Two audio files (the only known extant recording) of Glenn Miller’s March 13, 1942 radio show where he dedicated his “A String of Pearls” to the “…gals at Madison College down in the Shenandoah Valley…”. The first recording is the dedication. The second is a war bond encouragement
acquired from Dennis M. Spragg, Senior Consultant for the Glenn Miller Archive in the University of Colorado at Boulder
Related Material:
The Fall 2003 issue of “Montpelier” magazine which mentions the 1942 dedication on page 36.
James Madison University. (2003). Montpelier Magazine, Volume 26 (Issue 4).
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/montpelier-2000s/15
The 1942 Schoolma’am, the college yearbook, pages 80-81 
The Schoolma’am, 1942. Harrisonburg (Va.): Madison College
March 13, 1942 Volume 20 Issue 17 of the Breeze, the school newspaper
From Charley S., 84 years old. Currently a resident of Sunnyside Retirement Community, Harrisonburg, Virginia
James was a short order restaurant…sandwiches, cokes, shakes, old-fashioned sodas, sundaes, etc. Mainly in existence in the 1940s.
It was in downtown Harrisonburg on the east side of Main Street between Newman Avenue and Water Street, one-and-a-half blocks south of the court house. Address: 120 South Main Street (Currently Earth & Tea Café). Notably in those days, it was directly across the street from the then-existing Mick or Mack…the main grocery store in town at that time.
Before James came into existence, this storefront had the name of Hershey’s, which I vaguely remember. I don’t know the year when James opened…it was in existence during my high school years, 1945 to 1949. We referred to the place as James’…in the possessive sense…James was the last name of the proprietor.
The place was the main downtown hangout for our high school crowd. In particular, as was the custom of the day, we would go downtown on Monday evenings to take in a movie, usually at the Virginia Theater (unfortunately, now razed), then afterwards go hang out at James’ for shakes, etc.
As you came in James’ front door, a counter with the cash register was located to the left. There were glass display counters in this part of the store. I don’t remember much about what was for sale in these counters…mostly uninteresting stuff to high school students. I do remember pipes for smoking being there. The rear two-thirds of the place consisted of about 10 wooden dining booths. The surfaces of these booths were completely defaced with scratched-in names, initials, etc. This activity did not seem to bother Mr. James.
Mr. James was most tolerant of us. As one can imagine, we were sometimes loud and rowdy. He was not particularly friendly, being of a somewhat dour demeanor…very seldom smiled or spoke to us. One unusual incident for me personally was at a particular time when he gave me too much change. When I came back and corrected the situation, he smiled and thanked me. After that, he smiled and spoke to me every time I came into the place.
Some years after I left town in 1949, James’ closed. Later, the place opened under new management with the same sort of operation with the name of Hershey’s…as it had been known prior to the James years.
During the James years, there was a constant flow of Madison girls walking back and forth between the downtown and Madison College. I enjoyed the parade.