100 YEARS AGO...
The Rockdale Boys’ Band had been giving a series of weekly public concerts, the most recent of which was Monday night of this week. The temporary band stand was erected in the business district and a set program of music was prepared for each concert. The concerts drew good crowds each night and the general public seemed to become more and more appreciative of the band.
Rockdale city officials had the Rockdale mineral cleaned out and it is once more a popular resort. There were a large number of people who drank this water and found it good—equal or better than that afforded by any mineral water in the country.
40 YEARS AGO...
Rockdale school trustees adopted a $3,710,784 expenditure budget for the 1981-82 fiscal school year, representing an overall 15.5 percent increase over 1980-21 expenditures of $3,212,473.
Founded in 1908, the Rockdale Farmers Fair was once considered the third largest fair in Texas. That first fair on July 8-10 featured horse races, mule races, foot races, potato races, three-legged races and lectures were also provided.
No charges were filed but authorities remained suspicious that more than 20 grass fires fought Monday afternoon by volunteer firemen from five units were voluntarily set.
Fresh from a spirited scrimmage performance at Waco Midway last week, coach Jim Carson’s 1981 Rockdale Tigers were set to give local fans their first home stand when they host A&M Consolidated in the final preseason scrimmage.
20 YEARS AGO...
If you were one of the hundreds of people who owed money to Richards Memorial Hospital, a letter could show up in your mailbox very soon with a polite, but firm message: Pay up.
There was a bit of a language barrier when Deputy Sheriff Greg Kouba saw a youngster that he believed to be an escaped 16-year-old from the Roger Hashem Juvenile Justice Center walking down the Union Pacific tracks east of Rockdale. Kouba told him to get down but the boy instead started walking toward him and Kouba drew his pistol. The boy from Honduras understood that and he was taken into custody.
One rainy weekend won’t erase almost two months of scarce precipitation, but the Rockdale area’s weather pattern changed rather spectacularly Sunday evening. A sure-enough “frog strangler” dropped 2.63 inches of rain on Rockdale in the evening hours and subsequent showers Monday and Tuesday pushed the total to over three inches.
10 YEARS AGO...
Construction on an $8-million senior citizen apartment complex was to start before the end of the year on East Belton Avenue and Hunter’s Chase Apartments was viewed as a showcase for both the city and its developers. “We want this to be our flagship,” Gary Maddock, Megan Childers development manager, told the Rockdale Planning & Zoning Board at City Hall.
Mayor Larry Jones had some classic good news and bad news for about 30 persons in a lively budget hearing at City Hall. The good news: Rockdale’s six-decade-long “red water” problem could be fixed. The bad news: It would cost $25 million.
Unemployment numbers across the state were the highest since 1987 and Milam County remained in double figures at 10.7 in jobless percentage, according to reports released by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
We didn’t want to say that the Rockdale Tiger football team that steps on to Tiger Field Saturday would be young, but at some point in the evening, four sophomores and a freshman would man the defense. “We’re going to be asking some kids to grow up real fast,” said coach Jeff Miller.
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