Leonard Alwine of Altoona submitted this photo from his collection of old Altoona items. It shows the new Mack A-55 school bus No. 8, which he rode to school in the late 1950s. The photo was taken behind the Logan School in Juniata Gap and in front of the bus garage. Logan Township School District had purchased several of these buses for use at its various schools. The custodians and bus drivers picked up the buses in Indiana. The school building and bus garage were razed to build the new Juniata Gap Grade School. The photo is originally from the collection of Carl Edwards Sr. of Altoona. Among those in the photo are Charles Hammaker, fourth from left; Bill Moyer, fifth from left; Harry Rafenspeager, ninth from left; Bob Leighty, third from right; and Guy Vicars, right.

Readers are encouraged to send or deliver old local photographs of general interest for use in Yesteryear. Information about people and places should be included. Photos must be 30 years old or older and should be sent to Yesteryear, Altoona Mirror, P.O. Box 2008, Altoona, PA 16603, or emailed to community@altoonamirror.com. For more information, call Brenda Carberry, community news coordinator, at 814-946-7459.

Local news on this date

May 9, 1951

A female group called The Harmonettes: Evelyn Rosaman, Betty Lang, Betty Eisel and Celeste Favoccia, won the semi-final in the Altoona Park and Recreation Board’s first annual quartet singing contest held at Roosevelt Junior High School Auditorium singing “Tell Me Why.”

May 9, 1976

At the dedication of the Pioneer Family sculpture at the Blair County Courthouse, a moon tree, a sycamore grown from a seed that went to the moon with Apollo 14, was planted.

May 9, 2001

The Blair County commissioners adopted an ordinance to give them control of Convention Center Boulevard, which ran from Logan Boulevard to Plank Road. They would be responsible for maintenance and duties like snow plowing. The Convention Center was located just short of Plank Road.

May 9, 2016

Mary Ann Silvia was the Altoona Mirror Mother’s Day makeover winner and received gifts from J.C. Penney, Courtesy Ford, Razor’s Edge, Colosseum Salon, Olive Garden, Say It With Sweets, Oak Spring Winery, Dirt Buster and Kranich Jewelers.

May 10, 1951

The Chromatic Four: Dr. Ken John Jr., Fred Householder, Ken Brubaker and George Hobson, won first place in the semi-finals in the men’s barbershop quartet contest singing “Bicycle Built for Two” held by the Altoona Recreation Board at Roosevelt Junior High School. The Melodees won the mixed men/women’s quartet: Fred Householder, George Hobson, Grace Ann Long and Adaline Boorman, singing “The Whiffenpoof Song.”

Playing at the Olympic Movie Theatre in downtown Altoona was the double feature “Born Yesterday” with Judy Holiday and the spy thriller “Tokyo File 212” filmed in Japan.

May 10, 1976

Joseph H. Orr Sr., executor of the Dr. Fred Miller Apple Trust Fund, met with the dental hygienist from Altoona Area High to discuss the school’s apple snack program for Dental Health Week. The school’s apples came from Mattern’s Orchard in Hollidaysburg.

The Altoona Coin Club, Kenneth Spielvogle president, held its monthly meeting at the Holiday Inn, discussed the new $2 bill and made plans for its 28th annual coin show next month at the Holiday Inn.

May 10, 2001

PennDOT was hosting a public meeting at the Altoona Hospital lecture hall about its plans to replace the steel-truss Seventh Street Bridge that ran from Seventh Avenue to Chestnut Avenue and the ramp that connected to Howard Avenue.

The Pennsylvania House approved a bill that would allow PennDOT to suspend the license of someone who stole gasoline. The current high price of gasoline saw an increase in motorists driving away from service stations after pumping gas and not paying.

May 10, 2016

The Blair County Parole and Probation Office, Cory Seymour director, held a job fair at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church that was open for the first time to those with criminal records.

Wendy’s Restaurant on Pleasant Valley Boulevard was participating in the Michael J. Beaver Wendy’s Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars Military Assistance Grant Program selling Frosty key tags for $1 good through Dec. 31 with the Pennsylvania National Guard Military Family Program Office assisting. The late Michael J. Beaver of Sidman served with the U.S. Army Special Forces and won many awards.

National, world news on this date

May 9

In 1754, the famous political cartoon “Join or Die” was first published by Benjamin Franklin in the Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson, acting on a joint congressional resolution, signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

In 1951, the U.S. conducted its first thermonuclear experiment as part of Operation Greenhouse by detonating a 225-kiloton device (nicknamed “George”) on Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conditionally approved Enovid for use as the first oral contraceptive pill.

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee opened public hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. (The committee ultimately adopted three articles of impeachment against the president, who resigned before the full House took up any of them.)

May 10

In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union forces near Irwinville, Georgia.

In 1869, a golden spike was driven in a ceremony in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was named acting director of the Bureau of Investigation (later known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation) by President Calvin Coolidge; Hoover would serve as FBI director until 1972.

In 1933, book burnings were held in 34 cities across Germany, targeting authors whose ideologies were in conflict with Nazism.

In 1960, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton completed the first submerged circumnavigation of Earth.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated, becoming the first Black president of South Africa.

In 1994, the state of Illinois executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 52, for the murders of 33 young men and boys.

Local news compiled by Tim Doyle. National, world news from The Associated Press.