Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 2/24/1969 to 3/2/1969

 West Rome's Mike Jenkins and Billy Houston both won division championships in the Class AA Wrestling Tournament; Jenkins took the top spot in the 95-pound class, while Houston won in the unlimited division. Henry Studyvent took second place in the 180-pound class and Jeff Rogers took third in the 138-pound division.

West Rome's girls came from behind to defeat Cedartown 42-38 in the Region 7-AA semifinals on Tuesday night. Both Debbie Poarch and Phyllis Jarrard scored 19 points in the game. On Wednesday night, they defeated Cartersville 42-35 in a home game at the West Rome gym to win the Region 7-AA South championship. Jarrard was the top scorer with 20 points.

West Rome's band received a superior rating in Class B concert and sight reading at the Seventh District Music Festival, held on March 1st in Marietta. The Junior High honor band received an excellent rating.

The JA Industrials was named the Outstanding Junior Achievement company in Rome for January. West Rome's own Mike Shannon, VP of sales for the group, accepted the award for the Industrials, who were sponsored by General Electric's Medium Transformer Department.

West Rome Science Fair Winners included Debbye Morris and Steve Blad (botany); Marilynn Little (mathematics); Sam Hancock & Ida Hutchings (physics), and Billy Candler (psychology). Others who placed in the science fair included Jolynne Rice (second place, bacteriology); Ken Whittenberg (third place, botany); David Gardner (second place, chemistry); Debbie Holder (honorable mention, chemistry); Tom Blad & Mike Blanton (second place, engineering); Billy Houston (third place, engineering); Lon Rollinson (third place, physics); Dawn Scarbrough, Terry Owens, & Martha Riley (second place, psychology); David Hood (second place, zoology); Bill Doster, Jimmy Tolbert, Teresa Jackson, & Ellen Jackson (third place, zoology); and Dana Nichols & Dianne Hall (honorable mention, zoology).

Federal budget cuts cost Rome its US Weather Bureau station at Russell Field. The government announced that the station, which was open for almost a quarter of a century, would be closed by June 30th; it was one of 13 weather stations across the country that was shut down in a cost-cutting move.

Rome's burglars continued their crime spree this week in 1969. In the early hours of Monday morning, they tor ea piece of metal off the end of the Rome Tobacco Company building on Redmond Road, then entered the business and stole five cases of cigarettes and some cash from a deposit bag in the office. That same morning, burglars broke into Coosa High School and ransacked five vending machines, stealing cash and a variety of snacks. And if that wasn't enough, Kelly Springfield Automotive Center was also hit, with $220 in cash and hundreds of dollars worth of tired taken.

 Piggly Wiggly had chuck roast for 78¢ a pound, Double Q salmon for 69¢ a an, and Sealtest ice cream for 48¢ a half-gallon. A&P had Delmonico steaks for $1.89¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 65¢ a pound, and grapefruit for a dime each. Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, large eggs for 47¢ a dozen, and Heinz ketchup for 19¢ a bottle. Big Apple had spare ribs for 59¢ a pound, Ore Ida tater tots for 29¢ a bag, and assorted flavors of Bama jelly for 33¢ a jar. Couch's had country ham for $1.19 a pound, Chef Boy-R-Di spaghetti & meatballs for 39¢ a can, and yellow corn for 8¢ an ear.

The cinematic week began with Stalking Moon (starring Gregory Peck) at the DeSoto Theatre, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (starring Alan Arkin) at the First Avenue Theatre, and Candy (starring Richard Burton) at the West Rome Drive-In. The weekend switchout brought Lady in Cement (starring Frank Sinatra) to the DeSoto Theatre, 2001: A Space Odyssey (starring Gary Lockwood) to the First Avenue Theatre, and House of Cards (starring George Peppard) to the West Rome Drive-In.

Jim Morrison of the Doors was arrested in Miami this week in 1978 for allegedly exposing himself during the show. The official charge was "lewd and lascivious behavior," which was enough to permanently mark Morrison as one of rock's "bad boys"--a reputation that he relished for the all-too-brief remainder of his life.

