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ALL WORK AND no play makes things dull, but the Sylvania plant had a remedy: softball.
Each shift and department had its own team. Pictured above are members of the 1950 day-shift maintenance crew. They played nights under the lights in Maury stadium. The company provided their black and white jerseys, and they provided their own black and white seersucker trousers worn at games.
William W. Hall, in the middle of the first row, submitted the photo. He played outfield. As best he and other co-workers can remember, teammates were: (left to right, standing), Justin Fulford, who worked in sheet metal; Les Fleming, pipe fitter; Warwick Daniels, instrument mechanic and union business agent; Clifton Jones, millwright, then superintendent of maintenance; Allen 'Sug' (pronounced like the first syllable of 'sugar') Grimes; and Charles Wingard, lead burner and maintenance foreman.
Kneeling, left to right: Lee Alsop; Eddie Kreiger, pipe fitter; Bill Hall, millwright; Nelson 'Skeeter' Purks, sheet metal; and Franklin Albert Futrell, millwright.
The photo was taken shortly before Hall, a World War II veteran, was recalled for active duty in Korea. Upon his return, he worked at the plant until its closing.
The plant, the Sylvania Division of the American Viscose Corp., was the region's primary employer for nearly 50 years. From its site off State Route 2 across from the Fredericksburg fairgrounds, it produced cellophane used for packaging food and tobacco products.
According to a 1949 newspaper account, the plant produced "enough cellophane in a year to make a five-foot wide strip that would reach to the moon."
Longtime residents recall the unsavory odor that emanated from the plant for miles around, especially on humid, overcast days. It smelled like rotten eggs, but represented the "bread and butter" of the region.
In 1963, the plant became a division of the FMC Corp. A total of 1,100 people were employed there when the plant (right) closed in 1978. With the increasing use and demand for plastic film in packaging, the market for cellophane had eroded to the point that made it unfeasible to continue operation.
Virginia Del. Lewis P. Fickett Jr. called the closing "a major disaster for Fredericksburg."
Some employees retired early, some transferred to FMC plants elsewhere, and some found new jobs. Hall went on to work at Paramount's Kings Dominion amusement park, maintaining the Rebel Yell roller coaster and steam train. Now retired, he lives in the Spotswood Estates neighborhood of Spotsylvania County. Most of the men on the softball team live in the area.
The plant was sold and is now the Bowman Center Industrial Park, housing businesses including the Blue & Gray Brewing Co.
--Jennifer Strobel
