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Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
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It's beginning to feel a lot like... the end of summer vacation By Mike Watson Mixed feelings of exhilaration and impending doom still grip me at this time of year. Excitement about the commencement of a new school year was and is often overshadowed by the thought of rising daily before sunup to prepare for a day in the classroom. That was true in the fall of 1965 when I started school and continued through the beginning of school year 2009-2010, my last year in the classroom! With a decade and a half outside the education field, I still feel the anticipation this time of year; and I still wake up early in mid-winter to check school closings and delays! There was a time when schools opened even earlier in the summer, as some readers may remember. For instance, in 1942, the first full year that the United States was involved in World War II, a hard year for so many families, school started in late June. The superintendent of schools was Mr. C.W. Marshall, who announced in early June that the opening day for teachers would be Saturday, June 27, instead of July 6, as previously reported. The school term would extend through January 1, 1943. Students were to report for the first day of classes on Monday, June 29. Mr. Marshall encouraged every parent to make certain their students attended the first day of class, as textbooks would be distributed, and since there was a new adoption in progress, students in each class needed the same book. If a student entered later, the book needed for some classes might no longer be available and the new adoption would have to be issued, thus, making it more difficult for student and teacher. Mr. W.H. Owens, Columbia High School's band director and head of the Commercial Department, resigned his position in June 1942, prior to the start of school, in order to accept a position in the Danville High School, Boyle County. Mr. Owens had been with the local schools for three years and was credited with building up the band program at Columbia High. Mrs. Mary Smythe Biggs is one of the best-known educators in the history of Adair County. She was born in Columbia on 12 March 1854, when the little village boasted a mere six hundred residents. Her father, Henry N. Smythe, kept the toll gate at Columbia on the Campbellsville turnpike, near Russell Creek, for forty-seven years, ending only with his death in 1911. Mrs. Biggs was interviewed in 1950, shortly before her death, and spoke of her early life in Columbia. She told of the visit of Jane Clemens to relatives in Columbia and the surrounding area. Mrs. Clemens, who had married John Marshall Clemens in Adair in 1823, was the mother of renowned author and orator Samuel L. Clemens. Residents were proud, even at that early date, to have such a distinguished visitor in their midst. Mrs. Biggs attended the Columbia Christian College, which had classes for elementary, secondary, and college students. Discipline was strict. No student was allowed to attend a "theater, dance or circus." At eighteen, in 1881, the then Miss Smythe was hired to teach at White's district school, near the Russell County line, nearly twenty miles from home. She is best remembered for the way she made school a truly pleasant experience for her students. On Friday afternoons, programs were given that included speeches, spelling bees, singing, marching, and local talent. She bought an organ early in her career so that the drills could be done properly. By 1889 she was back in Columbia and principal of the Male and Female High School. By that time she was married to John J. Biggs, a government revenue officer at Loretta, KY. During much of her career, Mrs. Biggs taught in the private schools of Marion and Taylor Counties. In 1915 she received a Kentucky Life Certificate and in a short time began teaching at the Columbia Grade School. She taught there for sixteen years. She also taught the first summer school in Adair County, sponsored by the Department of Education of the Western State Teachers' College, in 1921. The school was conducted at Lindsey Wilson Training School and was supervised by a representative from Bowling Green. Mrs. Biggs retired in 1942, but taught nursery, adult and National Youth Administration classes after that time. She lived out her life doing what she loved: teaching the children of tomorrow. She died 4 January 1951 and was interred in the Columbia City Cemetery alongside her husband. Miss Laura Smythe, who was a long-time teacher in Adair County, and elsewhere, died at the age of 70 in June 1942. She was a sister of Mrs. Mary Smythe Biggs and Miss Sallie Smythe. This story was posted on 2025-08-13 14:58:09
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More articles from topic Mike Watson - History:
Doors: Mr. Ben White, and Roley-Casey Creek Program a success Lanterns and Tombstones S4E3 was a success Eighty-one years ago: D-Day, June 6, 1944 The Solomon and Thompson J. Baker Rifle program Hotel on Columbia Public Square has several owners Christmas Happenings Sixty-six Years Ago, 1958 Book Fair one of most successful ever History: Presidential Electors, Convention Delegates History: Early Election Precincts in Adair County History Monday: 13th Kentucky Cavalry View even more articles in topic Mike Watson - History |
 
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