A look back
By By Dr. Bill Stewart
Dec. 24, 1959-Twin boys, Keith Eugene and Kelly Dean Speake, made Christmas Eve appearances at Decatur General tonight. They are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt Speake, Danville 2.
Dec. 24, 1959 – Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Stroup and daughter, Nancy, Jeff Tanner, and Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt Halbrooks were in Anniston Sunday as guests of Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Weaver.
Dec. 25, 1959-The Oak Ridge Community Club sponsored a turkey shoot this Christmas morning at the community clubhouse.
Dec. 25, 1959-A dinner consisting of roast chicken with giblet gravy, buttered English peas, snow-flaked potatoes, cranberries, rolls, sponge cake with lemon sauce, and perked coffee was served to prisoners at the Morgan County jail at noon today.
Dec. 26, 1959—Alabama population has increased since 1950, from 3,061,743 to 3,193,000 in 1959, about a 4 percent increase.
Dec. 26, 1959-MCHS beat Cotaco 65-63 in an overtime high school basketball game played here tonight. Luther and Vest were the leading scorers for the local team with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Dec. 27, 1959-The mother of U.S. rocket scientist, Dr. Wernher von Braun, died at a Munich hospital tonight. The Baroness Emmy von Braun’s son is highly respected in Alabama, particularly among workers at Redstone Arsenal.
Dec. 27, 1959-The MCHS class of 1950 held a class reunion at the Decatur Holiday Inn restaurant tonight, with a total of 51 on hand to enjoy the dinner and reminiscences.
Dec. 27, 1959-Robert Carlton Francis Jr., of Hartselle and Dixie Octavia Autry of Birmingham were married today in the chapel of Highlands Methodist Church in Birmingham.
Dec. 28, 1959-MCHS graduate Becky White made the dean’s list at Auburn University during the fall quarter. She is the daughter of Mrs. Arthur White.
Dec. 28, 1959-Hartselle housewives preparing for their New Year’s meals were able to find some pretty good bargains at local supermarkets today. Fresh hog jowls are going for 15c a pound and black-eyed peas, 10c for a 12-ounce can.
Dec. 28, 1959-U.S. Postal Inspector H. B. Raley is warning that people who tamper with rural mail boxes (such as knocking them down) face one thousand-dollar fines and three years imprisonment.
Dec. 29, 1959-The recently completed new MCHS gym has six goals operated electronically. Bleachers operate in a similar manner. The bleachers can hold 2,260 fans on two levels (1,586, lower; 674, upper). The building is not air-conditioned but there are two big ventilating fans that keep air continually circulating. Total cost of the new facility was $173,000.
Dec. 29, 1959-Alabama Republicans are going to be allowed to send 22 delegates to the party’s national convention next July. Alabama hasn’t voted GOP in nearly a hundred years so the state is not allocated much influence at Republican meetings.
Dec. 29, 1959-A form of gambling is reported to be on the rise in the neighboring county of Lawrence. Several small stores are offering the use of punchboards, which are lottery game boards offering cash or prizes to those whose “punches” successfully find the slip of paper declaring them winners.
Dec. 30, 1959-Morgan County sheriffs’ deputies apprehended James Williams, an escapee from a road camp gang, in Falkville this morning.
Dec. 30, 1959-Carolyn McHan is currently serving as president of the girls 4-H Club at Crestline elementary. Other active members include Betty Wallace, Libby Breeding, Sue Thornhill, Ann Smith, Patsy McHan, and Diane Garrison.
Dec. 30, 1959-Law enforcement officials beat a path today to a site about a mile and a half from Hartselle where they located two 55-gallon stills, which they promptly proceeded to destroy. The moonshiners had vanished by the time the lawmen arrived.
