FIFTY & 100 YEARS AGO CONTINUED

Monday, June 26, 1972

Lone gunman robs church during prayer

“God loves you,” the preacher said to the youth who stood on the church altar pointing a gun at his head.

“I hope so,” the bandit replied as he pocketed money from collection plates in a Sunday holdup at the Christ in Christian Union Church in downtown Pontiac.

The stickup left the Rev. James Ray Nesselroad and 40 parishioners $400 poorer.

“We weren’t scared,” said 64-year-old parishioner Cecil B. Tupper. “We seemed to feel that there was someone looking after us other than ourselves.”

Toward the end of his sermon, the Rev. Mr. Nesselroad said a youth in his late teens and another in his early 20s barged through a side entrance.

“This is a holdup. Everybody stay in your seats and everybody get out your money,” one said.

One gunman stood at the entrance guarding the congregation and the other, brandishing two pistols, walked up to the pulpit and asked where the collection plates were.

The youth found money in Sunday school offering plates, then “one of them laid an Army .45 by the side of my head,” the minister said, and took his wallet.

“Then he took up a collection,” he said. “People held out their money and he walked down the center aisle taking it.”

The gunman returned to the front of the church and climbed onto the alter.

The Rev. Mr. Nesseslroad turned to his congregation, which stook up and prayed, “Dear God, help these poor boys to realize where a life of crime will lead them.”

While the parishioners were praying, the minister said the robber who held him at gunpoint “jumped down and told us not to follow him. Then he joined his partner and out the door they went.”

Police are investigating, but the Rev. Mr. Nesselroad and members of the congregation said they would rather not prosecute.

Tuesday, June 27, 1972 B&S hangs on for 8-7 triumph

B&S Construction scored six times in the first inning, but then had to hold on for dear life Monday night to defeat Mathis Grocery, 8-7, in slow-pitch softball play.

In other games, Sam’s Fence walloped Burger King, 19-9; Warren Lindsey downed Rome Paper, 10-4; Pisgah trounced First Assembly, 26-8; Local 766 stopped Georgia Power, 9-8; Local 191 outscored WestPoint Pepperell, 15-10; Flint Hill beat First Baptist, 23-3; Taylor’s Supermarket upended Ragland, 20-2; Sam’s American nipped Coosa Casuals, 4-3; Burkhalter beat Carolina Freight, 9-6, and Charles Griffin Realty toppled United Parcel, 16-4.

Actually, B&S trailed 0-4 after the top of the first frame but went in front 6-4 by the time the inning ended. Mathis made it a 6-5 game in the third before B&S scored twice in the fifth of its winning margin.

Powell and Braden slammed homers for the winner and both Steed and Bowen collected two hits. For Mathis, Webb had three hits including a home run.

Towers banged out five hits, including a homer, and teammates Moses, Davis and Roberts also added four-baggers to spark Sam’s Fence past Burger King. Snow and Owens had homers for the losers.

Warren Lindsey scored in the first five innings to win its game as Sharp and O’Dillon lashed out three hits each and hall hit a homer.

Rickman, Cave and Studdard all collected three hits to lead Charles Griffin Realty to its victory.

DeAngelus and Carter rapped five hits apiece and Simpson and Kinsey had four hits to pace Taylor’s Supermarket to its easy victory.

Sam’s American did all of its scoring in the first two innings and held on for the win with Luke Casey and Morgan picking up two hits each.

Whittle hit a homer and Buck and Burkhalter had two hits each in Burkhalter’s win.

Brumbelow’s four hits led Flint Hill’s one-sided victory and Stinson rapped five hits to set the pace in Pisgah’s runaway win.

Friday, June 30, 1972

Police veteran Lonie Adcock named detective

Lonie Adcock, a 13-year veteran with the Rome Police Department, has been promoted to the rank of detective sergeant.

Adcock, 42, fills the vacancy left by former Det. Tom King, who resigned to become the investigator for the Floyd County District Attorney’s office.

Born in Bartow County, Adcock moved to Rome with his family and has lived here most of his life. He attended the old Boys’ High School and later served two years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

He operated his own auto mechanic business prior to joining the police force on June 6, 1959. He served 13 years as a patrolman prior to his promotion.

He resides at Rome Rte. 8 with his wife, Eunice.

100 years ago as presented in the June 1922 editions of the Rome Tribune-Herald

The latest reports have it that the Rome crop of flappers is in no wise worried over the threat of the convention of the Federation of Women’s Clubs to federalize marriage law. If any of them want to marry, they say, all they will do is, to haul off and hunt up a preacher, taking the “flopper’’ along with them, of course.

“The United States,” said one flapper when overheard talking by a representative of the fourth estate, “may control a person’s thirst, may control his right to give up a rope necktie party, may go so far as to control one’s indulgence at the throne of Lady Nicotine, but when it comes to a lot of dried-up, argufying, filibustering, bonus-dodging, tariff-raising senators saying who, when, where and what one of us can marry, then, they have gone too far.

“Looks like they have taken the original scripts of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence from their glass cases in the dark vaults of wherever they are kept and are letting the sunlight get to them, causing them to fade away.

“Ain’t they goin’ to leave us no rights at all? We’ll stand for matches being made in Heaven, but made in the Congress of the United States, never, no, never!”