Sly & the Family Stone held on to number one for a fourth week with "Everyday People." Other top ten hits included "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#2); "Build Me Up Buttercup" by the Foundations (#3); "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe (#4); "Crimson & Clover" by Tommy James & the Shondells (#5); "This Magic Moment" by Jay & the Americans (#6); "This Girl's In Love With You" by Dionne Warwick (#7); "Baby, Baby Don't Cry" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (#8); "Touch Me" by the Doors (#9): and "Indian Giver" by 1910 Fruitgum Company (#10).

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 2/17/1969 to 2/23/1969

The snow and ice that kept Romans indoors on Saturday and Sunday miraculously cleared by Monday morning, which meant a normal school and work day (much to the dismay of students who were undoubtedly certain that the ice would linger long enough to give them a snow day to start the week). Floyd County representative John Adams said that the bill would "open the door to an 18% interest rate, like they charge in Brazil." Apparently he underestimated the greed of credit card companies, who shot way past 18% as soon as usury laws were abandoned...

West Rome's own Sycondia Gammon was chosen as Miss Valentine by the Rome Teen Club Valentine's dance; the dance was postponed until Friday, February 21st, because of the icy weather that moved in on Valentine's evening. DW Bowman was chosen Mr. Valentine.

West Rome swept past Cedartown 65-52 on Tuesday night in the Region 7-AA Boys Tournament; Mike Day was the leading scorer with 19 points. The victory advanced the Chieftains to the Wednesday night semifinals, where they faced off against East Rome. Alas, things didn't go as well for the Chieftains in that game, as they fell to East Rome 65-43; Kenny Stephens scored 18 of West Rome's 43 points.

Burglars broke into the Shorter Heights Drive-In at 414 Shorter Avenue in the early hours of Monday morning, whereupon they ransacked two vending machines and stole a penny jar. The owners said that the thieves made off with approximately $50 from the vending machines and about $1 from the penny jar.

A fire broke out in the back room of the Ideal Service Station on Shorter Avenue on Thursday afternoon; considerable damage was done to the building, but firefighters were able to stop the flames from reaching the gas tanks, which could have been catastrophic. Two cars parked behind the building were totally destroyed.

Anyone who pays exorbitant credit card interest rates might be surprised to hear that the maximum legally allowed rate in Georgia was 8% in 1969--although a bill proposed in the state senate would allow that rate to climb all the way to 9%.

Piggly Wiggly had Oscar Mayer bologna for 39¢ a pound,  Atlanta Dairies ice milk for 19¢ a half-gallon (the lowest price I've seen for ice milk in the 7 years I've been doing this column!), and bananas for a dime a pound. Big Apple had 3 pound Armour canned hams for $2.49, Luzianne coffee for 49¢ a pound, and RC or Diet-Rite Cola for 33¢ a carton plus deposit. A&P had chuck roast for 69¢ a pound, Alcoa Wrap for 69¢ a 200-foot box, and large temple oranges for 59¢ a dozen. Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, Fab detergent for 30¢ a box, and a 16-ounce jar of Miracle Whip for 19¢. Couch's had Hormel Little Sizzlers for 49¢ a pound, Gorton's fish sticks for 29¢ a box, and sweet potatoes for a dime a pound.

The cinematic week began with Angel in My Pocket (starring Andy Griffith) at the DeSoto Theatre, Candy (starring Richard Burton) at the First Avenue Theater, and Prudence and the Pill (starring David Niven) at the West Rome Drive-In. The weekend switchout brought Stalking Moon (starring Gregory Peck) to the DeSoto and Berserk (starring Joan Crawford) to the West Rome Drive-In, while Candy hung around for another week at the First Avenue. (Astute readers may note that I said "weekend switchout" rather than "midweek switchout": beginning this week in 1969, Rome's theaters changed new movie day at the theaters from Wednesday to Friday.)

Sly & the Family Stone held on to the number spot for another week with "Everyday People." Other top ten hits included "Crimson & Clover" by Tommy James & The Shondells (#2); "Build Me Up Buttercup" by the Foundations (#3); "Touch Me" by the Doors (#4); "Proud May" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#5); "You Showed Me" by the Turtles (#6); "This Magic Moment" by Jay & the Americans (#7); "Baby, Baby Don't Cry" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (#8); "Worst That Could Happen" by Brooklyn Bridge (#9); and "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe (#10).

