Time Machine: 100 years ago this week in Pocomoke's newspaper; 1894, 1951, 2007, 2000.

 

                                               (excerpt)

                                           (excerpt)

July, 1894

The Morning Herald (Baltimore)

May, 1951

Salisbury Times

*February, 2007

Salisbury Daily Times

*January 1, 2000

Baltimore Sun

tkforppe@yahoo.com

Recollections from generations past. (Vivian Stevenson- 2)

 

INTERVIEWER:  Did your family own a car?

VIVIAN:  Own a car? Well after, I think about 1915, my father and brother had a Hudson Super 6, if you heard of that. It was a big car.

INTERVIEWER:  Did any of your neighbors have a car?

VIVIAN:  Well, I guess they did, but I don’t remember any particular time. Dr. Walters had the first car in Pocomoke.

INTERVIEWER:  What was your first car like?

VIVIAN:  Well it was, it would seat 3, 6, 8 people. It had 2 fold seats in the middle, more like a station wagon, except I think it had 4 doors, the best I can remember.

INTERVIEWER:  How much did it cost?

VIVIAN:  Don’t ask me. I don’t know. Plenty I imagine. But it took a big car for our family.

INTERVIEWER:  Did you ever go to Public Landing?

VIVIAN:  Oh yes, lots of times.

INTERVIEWER:  Well do you want to describe what Public Landing was like?

VIVIAN:  Well, it was just a little place, opening, there were houses a little far back, and one quite near the water, that somebody used to live there, who served meals and we’d go Sundays sometimes and have dinner there. They had a little pier that went out some distance, and we’d go sit out there and enjoy the water.

INTERVIEWER:  What was Farmer’s Day, I think it is? Farmer’s Day?

VIVIAN:  At Public Landing?

INTERVIEWER:  Ahun

VIVIAN:  I don’t know. But they had a day at Red Hills, the first Wednesday in August, was a great picnic day for everybody.

INTERVIEWER:  What was Red Hills like?

VIVIAN:  Well, it was kinda up on a high cliff from the water. You’ve been there, haven’t ya? But there wasn’t much there. Finally they gotta, built a pavilion, I don’t know whether they sold ice cream cones and things like that or not, but you could get in the shade if you wanted to, then there was a family that lived nearby, that rented little bathhouses to change your suits in if you wanted to.

INTERVIEWER:  Did you ever go to Assateague?

VIVIAN:  Once before it became popular. Recently, in the old day, but you had to go in a boat from Franklin City.

INTERVIEWER:  What was Franklin City like?

VIVIAN:  Well just a, as I remember it was just about one long street, that run down to the water, I don’t really know much about it.

INTERVIEWER:  Did somebody have, own, anybody in your family have an instrument, or did you listen to the radio?

VIVIAN:  Well my sister, my older sister played the piano, my sister Vesta played by ear, she could play anything she ever heard, by ear. I took lessons but I never really learned to play much. We had one of the first Victrolas that anybody around here had, and of course that led to radios and televisions.

INTERVIEWER:  Where were the fairgrounds?

VIVIAN:  What were they like?

INTERVIEWER:  Uhun

VIVIAN:  Well, they had a big grandstand and when they, the week of the fair they had these sideshows and things like that and races. Horse racing was most of it.

INTERVIEWER:  Your family, did your family attend the fair?

VIVIAN:  Oh yeah, we always went.

INTERVIEWER:  Okay. Where did you get your toys from?

VIVIAN:  My uncle Ira’s store. He had toys upstairs on the second floor. He sold some groceries, but his soda fountain and candy was the main attractions.

INTERVIEWER:  How much land did your parents own?

VIVIAN:  How much land? Well, they owned from this street here down to the river and over, right far over toward the river.

INTERVIEWER:  They had right much land?

VIVIAN:  Well, I think, it, my great-grandfather bought it, was supposed to be 300 acres and most of it was the woods, there wasn’t much cultivated, but I don’t think he was much of a farmer, because he spent 26 years going to the legislature, my great-grandfather.

INTERVIEWER:  Did your family have any home remedies?

VIVIAN:  I don’t know. I don’t remember, my grandfather was a doctor, and my great-grandfather, on my mother’s side, was a doctor. Great great-grandfather, I guess it was.

INTERVIEWER:  Do you remember the fire they had uptown here?

VIVIAN:  I remember the one in 1922. It was on an Easter Monday. A very windy day, the wind was blowing this way, from the south and the, Mr. Davis, who had a store there on the corner of Willow and Second, had this store and he was out burning trash and the lady behind him went out and told him it was dangerous. It really was. And that’s what started the fire. And it burned, nearly, all that block down to the hotel. I don’t think the hotel burned and it blew across and burned my father’s shop and his brother’s house next to it and quite a few houses down there where your office is.

(This series continues next Saturday with recollections from another long-time area resident.)

TidalHealth announces masking requirements.

