Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/30/1967 to 11/5/1967

Coach Paul Kennedy of West Rome and Coach Larry Muschamp of East Rome both agreed on one thing in the lead-in to the East-West football game: it would be a close game with strong defense, and whichever team scored 14 points would win. “I’m expecting the closest game we’ve played in several years,” Coach Kennedy said. (The record going into this game was six wins for West Rome, one win for East Rome, and one tie. The Gladiators didn’t even manage to score a point against the Chieftains in 1965 or 1966.)

The 1967 game gave the Chieftains their seventh win—and it was nowhere nearly as close as both coaches had predicted. The final score was 35-6 West Rome, with Roger Weaver emerging as the star of the game. Weaver rushed for 129 yards, scored a touchdown, intercepted two passes, returned two kickoffs for 56 yards, and ran back two punts for 36 yards. Since the only other team with a no-loss season in region play was LaFayette, who lost their game on the same night that West Rome won, that meant that the Chiefs became region champs without the necessity of a playoff game.

A special dedication ceremony for the remodeled Barron Stadium was held during halftime of the West Rome-East Rome football game on Friday, November 3rd. The stadium reconstruction was funded through a special $165,000 bond, along with matching funds from the federal government.

Rome police set some sort of law enforcement speed record in solving the case of Jerry Terrell’s stolen car. The auto theft was reported at 10:11 am on October 31st—and at 10:15 am, the police made an arrest and recovered the car, which was being driven by a nineteen-year-old who apparently wasn’t very good at grand theft auto. If only every crime could be solved in four minutes!

Rome’s rash of store robberies took a deadly turn on Saturday, November 4th, when 72-year-old shop owner LT McCright was killed in his Kingston Road grocery store by a burglar who beat and then fatally stabbed the old man when he tried to stop them from stealing the cash from that day’s sales.

Color TV prices continued to drop: BF Goodrich had a 23” Motorola color TV for $449.95(the equivalent of $3100 in 2017 dollars)—and the purchase included a complete set of 1967 New Standard Encyclopedias! (Remember when a set of encyclopedias—either the really good Britannica version or the bargain encyclopedia sold a-volume-a-week at the grocery store? The latter set was the one we had—but you know, it still worked out pretty darn well when it came time to do a report on the natural resources of Brazil.)

Just what I look for in a jewelry store: Eves Jewelers had a sale on 19-shoot .22 caliber 19-shot repeating rifles for only $49.99 each—and they gave you a hundred free rounds of ammo with each gun purchase! I suspect that all those burglars plaguing Rome stayed away from this jewelry store…

Piggly Wiggly had baking hens for 29¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 69¢ a pound, and lettuce for 19¢ a head. Kroger had smoked ham for 59¢ a pound, cornf for 9¢ a can, and frozen Morton TV dinners for 33¢ each (do you remember folding back that heavy foil oversheet to uncover the dessert so that it would crisp up in the oven?). Big Apple had spare ribs for 49 a pound, Banquet cream pies for 25¢ each, and bananas for a dime a pound. A&P had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, apples for 15¢ a pound, and Sealtest ice cream for 69¢ a half-gallon. Couch’s had stew beef for 33¢ a pound, Ritz crackers for 39¢ a box, and large oranges for 39¢ a dozen.

The cinematic week began with Hour of the Gun (starring James Garner) at the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In and Sand Pebbles (starring Steve McQueen) at the First Avenue. The midweek switchout brought Waterhole #3 (starring James Coburn and Carrol O’Connor in his pre-All in the Family days) to the DeSoto and the West Rome Drive-In, while Sand Pebbles maintained its beachhead at the First Avenue. (It makes you wonder how we ever got a chance to see most major release films, since Rome tended to show the same movie at two theaters and then hold other movies over for week after week after week.)

Lulu continued to hold on to the number one slot with her song "To Sir With Love." Other top ten hits included "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave (#2); "It Must Be Him" by Vikki Carr (#3); "Expresway (To Your Heart)" by Soul Survivors (#4); "Your Precious Love" by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (#5); "Never My Love" by the Association (#6); "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock (#7); "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin (#8); "The Rain, The Park, & Other Things" by the Cowsills (#9); and "Please Love Me Forever" by Bobby Vinton (#10). 

