65 years ago, Aug. 12, 1954
“COLUMBIA TO GET DIAL TELEPHONE SYSTEM: According to G.W. Maxwell, Southern Bell manager here, tentative plans are that a new telephone exchange will be started in the near future in Columbia. The new building and equipment will cost approximately $125,000. … The new telephone equipment will be connected to the Hattiesburg exchange and Columbia subscribers who dial ‘operator’ and ‘long distance’ will automatically be answered in Hattiesburg.”
60 years ago, Aug. 13, 1959
“Mrs. Uhl Poole Fornea was notified by telephone Monday that she had passed the State Bar Examination. A native of Foxworth, she attended grammar school there and graduated from Columbia High School in 1930. She graduated from Soule Business College in New Orleans the following year and was appointed Official Court Reporter, 15th Circuit Court District, on Oct. 19, 1931. She still holds this position. Mrs. Fornea qualified under the old Statute permitting one to enter into the private study of law under a preceptor approved by the State Board of Bar Examiners. This required four years of study and standing a written progressive test every six months. She studied text books used by law students at Ole Miss and other legal treatise. She also attended legal lectures. She is the only one in a large group to pass the bar who was not a graduate of a law school and will be the last because under a new statute no one may take the examination who is not a graduate of law school. Mrs. Fornea and her husband, Ray R. Fornea, and their son, Larry, 16, reside in Foxworth.”
50 years ago, Aug. 14, 1969
“The Marion County Shrine Club, headed by President Jabez Cook, sponsored an all-expense paid trip to the Wahabi Shrine Circus at the Coliseum in Jackson on Aug. 12. … The Marion County Shrine Club owns its own property of 55 acres including a club house and a 15-acre lake on Ball’s Mill Creek, formerly owned by Harry L. Rankin Sr. and known as Rankin’s Roost. The club is working toward a goal of helping children in Marion County.”
40 years ago, Aug. 9, 1979
“Mrs. Lucy Virgil, a resident of Floadrian Manor, celebrated her 101st birthday recently. She was born in the Expose community in Marion County, July 26, 1878, and then lived near Columbia after marrying Thomas Virgil. She lived in Chicago five or six years when he died and worked in a laundry and as a maid. A hard worker all her life, she said, ‘I’ve plowed; I’ve hoed; I’ve chopped cotton; I’ve dug ditches.’ When asked what she thought about being 101 years old, Mrs. Virgil commented, ‘God is so good to let me live so long.’ Mrs. Virgil is the aunt of Mrs. Floyd B. Keyes of Columbia.”
30 years ago, Aug. 10, 1989
“Bonnie Hudson has been promoted to advertising manager of The Columbian-Progress and Jeff Ashley has joined the newspaper advertising staff as a sales representative, according to an announcement by Ken Prillhart, editor and general manager. ‘Bonnie certainly has the experience and has shown the leadership to be an outstanding advertising manager,’ Prillhart said in announcing her promotion. ‘She knows the community and knows her advertisers.’ Hudson has four years of newspaper advertising experience. She is a graduate of Columbia High School and is a member of the board of directors of the Kiwanis Club of Columbia.”
20 years ago, Aug. 12, 1999
“Lloyd McGehee, 89, of Brandon, a former director of the Columbia Training School and superintendent of the Mississippi Training Schools, died Wednesday, Aug. 4 at the University Medical Center in Jackson of a ruptured aneurysm. … McGehee was born in Franklin County in 1909, one of 16 children. … He graduated from Franklin County Agricultural High School in 1929 and from Mississippi State A&M in 1933 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education. He taught vocational education, was an AAA Administrator in Madison County and was County Agent in Marion and Lawrence counties. McGehee served as company commander World War II. He later owned and operated McDougall-McGehee Ford Tractor and Hardware in Columbia, where he also served as executive secretary of the Marion County Chamber of Commerce. He represented Marion County for two terms in the state House of Representatives during the 1950s, where he was praised for his work to maintain the public school system and establish the state retirement program.”
10 years ago, Aug. 8, 2009
“Thanks to the Cash for Clunkers program, Calvin Clark got rid of his full-sized van in exchange for a small, more fuel-efficient car. Mack Grubbs Motors introduced the federal government’s program in Columbia last week, and there is a lot of interest, said General Sales Manager Mickey Burton. As of Thursday the dealership completed about four Cash for Clunkers deals. … Under the program, Clark received a $4,500 discount from the federal government on his new Chevy Aveo that gets 34 miles per gallon compared to the van’s 16. The van now goes to Lamar Auto Salvage where a crusher turns the trade-ins into scrap metal. The program aims to stimulate the economy.”
“This summer, many are remembering the first steps of a man on the moon 40 years ago, on July 20, 1969. Ottis Bullock, a Marion County native, can recall how he was part of the spectacular achievement of the Apollo missions as the lead engineer for the development of the Lunar Roving Vehicle, LRV, beginning that same year. … Bullock began working for Boeing immediately after graduating from Mississippi State University in 1962.
Pictured Above: In this photo from 40 years ago, Aug. 9, 1979, the Minor League all-stars for the National League include, front row, from left, Shawn Turnage, Brian Stewart, Jeff Mixon, George Cutrer, Russ McNeese, Scott Finley, Clay Pittman and Toby Bryant. Back row, Porter Wilkes, Jeff Duncan, Jeremy McCraw, Doug Barnes, Ratliff Fortenberry and Todd May.
