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A somber anniversary

What began as a normal day 50 years ago, with things to do like school and shopping, soon turned into a day that few who experienced it will ever forget.

Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and some local residents recounted their thoughts of that fateful day.

For the Rev. Fred Carter, pastor of Shepherdsville Baptist Church in Gloucester, what sticks in his memory the most of that Friday is the music. He said a Mahler composition played constantly on television for days as the nation mourned the death of President Kennedy.

Carter, then a student at Temple University in Philadelphia, remembers that "nobody went to class … it was like a Jewish holiday."

Georgette Hurley, longtime assistant administrator for Gloucester County, said she was a freshman at Radford College (now University) and was walking across campus that afternoon when she noticed the chimes ringing constantly. The chimes usually only rang on the quarter ho...

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