Presley Myers, left, North Wilkesboro merchant, paying off a traffic fine with
“wooden nickels” to I. H. McNeill, Jr., city clerk and treasurer. Wooden
nickels are in active circulation in connection with the big celebration to be
staged next week.
50th Anniversary
ftorlli Wilkesboro*.* Mrlh «ns
more or less of an accident, but
slie has crown steadily during
the last half a century and is go¬
ing to celebrate the anniversary
In fitting style.
Bureaus, a cent ml organisation of
business and professional interests, are
sponsoring the celebration and have
secured the services of John B. Rogers
Producing Company of Fostoria.
Ohio, to stage the historical spectacle,
part of the five-dav celebration.
Following the Indian part of the
pageant the life and exploits of such
pioneers as Daniel Boone and the
early Moravian settlers will Ik- pa¬
raded on the pageant scene. Next will
be the days of the Revolution, with
Col. Benjamin Cleveland training
mountaineers for the memorable battle
of King’s Mountain and the Colonel's
part in the formation of Wilkes
County, which ut that time included
what is now several counties of north¬
western North Carolina and all the
State of Tennessee.
The big part Wilkes men played in
all the wars will also be shown.
The pageant will include n replica
of the first train to go over the rails
to what is now North Wilkesboro in
1890.
Various other events will fill the
program of the five-day celebration.
On Sunday evening, June JO, an open-
air service will be held at the fair¬
grounds, which will also Ih- the scene
of the pageant. Dr. J. Clyde Turner,
pastor of t lie First Baptist Church in
Greensboro, will be the speaker for the
service. Parades and athletic events
will take place each day and the pag¬
eant, “On Wings of time," will Ih*
staged each evening at eight o'clock.
Prominent Visitors
By DWIGHT NICHOLS
NORTH Wilkesboro, that thriv¬
ing little city of northwestern
North Carolina which had its
1- gi lining because of the wording of a
railroad contract, will observe its 50th
anniversary June 30 through July 4
with a big celebration.
In I $90 the Richmond and Danville
Railway Company, later merged into
the Southern system, had a contract
with the Wilkes County board of com¬
missioners calling for construction of
a railway branch line from Winston-
Salem to within one mile of the Wilkes
County courthouse in Wilkesboro, old
historic town which antedates the Rev¬
olution.
According to the plan of construc¬
tion the railway was built on the north
-ide of the Yadkin River through
Surrv mid Wilkes counties. When con-
‘truction reached a point one mile
from the Wilkes courthouse and on
the opposite side of the river work
ceased l»ccau.«c the railway company
had fulfilled its contract and there was
no necessity for going on to Wilkes¬
boro and having to bridge the Yadkin.
At the end of the railroad a depot
was set up and that was the beginning
of North Wilkesboro, which now has
a population of 4,501 within the town
limits and n population of about 12,-
000 within a three-mile radius of the
depot.
The public spirited people of North
Wilkesboro are not going to confine
their celebration to a recount of the
history of their little city during its
half century of history. By means of
a historical spectacle with a east of
over 500 local people they are going to
go ’way back to the days when Chero¬
kee Indian* were the only inhabitants
of the bills of Wilkes ami tell the his¬
tory of the entire area of the extreme
northwestern part of North Carolina.
The North Wilkesboro Commerce
J. Melville Broughton, candidate
for governor, is scheduled to speak at
five o'clock in the afternoon of July 2.
Governor Clyde R. lloey will lead a
big parade over the streets on the aft¬
ernoon of July 4 and will speak at the
fairgrounds at four o’clock.
North Wilkesboro is already agog
over plans for the celebration and, be¬
lieve it or not. they have printed
“wooden nickels” ns souvenir tokens
of the event. The “wooden nickels”
were printed on thin slabs of wood and
are circulating freely in trade at
North Wilkesboro. A "wooden nickel"
will buy just ns much a*- any other
nickel at any North Wilkesboro store
and is exchangeable at banks there un¬
til twelve o’clock, noon, of July 1,
Elaborate plans have been made to
entertain visitors at North Wilkes¬
boro during the celebration, to which
the homecoming idea has been at¬
tached.
One entertainment feature most re¬
cently arranged will lie
я
motorcade of
the Blue Ridge Parkway nearby, leav¬
ing North Wilkesboro at 9 :3<t a.in. on
July 4.
to