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Country-western singer Porter Wagoner came to Bedford County in the 1970s to appear at the Bedford County Fair, and he was accompanied by Dolly Parton. He chose the River's Bend Golf Course (now Down River) in Everett as a place to relax. Shown are (from left): front -- S. Rhodes and Jack Little; back -- Mack Macgahan, George McCormick, Buck Trent, Dick Buskey and Dolly Parton. This photo is from the Facebook page of Down River Golf Course.
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:
Sept. 5, 1951
The Altoona Art League elected Kenneth Crise as new president in a meeting at the Webster Building. The league had held exhibitions this year at the Penn Alto Hotel, Veterans Administration Hospital, the State Movie Theater and the Altoona YMCA. A junior art league had also been formed.
Sept. 5, 1976
A new automobile dealership called Turchetta Motors L.T.D., the official dealership for the SAAB automobile, opened this week on Route 220 between the Sheraton Inn and the Meadows. The SAAB was manufactured in Sweden.
Sept. 5, 2001
The local Talus Rock Council of Girl Scouts, Carolyn Trenton president, was asking for more members and volunteers. There were five age groups: Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior, from kindergarten to high school seniors.
Sept. 5, 2016
The Blair County Historical Society, Michael Farrow organizer, was sponsoring a bus tour of Altoona's at least 28 churches that was to depart from Baker Mansion. Previous tours covered Dutch Hill and Little Italy in Altoona and the Hollidaysburg Historic District.
Sept. 6, 1951
Roy Thompson, chairman of the March of Dimes Polio Fund, reported that the $15,000 fund was almost depleted and asked the citizens of Altoona to keep contributing. Altoona health official Raymond Herbert reported 41 polio victims treated so far this year, 12 from Altoona, the rest from other areas of Blair County.
The Altoona Kiwanis Choir, Howard Lindaman director and Clemence Nagle pianist, which had about 35 members, was planning two concerts this week, first at the Jaffa Shrine Ladies Night program and then Sunday over a nation-wide Kiwanis radio hookup.
Sept. 6, 1976
Manpower Inc. of Altoona sponsored a local photo contest called "A Salute to the American Worker" that was won by Larry McKee of Altoona with his photo of two clowns waiting to enter a circus ring. The contest was nationwide sponsored by the Minolta Corp. McKee won a Minolta SR-T 200 camera.
The Altoona Jaycees, Joseph Emeigh president, was holding a town meeting at the Penn Alto Hotel as part of the statewide Bicentennial project called "Freedom, Then, Now and Tomorrow" to examine freedom in American Society. A total of 1,200 such meetings were being held throughout Pennsylvania.
Sept. 6, 2001
Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno spoke at Penn State University in State College before a crowd of 2,000. The first woman to serve as Attorney General, Reno served for eight years under President Bill Clinton. She also had just announced her candidacy for Florida governor.
Franklin West, owner of a downtown bar called the Panda Bar, closed due to both bankruptcy and by order of the Blair County Court as a public nuisance, filed a petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to reopen, saying the closing violated federal law.
Sept. 6, 2016
The former Trinity United Methodist Church at 1129 Eighth Ave. was being razed by Earthmovers Unlimited Inc. of Kylertown. It had been erected in 1899 as Altoona First United Brethren Church. It had been considered the "mother church" of seven other United Brethren Churches in Altoona.
The Civil War battle flag for Company M, 62nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers was being restored for the Hollidaysburg Area School District. The flag was once carried by 15-year-old drummer boy Michael Halloran of Hollidaysburg. The flag had seen at least 18 battles, including Gettysburg.
National, world news on this date:
Sept. 5:
In 1836, Sam Houston won the first presidential election in the newly established Republic of
Texas.
In 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, ending the Russo-Japanese war; for his efforts in mediating the peace negotiations, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.
In 1957, Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road" was published.
In 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 to study Jupiter, several of its moons, and later Saturn; in 2012, the spacecraft became the first human-made object to leave the solar system.
Sept. 6:
In 1901, President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. (McKinley died eight days later and was succeeded by his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt.)
In 1949, Howard Unruh, a resident of Camden, New Jersey, shot and killed 13 of his neighbors. (Unruh, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was incarcerated for 60 years until he died in 2009.)
In 1995, Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking Lou Gehrig's 56 year-old MLB record; Ripken's streak would ultimately reach a still-record 2,632 games.
Local news compiled by Tim Doyle. National, world news from The Associated Press.