Thursday, February 22, 1945
Our Army and Navy Boys
Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Watts, of Durbin, received a telegram from the War Department stating that their son, Staff Sergeant William D. Watts, was killed in action on the Western front in Belgium January 23, 1945. Sergeant Watts was a graduate of Greenbank High School of the Class of ’41…
He had a deep religious background and did much to help his comrades and ease their minds while on the battle front. He was a very popular young man and was held in high esteem by all who knew him.
Mr. and Mrs. M. F. Jeffries on last Thursday received notice that their son, Private First Class Fred R. Jeffries, fighting in Italy, had been slightly wounded February 1… This is the second time he had been wounded, the first time last July.
On Friday, Mr. and Mrs. Jeffries received another notice that their son, Sergeant William Marvin Jeffries, had been seriously wounded in battle on Luzon, January 19.
Then on Monday they received a letter from another son, Ira Lee Jeffries, recently rescued from a three-year stretch in a Japanese military prison on Luzon, stating that he hoped to be home soon.
Mrs. Jane P. Sharp has received the Purple Heart, awarded to her husband, Basil C. Sharp, who died in battle in southwest Germany on December 23, 1944.
S-Sgt. Stanley Gibson was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action over Germany Christmas eve.
BIRTH
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Sandy Rose, Jr., of Marlinton, a son, named Larry Steven.
WEDDINGS
Wade – Curry
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Curry, of Marlinton, announce the marriage of their daughter, Veda Eileen, to Cpl. Elton Oliver Wade, son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Wade, of Minnehaha Springs…
The groom has been in the army since December 1942, and in active duty on the Western fronts since May 1943. Prior to entering the service, he drove one of the Pocahontas County school buses…
Weatherholt – Jackson
On January 31 occurred the marriage of Miss Opal Marie Jackson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Jackson to PFC Frank Harold Weatherholt, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Weatherholt. They were married in Baltimore.
FIELD NOTES
Let it be put down in the official record that the groundhog did not appear above ground on February 2, 1945, which was Candlemas or Ground Hog Day. There were no tracks in the snow
not even the holes opened up. However, on Wednesday, February 14, 1945, not only did groundhogs open up their holes and appear above ground, but they walked abroad, and went visiting around, as tracks in the snow plainly showed.
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Late last fall on a little hunting jaunt, I pulled up a sassafras sprout and brought the root home for tea. The tea was good all right, but somehow I could not consider it quite up to standard. I just allowed it must be that the system was not craving sassafras like it does in the spring of the year.
Last Saturday the spring time urge for a bit of sassafras tea to thin the blood and take humor out of it, impelled me to look on a thin south hillside where I knew the winter freeze had gone out of the ground, and where I could reasonably expect to find sassafras of the red variety. Before going I experienced another seasonable urge, that to open and “drain” one of the maple trees near the house…
The draining of the sugar maple tree for the sap is truly essential for the best results when it comes to sassafras tea. The blend is really delectable. Some say the sugar water makes the tea a mite too sweet. It suits my taste just right, with no additional sweetening whatsoever. Next to maple sugar water, I recommend branch water, then spring water and well water. Go shy on tap water, if you can possibly do any better, for the necessary chlorine of tap water has a tendency to take the “bloom” off the tea.