Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 5/12/1969 to 5/18/1969

Heavy rains on Sunday, May 18th, caused flooding on Paris Drive and Conn Street; the rains also contributed to two accidents with minor injuries on Shorter Avenue--a two-car accident near Burnett Ferry and a three-car accident near Shorter College. Thankfully, neither accident resulted in serious injuries.

WRGA radio in Rome announced plans to hire Juanita Lester, formerly of Rome's official weather station at Russell Field, to do local weather. Considering all the attention that Lester's dismissal had gotten in the past few months, this was probably a great publicity move for the station.

Rome's safecracking burglars were back in action this week in 1969, "peeling" the safe at the RL Kimsey Cotton Brokerage Company on First Avenue. (In case you were interested in launching a safecracking career, here's how you "peel" a safe: you begin working on the corner near the door, prying up the outermost of the multiple layers of metal that comprised most safes manufactured prior to 1940, then pull the layer back; you repeat the process layer after layer until you've created an opening in the wall of the safe. This technique doesn't work on more modern unibody steel safes, so don't try this at home.) An undetermined amount of cash was taken. the same night, burglars also broke into the Double Cola Bottling Company on East Second Avenue, stealing an undetermined amount of change collected from area vending machines; Marshall Jackson Motor Company, stealing tools from the shop and approximately $100 in cash from the office; and Wicker's Electric Company on North Fourth Avenue, stealing about $50 in cash and a .38-caliber pistol. On Sunday night, May 18th, thieves broke into Fred Fowler's Cleaners on East Main Street and "punched' the safe (which is exactly what it sounds like: thieves use heavy-duty tools to punch through or punch out entirely the lock mechanism of the safe), stealing approximately $225 in cash and $900 in checks (although there's not much they can do with checks); the same night, thieves also broke into Steadman Service Station on Maple Street and stole almost $400 with of radios along with four pistols. (Apparently some folks just left pistols laying around at work!)

Piggly Wiggly had large eggs for 45¢ a dozen, chicken breasts for 49¢ a pound, and Poss Brunswick Stew for 49¢ a can. Big Apple had sirloin steak for $1.09 a pound, lettuce for 13¢ a head, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 39¢ a carton plus deposit. Kroger had lamb chops for 89¢ a pound, grapefruit for 17¢ each, and Sealtest ice milk for 49¢ a half-gallon. A&P had chicken livers for 59¢ a pound, Blue Bonnet margarine for 39¢ a pound, and golden delicious apples for a dime each. Couch's had ground chuck for 59¢ a pound, Van Camp's pork & beans for 20¢ a can, and bananas for a dime a pound.

The cinematic week began with Charly (starring Cliff Robertson) at the DeSoto Theatre, a double feature of A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More (starring Clint Eastwood) at the First Avenue theatre, and Twisted Nerve (starring Hayley Mills) at the West Rome Drive-In. The end-of-the-week switchout brought Michael & Helga (starring Ruth Gassman) to the First Avenue and Three in the Attic (starring Yvette Mimieux) to the West Rome Drive-In, while Charly hung around at the DeSoto for another week.

The Beatles' "Get Back" soared to the top spot on the charts this week in 1969. Other top ten hits included "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by the 5th Dimension (#2); "Love (Can Make You Happy)" by Mercy (#3--and one of the songs that Susan and I included in our wedding); "Hair" by the Cowsills (#4); "Oh, Happy Day" by The Edwin Hawkins Singers (#5); "It's Your Thing" by the Isley Brothers (#6); "Atlantis" by Donovan (#7); "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel (#8); "Gitarzan" by Ray Stevens (#9); and "These Eyes" by the Guess Who (#10).