 

Temporary masking practices resume due to rising respiratory illnesses

February 14, 2025

In response to a significant increase in COVID-19, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Influenza A, and Influenza B cases across the region, TidalHealth has announced that it is returning to temporary masking practices in its hospitals in Salisbury and Seaford, the Richard A. Henson Cancer Institute in Salisbury and Ocean Pines, the Allen Cancer Center in Seaford, and at TidalHealth McCready Pavilion in Crisfield.

As a temporary proactive measure, surgical ear loop masks, which will be provided to those without one, are temporarily required for team members, patients and visitors in all patient rooms and patient-facing areas.

(View more info:)

Temporary masking practices resume due to rising respiratory illnesses | TidalHealth

Six-year-old on wrong school bus.

 

(Info from a WMDT news report:)

There was cause for alarm this week at a drop-off location when a six-year-old Ocean City Elementary School student was not on his assigned bus.  All turned out well when it was learned he had been put on the wrong bus. 

 WMDT received this statement from the county schools system: 

“Worcester County Public Schools is aware of the unfortunate incident during which a child was on the wrong bus with a substitute bus driver. We certainly empathize with the parents’ concerns, and through our conversations with the child’s parents since the incident, we believe we have arrived at a resolution to improve existing protocols at dismissal to ensure this does not occur in the future. These protocols will go into effect next week.”

Time Machine preview-

This Sunday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye: 

PLUS

1894 ..

1951  ..

          (Pocomoke High School graduating class)

2007  ..

(Rebuilding from fire)

2000  ..

Crisfield's wind turbine back in operation.

 (WBOC)

The rotor blades of Crisfield's 213-foot-tall wind turbine were spinning once again Thursday after months of stagnation.

The $4.1 million turbine was constructed as a step toward green energy to offset Crisfield's electricity costs.

 (View news story:)

Crisfield Wind Turbine Begins Operation After a Year of Sitting Idle | Latest News | wboc.com

Media needs to click the right button.

 

Misleading information was conveyed to WBOC webpage viewers who were checking Wednesday evening for the status of public-school operations for Thursday and saw that Worcester, Accomack, Somerset, and Wicomico County schools were designated for "virtual learning" days.  The problem was, that was the status for Wednesday not Thursday but their page did not indicate to when the announcements applied. 

When the Pocomoke Public Eye could not verify the Thursday status on the county schools Facebook pages we took down the WBOC link.

It's essential to designate to which days announcements apply .. in a column heading or with the announcements.  Maybe WBOC will do so in the future (??). 

New to the City of Pocomoke staff-

 

Susan succeeds Karah Lacey who is now Pocomoke City's Director of Economic Development.

Read more about Susan on the Pocomoke City Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pocomoke/

Tuesday OC Elementary lockdown-

 
 An undisclosed “verbal threat” put Ocean City Elementary on lockdown midday Tuesday, bringing a nerve-wracking, full-scale police mobilization to the West Ocean City school. No one was injured and the threat remains under investigation.

(View news story:)

School locked down after threat heard | Premium Content | octodaydispatch.com

Senator Carozza's weekly update-

 

View week 3 update from Annapolis:

 https://conta.cc/K4jvxdQ

Be weather smart.

 

When weather is in the news there's prone to be many sources of misinformation such as word of mouth, be it in person or on some social media outlets.

Check reliable sources such as news & weather media or their online pages.  

The link below is to the National Weather Service forecast for Pocomoke and the lower Eastern Shore.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=38.0722&lon=-75.5638

'Dream Girl' performance in Chincoteague

 

Accomack County head-on crash-

 WBOC

(View news story:)

3 in Life-Threatening Condition After Accomack County Crash | Latest News | wboc.com

Time Machine: 100 years ago this week in Pocomoke's newspaper; 1964, 1972, 1888.

 

                         

October, 1964 (original Salisbury Mall)

Salisbury Times

September, 1972

       Free Lance Star (Fredericksburg, Va.)             

                     

                            

January, 1888

Baltimore American

tkforppe@yahoo.com

Recollections from generations past. (Vivian Stevenson- 1)

 

Vivian E. Stevenson (1890 - 1984)

Interview recorded April, 1982

(Edited transcript)

INTERVIEWER:  Today is April 20, 1982 and I’m interviewing Mrs. Vivian Stevenson. What is your age Mrs. Stevenson?

VIVIAN:  91 plus 11 months

INTERVIEWER:  91 years old. Okay.

INTERVIEWER:  What is your maiden name?

VIVIAN:  Didn’t change it.

INTERVIEWER:  Okay. What was your parent’s names?

VIVIAN:  James D. and Elizabeth C. Stevenson.

NTERVIEWER:  What was your home life like?

VIVIAN: Oh well, lots of fun up there on that hill, that house up there.

INTERVIEWER:  What were some of your chores or responsibilities, that you had around the home?