Nico released her first solo album, Chelsea Girl, this week in 1967. Most of the songs featured instrumental backing by the Velvet Underground, with whom Nico had collaborated prior to going solo; Jackson Browne also played guitar on the folk-pop album, The album is now considered one of the 1960’s masterpieces. This was also the week that Sly and the Family Stone released their debut album, A Whole  New Thing, and Judy Colilns released the best-selling album of her career, Wildflowers.

Fifty Years This Week in West Rome - 10/23/1967 to 10/29/1967

The West Rome Honor Society sponsored a homecoming car smash on Saturday at 7:30 PM, after the “beat Calhoun” bonfire and before the football game. Everyone in the community was invited to come and wield a sledgehammer against the hulk of an old automobile in order to demonstrate school spirit (although I never really understood how the two were related). The homecoming dance, featuring the Fifth Order, was scheduled for Saturday from 10 PM until midnight.

The homecoming festivities were particularly cheery in the aftermath of West Rome’s 35-0 victory over Calhoun. Roger Weaver scored three touchdowns and threw a 32-yard halfback pass for a fourth touchdown. Weaver was the game’s juggernaut, picking up 120 yards rushing, catching four passes, and returning a punt for a 70-yard score. 

Gala Shopping Center, which was only a few weeks old, experienced its first grand theft auto incident on Tuesday, October 24th, when two thirteen-year-old boys stole a car from the shopping center parking lot. The thieves drove the car to Garden Lakes, where they abandoned it. One boy was arrested a few minutes later in the vicinity of the car; the second boy got away, but was turned in later that afternoon by his parents once he told them what he had done. 

Rome and Floyd County police also shut down an illegal gambling den at the Sportsman’s Club on Rutledge Road (off Alabama Road, between West Rome and Coosa High Schools) on Saturday night. 22 people were arrested for illegal poker play for cash. 

Daylight saving time (which went into effect in Georgia for the first time in 1967) came to an end on Sunday, October 29th, at 2am, ensuring that it would be dark by the time trick-or-treaters wandered the streets of West Rome two days later. Representative Ward Edwards of Butler had already drafted a bill to exempt Georgia from observing DST; he hoped to have the state join Alaska, Indiana, and Hawaii, which opted to leave their clocks alone.

The second annual Chiaha Guild Harvest Art and Craft Fair took place at the corner of Kingston and Calhoun Avenues on Sunday, October 29th Two well-known Rome artists, Robert Redden and Robert Rakestraw, exhibited their work at the fair, joined by more than three dozen other artists and crafters. 

Piggly Wiggly had Boston butt (a cut of meat I don’t think we ever had at any point in my life, because I’m pretty sure would have remembered laughing in a most immature manner at its name) for 59¢ a pound, JFG coffee for 69¢ a pound, and Castleberry’s Brunswick stew for 39¢ a can. Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 25¢ a pound, bread for 18¢ a loaf, and frozen orange juice concentrate for a dime a can. A&P had ground beef for 43¢ a pound, white grapes for 15¢ a pound, and eight rolls of Northern bathroom tissue for 79¢. Big Apple had Cudahy Bar-S bacon for 67¢ a pound, Van Camp’s pork & beans for 15¢ a can, and a five pound bag of Dixie Crystals sugar for 39¢. Couch’s had pork chops for 49¢ a pound, Aunt Jemima pancake mix for 25¢ a box, and large eggs for 35¢ a dozen.

  

The cinematic week began with Don’t Make Waves (starring Tony Curtis) at the DeSoto Theatre, Sand Pebbles (starring Steve McQueen) at the First Avenue, and Hurry Sundown (starring Jane Fonda) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Hour of the Gun (starring James Garner) to the DeSoto and the West Rome Drive-In, while Sand Pebbles hung around at the First Avenue for another week. 

Lulu held on to the number one slot for a second week with “To Sir With Love.” Other top ten hits included “The Letter” by the Box Tops (#2); “Never My Love” by the Association (#3); “How Can I Be Sure” by the Young Rascals (#4); “Expressway (To Your Heart)” by the Soul Survivors (#5); “It Must Be Him” by Vikki Carr (#6); “Soul Man” by Sam & Dave (#7); “Your Precious Love” by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (#8); “(You Make Me  Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin (#9); and “Incense & Peppermints” by Strawberry Alarm Clock (#10). 

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/16/1967 to 10/22/1967

The Chieftain’s win over Cedartown propelled them to the number one slot in the Region 6-AA title race, while Roger Weaver maintained his position as number one in rushing for the season. The Chiefs were heavy favorites over Cass in the Friday night football game. I’m reasonably certain that Cass actually showed up for the game, but it’s hard to say for sure, since the final score was 55-6 in West Rome’s favor.

