100 YEARS AGO — 1919

The South District Association of Baptists held a two-day session at Shawnee Run Church in Mercer County. It was located about three miles from Burgin on Shakertown Road in the midst of a splendid farming community. This association is composed of 29 churches. Shawnee Run is next to the oldest church, with the oldest church being at the forks of Dix River.

A very interesting boxing match took place in Junction City Saturday night, when about 500 people gathered in a tent to witness a fight between Jack McMann of Danville, and K.O. Hackensmith of Chicago. The fighting was said to be exciting from the first, although quite one-sided. McMann floored Hackensmith once in the second round, twice in the third round, three times in the fourth and twice in the sixth round, when Hackensmith was knocked out.

LOST — Monday night on a trip from Elks Club in Danville to Shakertown and then to Graham Springs well, and then to Danville, my gold watch with monogram W.S.G. and wife’s picture on the inside case. Suitable reward. Contact W. Scott Glore.

The Danville High and Graded Schools will open on Sept. 8 for their 1919-1920 session. This is the first year that physics has been taught at Danville. Prof. Bosley is pleased with the interest the high-school students are taking in higher education. All the young men who graduated in June expect to enter Centre College this fall and a large percent of the young lady graduates will continue their work in universities.

The Boyle Circuit Court will convene on Sept. 8 and the last day for filing suite will be Aug. 29. There have been 20 divorce cases filed, which is an unusually high number for Boyle County.

Two men claiming to be Sam Smith and Frank Garrison were arrested in the railroad yard in Danville on Aug. 22. The object is to find whether or not these two are connected with the gang which robbed the L&N mail train near Montgomery, Alabama 10 days ago. Both men refused to talk to authorities here. They denied having ever been in jail, but an officer stated that they had the appearance and the slang peculiar to ex-convicts. Pictures and fingerprints were taken of the two men, and it was learned that Frank Garrison had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. It ought not be a difficult matter to identify him.

75 YEARS AGO — 1944

Danville is the smallest city in the United States able to support an Artist Series. Walter Frankel is the guiding genius behind brilliant years of the finest music for this cultural center. The era when a few patrons paid for concerts, or music clubs gave parties and teas to guarantee the financial support of excellent music programs, ended in Danville when the city set up its own music association through the Community Concert Service with Frankel as its president.

Following a break-in at the Farmers Supply Company on West Walnut Street last night, in an effort to curb the current series of petty thieveries, or attempted robberies, Chief of Police Tom Clark has ordered his men to “shoot to kill” in order to capture persons found trespassing as they make their rounds. One or more people gained entry to the story by breaking a side window, according to Jeptha Jett, the company’s executive vice president. He said a combination lock of the safe was broken in a futile attempt to enter the vault. The attempted robbery was the second perpetrated in Danville within five nights. The Boyle Pharmacy was entered and about $20 in cash was taken last Saturday night.

Mrs. L.M. Omer, minister of Faith Mission Chapel in Boyle County, is the recipient of a check for several hundred dollars  “as an expression of love and sympathy” by the Winona Bible Conference in Indiana, following the loss of her home, Log Cabin Manse. Mrs. Omer was preaching a revival at Winona and Warsaw in Indiana, when her residence was destroyed by a fire of unknown origins. Mrs. Omer has returned from Indiana and is temporarily making her home in the upper room at Faith Mission Chapel. She held services there, as usual, yesterday. Her husband, the Rev. L.M. Omer, died several months ago.

50 YEARS AGO — 1969

The Commercial Development Advisory Committee has set as one of its goals “to maintain Danville’s downtown commercial district meeting completely consumer demand.” in order to accomplish this, it is felt that a market survey quizzing Danville housewives will be needed. Some of the questions will be: Do you prefer shopping at night? How late should stores stay open? Do you consider midtown parking a problem? Several weeks ago a similar consumer preference survey was taken at three of the industrial plants, with some very interesting results. Some people wanted shops to stay open only one night a week, while others wanted them to stay open every night and Sunday. A few comments were made stating more parking was needed, more variety in consumer goods and a “good beer joint” were also needed in the downtown.

The Danville High School Invitational band contest will be held here with 26 of the state’s leading high school bands competing in three size categories on Sept. 20. About 1,500 students will perform.

Don Hill, 30-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Hill, of Erskine Drive, has announced he will open an office of architecture on West Main Street. Hill, a native of Danville, will become the town’s first architect in residence.

Application blanks for the free or reduced lunch program are now available in all of the Danville city schools. The criteria used in identifying students for this program are: income determined by place of residence and job held; number of children in the family; and an interview with the student or parent.

25 YEARS AGO — 1994

Road construction crews have begun a resurfacing project along Main Street in downtown Danville. The work includes Main Street from Stanford Avenue to Fourth Street, and Stanford Avenue to the Danville bypass and is expected to last about three weeks.

The Danville-Boyle County Airport is extending a runway by 200 feet, making it a 5,000-foot runway, making the airport usable by larger planes that serve local industries.

The Boyle County Fair Board burned its mortgage note during its cookout to celebrate a successful fair and to thank fair supporters. Having a fairgrounds became the goal of a group of Boyle Countians in the mid-1970s. After holding a fair for several years on Inter-County RECC property on Hustonville Road, plans were made to find a permanent home for the fair. To get the fair on firm footing, plans were made to purchase the present site for $150,000. The fairgrounds, located on the bypass, is a blend of old and new. The columns that marked the entrance came from the First Christian Church building after it burned down on Main Street and was located where Dairy Queen is now (which is where Baskin-Robbins is now located.)