Take a look back at news and photos that occurred 25, 50, and 100 years ago on June 9th in Franklin County, PA
25 years Ago:
Thursday, June 9, 1994
“Garden grows through many years of loving care” –
Chambersburg — Taking a stroll down her walkway, Madeline Caldwell stops to stare at a set of weeds growing between the slabs of stone. “If everything grew the way weeds grow, wouldn’t it be great?” she asked with a smile.
Weeds are an anomaly in Caldwell’s yard. If she doesn‘t get them, James Draper does. The Chambersburg man helps her with her yard, doing much of the strenuous work. Caldwell, 82, suffers from arthritis, which limits the amount of gardening she can do. But she still gets around. She still spends much of her time among the plants in her yard.
The yard, at 971 E. King Street, has been selected as Public Opinion’s “ Garden of the Month” for June. Members of the Chambersburg Garden Club, North Garden Club, and Penn Area Rose Society participated in the judging.
Caldwell won the honor even though the tulips and daffodils were past bloom. At the end of and the beginning of May, when I have hundreds of daffodils and tulips (flowering), that’s the time to see my place,” Says Caldwell, a retired executive secretary of Chambersburg Area School District. “My favorite time of the year is when the tulips and daffodils are blooming.”
But there’s much more to her garden besides daffodils and tulips. A row of roses along the walkway are blooming in different stages. They also appear on the island of flowering plants that runs the length of the house in the back. One of the roses -a rambler – climbs the trellis near the middle of the island. The plant which has small red flowers was once a cutting from Caldwell’s grandmother. Another rose nearby was a cutting from her father. ‘I’ve had a lot of these plants for years and years,” said Caldwell – and she isn’t kidding. A number of the plants date back to 1951when Caldwell and her late husband, Edgar, built their home.
Among the roses in the back are irises of several colors including mahogany, apricot, lavender and yellow. “I never liked irises when I was a kid,” but then a friend gave her some purple irises and everything multiplied tremendously.
The columbines have spread across the garden, their seeds dispersing in the wind. They are just one way Caldwell has let nature take its way.
As she walks her garden, she points out squirrels and rabbits and birds in trees. She has placed a shallow bowl of corn in her back yard, which attracts as many as 50 ducks at once from the nearby Falling Spring Creek.
50 Years Ago:
Monday, June 9, 1969
In 1969, Franklin County’s premier newspaper. Public Opinion was expanding its coverage to all corners of the county as well as into Fulton and Cumberland Counties. The newspaper already had bureau’s in McConnellsburg, Waynesboro, and Greencastle and in 1969 added staff for bureaus in Scotland, Fayetteville and Shippensburg. That year FCFP’s current publisher/editor began her career in journalism.
INSIDE OF SCOTLAND BOOKMOBILE
SCOTLAND, PENNSYLVANIA – Franklin County Bookmobile will visit Scotland Park on a regular basis this summer. It will visit twice monthly on Thursdays from 9:30 – 11:30 am.
The schedule includes stops on June 12, June 26, July 10, July 24, August 7, and August 21st. Books, records, framed prints, and magazines will be available.
On June 12, a party is planned with refreshments and story time for children. Residents can arrange for a bookmobile card at that time.
100 years Ago:
Monday, June 9, 1919