West Rome students had a short school week thanks to teacher in-service days. Kids were out of school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, while teachers spent all three days in meetings.  (Of course, only the first part of that sentence mattered to most of us…)

It was a rough week for telephone poles. On Wednesday night, a truck took down two poles on Shorter Avenue, knocking out power for more than 200 homes. Then, on Thursday morning, a driver took out a pole on Charlton Road, leaving about a dozen homes in the dark. On Friday, a driver took out a pole on Burnett Ferry Road just south of Conn Street. Surprisingly, it was a rain-free week, so weather played no part in the sudden war on utility poles.

The Rome City School System worked out the details with the US Office of Economic Opportunity, enabling them to relaunch their Headstart program beginning this week in 1967. None of the participating schools was located in West Rome, but Superintendent McDonald indicated that Elm Street was under consideration to join the list for the 1968-1969 school year if it met the family low-income requirements.

The new Rome post office and federal building, which had been struck from the budget a few eeks ago, was added back to the budget after some finagling.  

The safe that was stolen from Lowe’s Supermarket a week earlier was found in a wooded area near Rydal, Georgia, on October 16th. Naturally, the safe had been forced open and all the cash was gone—but almost $2000 in check had been left behind. While the burglars made off with almost $4000 in cash, authorities said they recovered nearly $1000 worth of tools scattered around the safe—tools that had been used to get through the safe’s thick walls and heavy-duty lock mechanism. 

Murphy’s launched their anti-Big K offensive with a major toy push as they tried to take charge of the upcoming Christmas holiday season. Murphy’s was pushing its layaway program s part of its toy sale, and they also brought in Santa Claus on October 20th from noon until 6pm for shoppers who wanted to skip past Halloween and Thanksgiving and get right into the Christmas spirit.

Piggly Wiggly had turkeys for 37¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 49¢ a pound, and grapefruit for a dime each. Kroger had sirloin steak for 99¢ a pound, Starkist tuna for 29¢ a can, and large eggs for an especially low 25¢ a dozen. A&P had rib roast for 79¢ a pound, Van Camp chili with beans for 29¢ a can, and bananas for 15¢ a pound. Big Apple had pork chops for 69¢ a pound, red grapes for 25¢ a pound, and a 32-ounce jar of Peter Pan peanut butter for 69¢. Couch’s had ground sirloin for 69¢ a pound, Royal Pure orange juice for 25¢ a quart, and a four-sleeve box of Nabisco saltines for 35¢. 

The cinematic week began with Rough Night in Jericho (starring Dean Martin & George Peppard) at the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In and Alfie (starring Michael Caine) at the First Avenue. The midweek switchout brought Don’t Make Waves to the DeSoto Theatre,  The Sand Pebbles (starring Steve McQueen) to the First Avenue, and Hurry Sundown (with Jane Fonda) to the West Rome Drive-In.

Lulu’s “To Sir With Love” knocked The Box Tops' “The Letter” out of first place this week in 1967—but the Box Tops’ song only fell one slot to the number two position. Other top ten hits included “Never My Love” by the Association (#3); “How Can I Be Sure” by the Young Rascals (#4); “Expressway (To Your Heart)” by the Soul Survivors (#5); “It Must Be Him” by Vikki Carr (#6); “Soul Man” by Sam & Dave (#7); “Little Ole Man (Uptight—Everything’s Alright): by Bill Cosby (#8); “Gimme Little Sign” by Brenton Wood (#9); and “Your Precious Love” by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (#10). 

Fifty years ago this week, the first issue of Rolling Stone, featuring a John Lennon cover photo, rolled off the presses. The folded tabloid-format magazine would rapidly become the most influential and popular magazines in rock music history.

The first-ever race between Superman and the Flash took place in The Flash #175. Alas, we didn’t get to see how artist extraordinaire Carmine Infantino might have depicted this ultimate speed-test, because Flash #175 was the first issue illustrated by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. (While the art team had done wonderful things in the pages of Metal Men and Wonder Woman, among other comics, they never really managed to portray super speed particularly effectively. As a result, The Flash—which had long been a favorite comic of mine—fell off my must-read list within a few issues.)

