Januaries past, 50 years ago.

From the LaGrange Daily News, 1966.

Front Page News

$5.2 Million Asked for West Point Dam — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has requested $5.2 million for work during the coming fiscal year on the West Point Dam project.

Congressman John J. Flynt Jr. announced Saturday afternoon that this amount had been requested.

Cost of the project is estimated at $64.5 million for a mile-long dam and a backwater area covering some 35,000 acres.

Tentative groundbreaking date for the West Point Dam has been set for April 16. The suggested site of the ceremonies will be Stateline Road. This road is the border between Alabama and Georgia. This action was taken by an interstate steering committee Thursday afternoon in the Troup County Courthouse.

Construction Underway on New Airport Hangar — Construction of the new hangar at the Callaway Airport is now underway, according to Manager Bill Freeman.

Cost of the new hangar will be about $15,000. Local government will pay $3,000 of the cost and LaGrange Flying Service will pay the remaining $12,000.

Construction of the new hangar is just one part of the overall expansion program underway at the airport. Both city and county governments have agreed to expand the taxi strips. Lengths of the strips will be expanded by 2,850 yards and cost will be shared 50-50 by the two governments.

Plans Presented for New Clubhouse — Preliminary plans for a new clubhouse costing approximately $150,000 were presented to the membership of Highland Country Club at the annual dinner meeting Tuesday at the club.

The new clubhouse will be located near the existing site and will contain 10,000 to 11,000 square feet of floor space.

Arthur B. Edge Jr., out-going president of the country club, said rough plans for the new structure have been approved by the board of directors and stockholders and were presented as information to the membership Tuesday night.

Edge says the project has been approved and construction will get underway as soon as plans and drawings are completed. Sam Turner is architect for the new structure.

Planners Recommend City Perimeter Route — Plans to construct a $600,000 city perimeter route were discussed Thursday at the Troup County Planning Commission.

Post Chairman J.R. Griggs said the project would require about two years to complete. He said that the interstate system will be completed within five years and this perimeter route will be necessary to prevent strangulation of the city.

The commission unanimously recommend that a plan drawn up by the Atlanta-based firm of Miller, Stevenson, Baker and Steinichen Inc. be adopted by the city and county governments.

Construction Set Here on Cable Television — Construction will begin in early February on a cable television system for LaGrange.

Frank E. Hurst, president of Community Telecable of Georgia, which will operate the system, said today that cable TV service to the public here is expected to begin in April. A downtown office for the company will be opened next month at 106 Main St.

Hurst said that viewers will receive the five stations in Atlanta and Columbus, plus signals from Birmingham, Montgomery and the Alabama and Georgia educational networks. A new Atlanta station, WJRS-TV, will be available, as well as one continuous weather channel. A 12th channel will be reserved for local programs and films.

Winter Games Queen — Sandy Hammett, sponsored by the Loyal Order of the Moose, was crowned 1966 Winter Games Queen Saturday night.

Mary Jo Mansour, sponsored by the Women of the Moose, was first runner-up, and Sue Boyd, sponsored by the Jaycees, was second runner-up.

Porter Smith Receives Silver Beaver Award — Porter Smith of LaGrange received the coveted Silver Beaver Award of Scouting at the annual Chattahoochee Council Boy Scout Recognition Banquet held in the ballroom of Auburn University.

More than 400 persons from the 14-county, two state Chattahoochee Council area attended the yearly event at which council officers for 1966 were also installed.

The Silver Beaver Award is the highest scouting award that can be bestowed at council level. It is presented to a maximum of five deserving individuals each year. Also receiving the award this year were James Lilly of Columbus, Matthew Carden of Phenix City, Maj. Lemuel Thomas of Fort Benning and Elmo Renoll of Auburn.