Saturday, January 31, 2015

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 2/1/1965 to 2/7/1965

Winter just wouldn't let go of Rome: once again, snow and ice hit the area on February 1st and 2nd. By Tuesday morning, the temperature had fallen to 10 degrees. Temperatures remained well below normal through the end of the week.

Rehearsals began for the 1965 ChieftainActs this week; the event was scheduled for March 12th and 13th. The theme of this year's show, which was produced by Hoyt Blaylock with assistance from Bob McEwan and Miss Kitty Alford, was "ChieftainActs Memoirs."

While both West Rome and East Rome were eliminated from the Region 3-AA title race by this time in 1965, that didn't stop them from playing their hearts out when the cross-town rivals faced each other on February 5th. West Rome's boys won 43-39 in the hard-fought game, while the girls won 27-14 to complete the Friday night sweep. The next night, the Chieftains added another victory to their record when they defeated Cass 67-54, while the girls team won 34-24.

A special assembly program was held on February 4th to recognize West Rome's wrestlers for their Northwest Georgia wrestling championship win. After the presentation, an anti-dropout film called "The Hurrying Kind" was shown to the assembled student body.

Nothing says love like a Krystal hamburger, apparently: Krystal offered a Valentine's Day Special beginning on February 5th, offering 5 Krystal hamburgers for a quarter. 

The much-discussed transfer of Rome's airline service from Eastern Airlines to Southern Airways was put on hold again, as Southern expressed some concerns about the profitability of the routes. The plans called for two flights a day from Rome to Atlanta and two flights a day from Atlanta back to Rome. There was even talk about implementing Rome flights to Memphis and New Orleans--plans that never came to pass, unfortunately. Could you image actually having a useful regional passenger airport in Rome?...

The Rome Breakfast Optimist Club presented West Rome principal Dick McPhee with a $100 check to help fund his "Youth Wants to Know" program in the Rome city Schools. The program was designed "to answer questions on courting, dating, marriage, alcoholism, smoking, integrity, and honesty." Seven ministers and four doctors had agreed to donate their time to the program.

Keeping 'em in stitches: The Chattanooga Sewing Center opened at 516 Shorter Avenue this week in 1965 (apparently geographical accuracy wasn't involved in the naming process). Specials involved a full-sized Singer slant-needle automatic sewing machine for $62 and portables for as low as $19.99.

Piggly Wiggly had Swift's bacon for 39¢ a pound, collards for 19¢ a bunch, and iceberg lettuce for 15¢ a pound. Kroger had smoked hams for 39¢ a  pound, red delicious apples for a nickel each, and a case of Coca Cola or Tab for 99¢ plus deposit. A&P had cubed steak for 79¢ a pound, Ann Page tomato soup for a dime a can, and oranges for 4¢ each. Big Apple had beef liver for 19¢ a pound, Irvindale ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon, and ten pounds of White Lily Flour for 99¢. Couch's had stew beef for 25¢ a pound, Maxwell House instant coffee for $1.49 a jar, and 5 pounds of grapefruit for 39¢.

The cinematic week began with The Pleasure Seekers at the DeSoto and The Outrage (with Paul Newman & Laurence Harvey) at the First Avenue--not exactly the sort of films that anyone was rushing to see.  The midweek switch out brought Goodbye Charlie (with Tony Curtis & Debbie Reynolds) to the DeSoto, while The Outrage was held over at the First Avenue. Goodbye Charlie also graced the West Rome Drive-In screen over the weekend (I had no idea that Tony Curtis was considered such a box office draw!).

The Righteous Brothers took the number one slot this week in 1965 with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling." Other top ten hits included "Downtown by Petula Clark (#2); "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis & the Playboys (#3); "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis (#4); "My Girl" by the Temptations (#5); "Hold What You've Got" by Joe Tex (#6); "All Day and All of the Night" by the Kinks (#7); "Shake" by Sam Cooke (#8); "The Jolly Green Giant" by the Kingsmen (#9); and "I Go to Pieces" by Peter & Gordon (#10).

And this was the week that Peter Jennings began his run as anchor of the ABC Nightly News.

Marvel released one of my all-time favorite single-issue comic book stories this week in 1965: Daredevil #7, featuring Daredevil versus the Sub-Mariner as presented by Stan Lee and Wally Wood. Wood's time at Marvel was far too brief, but it gave us one of the best "hopelessly outclassed hero won't give up" comic book stories ever told.

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