115 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 5, 1910
from the Mathews Journal
Messrs. L.C. Garnett, J. Boyd Sears, J.M, Pugh, J.T. Christian and many other good Mathews people attended Gloucester court on Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Napoleon Bonaparte Weston, who have sold their home to Mr. Charles Hudgins, have moved to the village.
Gasoline launches for hire, all purposes and at all times. –W.G. Miles, Philpotts.
100 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 7, 1925
from the Gloucester Gazette
The Wicomico Sewing Circle met on Friday night at the home of Mrs. R.L. Wilburn. There was a large attendance. After the usual period of sewing and business, dainty refreshments were served by the hostess and a pleasant social time was enjoyed.
As an Easter offering, the Circle sent a box containing twenty-five or thirty garments to the Virginia Conference Orphanage at Richmond. A letter was received from Rev. Arthur B. Sharpe, Superintendent of the Orphanage, acknowledging the box in which he said: “I can assure you these things are appreciated very, very much. The clothes surely look nice on some of the little ones.”
from the Mathews Journal
Grimstead: Mrs. John L. James motored over from Fitchetts and spent Saturday afternoon on the Island. Miss Leah Hudgins returned home with her.
Mrs. C.K. Hudgins held a card party on Monday.
Mrs. G.N. Grimstead returned from Baltimore recently, after spending the winter in that city.
A stroll around the river beach is the thing this time of the year. The smell of wild locust and honeysuckle blossoms will do you good. The sunsets are beautiful and the birds chirp and fritter about. It’s a wonderful view and well worth the trip. I might add that it is an ideal place even to worship, if one would so wish.
90 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 9, 1935
from the Gloucester Gazette
The meanest man (or woman) proverbially is the one who will steal pennies off a dead man’s eyes. Close kin to him (or her) must be the one who will steal flowers off a grave. This species of vandalism has been of occasional occurrence in Gloucester and seems again about to break forth. Mrs. James D. Clements reports shrubs dug up from her family lot in Ware churchyard recently, about ten days after they were planted. It is a shame that the person or persons guilty of such depredations cannot be apprehended and made an example of.
from the Mathews Journal
A mother cat owned by Eugene Streagle has adopted a tiny baby fox, whose eyes are still unopened, as a companion for her lone kitten. The little fox was found Sunday afternoon by a group of small boys, who, with juvenile curiosity, investigated a hole in an old stump.
The mother fox ran out and the boys dug further to find a nest with her babies. They took one and left the rest. In searching for some means of feeding the small animal, they placed it on the floor before the cat. Without hesitation, she walked to it and carried it off to her nest. The fox, several days old, is slightly larger than the kitten, but the mother cat favors both alike.
80 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 19, 1945
from the Gazette-Journal
Sunday was a busy day at the Country Club of Gloucester, with more than 60 golfers and guests enjoying the game and the peaceful atmosphere. A party of about 40 golfers from Newport News, including many department heads from the shipyard, held a tournament on the course during the day and after a picnic dinner, enjoyed an hour of entertainment, a feature of which was a double quartet. The Newport News golfers spoke highly of the local course, all agreeing that it was in excellent condition Sunday.
70 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 5, 1955
from the Gazette-Journal
May Day festivities will be held at Botetourt Elementary School on Friday, May 13, beginning at 1 p.m. with a processional by the school band. The court will dance the Minuet, and Miss Mary Ann Jones will be crowned May Queen by Fred B. Corr, principal. She will be attended by Miss Dolores Leigh, maid of honor; Sandra Hall, flower girl, and Tommy Fields, crown-bearer. Members of the court will be: Charlotte Robins, Sammy Hale, Carol Anthony, John Bohannon, Richie Lou White, Al Booker, Jane Thrift, and John Wiatt.
60 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 6, 1965
from the Gazette-Journal
This year’s Garden Week in Gloucester and Mathews was one of the most successful ever held in this area with nearly 1,000 persons visiting the homes and other places of interest in the two counties. A spokesman for the Garden Club of Gloucester said the good weather was instrumental in bringing many visitors out. A special attraction was the art show on the Gloucester court green which was very well attended.
50 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 7, 1975
from the Gazette-Journal
More than 26,000 people in Gloucester and Mathews counties in another five years? That is what will happen, say state planning experts, based on the present rate of growth. The planners’ projections for 1980 show a combined population of 26,100, up approximately 4,900 from the 1970 census count.
The population of Gloucester is projected to increase to 18,000 by 1980, 3,000 over the 1972 estimate of 15,000. Mathews’ population is projected at 8,100, an increase of 300 over the 1972 estimated figure of 7,800.
40 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 9, 1985
from the Gazette-Journal
A 20-year ban on shellfish harvesting of 104 acres in Sarah Creek in Gloucester County was lifted Friday by state health officials.
Sarah Creek has been closed since 1965 due to unsatisfactory water quality. Portions of the creek, including 150 acres in the Northwest Branch and 51 acres in the Northeast Branch, remain closed to shellfish harvesting.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission has estimated that there are 1,500 bushels of oysters worth approximately $30,000 immediately available in Sarah Creek.
30 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 11, 1995
from the Gazette-Journal
Jerry Young was presented the Freedom B. Goode Volunteer of the Year Award by the Gloucester Parks and Recreation Department during its volunteer recognition night on April 26. Mrs. Young was chairman of the 1995 Gloucester Daffodil Festival.
20 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 5, 2005
from the Gazette-Journal
It’s part sporting event, part pep rally, with the wild energy of a rock concert to boot. High school students from Mathews and Gloucester can’t get enough of it. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll get them excited about pursuing a career in engineering and design.
That’s how Mathews High School teacher and robotics team sponsor Lee Anne Griffin described the 2005 FIRST Robotics Competition, which was held on April 21-23 at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.
Although the Mathews-Gloucester Noblemen Team #1137 was likely one of the smallest groups at this international event, it came away with a major accolade: honorable mention in the Autodesk Inventor Award.
10 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 7, 2015
from the Gazette-Journal
Much is already being done with the Captain Sinclair Recreation Area in the two years since the land was donated to the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority, and plans are in the works to ensure that the public gets the best possible use out of this 97-acre parcel on the Severn River in Gloucester.