23 years ago

May 1987

• More than $2,800 was raised at a benefit concert by the Southern Image Band and the Seldom Heard Singers for Lafayette resident Yvonne Gregory, who was awaiting a heart transplant.

• Gibson’s Discount Center in Lafayette was having a “going-out-of-business” sale.

• Macon County High School baseball player Jim Carter signed an NCAA Letter of Intent and Scholarship to play baseball at Tennessee Technological Institute in Cookeville.

• Kyla Cole was named Tiny Miss Tennessee State Queen at the Southern Charm Pageant held in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

26 years ago

May 1984

• Wet weather plagued Macon County during the first week of May, with 7.78 inches of rain being recorded by Tri-County EMC.

• Dr. Lex Leung, a graduate of Meharry Medical College, announced the opening of his office in Red Boiling Springs.

• Kim Harp was named Valedictorian at Macon County High School. Priscilla Morrison was named Salutatorian and DAR representative.

• Miriam West was chosen Macon County Junior Miss in the third annual pageant sponsored by the Macon County 4-H Clubs. Runners-up included Tanisha Fishburn, Karen Dyer, Necia Butcher, Daphne Halliburton and Rhonda Colter.

27 years ago

May 1983

• Damages including the split of 250 feet of roadway on Highway 10 South and the collapse of a 40-foot section of a bridge over Trammel Creek were blamed on heavy rains that hit Macon County. More than eight inches of rainfall was recorded in a six-day period.

• The Macon County Fair Board held its first organizational meeting to stat up a Macon County Fair. More than 30 people attended.

• More than $200,000 was distributed to several Macon County charities from the estate of the late Mrs. Alma Tooley. Among those receiving large gifts of $25,000 were the Macon County Public Library, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.

• J.W. Hance of Lafayette donated the 33rd pint of his rare blood type, AB-negative, to the American Red Cross during a visit by the organization’s Bloodmobile.

29 years ago

May 1981

• Officers Willie Andrews of the Forestry Division of the Tennessee Department of Conservation noted that during the 1981 fire season, from February 15 to May 15, 46 fires had been battled, making that season the worst for fires in Macon County in recent memory.

• The 66th Annual Macon County Singing Convention was held at Rocky Mound Missionary Baptist Church.

• Lynn Howell, a girls’ basketball player for Macon County High School, was the recipient of the 1981 Nera White Award.

• Macon County students participating in the District IV 4-H Demonstration Day at Tennessee Tech included: Hansi McCrary, Van Cluck, Mark Darnell, Lee Annn Bilbrey, Marty Coley, Lisa Eller, April Smalling and Kerry Smalling.

35 years ago

May 1975

• Among the 1975 graduates of Red Boiling Springs High School were Lisa Jordan, who was named Valedictorian and recipient of the Citizenship and English awards, and Melissa Holland, who was named Salutatorian.

• The Macon County 4-H Land Judging Team placed first in the Southeast and second internationally at the 24th annual International Land, Pasture and Range Judging Contest in Oklahoma City. Team members included Dale Stinson, Lannie Pedigo, Joe Carter and Neil Dozier.

• The Tennessee Department of Transportation announced plans to rebuild the bridge on Oak Dale Road. The previous bridge was one of 150 bridges in Macon County destroyed by floodwaters in the spring.

• National Stores opened its Lafayette store on the square in the building formerly occupied by Lafayette Dry Goods.

37 years ago

May 1973

• Two days of dedication activities were planned at the Lafayette Municipal Airport, including demonstrations by skydivers, passenger rides in planes and a display of an NU 2 Turboprop.

• Honor students in the Red Boiling Springs High School Class of 1973 included: Thomas Bilbrey, Lisa Diana North, Judy Gail Carver, Robbie Jean West, Melinda Karen Smith and Randall C. Kirby.

• Blon Driver and his son, Larry Driver, were pictured with 150 stripes that they caught while fishing at Center Hill Lake.

• Martha Wilburn was honored by the American Heart Association with the Middle Tennessee Heart Association Citation for Meritorious Service for work during the 1973 fund drive.

44 years ago

May 1966

• The Lafayette Fire Department celebrated the 23rd anniversary of its organization. Former LFD Chief W.J. Hooberry noted that the city’s first fire engine, which he had built and equipped, cost about $1,000.

• Gann & Forkum Appliance opened for business in a new building on Scottsville Road. Lafayette Florist also moved into the new building.

• George Nelson, 80, a lifelong resident of Macon County, was honored by Louisiana Governor John McKeuthen be being commissioned as a Colonel of the governor’s staff.

• Glen Gregory, of the Haysville community, became the first farmer in Macon County to construct an upright silo on his farm. The silo held approximately 130 tons of silage to feed his dairy cattle.

46 years ago

May 1964

• Macon County Schools Superintendent Carlos Hargis was honored with a banquet at Imperial Cafeteria by the Macon County Teachers’ Association for his 12 years of service as superintendent.

• Jayne Wilson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Wilson, was named Valedictorian at Enon Consolidated School.

• McClard & Russell Food Market in Lafayette advertised three pounds of ground beef for $1, tomatoes for 10-cents a pound and a 25-pound bag of flour for $1.99.

• “Kissing Cousins” staring Elvis Presley, and “Around the World in a Daze” starring The Three Stooges were playing at Macon Drive-In.

49 years ago

May 1961

• Area newspaper representatives gathered at the Hotel Cloyd in Red Boiling Springs to hear hotel officials discuss the “rebirth of Red Boiling Springs as a resort area.”

• The first Macon County Invitational Golf Tournament was scheduled to be held at the Hotel Cloyd in Red Boiling Springs.

• Macon County’s strawberry crop was producing a good yield for farmers, setting prices at 12-cents to 14-cents a pound.

• Dortch West and Conella Wallace of Lafayette were involved in the rescue of three men and a small boy from Old Hickory Lake between Gallatin and Lebanon after the men’s boat capsized while they were fishing.

52 years go

May 1958

• A construction firm planning to lay a pipeline across Macon County was considering Lafayette as its headquarters, and was looking for accommodations for workers to stay in town for up to three months.

• Former Lafayette Chaplain Rev. R.M. Coolidge was named chief chaplain aboard the Billy Graham Crusade Train, which was traveling from Nashville to San Francisco.

• Property values in Macon County assessed in 1956, released in 1958, came to an estimated $5,481,821.

• The Devon Theatre in Lafayette was featuring the film “Sayonara” starring Marlon Brando, Red Buttons and Ricardo Montelban, while Gay Theatre in Hartsville was showing Cecil B. DeMille’s epic “The Ten Commandments” starring Charlton Heston.

55 years ago

May 1955

• Six Macon County students were to graduate from Tennessee Technological Institute in Cookeville. They included: Melvin C. Pedigo, Edwin Ray Bohanon, Lena Myers Crowder, Geneva Lorraine Kemp, George Ray McCoin and Eva Butrum Chitwood.

• A proposed new building for Citizens Bank was scheduled to begin construction on Locust Street in Lafayette in June.

• A six-foot walkway was completed in the yard of the Macon County Courthouse.

• Pictured helping during the annual Poppy Day Sale for Disabled Veterans were: Carolyn McCormack, Jeanetta Cox, Paulette Walrond, Joanne Smith, Mrs. Buford Powell, Paulette Polston, Donna Sue Gregory, Rosemary Rowe and Mrs. H.H. Johnson.