Just as is the case this year, the election of 1968 also drew a record turnout of voters in Floyd County and in Georgia. Of course, the 1968 election was also a Presidential election pitting Democrat Hubert Humphrey against Republican Richard Nixon, and the dichotomy of the two candidates motivated voters on both sides to come out and cast a ballot. That was good news for the Floyd Junior College initiative, since the strong voter turnout led to the bond issue passing with an overwhelming 74% majority.--and that meant that Floyd Junior College was officially a GO!
Roman felt a minor earth tremor near noon on Saturday, November 9th. The quake, which registered 5.5 on the Richter scale, was actually centered near New Madrid, Missouri, but the tremors were felt in Rome, Lafayette, Gainesville, and Macon. WRGA reported receiving 35 calls within the first five minutes after the tremor; while there were no injuries, there were some reports of broken dishes and one report of a broken window caused by the tremors.
At long last, Rome reached an agreement with Southern Railway to remove the railroad underpass on Shorter Avenue, clearing out a traffic bottleneck that had existed as long as there was a West Rome. The agreement meant that Rome no longer had to pursue the expensive legal action against Southern Railway that had been threatened. The city agreed to pay the cost of warning signals at two other intersections in exchange for the removal of the underpass; Rome also agreed to cover the cost of any re-grading of the road bed that might be necessary after the underpass was removed and the site was leveled.
The Sunday paper carried the news of the engagement of Chieftains Barry Hunter and Kathy Christian; the wedding was planned for December, when Barry was set to return home from Fort Lee, Virginia, where he was stationed in the Army.
A late note for last week's Fifty Years Ago... column: Claudia Williams was crowned West Rome Homecoming Queen during a halftime ceremony at the West Rome-Pepperell football game on Friday, November 1st, receiving the crown from the prior year's Homecoming Queen, Penny Slaughter. (As we noted last week, however, unfortunately the Chieftains were unable to deliver a win to commemorate the homecoming event.)
The season-ending football game was an ever-popular match of crosstown rivals as West Rome took on East Rome. East Rome, with fewer injuries and a better season record, was tapped to win the game, "it's tough to continue after winni8ng six and then losing three hard battles," Coach Nick Hyder said, "but our boys have been working as hard as ever. They've shown a lot of character under the present conditions." The hard work paid off as West Rome proved the prognosticators wrong with a 14-6 victory to close out their season. In spite of the win, West Rome was already statistically eliminated from advancing to region playoffs; in spite of the loss, East Rome was guaranteed a region playoff spot the next wek. Still, it was an inspiring end to a turbulent season for the Chieftains.
Piggly Wiggly had fresh whole fryers for 22¢ a pound, sweet potatoes for a dime a pound, and a three-pound can of Crisco for 49¢. Kroger had ocean perch filets for 49¢ a pound, bananas for a dime a pound, and glazed doughnuts for 19¢ a half-dozen. A&P had pork loin roast for 49¢ a pound, Poss chili for 29¢ a can, and a 16-ounce can of Dole sliced pineapple for 25¢. Big Apple had sirloin steak for 98¢ a pound, Parkay margarine for 19¢ a tub, and Banquet frozen dinners for 35¢ each. Couch's had ground beef for 43¢ a pound, corn for 7¢ an ear, and Heinz tomato soup for a dime a can.
The cinematic week began with The Ugly Ones (starring Richard Wyler) at the DeSoto Theatre, a double feature of From Russia With Love and Thunderball (starring Sean Connery as James Bond) at the First Avenue Theatre, and Petulia (starring Julie Christie) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought The Paper Lion (starring Alan Alda) to the DeSoto Theatre, The Fox (starring Sandy Dennis) two the First Avenue, and The Dirty Dozen (starring Lee Marvin) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The Beatles' "Hey Jude" held on to the number one position for the eighth week in a row. Other top ten hits included "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkin (#2); "Love Child" by Diana Ross & the Supremes (#3); "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf (#4); "Hold Me Tight" by Johnny Nash (#5); "White Room" by Cream (#i6); "Little Green Apples" by OC Smith (#7); "Who's Making Love" by Johnny Taylor (#8); "Abraham, Martin, & John" by Dion (#9); and "Elenore" by the Turtles (#10).
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