The Beatles held both the number one and the number two positions on the album charts this week in 1969 with The Beatles (aka The White Album) at number one and Yellow Submarine at number two. Of course, Yellow Submarine wasn't a true Beatles album per se, but a soundtrack to the animated film that consisted of mostly previously-released tracks with a couple of new songs for contractual reasons. Another group had two albums in the top ten this week in 1969: Iron Butterfly, whose new album Ball climbed to number seven, while their history-making In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida fell to number ten on the charts (the 33rd week the album had charted!). Ball would be the final studio album with this group lineup; young guitarist Erik Brann would leave the group soon after the album's release, and would be replaced by two guitarists for the group's next album. Alas, the magic sound was gone, and the group's brief shot at rock super-stardom came to an end (although In-A-Gadda-da-Vida would remain one of rock music's best-selling albums).

This week in 1969, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan recorded together in Nashville, Tennessee. Alas, only one song from those sessions--"Girl from the North Country"--would be released.

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 2/10/1969 to 2/16/1969

After a warm beginning to the week, a sudden cold snap brought freezing rain, ice, and snow to Rome on Saturday evening, causing hazardous driving conditions and the closing of numerous churches on Sunday morning. Students were undoubtedly frustrated, however, with the news that the ice should be gone by Monday morning, so all schools were open for class come Monday morning. (Is there anything more sad for a student than a snow-day wasted on a weekend?)

Governor Lester Maddox discovered how difficult it was to shoehorn a tax increase into the state legislative agenda when House Speaker George L. Smith buried his first proposal in committee and then ruled that the only way that the  legislature could consider the increase was if Governor Maddox could manage to get an all-new bill passed--a virtual impossibility, since the speaker would control whether that bill made it out of committee or not. The end result: plans to increase the state sales tax from 3% to 4% were dead for the 1969 legislative session, apparently.

Two Rome schools were hit by burglars in the wee hours of Monday morning. Both East Rome Junior High and Eighth Ward School were broken into and vending machines were ransacked, along with office desks. In addition, the thieves did thousands of dollars of vandalism damage at Eighth Ward School. Two days later, burglars broke into Midway School and stole a television set, a copying machine, and cash from the vending machines.

Piggly Wiggly had ground chuck for 68¢ a pound, Coca-Cola for 33¢ a carton (plus deposit), and a ten-pound bag of potatoes for 19¢. Kroger had pork chops for 79¢ a pound, large eggs for 49¢ a dozen, and bananas for 11¢ a pound. A&P had smoked ham for 39¢ a pound, Chase & Sanborn coffee for 79¢ a pound, and lettuce for 19¢ a head. Big Apple had fresh whole fryers for 25¢ a pound, Spic 'n' Span cleanser for 25¢ a canister, and five pounds of Pillsbury flour for 49¢. Couch's had Armour's all-meat wieners for 39¢ a pound, Aristocrat ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon, and fresh corn for 8¢ an ear.

Sly & the Family Stone took the number one slot this week in 1969 with "Everyday People." Other top ten hits included "Crimson & Clover" by Tommy James & the Shondells ( #2): "Build Me Up Buttercup" by the Foundations (#3); "Touch Me" by the Doors (#4); "Can I Change My Mind" by Tyrone Davis (#5); "Worst That Could Happen"  by Brooklyn Bridge (#6); "You Showed Me" by the Turtles (#7); "This Magic Moment" by Jay & the Americans (#8); "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#9); and "I'm Livin' in Shame" by Diana Ross & the Supremes (#10).

The cinematic week began with Angel in My Pocket (starring Andy Griffith) at the DeSoto Theatre, The Parent Trap (starring Hayley Mills) at the First Avenue, and Hawaii (starring Julie Andrews) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Candy (starring Richard Burton) to the First Avenue and Impasse (starring Burt Reynolds) to the West Rome Drive-In, while Angel in My Pocket hung around at the DeSoto for  second week.

