Thursday, June 12, 1969
Welcome to Pocahontas
The best kept secret of recent times was revealed Sunday afternoon as Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, IV, announced plans to build a home near Dunmore. Pocahontas people had been consumed with curiosity since the sale of the Ashby Wilfong farm last fall at a high price to C. W. Hensell, a real estate dealer in Martinsburg, followed by purchase of other farms.
Between five and six hundred people gathered for a picnic under a yellow striped tent on the Wilfong farm, not knowing who the host would be. The valley and mountains were beautiful.
About one o’clock, Secretary of State and Mrs. Rockefeller arrived, accompanied by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, III, and her brother and sister, and ended the rumors that had ranged from a prison to a missile site.
Rockefeller said he had had “two loves at first sight” – his wife and this farm.
An architect is making plans for a home to be started later in the year.
He had been planning these purchases for two years and had made many secret trips to the farm, coming in a back way. His father-in-law, Senator Charles Percy, came once and fell in the creek…
Boys and Girls in Service
Major William W. Galford arrived in Vietnam May 30, his mother, Mrs. Elmer McLaughlin, heard this week.
Captain and Mrs. Charles Baldwin are visiting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Harper, for a few weeks. They will go to Germany the last of the month.
Kenneth McLaughlin is home on leave with his mother, Mrs. Geraldine McLaughlin, after completing his training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He leaves next Friday for Fort Dix, New Jersey, for a tour of duty in Germany.
PFC. Samuel L. Morrison arrived at Camp Pendleton, California, where he will be taking special training for three weeks before going to Vietnam.
HAIL
Mrs. Norman Alderman called in to tell of the big hail storm about 2:00 Monday afternoon on Cummings Creek. The marble-sized hail just ruined the gardens, stripping the leaves and breaking the plants.
Her son, Keith, measured ten inches of hail in a field near their home.
One scoop filled a three-quart kettle, which she has in the freezer. The hail, accompanied by heavy rain, lightning and high winds, covered a relatively small area, probably no more than a half mile along the road on the lands of the Alderman’s, Hoil Underwood, Mrs. Nora Perkins, Arlie Simmons and Wallace Underwood.
Mrs. Alderman had never seen such a sight but Mrs. Perkins and Mrs. Simmons said there was a like storm in that area about 21 years ago. The rain and hail came down the Alderman’s fireplace – first time ever – so heavy she was kept busy emptying the buckets.
The Hoil Underwoods were replanting tomatoes and were forced out of the garden by the rain so lost all of these plants, too.
These several people are in need of tomato plants if you have some extra.
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Shinaberry, a daughter, named Melissa Kay.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Irvine, of Marlinton, a daughter, named Delana Kay.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ervine, of Marlinton, a son, named Michael Frederick.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Gary L. Friel, of Lorain, Ohio, a daughter, named Stephanie Dawn.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Lanty F. McNeel, a son, named Charles Richard.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth William Workman, a son, named Kenneth William, Jr.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Styrl W. Sharp, Jr., of Covington, Virginia a son, named Michael Todd.
DEATHS
Mrs. Almarinda Scott, 79, of Hillsboro; burial in the Emmanuel Church Cemetery on Bruffeys Creek.
James Roscoe Booth, 56, of Durbin; burial in the Arbovale Cemetery.
