Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The following stories appeared in the Greenville Advocate during this week in 1946. Among the top local developments were the founding of a new civic organization, a political rally featuring a popular gubernatorial candidate and an innovative new use for rural power lines. 

Greenville organizes Kiwanis Club

A Kiwanis Club was officially organized in Greenville, with L. C. Guthrie serving as chairman and D. W. Campbell as secretary-treasurer. A check had been mailed to Kiwanis International and a Charter Night was being planned, during which the district governor would formally present the charter. The club, which met weekly at the Community House on Tuesdays at 12:15 p.m., counted 35 charter members. 

The creation of a local Kiwanis Club marked the third active service club in Greenville, joining the Lions and Rotary clubs. Interestingly, Greenville had hosted a Kiwanis chapter nearly 25 years earlier, but it had become inactive after only a few years.

“Big” Jim Folsom campaigns in Greenville

James E. “Big Jim” Folsom, a leading candidate for Alabama governor, was scheduled to speak at the Butler County courthouse at 8 p.m. Folsom, who had placed second in the county behind local candidate Joe Poole, led the primary vote in 30 other Alabama counties. His speech was expected to draw one of the largest political crowds Greenville had ever seen. Folsom’s hillbilly band, The Strawberry Pickers, was set to entertain before the candidate took the stage.

Doctor Stabler speaks at high school commencement 

Dr. Carey V. Stabler, a distinguished alumnus of Greenville High School, was to deliver the commencement address during the school’s graduation ceremonies at 8:30 p.m. in the stadium. The program included a processional, an invocation by Dr. John W. Frazer and student speeches by Salutatorian Era Mae Harrison and Valedictorian Charles Stringfellow. Principal Thomas B. Culton and Superintendent A. A. Miller handled announcements and diploma presentations. Dr. Stabler, who had earned degrees from the University of Alabama and Duke University, was noted for his academic and athletic achievements, as well as his recent work in education and public health history.

 

Rural telephone service routed through power lines 

A new communications breakthrough was being tested in rural areas of Alabama and Arkansas, allowing telephone service to be routed through existing rural electric power lines. The system used a radio frequency carrier wave and specialized equipment to transmit voice signals without interfering with power current. Developed through collaboration between Bell Laboratories and the Rural Electrification Administration, the technology promised to connect millions of rural homes previously out of reach of traditional telephone lines. Farmers along electrified routes were expected to be among the first beneficiaries of this innovation.