100 YEARS AGO...
For once old man Jupe Pluve was kind to Rockdale and favored us with a bright clear day for the Aug. 8 second Monday Trades Day, the three previous events having been more or less drowned out by heavy downpours.
Parties from the Kolb community brought in some specimens of boll worms found working in the cotton fields of that section and which they feared were the much dreaded “pink” worm. But they were not, they turned out to be the ordinary boll worm.
Among recent business improvements in Rockdale, one that has not received mention is the Stein Bakery, owned and operated by our fellow citizen, Joe Stein, for the past 24 years. Stein completed the remodeling and repainting of his bakery, and the new machinery arrived and was installed, consisting of a large electric dough mixer of the very latest design.
40 YEARS AGO...
Citing “personal problems,” new Rockdale High School head coach and athletic director Herschel “Tootie” Roach resigned only hours after the first football practice of the 1981 season.
Tributes to the late George Patterson of Los Angeles highlighted the dedication of the new civic center named in his honor on a tree-shaded location across from Fair Park.
A total of $40,000 in payroll checks, representing two weeks of pay for employees of four area rest homes, were recovered after they were apparently stolen from a drive-in grocery which serves as Rockdale’s bus station.
The Rockdale City Council heard that Texas Power & Light Co. had been granted a rate increase by the Texas Public Utility Commission, but not the increase that the utility company wanted. The company had asked for a $198 million increase, but got one for a rate hike of $57.1 million.
20 YEARS AGO...
A partially closed high school campus, first time ID cards for all RHS students and loads of new driving rules, especially for the elementary parents, greeted an estimated 1,811 students back to school when classes began for RISD students.
Bell Street residents, crowded for years by heavy school traffic, applauded the City Council in City Hall after members ratified changes in school safety zones. The idea behind the changes was to make the area safer and improve the flow of traffic.
About 100 Rockdale area residents filed through the Patterson Civic Center to get a glimpse of the “almost final” plans for a U.S. loop north of Rockdale. At TxDOT official reminded everyone it was still a preliminary proposal.
After a virtually injury free stretch of two-a-day practices, Casey Creghan toyed with the idea of an intrasquad scrimmage for his Rockdale Tigers, but later decided against it. He went to watch other teams scrimmage instead.
10 YEARS AGO...
Milam County’s corn crop has turned mostly into hay. During the next week, Rockdale would break its all-time record for number of 100-degree days in a year, with more than a month to go until the fall. Less than 10 inches of rain have fallen through the first 7-1/2 months of 2011.
Rockdale City Council members took the first step toward instituting a recycling system through its contracted trash collection service, a move that could see collection reduced from twice a week to once.
Developers, who announced in February they were planning on placing an $8-million, 80-unit senior citizen apartment complex in northeast Rockdale, were granted federal tax credits for the Hunter’s Chase complex.
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