Echoes of the Past is a collection of historical articles curated from The Virginian Review and other publications archived since 1914. You may be exposed to content that you find offensive or objectionable. For historical purposes and accuracy, articles are reprinted in their original, unedited form, and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of the publisher.
MAY 1923
100 Years ago
Community Fair at
Roaring Run
A community fair of unusual interest was held at the Roaring Run School, Rich Patch, Saturday at the close of school. It consisted of work done by the Girls’ Sewing Club. One whole side of the school was filled with sewing completed by these girls. There were towels, nightdresses, teddies and kimonos, and the older people had to admit it was a credit to any community to have such an exhibit of sewing done by little girls from ages 8 to 14 years.
Miss Gertrude Stull brought with her an Indian needle, which was a sharp piece of flint used by the Indians to punch holes in skins worn by them to show the girls what an improvement had been made since the first Roaring Run Sewing Club to the present one. This needle was found at the head of Roaring Run and was quite a curiosity.
MAY 1938
85 Years Ago
Bible school starts in
Covington today
This morning 873 students reported for enrollment at the annual Union Vacation Bible School in the Jeter Graded School building.
Tutoring these students are 90 teachers and helpers headed by the preachers of Covington. The superintendent this year is Dr. J.E. Cousar Jr.
Transportation is being furnished by various buses and other facilities. Tomorrow a bus schedule will be arranged to take care of students from Parrish Court, Idlewilde and Albemarle. The attendance is expected to increase to 1,000 by tomorrow.
Cousar stated that after Wednesday the enrollment would stop.
The school is to run for two weeks.
MAY 1968
55 Years Ago
Mrs. A. J. Tingler ends 25 years as license agent
After serving 25 years and six months as license agent, Covington Division of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, Mrs. Dorothy Womack (Mrs. A.J.) Tingler has tendered her resignation as of yesterday.
Mrs. Anne B. (Mrs. H.W.) Reid, a granddaughter of Mrs. Tingler, has been appointed license agent, effective immediately.
Mrs. Reid has worked for the last two years in the Covington office and previously was employed by the division in Richmond.
Mrs. Tingler was presented her 25-year pin in a ceremony held at a district meeting in Roanoke in February.
It would be impossible to estimate the number of license plates she has sold to Covington and Alleghany County residents during the more than 25 years she has been the agent, but already this year approximately 8,000 tags have been issued, and on Friday, her last day on duty, about 30 sets of tags were issued.
Mrs. Tingler has three children, Mrs. John R. Payne of Covington; Womack Tingler, Satellite Beach, Florida; and Mrs. Marion C. Buie, Leawood, Kansas. There are 12 grandchildren.
MAY 2008
15 Years ago
Grand opening held at
Alleghany Highlands YMCA
The Alleghany Highlands YMCA Family Center held its grand opening and ribbon cutting Saturday morning with an overflow crowd of volunteers, donors, YMCA officials, members and guest speakers attending, headed by David N. Smith, Virginia’s deputy secretary of commerce and trade from Richmond.
The state-of-the-art facility with a 37,000-square-foot building was made possible by the hard work of The Alleghany Foundation, local governments, industry, companies and many individuals who raised and pledged $ 7,441,785.
The planning started 14 years ago when the Alleghany Highlands YMCA became a reality.
As of May 31, the local YMCA had 3,988 individual members and 1,524 family units.
