By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

Virginia Poff, or Ginny as she is known to her friends, recently turned 90 and couldn’t help but reminisce about how Oxford used to be.

“Oxford was once a very busy place,” Poff remembered. “There were stores everywhere, there were restaurants, and even bus service.”

Some people slow down before they reach their 90th year, but Ginny still comes to Oxford Borough Council meetings and she is still involved with the Redmen’s Club. She was also very involved with Union Fire Company for many years. She still is a contributing member of the community and somewhat of a local historian. Anything you want to know about the town’s history, chances are she can answer most questions. There’s certainly nothing wrong with her memory, and she can still recite what stores were in town when she was growing up.

“Down Market Street was Newberry’s, Silversteins, Collins and the fire company was once there. On Third [Street] you had the 5 & 10, the A &P, banks on two corners, plus Sophers, Jay Dees, Charles Shoe Stores, a hardware store, Western Auto.”

She could continue naming stores in Oxford’s downtown. Oxford was certainly bustling when she was born on October 28, 1935.

There were no malls then or a medical center. Doctors and dentists were on Locust Street. What some may find hard to believe is that there was a bus service then, which picked people up in a building where Neff Physical Therapy is now located. Many people took the bus to work back then.

Poff and her parents moved around in Oxford. At one time, she lived on Mt. Pleasant Avenue, on Second Street and then of Fifth Street.

Poff attended Goldey-Beacom and when she graduated from there she worked for an insurance company in Wilmington. Like many other Oxfordians, she took the bus to and from college and work.

From 1939 to 1945, World War II was going on and Oxford was open all night. The war brought a mix of people to the town. Service members worked at the Bainbridge Naval Training Center and the Aberdeen Proving Ground, for Army Ordinance Testing. The military members came to town when they could. Defense Women, those women who worked in defense plants making munitions as part of the war effort, also came from all over the country. It was an interesting mix with the large farming population in and around Oxford at that time.

Poff was four years old when World War II started and almost a teenager when it ended. She has seen many changes in the town in the decades since.

Poff was a babysitter for many years, and still hears from some of the children that she watched. Many teachers in the Oxford Area School District took their children to her.

“I think the by-pass hurt the town some,” Poff said. “Oxford is going in a new direction now.”

She is concerned about the traffic issues. 

“I never thought we would have so much traffic coming through town,” she said.

Poff believes it is a struggle for older people living in town.

“Taxes are going up for people on fixed incomes. That’s one of the reasons I attend borough council meetings,” she explained. “I like to see where our tax dollars go.”

Now at 90, she doesn’t have any regrets.

“I’ve done all the things on my bucket list,” she said. “I’ve even been to the Bahamas a couple of times.”

She hopes to make it to the next Redmen’s Convention in Altoona.

Ninety years of activity may have slowed her down a little, but she has not stopped—and she has no plans to do so.

She enjoyed the birthday party her daughter had for her and said, “I was just sorry I didn’t get around to talk with everyone at the party.”

If she can find a ride, she plans to continue to come to borough council meetings. Age won’t stop her.

“I’m still a part of the community,” she said. “Ninety is just a number!”