Saturday, April 12, 2014

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 4/13/1964 to 4/19/1964

Chieftanacts took place on April 17th and 18th at the West Rome High School Auditorium. The program, which was sponsored by the Chieftains Club, was directed by Clarda Ellison; members of the National Honor Society served as ushers.

The rains continued into mid-April, which made for a very soggy West Rome. By April 13th, Rome had received 7.23" of rain (normal was 4.59") and in March '64, Rome received 13.46" of rain, which was eight inches above normal.

The administration of the final round of polio oral vaccinations took place at West Rome High School and other area schools on Sunday, April 19th; volunteers from the Rome/Floyd County Medical Society estimated that 50,000 people received the three-dose sugar-cube oral vaccination.

West Rome's track team came in second in a three-way track meet on April 15th, racking up 59 points to 97 for Darlington and 10 for Rockmart. The track team only managed fourth place in the Lafayette Invitational Track Meet on Friday, April 18th, which was won by our arch-rival East Rome.

The week started off badly for West Rome's baseball team as they fell to Carrollton 5-0 on April 15th, managing just one hit, a single by Ronnie Parker; the next day, they lost 6-5 to Dalton. The situation improved on Friday, April 17th, as the Chiefs won 5-0 against Chattooga, led by Jimmy Brewer's superb pitching. On Saturday, they beat Berry 10-3; Gerry Law hit two homerooms, while Jimmy Brewer had three hits, including one home run.

Jeanne Maxwell was elected second vice president of the Northwest District Y Clubs for the 1964-1965 School Year, while Eighth Grade Try-Hi-Y President Lee Davenport was presented with the District World Service Trophy for the most outstanding project during the 1963-64 school year.

Georgia Power was still in the appliance business in 1964, and they were running oodles of spring specials, including a 13 cubic foot refrigerator/freezer for $249, a 10,000 BTU Westinghouse window air conditioner for $149.00, and a Westinghouse washer-dryer combo for $327.88.

Redford's brought back their Friday special, a chicken breast with lima beans, fresh corn, cole slaw, hot rolls, butter, and tea for 50¢.  Alas, this was offered at the Broad Street store only; as West Romans undoubtedly remember, there was no restaurant counter at the West End Redford's.

Piggly Wiggly had Sealtest Ice Milk for 19¢ a galloon, whole fryers for 23¢ a pound, and Swift's Premium olive loaf or liver loaf for 19¢ per 8-ounce package. A& P had sirloin steak for 85¢ a pound, Bisquick for 43¢ a box, and jumbo cantaloupes for 39¢ each. Kroger had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, Kroger mayonnaise for 39¢ a quart, and lettuce for 15¢ a head. Big Apple had ground beef for 37¢ a pound, Heinz ketchup for 19¢ a bottle, and four pounds of pure lard for 39¢ (mmm... lard...). Couch's had spare ribs for 39¢ a pound, 9 ounces of Chef's frozen french fries for 9¢ (a penny an ounce!), and Jay Bird vienna sausages for 9¢ a can.

The first half of week offered cinemagoers two choices: Walt Disney's A Tiger Walks at the DeSoto or Man in the Middle (with Robert Mitchum & Frances Nuyen) at the First Avenue. For the last half of the week, we all learned how to stop worrying and love the bomb as Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (with Peter Sellers & George C. Scott) came to the DeSoto, while Red River (with John Wayne & Walter Brennan) played at the First Avenue. In a truly odd move, however, the DeSoto also scheduled one showing a day of The Beatles Come to Town, a documentary, which aired in the early evening between showings of Dr. Strangelove. Not sure I see the overlap between audiences for this one...

The Beatles had only four songs in the Top Ten this week in 1964 (down from last week's record-setting five songs in the top ten): "Can't Buy Me Love" (#1), "Twist and Shout" (#2); "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" (#5), and "She Loves You" (#8). Other top ten songs for the week included "Suspicion" by Terry Stafford (#3); "Hello Dolly!" by Luois Armstrong (#4); "Shoop Shoop Song" by Betty Everett (#6); "Glad All Over" by the Dave clark Five (#7); "Don't Let the Rain Come Down (The Crooked Little Man)" by the Serendipity Singers (#9); and "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan & Dean (#10).

Comic book fans like me thrilled to the first meeting of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men in Fantastic Four #28, courtesy of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

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