The big news on the front page of the March 11, 1971, Orange County Review was the startling increase in the budget for the local social services office. A bar chart on the front page illustrated the original, revised and requested budgets from 1970-71 and 1971-72. The board of supervisors had adopted a 1970-71 budget of $312,308, but the proposed budget for 1971-72 totaled $570,120—an 82.6% increase. Social services director Ruth Potts had appeared before the board previously to warn them of the pending budget increase. Inside this week’s issue, we find Orange County High School has elected new SCA officers (Tony Garland as president, Mary Terrell as vice president, Mary Leslie Shackelford as secretary and Sharon Hubbard as treasurer). The Orange Volunteer Fire Company has purchased a new quick-response four-wheel drive “brush” truck that will be outfitted with a 230-gallon water tank. The Madison Theater in Orange is a James Bond double-feature—“Thunderball” and “You Only Live Twice.” The Southern Railway took out an advocacy ad for “ASTRO,” (America’s Sound Transportation Review Organization) a railroad-sponsored initiative that calls for equal treatment of all forms of transportation. The ad claims railroads are struggling nationwide because of overregulation while government has helped airlines and other travel modes. According to local census figures reported in this week’s issue, the county’s official population was up 6.9% to 13,792 since 1960. Virginia’s population increased 17.2% in the last decade. The 1970 census reported 4,904 housing units in Orange County, though nearly 1,000 of them lacked some or all plumbing. The median value of owner-occupied houses in the county was $12,300, compared to $7,700 10 years earlier. The median rent paid by tenants was $55 per month. This month’s photo shows the Orange County Airport in an aerial photo, noting the new 10-unit hangar and that this photo will appear in the March 1971 issue of Virginia Aviation. The photo will support a story about “the unique facilities available at the Orange County Airport and about the joint effort that made those facilities possible. One element that’s becoming increasingly popular with local citizens and transient aviators alike is the Airport Restaurant in the administration building (at left). Construction of the building was financed by contributions from the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, Town of Orange and other interested organizations and individuals,” the paper reported.
It happened, but not recently: March 11, 1971
