November 22-28, 1950 

A petition is being circulated in Leaksville Township seeking a referendum on the present township school tax. 

A committee of citizens headed by James W. Wilkerson of Draper hopes to get at least 25 percent of the township's registered voters to sign the petition and thereby force a referendum. 

Wilkerson said his group wants the tax ended, calling it "an unnecessary burden on the average working man." 

The special school tax was approved by voters on March 11, 1947. The vote authorized a tax of up to 30 cents per $100 real and personal property valuation. The full 30 cents was levied until this year when it was reduced to 18 cents after a countywide revaluation of property. 

Rockingham County farmers this year harvested 16,796 acres of tobacco, averaging more than 1,300 pounds per acre. The per-acre average was up from 992 pounds in 1949. ... W.C. "Mutt" Burton, head of the Greensboro Daily News bureau in Reidsville, will play one of the leading roles in "The Heiress," a play to be presented by the Play-Likers of Woman's College in Greensboro from Dec. 1 to 2. Burton, who will play the part of a stern father, also starred in the Play-Likers' "I Remember Mama" presentation last year. ... A painting, "Thoughtful Moments," by Miss Shirley Pruden of Reidsville, has been hung in the 37th annual Allied Artists of America show in New York's National Academy Galleries. The painting is of a young woman sitting pensively on the floor. Mrs. Lucille S. Richardson of Reidsville was the model. 

Six members of Reidsville's Western AA Conference championship team were named by coaches to the conference all-star team: ends Hunter Sheridan and Milton Ware; tackle Jim Hardy; guard Claude Shumate; and backs Charlie Royster and Alvin Cook. Also named to the team were guard Cleo Wickham and back Billy Wright of Leaksville. ... Cpl. Paul H. Myers of Mayfield, a 1949 graduate of Ruffin High School, survived the crash of an Air Force B-36 bomber near Fort Worth, Texas, when he several other crew members successfully bailed out. He is being trained as a radio operator. ... Leaksville's 204-member Masonic Lodge No. 136 will celebrate its 100th anniversary Dec. 4 at the Masonic Temple on Bridge Street. Only Dan River Lodge 128 at Madison is older in Rockingham County. 

For the Thanksgiving table: Fresh dressed turkeys, 53 cents a pound; cured picnic hams, 42 cents a pound. 

For the sweet tooth: 1-pound package peanut brittle, 37 cents. 

Make music at home: Hammond organ, $1,285.