School Activities, Wagon Trains Among Events Covered By The N-G
Fifty years ago, the Rockbridge area was all about the Bicentennial. Preparation for the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence began early in the year and each month something was undertaken in the county to either promote or commemorate the event.
This summary of some of those events are from the archives of The News-Gazette. Local residents who have shared memories of the Bicentennial with The News-Gazette this summer will be printed in upcoming editions. The Rockbridge Historical Society will also report on Bicentennial memories it has received.
Schools Throw In Their Tri-Corner Hats
In the area’s schools, students kept busy with patriotic projects. A Bicentennial poster contest, sponsored by the SCA, was held at Glasgow Elementary School in February of that year.
Students at Highland Belle Elementary School were celebrating the Bicentennial with a variety of projects, which were featured at a PTA meeting.
Students at Effinger Elementary School created a replica of the Bennington Flag.
Bicentennial exhibits including models of ships, a replica of the Liberty Bell and numerous crocheted and stitched pillows were designed and built by eighth-graders at Brownsburg Intermediate School. The class hoped to show at Augusta Expo.
Miniature prints of people and places from the Revolutionary War were on view at Washington and Lee University’s McCormick Library. These prints had been commissioned by the federal government in 1932 as part of the observance of George Washington’s 200th birthday. Students also painted “Old George,” the 134-year-old statue of the first president on top of Washington Hall, in patriotic colors and gave him and American flag to hold.
Wagon Train
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Nicely of Brattons Run were making plans in February of that year to take their western grain covered-wagon at least as far as the Virginia border to take place in the Bicentennial Wagon Pilgrimage, which followed the Wilderness Road from Tennessee to Valley Forge, Pa. By April, Albert Nicely and his family and friends were readying their teams of horses for the long trek to Bristol to meet teams headed for Valley Forge.
In June when the wagon train finally arrived, despite the fact that the riders were greeted by a deluge of rain, enthusiastic crowds lined the streets of Glasgow to get a look at the wagons. Well over 40 wagons with about 200 riders and outriders stayed a field just outside Glasgow. When the wagon train camped out at Glen Maury Park, many area residents visited the riders. At least 2,000 people were at McCormick’s Farm where they were entertained by the riders.
Rockbridge resident Frank Dixon reported that a member of the group from Oklahoma who had spent months on the train told him that Rockbridge was the best place they had stopped yet.
Twelve-year-old Tim Watkins, a student at Natural Bridge Elementary, gave an account of his experience viewing the wagon train. He made friends with many of the riders, and some folks from Arkansas invited him to ride with them for a day. “I didn’t believe what I was hearing,” he said. “My Mom agreed for me to go and along with three of my cousins, Ariette, Allisha and Mark Reynolds, I hopped aboard, told my Mom goodbye, and was gone.” He described that day as “one of the most wonderful days of my life.”
Another wagon train came through Rockbridge in mid-June. Eight wagons carrying 70 people from San Diego to Philadelphia put on “medicine shows” and invited members of the community’s churches to attend.
Civically Speaking
In February 1976, the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration designated Rockbridge County as an official Bicentennial community. A commemorative flag and certificate would make the status official. That flag was raised onto the flagpole at Courthouse Square. A ceremony was held to commemorate the Battle of Lexington, Mass.
Jay Denny, director of visitor relations for Lexington, told the supervisors that his commission hoped to have string and bluegrass concerts as well as a cow milking contest on July 3.
In March, Lexington City Council approved a design for an official medal marking the city’s own 200th birthday. The medal featured twin busts of generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson on one side and the city seal on the reverse side. The medals would be made available in time for the Bicentennial.
The Bikecentennial Comes To Rockbridge In May it was announced that a number of cyclists were expected to arrive in the Rockbridge area as part of the national Bikecentennial that began in Yorktown. Clarence Pickard, the oldest person in the country to participate in the Bikecentennial, stopped in Lexington on his way to Oregon. Participants in this bike tour found food and lodging at the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity house on Jefferson Street, which was temporarily being called The Bike Inn. Glenn and Harriett Dorsey operated the pop-up motor lodge. The bikers typically arrived at 4 p.m., had dinner between 6 and 6:30 p.m., woke up to breakfast at 7:30, and then were off to their next destination. Of the 400 bikers who stayed there, a number of visitors were from foreign countries such as England, Holland, Austria, Germany and Switzerland as well as every state in the union.
Time To Celebrate
When it finally came time for the nation’s big birthday bash, the paper was happy to report that “Bicentennial boosters easily outnumbered the cynics” and that “people of all ages from all of the towns and villages in Rockbridge found various ways to celebrate the Bicentennial and they jumped into the festivities with vigor.”
Lexington Police Chief J.A. Kirby reported there were no incidents during the holiday weekend other than a few complaints about firecrackers. Buena Vista police chief Erskin Campbell said the city’s parade was viewed “by the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen.”
The weekend ended with a fireworks display in Glen Maury Park.
In a letter to the editor, Lexington resident Mildred Alphin raved about the local celebrations, calling it a “never-to-be-forgotten experience” that made her very happy to be a Rockbridge resident. “From the invocation in courthouse square Saturday morning to the benediction in Lee Chapel Sunday evening, those who attended the festivities enjoyed a milking contest, saw the old and new methods of sheep shearing, loved the beautiful fashion show and admired all the fantastic arts and crafts.”
