100 years ago
Perhaps the busiest man at the hotel today was General Manager George Burt, who was ably assisted by Mrs. Burt in the executive office.
The kitchen will be presided over by Peter Migeot, a famous French chef.
Colored men will be employed as waiters in the dining-room. Most of them are to come from Pittsburgh. White girls will act as waitresses in the coffee room or grille in the basem*nt.
Standing behind the mahogany counter in the lobby and with a warm handclasp for all visitors will be V.G. Welford as chief clerk.
Harry H. Cookus, who has been connected with hotels in Winchester for some years, will do the day turn in connection with Mr. Welford. Mr. Cookus was formerly clerk at Hotel Evans here.
The chief night clerk will be Garland Bowles, son of the late Joseph W. Bowles of Frederick County, who was selected from quite a number of applicants for the position.
June 12, 1924
Hotel Jack was the scene last evening of a Handley High School banquet which will go down in history as the most delightful one so far.
The charming toastmistress was Miss Helen Dean.
At ten o’clock the room was cleared for dancing and the class had a most enjoyable evening until the strains of “Home, Sweet Home” all too plainly said the time for parting had come.
June 14, 1924
The Alumni Association of the Winchester High School will hold its annual banquet and dance this year at the New George Washington.
Tickets for the banquet and dance will be two dollars.
A large orchestra will furnish the dance music and in the lovely and spacious rooms of the new George Washington Hotel the dancing should be an unusually enjoyable affair.
June 14, 1924
Preparations were complete this afternoon for the first banquet of stockholders of the George Washington Hotel Corporation to be held this evening in the new hotel, which opens for business tomorrow morning.
The biggest event of the formal opening of the George Washington will take place tomorrow evening when there will be a dinner dance for the public, with a high class orchestra. The cover charges for this function are $5.
June 17, 1924
RICHMOND — Tomorrow Virginia embarks on an adventure in elevating her human stock. Under a new law it will be legal for the state to sterilize defectives committed to institutions. It is necessary to obtain the consent of the patient’s family, but this, it is believed, can be obtained in many cases.
Other laws which go into effect here Monday include:
A law prohibiting wheels of fortune and all such gambling devices at fairs.
A law providing for racial integrity — in other words designed to prevent intermarriage of blacks and whites.
A law making it a misdemeanor to trespass in a cemetery after dark.
June 17, 1924
75 years ago
Roger Bros. circus will play in Winchester today under a brand new “big top.”
The big tent arrived at 2 a.m. this morning from Norfolk and was waiting on the Garber grounds, Front Royal Pike, when the fire trucks arrived from Luray three hours later.
Despite the circus showing in competition tonight with both Handley and county high schools commencement programs, both the management and Winchester fire companies sponsoring the show for benefit of their iron lung fund, were anticipating a large attendance.
More than two score circus displays are featured in the big top which will seat around 3,000. Headline attractions are Charlotte and Capt. Eddie Kuhn, wild animal trainers; the Aerial Queens, stars of the flying trapeze; Nina Odell and her trained elephants; Capt. Jimmy Odell, master horseman; and of course, a congress of clowns.
June 10, 1924
TOKYO — Fifteen Japanese war criminals, including two convicted in the Bataan death march, have been hanged at Sugamo prison, Gen. MacArthur’s headquarters said today.
June 11, 1949
Orders have been entered in corporation court approving compromise settlements between the Consumer Unitities Co. and three persons injured last June 23 as the result of a gas explosion in the Raylass Dept. store.
In addition to payment of medical bills, the utility company agreed to pay $50 to Margaret Cook of 120 E. Cecil St., $150 to Emerson Cook, same address, and $475 to Madeline Hileman of 27 1-2 W. Cork St.
June 13, 1949
Progress that proposes to consolidate five Frederick County high schools in 1950 will also likely terminate the amazing teaching career of Mrs. Mayme Miller of Marlboro.
The gray haired school marm who started teaching at the age of 18 at Lost River, W.Va., completed her 52nd year in the profession Friday — the last 28 at Mt. Airy on Cedar Creek Grade, 10 miles southwest of Winchester.
Although 10 years past the span of her father’s teaching years and with an enviable goal for her teacher-daughter, Mrs. Miller still looks forward to at least one more year in the profession as she has signed her contract for the 1949-1950 session. Beyond that she isn’t sure, but believes that opening of the James Wood consolidated high school in 1950-51 will be a death knell for the few remaining small schools in the county.
June 14, 1949
Picking is scheduled to start Tuesday in a 1600-gallon crop of sour cherries — largest ever to be produced by E.M. and G.W. Lemley in the 200-tree orchard two miles west of Stephens City. Cherry canners from many sections of the Valley are customers of this 11-year-old orchard.
June 17, 1949
50 years ago
The Frederick County Board of Supervisors gave final approval last night for the construction of a new shopping mall which is said to bring more than $300 million into the area annually.
The mall, which will be built on the west side of I-81 and the north side of Rt. 7, should be finished in approximately two years, the developer told the supervisors last night. The mall will include at least two and possibly three large department stores and will boast an additional 300,000 square feet of shopping space.
June 13, 1974
25 years ago
The Red Lion Tavern is almost ready to roar again.
Bob Wilson and his wife, Evelyn, former owners of Potomac Foods Inc. of Virginia, bought the historic structure, located on the corner of East Cork and South Loudoun streets in December 1997, in hopes of restoring the building to some of its former glory.
The renovation process got underway last October and involved a lot of sanding, plastering, rewiring and painting. The result is a building that looks like it was created in 1783, the year the building actually was constructed, but wired for all the modern conveniences necessary in 1999.
Wilson explained there are three options to consider when leasing the property. Besides using it as a residence, all three floors could be dedicated office space for one company, or two separate companies could be housed in the structure with an apartment in the back.
June 17, 1999
