DOWN MEMORY LANE
Oct. 6, 1966
A pair of vandals caught stealing gasoline from a county school bus last Thursday were apprehended and held at gunpoint by a local citizen until an officer could be summoned.
Loring Anderson of Washington, who lives just off Route 211 near the Covington River, observed a car parked in a lane near his home around eight o’clock. He saw two subjects emerge from the vehicle with something in hand, cross the highway and disappear into the darkness. With gun in hand Mr. Anderson concealed himself in the shadows and awaited their return, which was not long.
The two men approached their car with a five gallon can, loosened the cap to the vehicle’s gas tank as Mr. Anderson shouted “Halt” and fired a shot over their heads.
He ordered them to raise their hands then marched them about a hundred yards to his house and called his wife. Unable to make Mrs. Anderson hear his shouts, he tossed a small stone on the tin roof to attract her attention and when she appeared at the door he asked her to phone the police.
Sheriff Charles Estes arrived in minutes and his investigation disclosed the can with about four gallons of gas in it and a siphoning hose.
For the second time in three years Mrs. Barbara S. Gentry of Flint Hill, editor of The Virginia Postmaster, has been awarded a certificate of honorable mention as one of the top ten chapter publications in the nation. Rudolph Yeatman of Merkle Press, Washington, D.C., presented the awards at a breakfast honoring chapter editors at Louisville, Kentucky, at the national convention of the National Association of Postmasters.
A panel of professional journalists judged the publications submitted by editors of the fifty state chapters of the organization. A fact sheet was given the editors so that they would know the points on which the papers were judged. The Virginia Postmaster was pointed out as “an excellent example of nameplate simplicity and directness.”
March 23, 1978
When is an egg not an egg? When it’s a work of art created by Rappahannock’s egg lady, Gertrude Polling of Amissville.
Ten years ago, Gertie’s aunt gave her a decorated cut-out egg and that started her “disease.” She calls it “eggitis.” Symptoms include an almost overwhelming urge to decorate egg shells.
“It’s fascinating just making them,” she saId. “The more you do, the more ideas just keep coming.”
Gertie declares that she’s never had any lessons in egg art but with her talent, she could give classes herself.
Egguery is not new. Throughout history, eggs have represented the new life that returns to nature in the spring. The tradition of giving eggs began in ancient times and varies from country to country. In China, parents distributed red colored eggs as birth announcements in much the same way as a proud American poppa passes out cigars.
Gertie’s latest project is designing an egg for each month of the year. As an example, the egg for October is dyed orange and has a Halloween scene inside.
The year-old controversy over mileage reimbursement between the Rappahannock Sheriff’s Department and Commonwealth Attorney George Davis appears to have jumped from the back burner all the way off the stove.
The Virginia General Assembly voted in the last session to allow mileage payment from the State Compensation Board for patrolling “performed at the direction of the sheriff.”
In February, 1977, Davis warned the county Supervisors against approving mileage claims submitted by Sheriff W. A. Buntin to the Compensation Board. Davis contended that state policy disallowed payment unless the mileage was accumulated in patrolling or policing residences and businesses in response to a specific complaint.
Rappahannock’s Commonwealth Attorney argued that patrolling was the province of the Virginia State Police. If the county wanted to assume this job, he contended that the county would also have to assume responsibility for the total mileage bill instead of just one-third.