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 2/3/1969 to 2/9/1969

What started off as a cold rain turned into an icy mess Monday night and Tuesday morning as temperatures dropped below freezing, causing rainy roads to become slick with black ice. Kingston Road was the site of the most accidents, but slip-and-slide collisions were also reported on Turner McCall, Shorter Avenue, Alabama Road, Redmond Circle, and Martha Berry Boulevard.  Temperatures rose above freezing by mid-morning, however, and the ice was pretty much gone by lunchtime. Problems were considered too isolated for the school systems to close, although they told parents to exercise caution and good judgment in deciding whether it was safe for their kids to go to school.

The official desegregation plan under which Rome City Schools had been operating ever since the 1968-1969 school year began won belated approval from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which meant that the city school system was cleared to receive all federal funds for which it qualified. Rome was one of only 46 systems in the state that was judged fully compliant.

The Rome City Commission was on board with Governor Lester Maddox's proposed 1% sales tax increase, since the extra tax would bring the city $833,261 in the first year, and more than $146,600 would go to the school system.

Rome Police Chief Nelson Camp skipped right over the rash of Rome burglaries and robberies to focus on the real crime wave threatening the city: double-parking in downtown Rome. The chief warned people that the city would no longer allow double-parkers to pay their fines and be done with the matter; instead, they were going to require all recipients of double-parking citations to appear in court.

And speaking of burglars, safecrackers hit Westdale Hardware, peeling the safe open and stealing more than $100 in cash and several hundred dollars worth of tools. Burglars attempted the same sort of crime at Saunders Supply, but they were unable to open the safe. Burglars also entered East Rome Junior High School, breaking into the principal's office and ransacking it; school employees were unable to immediately determine what, if anything, was missing.

Three Armuchee men were arrested for counterfeiting after it was determining that they were passing bogus $10 bills to city and county businesses. Unfortunately for them, they chose to pass some of the bills at businesses where the owners knew them by name...

The Coosa Valley Fair received top honors for fairs during the annual meeting of the Georgia Association of Agricultural Fairs in Atlanta. Wesley Johnson, Coosa Valley Fair Association president, accepted the award. 1968 Fair Queen Diane Weeks was awarded second runner-up in the "Fairest of the Fairs" contest.

What we would give for these interest rates today: National City Bank was paying 5.12711% interest on one year savings certificates (the equivalent of certificates of deposit) this week in 1969, with Rome Bank and Trust and First National Bank following close behind at 5.05%.

Piggly Wiggly had beef liver for 38¢ a pound, Tide detergent for 49¢ a box, and cabbage for 8¢ a head. A&P had veal steaks for 89¢ a pound, bakery-fresh sweet potato pies for 45¢ each, and vine ripe tomatoes for 29¢ a pound. Big Apple had pork chops for 69¢ a pound, Sealtest ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 33¢ a carton plus deposit. Kroger had chicken breasts for 49¢ a pound, strawberries for 33¢ a pint, and Crest toothpaste for 33¢ a tube. Couch's had Armour Mira-Cure bacon for 59¢ a pound, Blue Plate apple jelly for 15¢ a jar, and JFG coffee for 69¢ a pound.

The cinematic week began with The Secret Ceremony (starring Elizabeth Taylor) at the DeSoto Theatre, If He Hollers, Let Him Go (starring Dana Wynter) at the First Avenue, and The Paper Lion (starring Alan Alda) at the West Rome Drive-In.  The midweek switchout brought Angel in My Pocket (starring Andy Griffith) to the DeSoto, The Parent Trap (starring Hayley Mills) to the First Avenue and Who's Minding the Mint? (starring Jim Hutton) to the West Rome Drive-In.

Trying to ride the coattails of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In's success, ABC unveiled its sketch comedy series Turn-On on February 5th. While viewers loved Laugh-In, Turn-On was quite the turn-off, though: it became one of the very few TV series to be cancelled after only one episode!

Marvel Comics' short-lived attempt to poke fun at themselves and their comics competition came to an end with the release of Not Brand Echo #13, the final issue of the series. While Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and other big-name talents were on hand to launch the series, by the time it came to an end, the book had been turned over to less high-profile (but still very skilled) creators like Roy Thomas, Arnold Drake, Marie Severin, and Bill Dubay.