Personals
Dec. 5—Miss Donna Bell, student at Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach, spent the holidays with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. K. Bell, Tommy and Kenneth.
Miss Jean Campbell, student at Florida State University, was home for the Thanksgiving holidays with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Campbell, and girls.
Dick Roe, student at Abraham Baldwin College in Tifton, Ga., spent the holidays with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Roe, Jr., and family.
Misses Cheryl and Linda Sasser, students at Florida State University, were home over the holidays with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Sasser, and Kenneth.
Mike Terrell, a junior at Florida State University, was home with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dunning Terrell and Judy over the holidays.
Wayne Warren, a student at the University of Florida, spent the holidays with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Warren, Jr.

Wildcats
The Hardee Wildcats (7-3) battled early season injuries and sickness to bounce back with six straight victories, including last Wednesday's 20-13 win over the Arcadia Bulldogs to earn a berth in the First Annual DeLand Christmas Bowl.
A trio of runners, senior Ronnie Moye and juniors Tom Pace and John Polk, have sparked the ground attack for the 'Cats this season. Pace has 7.3 yards per carry and 17 touchdowns while Polk has 4.5 yards per carry and 4 touchdowns.
Heading up the defense is senior guard and linebacker Gary Bryan. Several colleges have been looking at him.

Wildcats
Dec. 12—Jet Tillis and Tom Pace were selected as the outstanding lineman and back, respectively, in Saturday's first annual Christmas Bowl in DeLand. The Wildcats whipped Tavares 33-19 as Pace scored four touchdowns and passed for another and Tillis led a stout defense.
Five members of the Hardee Wildcats' football team were named to the All-Southwest Florida Conference football squad. They are: junior halfback Tom Pace, senior guard Gary Bryan, senior offensive tackle Joe Davis, senior offensive back Jim Belflower, senior defensive tackle Jet Tillis.

Medal For Vietnam Duty
Staff Sgt. Joseph A. Armour, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Cartwright of Zolfo Springs, was recently awarded the bronze star for meritorious service against the enemy in Vietnam. He served in Vietnam from November, 1966 to June 1968.

Vietnam Fatality
Dec. 19—Specialist/4 Robert G. Pendley, 24, was killed by gunfire in hostile action against the enemy December 11. He is Hardee County's eighth fatality of the war. Pendley, a member of the Army Infantry, had joined the service on January 10, 1968 and had been in Vietnam since May.
A 1963 graduate of Fort Meade High School, Pendley had lived in Wauchula from 1963 until he joined the service. While here, he had worked for the City of Wauchula and later for Mobil Chemical Company in Fort Meade.
He is survived by two children and his mother, Mrs. Louise Pendley, and brother Richard Pendley, both of Fort Meade. His children live with their mother, Mrs. Robert Daniel Staton, of Wauchula. They were divorced last year.
Funeral services will be at 2 P.M. Friday at the First Baptist Church in Fort Meade. Burial will be in Gandy Cemetery in Connersville, east of Bartow.
Seven other Hardee County residents have been killed in the Vietnam War: Raymond L. Boatwright, Varl E. Fulford, Terrel Elbert Carter, Charles C. Dickey Jr., Charles Edward Long, Johnny Means, and Frederick D. Rickels.

Cold Snap
Dec. 19—Damaging citrus and yard plants, a bitter cold wave, with temperatures plunging to the low 20s, early this week shook Hardee County.
Hardee County Agent Jack Hayman said that the lowest official temperature recording was 22 degrees at 5:30 a.m. Monday in Fort Green while Monday night's lows ranged from 24 in Bowling Green to 29.5 at Ona.

Hospital Contract
The Hardee Hospital Board last week approved a contract for construction of the new $1.2 million public hospital here. The contractors, Whitmire and Allen, Inc. of Lake Wales, signed the contract Friday for construction of the building at a cost of $917,577.
The final financial statement shows that the hospital board will have a maximum of $1,260,992.58 available to build and equip the hospital.

B. F. Lafon
B. F. Lafon, 81, a native of Alabama and a resident of Bowling Green since 1920, died December 10 in a Wauchula hospital.
Survivors include two sons, I. J. Lafon of San Diego, and Philip Lafon of Bowling Green; 3 daughters, Mrs. Harold B. Sellers of Bowling Green, Mrs. Thomas Daniel of Orlando, and Mrs. Estelle Robinson of Oneonta, Ala.; 3 brothers, Norton Lafon and Clarence Lafon of Oneota, Ala., and Claude Lafon of Bowling Green.

Personals
Kathleen and Barbara Burton, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Burton of Wauchula, expect to arrive today for the Christmas holidays. They are students at Stuart Hall in Staunton. Va.

Military Items
Dec. 26—Captain Artis B. Coker, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Coker, 207 S. Ninth Ave., Wauchula, has been graduated from the Air University's Squadron Officer School at Maxwell AFB, Ala. The captain, a 1958 graduate of Hardee High School, received his B.S.A. degree in 1963 from the University of Florida. He was commissioned in 1964 upon completion of Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Tex.
Ronnie Pittman is scheduled to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. June 4, 1969. The 1965 Hardee High graduate has been visiting his family this week and will leave here Sunday.

As “History: Hardee County In December 1968,” this was published in The Herald-Advocate, 3A, January 3, 2008.