Saturday, April 11, 2015

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 4/12/1965 to 4/18/1965

The predawn hours of April 12th saw a heavy thunderstorm move through Rome and Floyd County, but there was no damage and only a few brief power outages. The storm spawned a tornado in Bartow County, though, with some damage reported near White, Georgia.

Bids for the new Carnegie Tri-County Regional Library came in this week in 1965, and the lowest bid was $17,000+ (almost 13%) above the original estimates. Mrs. Emily Payne, Tri-County Regional Library director, said that she would meet with the state to determine if any additional state and/or federal funds might be available to meet the budget shortfall. She assured Romans that the new, expanded library would be built, however.

West Rome's baseball team fell to Model in a 5-2 game on April 12th. However, the Chiefs turned things around when they beat Carrollton 13-1 on April 13th, but any dreams they had of a renewed winning streak came to an end a day later when they fell to Chattooga County in a 3-0 game.

West Rome's track team won the LaFayette Invitational Relays track meet on April 16th, scoring 66 points to second-place Dalton's 48.5.

The Chieftains' cheerleaders for the 1965-1966 season were announced this week in 1965. Basketball cheerleaders included Brenda Burrell (captain), Pam Calloway, Beth Doyal, Parthenia Chastain, Mary Ann Witte, Celeste White, and Belinda Ritter. Football cheerleaders included Charlene Lamb, Janet Amspoker, Cheryl Lanier, Sylvia Brumbelow, Susan Sprayberry, Susan Wade, Debbie Shannon, Dixie Moore, and Elaine Freeman.

West Rome's Jeanne Maxwell was chosen convention chairman at the Georgia Association of Student Councils 24th annual State Convention at Rock Eagle, while fellow Chieftain Tommy Fricks was tapped to serve as corresponding secretary. Other West Rome delegates included Mike Murphy, Tommy Sapp, Marianne Witte, Roger Wade, Judy Burnes, Penny Andrews, Anne Peery, and Pam Williams; faculty advisors were Susie Underwood and Kitty Alford.

West Rome history classes devoted a day to President Abraham Lincoln on April 14th, 1965--the hundredth anniversary of Lincoln's assassination.

Burglars broke into the Dinner Bell at 612 Shorter Avenue on April 12th, stealing the coins from five vending machines as well as a large quantity of groceries.

Now here's a promotion you don't see every day: if you bought four tires for $48.48 from the Firestone store on Broad Street, you got a free seven-pound ham!

And if you got that free ham, you could serve if as the main course of your Easter dinner on Sunday, April 18th. As was the norm back in the 1960s, almost every business in Rome (including all grocery stores and most drugstores) was closed in recognition of the holidays.  

Piggly Wiggly had turkeys for 39¢ a pound, squash for 19¢ a pound, and cantaloupes for 29¢ each. Kroger had Plumrose sliced bacon for 49¢  pound, red delicious apples for 6¢ each, and Country Club ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon. Big Apple had ground beef for 37¢ a pound, Duke's mayonnaise for 49¢ a quart, and Cudahy Bar-S bacon for 59¢ a pound. A&P had baking hens for 39¢ a pound, Banquet cream pies for 39¢ each, and strawberries for 39¢ a pint. Couch's had shank portion hams for 29¢ a pound, a 24-ounce can of Poss Brunswick Stew for 49¢, and a case of Coca-Cola or Tab for 99¢ plus deposit. (That Brunswick stew was one of my favorites: I recall many a time when I cajoled Mom into letting me have a can of that stew--served with lots of black pepper, some tabasco sauce, and Saltines--for lunch, or for dinner on a night when Mom and Dad were going out.)

Rome's cinematic week began with Marriage Italian Style (with Sophia Loren) at the DeSoto and Dear Heart (with Glenn Ford and Geraldine Page) at the First Avenue. The midweek switch out brought Girl Happy (with Elvis Presley) to the DeSoto and How to Murder Your Wife (with Jack Lemmon & Virna Lisi) at the First Avenue, while the West Rome Drive-In's weekend schedule brought A Summer Place, Palm Springs Weekend, and Operation Bikini to the big screen.

Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders took the number one spot this week in 1965 with "Game of Love." Other top ten hits included "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" by Herman's Hermits (#2); "I'm Telling You Now" by Freddie & the Dreamers (#3); "I Know a Place" by Petula Clark (#4); "Stop! In the Name of Love" by the Supremes (#5); "Tired of Waiting for You" by the Kinks (#6); "I'll Never Find Another You" by the Seekers (#7); "The Clapping Song" by Shirley Ellis (#8); "Shotgun" by Jr. Walker & the All-Stars (#9); and "Silhouettes" by Herman's Hermits, their second song on the top ten this week.

Memorable album releases this week included Dance Party by Martha & the Vandellas, We Remember Sam Cooke by the Supremes (featuring cover versions of Sam Cooke songs), Come My Way by Marianne Faithfull, and Bert Jansch's eponymous premiere album (if you weren't a folk music fan, you may not have heard of him, but this Scottish musician and founding member of the band Pentangle was a major influence on Donovan, Al Stewart, Paul Simon, Elton John, Nick Drake, and Neil Young).

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