Jul 12, 2014 5 min read

A look at some of the headlines gracing the pages of the Observer-Reporter and Waynesburg Republican this week in Greene County history:

Annual Jacktown Fair

gets under way

WIND RIDGE – A nice summer evening with high clouds and comfortable temperatures helped to make a good start for the 144th edition of the Jacktown Fair.

Said to be oldest continuously operating country fair in the nation, the Jacktown Fair began its five-day run with the annual parade and the crowning of Miss Jacktown Fair Queen.

The parade, which started in Wind Ridge and wound its way down Route 21 to the fairgrounds, included 109 units, close to the record of 114.

It was a good turnout, said Marcia Sonneborn, parade chairman. “We had people lined up all along the parade route, both sides of the road,” she said.

People lining the route waited for the parade to draw to a close so they, too, could enter the fairgrounds for the night’s festivities.

“Everything is going pretty smoothly,” said Walter “Buck” Burns, president of the Richhill Agricultural Society, which sponsors the fair.

The weather was fine and people were beginning to fill the midway. “We have a pretty big crowd,” Burns said

Coder, Snyder geared

up for Dem convention

WAYNESBURG – Pam Snyder is excited and is looking forward to the fast-paced agenda.

Dave Coder has been involved in the process two times before, but he said there always can be a surprise.

The two Greene County commissioners were not discussing adopting a county budget or passing salary increases for elected officials. They were reflecting on what they expect to encounter July 26 when they arrive in Boston for the Democratic National Convention.

Snyder and Coder are two of the five elected delegates from the sprawling 12th District that takes in part of nine counties, including all of Greene County and roughly half of Washington County. Three men and two women were elected, along with one female alternate, in the April primary.

It was a clean sweep for the delegates in the 12th District who ran committed to John Kerry. And although the nominating convention will be absent any suspense, Snyder and Coder are, nevertheless, looking forward to the “historic week.

“Sure, I am a little apprehensive,” Snyder said, who has wanted to attend a presidential convention since seeing Jimmy Carter accept his party’s nomination in 1976.

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Council considers renaming park after teacher

WAYNESBURG – For generations of Waynesburg children, memories of the freshly renovated Central Park playground are indelibly linked to longtime kindergarten teacher Anne Branch Call.

Wayne Hart of Franklin Township reminded borough council Monday that Call looked over countless children as they played and socialized in the park, which is situated between Greene and High streets. Call was playground supervisor for 15 years during the Head Start summer program.

Now that crews are finishing work on a $325,000 project to renovate Central Park, Hart said it would be appropriate to honor the teacher in some way.

Call died April 21 in her Waynesburg home. She was 95.

“Look up playground in any dictionary in Waynesburg and you’ll find her picture,” Hart said. “She had a big impact on my life and many other people in Waynesburg.”

Many council members responded positively to Hart’s idea, but borough leaders said they needed more time to discuss what type of honor would be appropriate. The renovation project included signs welcoming visitors to Central Park, but the playground could still be renamed in honor of Call, noted Borough Manager George Howard.

A few council members reminisced that Call was their first teacher. In 1953, Call was named teacher of Greene County’s first kindergarten program. She taught in the former Waynesburg Borough School District’s East Ward School.

Singer, weatherman

bet hats

Country western star Hank Williams Jr. and television weatherman Dennis Bowman have agreed to bet their hats it won’t rain in Waynesburg July 29, although many personalities have made the same mistake.

Perhaps because it did not rain in 1988 – the 17th failure in 112 years – gave Bowman and William a false sense of security.

Williams will not make an appearance in Waynesburg, but Bowman, who has been at Channel 11 in Pittsburgh for the past four years, is expected to broadcast from Waynesburg on July 29.

Borough’s fines, costs have

doubled in one year

Stricter enforcement of borough ordinances and traffic laws, combined with a more efficient collection system, is credited with having virtually doubled the amount of fines and costs collected in the past year in Waynesburg Borough.

Police Chief James Watson added, however, that he feels the increase in the number of citations for traffic violations is attributable to disregard to regulations.

“People don’t give a darn for law and order anymore,” he said. “They seem to feel laws are there to be broken of you can get away with it.”

Between June 1967 and June 1968, the borough collected $1,899 in fines and costs for moving traffic violations. Between June 1968 and June 1969, the amount jumped to $3,034.