Junes past, 50 years ago.

From LaGrange Daily News, 1965.

Front Page News

Land Office for Dam Project will be Located in LaGrange — The Real Estate Office for land acquisition and related matters to the $54 million West Point Dam will be opened and staffed in LaGrange within 30 days.

Congressman John J. Flynt Jr. announced the location of the office will be in the third floor of the LaGrange Banking Company Building.

The initial staff will consist of a project director and 17 workers. The staff will be increased to 35 workers during peak periods.

Initial land purchases will start during the fiscal year beginning July 1 at the site of the dam.

Contract for Vocational-Technical School to be Awarded in Next Few Days — Bids have been opened and the contract will be awarded in the next few days for construction of the Troup County Area Vocational-Technical School.

Awarding of the contract was delayed to give the architects and Jack Cox, vocational director, time to delete contract alternates in order to meet the $400,000 school budget. The five bidding contractors exceeded the budget.

A decision is expected next week.

Fourth Desegregation Plan Approved by County — Troup County’s Board of Education has approved a fourth desegregation plan to comply with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Three previous plans have not been acceptable by the U.S. Department of Education.

Voters Approve Sewage Improvements Bonds — LaGrange voters Wednesday afternoon approved a $1.75 million bond issue for sewage and water improvements by a margin of more than eight to one.

The city now has 30 days to validate the bonds, according to Mayor Gardner Newman. The city’s fiscal agent in Atlanta will handle advertisements and take bids on the bonds.

The bond issue approved Wednesday will be linked with some $550,000 in federal funds for a total outlay of $2,200,000 for the project.

South Carolina Firm Purchases 20-Acre Site for Shopping Center Here — The purchase of a 20-acre tract of land on Commerce Avenue for a shopping center in LaGrange was announced this morning by Harrison Preston of LaGrange Realty and Insurance Company.

Mr. Preston said the 20-acre site, on the northern side of Commerce Avenue, was purchased by M.B. Kahn Company of Columbia, South Carolina. The tract was purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Joe Freeman and Mrs. Kate H. Freeman for approximately $75,000.

The purchasing company is working on building plans and leases, as well as plans for grading and drainage for the site.

Drain Problem Solved, Site Development Set — A drainage problem has been solved and ground breaking may get underway this month for the new million-dollar-plus Hollis Hand School on Country Club Road.

This was announced Thursday at a meeting of the LaGrange Board of Education. The school will replace the one destroyed by fire on Harwell Avenue.

Far-Away Assignment Calls Local Teacher — Far away places with strange-sounding names fascinate the majority of people.

Ann Smith, who is presently teaching the sixth grade at Unity School has heeded the call to far-away places by signing up for the Peace Corps.

Upon her acceptance she was notified that she would be sent to San Francisco, California, for a 10-week training beginning in September. If her training is completed satisfactorily she will be assigned to Liberia, an independent country in West Africa.

Helen Keller to Mark her 85th Birthday Sunday — A frail little lady confined to a sightless, soundless world within the boundaries of a small estate in Westport, Connecticut, will celebrate her 85th birthday on Sunday, June 27, and the nation will celebrate with her.

Miss Keller has always said that her real birthday was not June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, but March 3, 1887, when a young teacher of the blind, Anne Sullivan, first taught her how to communicate by tapping words into her hand. Miss Sullivan later taught her to speak.

Miss Keller will have only her brother, Phillips Keller of Dallas, Texas, nieces and nephews and a few close friends with her to celebrate her birthday. Her health does not allow the exertion of more than a few visitors at a time.

Editorial

Debt Rising —The national debt, according to the figuring of Rep. Richard Poff, R — Va., is rising $22,000 a minute, but that’s not all.

If you work an eight-hour day, the first two hours and 20 minutes of your work goes for federal, state and local taxes.

The national debt is on top of this.