145 Years Ago (October 28, 1880) Glimpses of Georgetown A pretty hard norther and rain blew up last Friday morning a little while before daylight. Fires and overcoats were in demand Friday morning. A man with a grind stone on his back and a bell in his hand promenaded our streets a day or two this week, ringing his bell as he proceeded. He makes his living by sharpening knives, tools &c. Cotton thriving in Georgetown The Railroad Company is having a large cotton platform put up at this place. The present platform has all the cotton on it that it can hold and there are two or three hundred bales lying around on the ground. Georgetown is certainly making a better cotton market than anyone claimed for her a few months ago. The liberality of our cotton buyers is one way to account for it. Another is that Georgetown is the nearest railroad point to the upper country. Another is that our merchants have everything in stock that the trade demands. 125 Years Ago (October 25, 1900) A Taylor mystery The dead body of a man was found by some hunters in Wright’s pasture near Taylor. He had been dead several days and was badly decomposed. Violence was evident, but nothing could be learned, and he was buried without identification. There was a load of buckshot in the breast. No inquest was held. Masons making plans for building dedication Committees have been appointed to make arrangements for an appropriate celebration of the dedication of the new Masonic Temple. The Grand Master of the State is expected to be here, and the ceremonies will close with a grand banquet at which there will be representatives from all the lodges in the county. Man assaulted on outgoing train Passengers who arrived on the late train Friday night report that a man was badly cut on the outgoing A. & N. W. train that night. Neither the name of the injured man nor that of his assailant could be learned. 100 Years Ago (October 23, 1925) Jury awards Burleson verdict for damages The jury in the R. W. Burleson damage suit on trial in the District Court returned into court with their verdict in which they awarded damages to Plaintiff Burleson for $3,000 actual damages and $4,000 exemplary damages against Defendants Olin Gosett, Murray Jackson, Dewey Ball, G. W. Loftus, Rev. A. A. Davis, J. R. McDaniel, K. C. Baker, M. S. West, Frank Robbins, Henry Wilson, and Frank Pyle. Austin road to be topped The State Highway Commission on Monday called for bids on topping that portion of the Austin Georgetown road and lying between the Williamson Travis county line and the topping reaching out north from that city twelve miles this way, the untopped portion being approximately six miles. Specifications called for bids on a stone foundation and two inch bituminous top, or for a concrete foundation and one and one half inch bituminous top. If the low bid is on the stone foundation then the highway will be 20 feet wide; if on concrete, it will be 18 feet wide. 75 Years Ago (October 26, 1950) Children to parade before Halloween carnival Tuesday The annual Annie Purl Elementary School carnival will begin with the traditional Halloween parade at 1 o’clock. Young spooks and goblins will march from the grammar school building down town, around the square and back to the school. The carnival proper will be at 6 o’clock in the school building. Highlights of the evening will be a play given by the fifth grade under the direction of Miss Linnie May. Attractions of the evening will include such carnival favorites as the country store and the fish pond. Refreshments will include hamburgers, soda water, cokes and coffee. Crowds gather for UN Day ceremony “The only hope for the youth of America is in the United Nations, where economic and social difficulties may be settled,” said Sam Stone Jr., representing Georgetown High School and the youth of the community at the United Nations Day ceremony Tuesday morning. Crowds of school children and townspeople swarmed the grounds on the south side of the courthouse to see the presentation of the United Nations flag to Mayor C. S. Griffith. The ceremony took place at 11 o’clock, simultaneously with similar ceremonies all over the nation. 50 Years Ago (October 23, 1975) Trustees hear “hair” dispute The continuing problem concerning hair length as defined in the dress code of the Georgetown High School Student Handbook came under fire again Monday night as a high school student questioned trustees’ reasoning in refusing to abolish the hair code. Don Spellman, a sophomore student at Georgetown High School, asked the trustees “what the particular reason for a dress code was.” Dr. Douglas Benold answered that a dress code “aided educational processes … that some students’ dress could detract from other students’ learning, if regulations were not set.” Don Hewlett expressed that anyone who worked for him would dress in a respectable manner that suited him. He further stated “that guidelines for dress should be set at home and not be left up to school administrators to enforce.” Gibson opening will be held Monday The Gibson’s Discount Center in Georgetown will hold its grand opening Monday. Ribbon cutting ceremonies are scheduled for 8:45 a.m. at the store in the Lakeaire Shopping Center. A representative of the Governor’s office will perform the honors following the comments of Paul Gibson, of the chain’s head- quarters in Dallas. Herbert R. Gibson, Sr., founder of the stores. will also be present for the ceremonies. The chain he started with a single store in Abilene in 1958 now consists of 730 stores in 36 states, Guam and Tokyo. 25 Years Ago (October 25, 2000 & October 29, 2000) Chamber spaghetti supper turns out a little soggy It was the good, the bad and the ugly at the annual Georgetown Chamber of Commerce auction and barn bash Saturday night. Good food, bad turnout and ugly weather, that is. The soggy weather kept turnout low at this year’s party, themed Spaghetti Western Showdown. The dreary weather didn’t dampen spirits inside the San Gabriel Showbarn, however, and the chamber still made a fistful of dollars. “It was a great party as well as a good fund-raiser.” said Mel Pendland, president of the chamber. “A lot of people came out in western attire. There was dancing. lots of laughter and good fellowship.” Andice man films UFO When Robert DeWitt walked outside last month, everything was normal. Nothing good on TV. Then, things went abnormal, spooky, downright Halloweeny. “I noticed a light, and I knew it wasn’t a star or a planet,” he says. “Then it started moving like nothing I have ever seen before.” Mr. DeWitt rushed inside to get his video camera and began filming the mysterious lights. On the video, there is a large center light with several smaller, rapidly moving lights that seem to somehow orbit around the larger object. He shot the video on September 16 at his home near Andice, about 10 miles west of Georgetown. Tags Source: https://www.wilcosun.com/columns/yesteryears-andice-man-films-ufo