The Winchester Bi-Centennial (200 years) will be Aug. 28, 29 and 30, 2015. The Committee has been planning several events including the opening ceremonies at 6 p.m. with local and state political representatives. In addition to the community yard sale, 5-K Run, Caramel Queen Contest, inflatables and pedal tractor pull and lots of other activities, we have scheduled a special presentation of past queens, re-enactments from Winchester’s past, Morgan’s Raiders, historical home and cemetery tours. We will have the car show and new this year will be the antique tractor show and corn shucker presentation. We will begin a weekly profile of different activities. If you are interested in helping with any of the events, please let me know.

We have a few more bi-centennial T-shirts and if you would like to order one let us know. They are $15 each.

Prayers and sympathy are extended to the family of Charles “Bill” Miller, 86, who passed away Friday at the Hospice of Hope Inpatient Center at Adams County Regional Medical Center. He is survived by his wife Geneva, son Mickey and Debbie and daughter Kim and Jerome Miller-Wenning.

We need healing prayers this week for Betty Crank, Diane Call, Dorothy Walls and Sheila Burgess.

The Family Dollar Store opened on Thursday, June 4. The Grand Opening will be on Saturday, June 13, but you can begin shopping anytime. On Saturday there will be refreshments and gift cards awarded to the first 50 customers. Also, check out the Bargain Barn. He opens at noon and has all new merchandise. Karin’s Korner Kraft Shop is next door to the Bargain Barn and if you like wood crafts check out her shop also. It’s great to have new businesses in town where we can shop.

Happy belated birthday to Gordon Rider whose family had a surprise birthday dinner for him and all the congregation of the Methodist Church last Sunday after morning services. His daughters were here from out of town and and they brought all the food and had decorated cup cakes with candles. What a great way to celebrate a birthday!

Winchester’s Past (Florence): By 1840 the census showed 201 people living in Winchester and there were 65 buildings. The streets were all unpaved and poorly drained. They were dirt roads and during the summer and dry weather there were clouds of dust. In the winter or during wet weather they were a sea of mud. Traffic from wagons and carriages made deep ruts and they often became mired in the mud and had to be pulled out. Some roads had logs laid crosswise to the road and then covered with dirt. They were called corduroy roads. Water was gotten from the many springs in the area but there were no provisions for sanitation. The period between 1840 and 1850 saw the biggest growth in population. It more than doubled from 201 to 458 in 1850.

There were only 14 new buildings but many of the log buildings were replaced with frame and brick ones. There were five merchants and one drugstore listed in the census. There were three doctors, one dentist, one lawyer, one inn keeper, two teachers and three ministers in addition to all of the carpenters, tailors, blacksmiths and other craftsmen needed to provide for the citizens.