S E R V I N G T H E L I B E R T Y , S T A L E Y , J U L I A N , C L I M A X , S N O W C A M P, R A M S E U R , F R A N K L I N V I L L E A R E A
The Liberty Leader
Free Community Paper By The Community And For The Community
Free Monthly Newspaper Calendar Of Events May ! 10 Spring Fling! 10 Golf Tournament! 10 Rodeo! 13 RTMC Event! 14 History Slides! 15 Bingo! 15 Block Party! 16 Documentary Movie! 16 Orchard Opens! 16 Bingo /Fund Raiser! 17 Western Day! 17 Hats Off Day! 17 BBQ Dinner! 17 Museum Reopens! 17 Spring Celebration! 17 Summer Concert! 18 Memorial Service! 21 Senior Expo! 22/23/24 Lil John's! 24 Auction! 31 Benefit! 31 Free Clothing! 31 Auction! June! 3 Auction! 7 Aution! 8 Concert! 14 Summer Concert! 19 Block Party! 21 Walking Tour! 21 A Day Of Fun! 22-26 Tent Meeting! July ! 3 Auction! 12 Liberty ! Celebration! Every Saturday ! Liberty Soup Kitchen! Visit Website For Online
Calendar Of Events
www.libertynewspaper.org
www.celebrateliberty.org
May
2014
Randolph Telephone! Celebrates 60 Years! This year marks the 60th anniversary for Randolph Telephone Membership Corporation. In the early 1950’s it became evident that there was a need for telephone service in the rural communities of central North Carolina. Larger telephone companies ignored the region—just because they thought the rural communities didn’t have enough population to make the investment worthwhile. So a handful of concerned and dedicated people living in the sparsely populated areas of Randolph, Chatham and Moore Counties banded together for a common dream—a hope that one day their area would have the same reliable communications as the larger cities. They gathered funds, signed petitions, and got membership enrollments from their friends and family. They put in countless hours and faced many setbacks. But the fruits of their labor were seen when the Secretary of the State of North Carolina granted a Certificate of Incorporation on May 13, 1954 through the North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority. It was on that day that a new force in rural telecommunications emerged. Its name was Randolph Telephone Membership Corporation. In May of 1956, Randolph Telephone Membership Corporation opened its doors for business in a three-room block building, heated by an oil stove, on the corner of Hwy 64 and 42 in Asheboro with only a manager and one employee as its staff. William H. Trogdon was named the first General Manager and Peggy C. Kivett was the Secretary-Bookkeeper. It was from that small office building where Randolph Telephone began to take shape. !
!
Volume 11 * Issue 5 On June 1, 1957, when Alvin Shaw, the cooperative’s first vice president stood before a large assemblage in the Grange Hall in Farmer placed a long-distance call to Raleigh, where the state REA chairman waited for the first telephone call in the history of Randolph Telephone Membership Corporation to go through! From that moment, everything started to fall into place. In that same year, RTMC cut over its first exchange, called the “Martha Exchange” in Farmer. The exchange had 97 telephones. All of the wires were above ground and eight people shared a party line. !
!
On January 1, 1958, the Bennett exchange was added along with the Coleridge exchange in November of 1963. In 1964 an Amendment was approved from the State to permit RTMC to extend service to Davidson and Montgomery counties and in 1966 the High Falls and Badin Lake exchanges came into existence with Pisgah following in 1973 and Jackson Creek in 1976. As the company continued to grow, so did their staff and they moved into a larger building in 1979 on Old Cox Road. !
!
In 1985, the Farmer and Badin Lake exchanges became the first exchanges to receive digital switching. This was a momentous occasion and from there, began the necessary first step toward building a network of fiber-optic cable. By 1990 the Fiber-optics was cutover from RTMC exchanges to Coleridge, creating the first link in a fiber network, or “fiber ring.” On September 26, 1994, Randolph Telephone Membership Corp acquired Randolph Telephone Company, an independent commercial service provider based in Liberty.! Story Continued On Page 22!
Bethany United Methodist Church 6151 Bethany Way (Off Troy Estate Rd) Liberty
Memorial Service May 18th Church Service 11am Covered Dish Dinner Afterwards Music by Directors Trio, Elon, NC
!
!
Cash Prize For The Oldest Person In Attendance
Next Issue Liberty June 4 Deadline May 31
libertynewspaper.org Office 336-795-0054 Mobile 336-404-9791 Email libertynewspaper@aol.com The Liberty Leader Newspaper
" 1
April 2014 Issue