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/9/1967 to 10/15/1967

West Rome faced off against Cedartown on Friday, Ocrtober 13th in a match between two undefeated 6-AA teams. By the time the game was over, West Rome was undefeated and Cedartown was sad as they looked at the scoreboard and saw a 14-7 Chieftain victory. The win came as the result of a remarkable Jimmy Edwards-to-Charles Williams pass that came on the first play of the fourth quarter. It appeared that the Bulldogs had Edwards cornered for a loss when he tossed a surprise pass deep downfield towards Williams, who somehow managed to catch the pass even with two Bulldog defenders in front of and behind him. Williams was tackled at the three-yard line, and from there it was an easy walk into the end zone for Roger Weaver.  Mark Brewer completed the point-after kick to secure the 14-7 victory. (Of  course, that wouldn’t have been a winning touchdown had Edwards not completed a short touchdown run in the second quarter after Mike Warren, Roger Weaver, and Byron Swinford moved the ball to within a few yards of the end zone.)

Burglars couldn’t break into the safe at Lowe’s Super Market on North Broad Sreet, so they simply toted it off with them in the early morning hours of October 9th. They got away with more than $6,000 in cash and a 250 pound safe. (I’m still amazed at what a hotbed of crime Rome was when I was growing up—I don’t remember any of this from my childhood, even though I read through both the Rome and Atlanta papers pretty regularly.)

Meanwhile, petty larcenies continued as thieves broke into four vending machines at Crumbley’s Park & Wash at 512 Shorter Avenue on Wednesday night , making off with approximately $50 and a number of snacks and soft drinks. Two days later, thieves broke into pay telephones in West Rome and on Highway 27 North, stealing approximately $40 in coins

The Rome Board of Education approved $15,000 in funds to begin installing televisions in all Rome school classrooms. The newly-launched Rome Cable TV system had agreed to install cable outlets in all classrooms at a bargain rate with no monthly fees, so the school system thought it would be advantageous to provide televisions for every classroom. (Alas, $15,000 didn’t go anywhere nearly as far as the school board thought it would, and the school system ultimately provided each school with a certain number of televisions and carts so that they could be rolled to classrooms when needed.)

Piggly Wiggly had chuck roast for 35¢ a pound, bananas for a dime a pound, and a six pack of Coke/Tab/Sprite for 33¢ plus deposit. Big Apple had fresh whole fryers for 23¢ a pound, Sealtest ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon, and tomatoes for 25¢ a pound. A&P had turkeys for 37¢ a pound, Eight O’Clock coffee for 49¢ a pound, and grapefruit for 15¢ each. Kroger had pork chops for 75¢ a pound, large eggs for 39¢ a dozen, and corn for 8¢ an ear. Couch’s had Golden Harvest weiners for 49¢ a pound, Van Camp’s chili for 29¢ a can, and winesap apples for 15¢ a pound. 

The cinematic week began with What’s New Pussycat (starring Peter Sellers) and How to Murder Your Wife (starring Jack Lemmon) in alternating showings at the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In, and Divorce American Style (starring Debbie Reynolds) at the First Avenue. The midweek switchout brought Rough Night in Jericho (starring Dean Martin) to the DeSoto, Alfie (starring Michael Caine ,who knew what it was all about) to the First Avenue, and a double feature of Young Warriors and Ride the Hangman Tree to the West Rome Drive-In.

“The Letter” continue to deliver for the Box Tops for yet another week as they held on to the number one slot. Other top ten hits included “Never My Love” by the Association (#2); “To Sir With Love” by Lulu (#3); “Little Ole Man) (Uptight—Everything’s All Right)” by Bill Cosby (#4); “Ode to Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry (#5); “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” by Jackie Wilson (#6); “Come Back When You Grow Up” by Bobby Vee & the Strangers (#7); “How Can I Be Sure” by the Young Rascals (#8); “Gimme  Little Sign” by Brenton Wood (#9); and “Soul Man” by Sam & Dave (#10). 

Fifty years ago this week, Marvel took advantage of a DC oversight, introducing a new character named Captain Marvel in the pages of Marvel Super-Heroes #12. (DC had ended up with the rights to the Golden Age Captain Marvel, but had done nothing to protect the trademark, so it had lapsed. Once Marvel introduced their Captain Marvel, DC had no choice but to use the name “Shazam” for the adventures of their Captain Marvel; recently, they simply renamed the hero Shazam to avoid the confusion.) While DC’s (originally Fawcett’s) Captain Marvel was a magically-powered hero, Marvel’s Captain Marvel (created by Stan Lee & Gene Colan) was the science-fictional tale of a Kree soldier who made his way to Earth, where he became a superhero.