100 YEARS AGO — 1919

A lively scrap took place in the New York Restaurant, on Main Street in Danville, Saturday evening, when a number of young men from the country started to “rough house.” It is said they were under the influence of liquor, and when they wanted to go to the rear of the room to take some more of the fire water, they were refused permission by Bus Tunis, one of the proprietors of the business. They began to throw dishes around the room and a fight took place. Gus Myers, the well-known barber, who was at the place at the time, helped stop the fight by quickly taking down four or five of the “bad men.” Myers was formerly a prize fighter and known as “Cyclone.” He is being complimented for the part that he played in this matter, for had it not been for him, someone would have been killed.

Perryville’s 12th annual, three-day fair starts on Aug. 13. Admission is 50 cents, which includes the war tax, and children under age 8 will be admitted free. Ladies will be admitted free on the first day of the fair. There will be a floral hall and horse show. Also, airplanes from Camp Knox will fly over the fair every day. They will loop the loop and do many other feature stunts for fair visitors to watch. Amusements include a merry-go-round for the children, Midget Man from Lexington, a fortune teller, shooting galleries for the young fellows and a man to take your picture while you wait. Two dollars worth of watermelons will be given to the winners of the pulling contest. And the Danville Military Band is furnishing the music for the fair.

To reduce the high cost of living, the United States government will distribute, at very low prices, its surplus food supplies, consisting of flour, canned soups, meat and vegetables, condensed milk, syrup, spices and other articles at the Danville post office.  Logan Wood, postmaster, has arranged to take orders at his office. He will send them in to headquarters and the goods will be shipped to him to distribute. Some of the prices are: roast beef, 29 cents; soup, 8 to 33 cents; and vegetables, up to 10 cents.

Between 1,500 to 2,000 people gathered in front of the Boyle County Courthouse last night to enjoy the band concert given by the Danville Military Band, sponsored by the Danville Chamber of Commerce. Main Street from Third to Fourth street was crowded with automobiles, while the sidewalks were filled with men, women and children.

75 YEARS AGO — 1944

Another happy reunion happened between two Boyle County servicemen when W.O. Nelson, son of Basil Nelson, of Danville, met his close friend, Billy Preston of Perryville, son of Lee Preston in the Pacific theater of operations last week. Both friends left Boyle County together and were assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, but after boot camp, they were separated. Nelson has written his father that he expects to be able to visit Preston on his ship sometime. He said both of them are well and asked his father to pass the good news along to Preston’s mother.

Danville, which has been overcrowded for more than a year, is reeling this week under the efforts of 350 employees of the Bechtel-Dempsey-Price contractors needing to move here in connection with the work of laying the new gas pipeline in this area. The contractors finished an area north of here, extending from the vicinity of Morehead last week. Work on the pipeline, which is being constructed from Corpus Christie, Texas to Cornwell, West Virginia, is classified as war emergency work, and has the highest priority. Rooms are needed for about 50 single men and furnished apartments are needed for 50 to 75 families. People having apartments, or those who can arrange for them, are urged to get in touch with the Chamber of Commerce. This applies to people living in Junction City, Perryville, Stanford, Lancaster, Burgin and Harrodsburg, as well as people who have cabins at Herrington Lake.

Later in the week, Centre College announced it would open Breckinridge Hall to house single men employed by the pipeline company. The college said it was glad to cooperate with the effort and offered the dormitory as a community service and to aid in the war effort.

One of Boyle County’s largest and most direct contributions to the war effort — the making of 1,307,400 bandages in two years — has been accomplished through the surgical dressings project, under the direction of the Boyle County chapter of the American Red Cross, in the Young-Rodes library basement workrooms and in two other permanent county centers. The local Red Cross chapter received an envelope this week from New Guinea. No message was enclosed but the envelope bore an old label which originally marked a package of surgical sponge prepared by workers of the Boyle county chapter and forwarded to the war fronts. The label was sent by a sergeant not from Boyle County, but it notified the local workers that their bandages have arrived in this far away area, have been opened and used and rendered their full services to the war.

Members of the Navy Wives Club of Boyle County will meet  to make candy tomorrow night at the home of Mrs. J.T. Durham, in the Cheek apartments at 507 West Main Street. Guests are asked to bring sugar for the candy, which will be given to the patients at Darnall General Hospital.

50 YEARS AGO — 1969

The Hub Frankel department store advertised their wide selection of fabrics on the first floor as a way for women to save money by sewing their own wardrobe. The advertisement reads, “Go back to campus, or greet fall, in the smartest of new fashions, and pamper your budget. The secret? Your knack for home sewing, plus our many wonderful fabrics priced to please.” The Hub was open until 8 p.m. every Monday night.

A group of concerned citizens wrote a letter to the Advocate-Messenger complaining about Urban Renewal projects in the town. The group of people who had been displaced by Urban Renewal objected, in part because: they African-American residents were not part of the planning; they didn’t want to live in a mobile home or public housing; and they asked when would they be able to earn top wages and get top jobs so they could build new homes “and not the shanties rented to us by the white landlord.”

25 YEARS AGO — 1994

In a few months, Danville residents will be asked to “clip and save” their grass and yard waste. The city commission voted to draft an ordinance establishing a mandatory yard waste collection program. Residents will be required to place grass clippings, leaves and other matter from their yards in separate containers then place them on the curb on the same day as their regular garbage pick up.

In a rare, if not unprecedented move, Boyle Fiscal Court voted unanimously to provide financial aid to the Danville and Boyle County school systems by helping to prop up their joint alternative school program. The court voted to allocate $7,500 for the program.