Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 2/6/1967 to 2/12/1967

Twenty young men (all juveniles) were detained by the police after carrying off a large stack of school supplies (pencils, notebooks, paper, pens, etc.). The youths insisted that they were told by an adult in the store that they could just take all the items, but the store owner said that no one who worked at the store had talked with the. The police held off on filing charges until they could find out who gave them permission to take them. Detective Tom King did say, however, that school supplies weren’t high on the list of desirable items for roving gangs of thieves…

West Rome’s basketball teams continued to struggle, with both the boys and the girls losing to Wills on Saturday night. The boys never had a chance, losing 62-45, but the girls nearly pulled off a victory, losing 36-34 in the last 30 seconds of the game. Juanita Williams was the girls’ top scorer with 28 points, while Kenny Stephens was the top scorer for the boys with 15 points.

The West Rome Honor Society inducted new members Karen Hart, Beth Watson, Myra Beth Boggus, Linda Morgan, Debbie Morris, Robert Blaylock, Beverly Hall, and Debbie Cook in a ceremony that took place on February 7th in the West Rome High School Auditorium.

West Rome junior Vickie Casey was elected 1966-1967 DECA Sweetheart. Vickie,  a member of the Distributive Education Club and the Library Club, was chosen to represent the Rome DECA chapter at the state convention in early April.

Rome continued to investigate the possibility of annexing Garden Lakes into the city. According to the Garden Lakes Company president, the main reason residents wanted to join the city was the school system. “ The county’s schools are in a crisis,” he said, “while West Rome High School is one of the finest schools in the state.” (But we already knew that!) Floyd County representatives said they would consider taking part in annexation planning if the city agreed to assume bonded indebtedness for Garden Lakes elementary (which would become a part of the Rome City Schools system), repay the county for prior payments on bonds and for the cost of the land, and assume all responsibility for road repair in Garden Lakes.

Apparently Rome was  a major player in the Georgia moonshine industry: yet another raid by state and federal alcohol tax agents (aka “revenuers”) took place on February 8th, with one still located near Burnett Ferry Road shut down in the process. More than 150 gallons of illegal whisky was confiscated and the still was destroyed.

A surprise snowfall accompanied 16 degree temperatures on the morning of February 7th, creating numerous traffic problems, including a three-car collision on Shorter Avenue near Horseleg Creek Road. School was cancelled for the day, and I’m sure the cheers of students could be heard all over West Rome… The weather improved by Wednesday, but more snow and sleet moved back in on Sunday, February 12th, wasting a perfectly good bad-weather day on a weekend when school was already closed.

Piggly Wiggly had baking hens for 33¢ a pound, orange juice for 39¢ a half-gallon, and lettuce for 15¢ a head. Kroger had pork roast for 29¢ a pound, Spotlight coffee for 55¢ a pound, and tomatoes for 19¢ a pound. A&P had pork chops for 49¢ a pound, Poss Brunswick stew for 49¢ a can, and grapefruit for 6¢ each. Big Apple had chicken livers for 39¢ a pound, Van Camp pork & beans for 20¢ a can, and Bama apple jelly for a quarter a jar. Couch’s had country ham for 49¢ a pound, eggs for 39¢ a dozen, and Couch’s store-made country sausage for 59¢ a pound.

The cinematic week began with Penelope (with Natalie Wood) at the DeSoto Theatre, The Sound of Music (with Julie Andrews) at the First Avenue, and The Wrong Box (with John Mills & Michael Caine) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Funeral in Berlin (with Michael Caine) to the DeSoto and The Big Show (with Cliff Robertson) to the West Rome Drive-In, while Julie Andrews had apparently moved into the First Avenue Theatre to stay.

The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” held on to the number one slot for another week. Other top ten hits included “Georgy Girl” by the Seekers (#2); “Kind of a Drag” by the Buckinghams (#3); “Ruby Tuesday” by the Rolling Stones (#4); “(We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet” by the Blues Magoos (#5); “Tell It Like It Is” by Aaron Neville (#6); “98.6” by Keith (#7); “Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron” by the Royal Guardsmen (#8); “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone” by the Supremes (#9); and “The Beat Goes On” by Sonny & Cher (#10).

Monkeemania was in full swing this week in 1967 as the Monkees took the number one and number two slots. Their new album More of the Monkees was the new number one album for the week, while their eponymous first album held on at number two.