Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
The Stroller
Monday, June 17, 2013
MONDAY'S WORD is occlusion. Example: Heart attacks result from the occlusion of blood supply to a part of the heart.
SUNDAY’S WORD was nonpariel. It means having no equal. (“Nonpareil” also is the name of a chocolate candy covered with white sugar pellets.) “The show was ... held in the original Madison Square Garden, and it was a society event nonpareil.” — From an article by Marshall Schuon in the New York Times, April 3, 1994 (Source: Merriam-Webster)
The Plybon-McGuire family reunion will be held at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Halesford Baptist Church Family Life Center in Wirtz. The church is on Va. 122 about 6 miles east of Burnt Chimney.
A copy of a 1954 George Washington Carver year book is being sought by a local woman who said she knows there was a book that included “all students that attended the school that year.” “Some will tell you there was no ‘book’ that year, she said, “but I know there was and it had a picture of my brother, Curtis Taylor,” she added. If you can help, call her at 957-1952.
According to Time Passages, a 1943 Commemorative Yearbook, on April 8, 1943, “the Senate voted to finance a mobile labor army to supply farm workers for critical labor shortage areas. On April 18, in Los Angeles, 1,250 Mexican farm workers arrive, bringing the total number of 12,000 workers.”
• In 1943, the “Lindy Hop” was the hottest dance craze to sweep the nation. The Lindy Hop is a variation of the 1920s dance, the “Charleston.”
• On Sept. 19, 1943, it was noted that the top secret “Colossus” computer complete with 1500 vacuum tubes, was completed at Bletchley Park in England. The computer began to decipher German coded messages. Highly successful, many believe this breakthrough greatly helped the Allied troops to gain the secret information needed to win World War II.
• Singer Kate Smith appealed to the nation for 13 hours on radio to buy war bonds. Smith’s efforts resulted in more than $39 million in bond pledges being received. Over the years, Smith will be forever associated with the nation’s song, “God Bless America.”
• In January 1943, American government officials announced that due to wartime textile shortages, the amount of fabric used in women’s swim wear should be reduced by 10 percent. This new order resulted in designers coming up with the first two-piece swimsuit. Later that year, French fashion designers introduced their version of the first bikini.
• Dec. 26, 1943, the famous German battleship “Scharnhorst” is sunk by the British battleship “Duke of York.”
• Sporting goods manufacturers receive approval to use synthetic rubber in the core of baseballs. This will make for a more lively ball.
• On Dec. 22, 1943, Variety reported the most popular songs were:
1. “Paper Doll”
2. “Pistol-Packin’ Mama”
3. “People Will Say We’re In Love”
4. “My Heart Tells Me”
5. “Victory Polka”
Stock up on books for summer reading. The Friends of the Blue Ridge Regional Library will hold a book sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday in the basement of the Martinsville branch. The selection includes cook books, books on crafts, fiction and nonfiction for children and adults, self-help books, VHS tapes and cassettes, books on tape, reference books, current magazines and old records. The next sale will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 9.
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