VIVIAN:  My responsibility, when I was 12 years old, I was given the responsibility of keeping the lamps washed and filled with oil. That’s the first big chore, and sometimes we had, I had to carry a can of milk down to my uncle Ira’s store, who had a soda fountain.

INTERVIEWER:  Okay. Did you have a job outside of your home?

VIVIAN:  Well, after I finished school, I went to Boston and lived with my brother, who was working there, went and took shorthand and typing in High School. Graduated from that and came home, by the time I got home, my father had engaged me to work for Paul Ewell, and I worked for him for about 5 years.

VIVIAN:  I graduated from Pocomoke, in 1906, and the Summerville English High School in Summerville, Massachusetts in 1907, so I went to work for Paul Ewell. 

INTERVIEWER:  What was discipline like when you went to school?

VIVIAN:  Well I was scared to death of old Mr. Handy, who was the Principal, but by the time I had gotten up to his grades, the 10th and the 11th, he had retired and Clark Fontaine took over. I don’t remember too much about it. I got fairly good marks.

INTERVIEWER:  Where did you go to church?

VIVIAN:  Salem Methodist

INTERVIEWER:  Okay. How long on Sunday did you go to church?

VIVIAN:  How long on Sunday?

INTERVIEWER:  One, two hours?

VIVIAN:  Well we had service, at 11 in the morning, Sunday school at 2:00, and night service at 7:30, I think, I don’t remember too much about it, but I guess I went quite a bit.

INTERVIEWER:  What did you and your family do for recreation?

VIVIAN:  Well in summer time we had picnics at Red Hills, and then later on, later years we went to Public Landing a lot.

INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go ice skating?

VIVIAN:  Once I tried to (audio not clear) back in a little pond, I broke my sister’s skates and that ended my skating career.

INTERVIEWER:  Okay. What were some of the games you played when you were a little kid?

VIVIAN:  As young children, you mean?

INTERVIEWER:  Ahum.

VIVIAN:  Hide and seek, and blind man’s bluff, a few old time things like that.

INTERVIEWER:  Did you ever go swimming or bathing?

VIVIAN:  Never learned to swim.

INTERVIEWER:  Did you date?

VIVIAN:  Well after I, when I was in high school, I guess, we children would get together, boys and girls. But I didn’t have any serious dates in those days.

NTERVIEWER:  Was your family self-sufficient?

VIVIAN:  I guess so. My father was the Funeral Director with his brother.

INTERVIEWER:  What were some of the major events or special occasions that happened?

VIVIAN:  Well, we used to have entertainment in the town hall, they’d be stock companies would come by, stay for about a week, have a different show every night, there were lectures, and the kinds of home talent shows.

INTERVIEWER:  What were some of the businesses in town?

VIVIAN:  Well, there was W.S. Dickinson store, he had the dry goods store, that was before the days of ready-made garments. And the post office was where Betty Lee or Barbara Lee, had her store now, and there were houses up the rest of the block but they all burned down, when the big fire came in ‘21, 22. And we had ice cream parlors and other grocery stores. Didn’t have any big markets like we have now.

INTERVIEWER:  How was, what was the class structure like? You know, the high class. Low class.

VIVIAN:  Well I don’t remember much about it. The differences, they were some that considered themselves a little better than others, and then of course the colored people were, didn’t have the civil rights they have now. They were, they would line up on Clarke Avenue on Saturdays, mostly.

INTERVIEWER:  Do you remember what the population was?

VIVIAN:  Well, not exactly, maybe, 1500 or 2000 or something like that. Not as big as it is now.

INTERVIEWER:  Was there any kind of law enforcement?

VIVIAN:  Yeah, we had police. Mr. Stroud was the police chief, chief of police for many years.

INTERVIEWER:  What kind of transportation did you and your family use?

VIVIAN:  Well, we had, my father had horses, you know, they didn’t have automobiles in the early days and we had a double surrey, and then we had an old horse we kept out home and a carriage that we rode around in. But automobiles were in style, came in though, the old horse was afraid of them, and we didn’t dare drive him anywhere, because (audio not clear) he’d rare-up.

INTERVIEWER:  Was there a train near where you lived?

VIVIAN:  Oh yes, as far as I can remember, as far back as I can remember.

INTERVIEWER:  Did you or your family use the train?

VIVIAN:  Sometimes we’d go to Baltimore.

INTERVIEWER:  Go to Baltimore?

VIVIAN:  Have to change at Wilmington. But more people I think used the steamboat, in those days. My first trip was when I was 5 years old. I remember it real well.

NTERVIEWER:  Did your family use the steamboat that used to be here?

VIVIAN:  Yes

VIVIAN:  Just go to Baltimore and back. Then later there was a small boat that used to go to Snow Hill and back, go in the morning at 7:00, and come back, leave Snow Hill about 4:00, I think, get back here between 5:00 and 6:00.

(Continues next Saturday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye.)

Super Bowl results-

 

(View 1967 to 2024 list of the games and scores:)

Super Bowl Winners by Year - ESPN