Septembers past, 50 years ago.

From the LaGrange Daily News, 1965

Front Page News

School Bids To Be Opened Sept. 28 — Bids will be opened Sept. 28 in LaGrange for the construction of the $1 million Hollis Hand School on Country Club Road.

Completion date of the new school is set for Aug. 15 of next year with school to open for the fall term next year.

The school will be built on a 10-acre site donated by Fuller E. Callaway Jr. It will house pupils of Harwell Avenue School, which was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1964.

Callaway Foundation Inc. is contributing up to 350,000 of the construction cost and the furnishings for the new building.

Regional Shopping Center Planned For Commerce Avenue — Plans were announced today for a $2 million shopping center on Commerce Avenue in LaGrange.

To be known as “LaGrange Plaza,” the complex will be developed by Independent Enterprises Inc. of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The first major department store to be located in the 150,000 square foot plaza will be a modern Rose’s Department Store.

The center will contain about 20 business establishments and will have a parking area which will accommodate more than 600 cars. Authorities estimate that the center will employ some 150 persons, with a least 75 working at Rose’s.

Construction will total about $2 million, not including cost of the land. Sub-contracting will be done by LaGrange area firms.

Plans call for opening the regional shopping center by next fall.

LaGrange High Is Selected State’s Top AAA Grid Power — LaGrange High School football Grangers are the best in AAA competition, according to the state’s sport writers.

The weekly high school football poll, conducted by the Atlanta Journal, placed the LaGrange High grid edition on the top of the list in the first-class AAA listing.

Coach Oliver Hunnicutt’s team compiled 58 votes to take the top spot and move ahead of such strong teams as Athens, Willingham and Valdosta.

Callaway Mills Gets $2.8 Million Contract — Congressman John J. Flynt Jr. was notified by the White House this morning of a contract awarded by the Defense Supply Agency to Callaway Mills in LaGrange for 1.5 million yards of ballistic cloth.

The value of the contract is $2.8 million.

Rep. Flynt told The Daily News this morning the work will be done in the local plants. He said the cloth is nylon.

Paul Doster Performing In Pocket Theater Opera — LaGrange College associate professor Paul Doster has spent many hours this summer on the highway between LaGrange and Atlanta for rehearsals and now performances of Mozart’s opera, “Cosi fan Tutte.”

This delightful comedy is being presented in English each Tuesday, Friday and Saturday night during September at the Pocket Theater on Courtland Street.

Mr. Doster plays the part of Don Alfonso in the opera, which is highly entertaining and offers some of Mozart’s most inspired and refreshing music.

LaGrange Artist Accepted in Southeastern Exhibition — Mrs. Morrill Hutchison, LaGrange artist, will exhibit one of her paintings entitled “My Op Number Three” in the 20th Southeastern Annual Exhibition, which opened today at The High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Mrs. Hutchison said “My Op Number Three” came about after doing some summer reading on the phenomenon of optical illusion. The composition is based on the use of squares within squares. The design is accomplished with the use of flat and glossy paint, and the contrast of black against white.”

Works of 25 other Georgians will be in the exhibit, which will be on display until the end of this month.

Wins At Horse Show — Joan Hester of LaGrange took first place in the Pleasure Class at the Ashland, Alabama, Horse Show Saturday night. The young girl, a junior at LaGrange High School, placed second in the Halter class and third in the Girls Barrell Race.

Editorial: County To Get Additional $10 Million — The Troup County area economy is to receive an additional $10 million boost to its economy … possibly even more.

This comes in the for of a new estimate on the cost of the West Point Dam Project. The Corps of Engineers in Savannah now estimates the cost of $64.2 million. The earlier estimate was $54 million. Cost of the gigantic project could conceivably pass the latest estimate.

It is hard to visualize that more than one fourth of the land area in Troup County will be underwater in less than five years. But this describes the magnitude of the West Point project.

By its completion date in 1970, the cost of the project could be close to $70 million.