100 YEARS AGO....
Lt. Harley Perry, brother of A. E Perry of Rock-dale, was attacked by three German planes in France. Lt. Perry shot down one of the planes and helped lead his Allied pilot companions safely back to base.
After a World War I Council on Defense meeting at City Hall drew only a sparse crowd, another session was quickly rescheduled. Said The Reporter: “If you are not a slacker you are expected to be on hand if you live within the corporate limits of Rockdale.”
Mrs C. H. Yoe of Cameron donated a city lot for the purpose of constructing a high school to be named for her late husband. C. H. Yoe died in December 1917.
Farmer R. L Sides moved back to the Rockdale area after spending a year in East Texas. The Reporter’s news story on this occurrence was entitled “The Prodigal Returns” and concluded: “The Reporter hopes he will make a big enough crop to get the bad taste of East Texas out of his mouth.”
FORTY YEARS AGO....
The estate of the late Los Angeles neurosurgeon, and Rockdale benefactor, Dr. George Patterson had been settled and city leaders were advised it contained $580,000 ($2.24 million in today’s money) for a civic center and to expand the library named for his mother.
Enrollment in the Rock-dale ISD reached 1,887 students, what was then an all-time high. It represented an increase of 108 students over the previous year.
Property owners along five Rockdale streets had petitioned the city for paving. Rockdale’s policy was for property owners along each side to pay one-third the cost with the city picking up the other third.
Defense ruled the season opener between 2A powers. Randy Leech’s field goal and extra point provided the deciding margin as Rockdale defeated Columbus 10-6.
TWENTY YEARS AGO....
Rockdale ISD voters were heading to the polls to decode whether to remove a long-forgotten school tax cap, instituted in 1955. The current RISD rate was over the tax cap.
More than 1,000 people attended the funeral of the late State Rep. Dan Kubiak at the KC Hall. Kubiak’s body was then escorted to Austin where he was laid to rest in the Texas State Cemetery.
Rockdale’s annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon raised $4,689 for Muscular Dystrophy research and education.
A 15-year-old Travis County juvenile lost a finger while dove hunting near Rockdale. A game warden said the youth was cleaning out the barrel of his shotgun when the weapon discharged.
TEN YEARS AGO....
Two persons appeared before the Rockdale City Council to speak out against the city’s plan to increase the tax rate from 53 to 63 cents.
A town hall meeting was scheduled to discuss what kind of superintendent the Rockdale area preferred to replace Walter Pond. Longtime Supt. Pond had announced he would retire in 2009.
A member of the Gause Volunteer Fire Department was recuperating at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bryan after he was hurt in a highway accident while responding to a large grass fire.
Both the Rockdale ISD and Milam County were eyeing tax rate decreases, the school from $1.2275 to $1.2135 and the county from 63 cents to 62 cents.
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