Thursday, August 22, 1946
Edray – Mrs. Roy VanReenan of Drennin Ridge or Edray Flats, has in her home one of the cactus plants known as the Star of Bethlehem or night blooming cactus. On this plant are 17 buds; one of the buds blossomed Sunday night. Words cannot describe this beautiful blossom. The blossom itself, forming a star of pure white petals, measured about eight inches across and in its center, if one can use their imagination, is the cradle with the babe over which hangs the Star of Bethlehem. Many of the neighbors visited to see this blossom. To see one of these beautiful blossoms, can long be remembered, as it represents the birth of our Christ Child.
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Robert Gibson, of Elk, attended the Fair regularly last week. He found delight in the horses and good stock generally, but his especial interest were his many friends he was able to meet and to greet. Stalwart and strong, he is able yet to enjoy a bear chase. Come Friday, August 23, he marks his eighty-first birthday. For the sake of the record let it be put down here that his mother always told him a white frost fell on the Valley of the Upper Elk on August 23, 1865.
Fiftieth Anniversary
The Marlinton Methodist Church will observe its Fiftieth Anniversary in appropriate special services next Sunday, August 25…
The anniversary sermon will be preached by Rev. Fred Oxendale, former pastor. Other former pastors who will be present and participate in the program are Rev. B. W. John, Rev Fred B. Wyand, Rev. S. R. Neel and Rev. W. G. Winton…
The anniversary service at 11 a.m. will be preceded at 10:00 o’clock by a historical service at which a brief history of the church will be read, and brief talks will be given by former pastors. Dinner will be served at 12:45. The public is asked to bring their own basket dinner. A musical program will be given in the afternoon…
ENROLLED IN FARM PROGRAM
Although poor health and scarcity of help have compelled W. B. Waugh to give up his dairy, which for several years supplied many residents of Marlinton with milk, he still conducts an extensive farming operation on the 407-acre place just south of the county seat that he took over from an uncle eight years ago. Mr. Waugh is enrolled in the Farming for Better Living program, which has been organized by farm leaders and businessmen in Pocahontas County this year for the first time.
Last September, Mr. Waugh sold 39 dairy cows. Prior to that time, he had been marketing 90 to 95 gallons of milk daily. Although devoting most of his attention to beef cattle and sheep, he still has five milk cows and sells cream as a steady revenue producer. In the beef herd, there are 80 head of Hereford and Angus cattle, most of which are steers. The number includes, however, 25 heifers and a purebred Angus bull, which are the foundation of a cow and calf business which Mr. Waugh expects to develop.
There are 63 ewes and two Hampshire rams in the sheep flock, which last spring produced 92 lambs. Twenty-eight of the ewes are hall-Corriedale and their fleeces last spring averaged around eight pounds, compared to the four and five-pound fleeces of the other ewes. Mr. Waugh plans to develop a Corriedale-Hampshire cross strain in his flock. His wool is marketed through the county wool pool…
A laying flock of 60 White Leghorn and Barred Rock hens provides eggs for the home and for marketing, and 100 New Hampshire Red Barred Rock cross chicks were acquired last spring for replacements and table use. A brood sow, 10 pigs and three horses make up the rest of the farm’s livestock.
Thirty-five acres of meadow, mostly clover and timothy, with some alfalfa, 16 ½ acres of hybrid corn, eight acres of oats and seven acres of wheat will provide winter feed for the stock. All the meadows have been limed, and the older ones were top-dressed with phosphate last year…
There are a number of scattered fruit trees, including some young peach trees set out in recent years, a nice family garden which yields ample produce for summer consumption and for canning, and 12 stands of bees on the farm.
Mr. Waugh is a member of the Pocahontas Farm Bureau and is enrolled in the soil conservation program with a farm plan worked out for his place.