100 YEARS AGO — 1918

The magnificent new high school building in Danville was occupied last Monday for the first time and the teachers and pupils are pleased with their new quarters. Prof. Carnagey, superintendent of the new city school said the following inscription in bronze letters will be placed over the central arch on the north side: “Danville’s Gift to Her Boys and Girls.”

Mr. H.B. Minor, who bought the old home belonging to his father, the late C.P. “Boss” Minor, lying on Wards’ Branch in the West End of Boyle County, has awarded the contract to James Minor, of Shelby City, to raze the old building and erect on the same site a two-story modern frame residence. The home being torn away was built over 100 years ago. It was built of logs and in later years, weather-boarded. The house had a frontage of 50 feet. The sills were large, yellow poplar logs, put together with wooden pins and are perfectly sound now, having been supported with a stone foundation. The sills are of such high quality that Mr. Minor will haul them to a saw mill and will have them converted into finishing lumber to be used in the erection of his new home.

Claude West, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. West, formerly of Junction City writes to his mother and everyone: I have just received my box and it sure was some box. … The first thing I took from the box was Ruth’s box of candy… The second thing was my handkerchiefs, then came my watch, and I did let out one “Injun yell.” Next was my sweater and wristlets. I got one from the Red Cross, a grey one, but it was nothing like as heavy as yours and I could not wear on the outside because it was not the olive drab… Tell Pop he sure had the right idea when he sent that magazine for that is the third one in our camp… Mama, please write me, all of you, as often as you can and tell me how you are as I don’t get any mail hardly and everything you see is French.

Perryville news: Jim Guthrie purchased a new Ford car: The many friends of Burton and Genelle Wayne will be sorry to know they have both been sick:

75 YEARS AGO — 1943

A.J. Hendron purchased the 233-acre farm of Walter Reed, located about seven miles west of Danville, also livestock, feed and farm equipment.

Lieutenant Eugene McCowan, who was recently promoted to the rank of first Lieutenant, spent two days with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. McCowan in Danville. Lieut. McCowan has been stationed at one of the largest air bases which fly “Flying Fortresses.” He has been instructing combat crews on the B-17 for almost six months. On graduation in 1939 from Danville High School where he was a star basketball player, Lieut. McCowan was named to the school’s Hall of Fame.

Lieut. Roger Newberry, eldest son of Mrs. William Newberry of Cleveland and nephew of Mrs. John S. VanWinkle of Danville, has been reported missing in action. The young aviator has been at the front in Tunisia since the first contingent of the American troops arrived there last fall.

The meeting of members of Danville Chamber of Commerce on March 16 will mark the 24th birthday of this organization. This group has functioned consistently since its founding in 1919 and has never finished a year with a deflict. This is a record for a business organization in a small city.

A fire razed the quarters of Danville Tire Company on North Second Street yesterday afternoon and threatened Alexander’s Restaurant and the Henson Hotel before firemen brought the flames under control. The blaze originated in a tire cement barrel that exploded, throwing the flaming debris up and down the street on each side of the store.

50 YEARS AGO — 1968

Dr. C.P. Gum has been named chairman of the local chapter of The American Cancer Society’s 1968 educational and fund raising crusade.

About 225 acres were burned in Boyle County between 2 and 6 p.m. in four separate grass fires. Two of the fires were reported to have started from tobacco bed burning which got out of hand.

A Harrodsburg soldier was among members of an “Old Guard” company of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade who sloshed through a booby-trap infested swamp in Vietnam on Feb. 12 to directly assault a dug-in Viet Cong unit firing from bunkers. He was Sgt. Nathan Lyens Robinson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Robinson Sr. of Cogar Avenue. Sgt. Robinson was killed 12 days later in another engagement south of Saigon. He had been in Vietnam four months and had been decorated for battle service.

Area residents account for more than 6,000 of the 172,450 Kentuckians drawing welfare aid through either the distribution of commodities or the more direct aid under the food stamp plan. A county-by-county breakdown of the number of those on the commodity rolls are: Boyle, 748; Garrard, 429; Mercer, 518.

25 YEARS AGO — 1993

Within minutes of his arrival home, David Minor had his parents, Marion and Frieda, cracking books. “I told them about a man they’d never heard about and they went right to the encyclopedia,” David said. “I then told about a woman they hadn’t heard about and they opened another encyclopedia.” David was just one of the students in Janet Hagley’s fourth and fifth grade class at Jennie Rogers Elementary School who has been learning about important African-Americans during Black History Month in February. While all the schools in Danville observed Black History Month in some fashion, Hagley’s class, which includes 20 white children and five black children, not only studied it, but also lived and shared it.

A fixture of downtown Danville is closing. Grider Pharmacy at 309 West Main St. is shutting down after being in business for 37 years. Robert Reister, owner of the store, said he has sold the business to Kroger and will start Monday as a pharmacist at the Kroger pharmacy in Ridgefield Shopping Center. “The competition for the little guy has become very tough in recent years,” Reister said. “I’m talking about the mail order drug business and insurance companies dictating which pharmacies should be used.”

When Grider Pharmacy closes at noon on Sunday, a group of gentlemen, known as the Old Goats Club, will be put out on the pavement. The group formed 13 years ago, adopted a charter and started issuing membership cards for bucks, billies, kids and does. The main criteria for membership includes being retired (or forced out), having common sense (or sounding like you do) and having a scholarly grasp of the issues (based solely on Cliff’s Notes and the index of The National Enquirer. Since its formation, the Old Goats Club has used the tables and chairs in the back of Grider’s Pharmacy, known as the apothecary shop as its meeting place.