shooting the Morgan Academy Senators, 40-20, last Friday night, Nov. 26, in Monroeville.
The victory moved Monroe into the APSAA finals for a shot at its second straight private school football state championship. It was the 24th consecutive contest for the Big Orange without defeat.
(Players on Monroe’s team that season included Sam Andress, Doug Boswell, Alvin Daniels, Johnny Mack Hollinger, Rob Kelly, John Law Robinson, Rob Scott, Gary Tucker, Kevin Wells and Danny Wilson.)

Lt. Col. (ret.) Thomas Byrd Whatley, 78, of Monroeville died Thurs., Nov. 25.
County Coroner Farrish Manning said he apparently died as a result of a heart attack. Col. Whatley was stricken while on a deer drive in Finchburg.

The Monroeville Theater Guild will meet tonight (Thursday) at 7:30 p.m. in the home of Mrs. George Hansen, 807 Floyd St., Monroeville.

61 YEARS AGO
DEC. 1, 1955

Monroeville’s Alabama Masonic Lodge No. 3 was presented a framed portrait of one of its most illustrious past lodge masters and a former governor of Alabama at a meeting here last week.
Bart Stafford of Brooklyn, N.Y., in special ceremonies, presented the portrait of his great-great-grandfather Arthur P. Bagby, Worshipful Master of the local lodge when it was located at Claiborne in 1852.
The Monroeville lodge is the oldest continuous lodge in Alabama, having operated at Claiborne before Alabama became a state at Lodge No. 51, under the Grand Lodge of South Carolina.

The Excel High School Panthers opened basketball season in Monroe County Tuesday night by handing a 57-40 defeat to the Lyeffion High quintet.
Top scorer for Excel was Jack Matchett, forward, with 37 points, while Tomlinson, center, paced Lyeffion with 13.
(Other players on Excel’s team that year included Carol Stacey, Johnny Tomlinson, Cecil Stacey, E.J. Melton, Max Ray Shumack, Max Green, Bill Scruggs and Tony Sawyer.)

Christmas lights in the downtown area of Frisco City are scheduled to go on Friday night at 7 p.m. in special ceremonies.
When the switch is pulled, colorful, festive lights strung over the main street and on a huge Christmas tree in front of Hendrix Motor Co. will be illuminated.
The installation of the seasonal lighting is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce with E.W. Kelly chairman of the committee in charge of the annual program.

76 YEARS AGO
DEC. 5, 1940

Three County Men Enter Army Service: Three men in Monroe County have been selected for induction by Local Board No. 2 into the Army Training Service.
Daniel Byrd, Order No. V1244, and Curtis Cleveland Lambert, Order No. V666, left for Fort Barrancas on Wed., Dec. 4. Herbert Lee Taylor and Ollie Frank Allison, Board No. 1, also left Wednesday morning.
William C. Mason, Order No. V1102, has been notified to report to Local Board on Dec. 10. He will also be sent to Fort Barrancas.

Messrs. H.G. Greer, S.H. Hurt, John Harbour, A.C. Lee and R.H. Vickery attended the Alabama-Mississippi football game in Tuscaloosa Saturday.

According to the Census Report of the Department of Commerce, there were 10,201 bales of cotton ginned in Monroe County from the crop of 1940 prior to Nov. 14, as compared with 10,076 bales ginned from the crop of 1939.

Miss Yena York, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.A. York, Monroeville, who will receive her A.B. degree from Alabama College in May, is among those students who will be listed in the 1940-41 issue of Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges.
This book will be released in January or February. This publication is published through the cooperation of over 500 American universities and colleges.
Miss York graduated from Monroe County High School in the Class of 1936. During her high school career, she was active in all extracurricular activities and graduated as valedictorian of her class.

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