(First, a personal note: I have been largely absent from this feature for more than three months due to the illness and subsequent death of my beloved wife Susan. In some ways, I regret not being able to write about the summer of 1969, because this was the summer when Susan and I truly fell in love after knowing each other for a year. By the end of the summer, we were already talking about getting married once I graduated from high school--and we stuck to that plan, marrying exactly seven days after my graduation in 1971. Susan was my best friend and lifelong companion; the stroke on May 20th left her home-bound and I was her only caregiver. Subsequent seizures and strokes stripped away her ability to communicate and devastated her cognitive ability; finally, on July 11th, she began to suffer significant losses of vital bodily functions, and she passed away on July 22nd in hospice, where I remained at her side. I have wonderful memories of that summer and of the time we spend together. Susan enjoyed hearing from me what was going on in 1969 as I wrote this column every Friday night, and it often spurred long conversations about our lives together, and how everything had turned out even better than we ever imagined. I hope to continue to write these columns each week because the period from September 1969 to July 1971 was quite possibly the most important in my life; Susan and I built a plan together during that time, and then we figured out how to make it a reality. I will from time to time add parenthetical comments at the end of each column mentioning what was happening in our lives at the time; Deb may not want to include them in the newsletter, which is fine, but you'll see them on my page each week.)
The Open Door Home held dedication ceremonies for a new dorm on Saturday, September 13th. The new fully air-conditioned wing, which had beds for 32 children, also included a housemother's suite, a library/reading room, a recreation room, and grooming room. This was the largest addition to the Open Door Home since it moved to 5 Leon Street in West Rome in 1936. The addition meant that the Open Door Home could offer shelter and support for up to 125 children.
Sgt. Charles L. Burnes Jr., son of Mr. & Mrs. Charles L. Burnes of 103 Shorter Avenue, was awarded the Silver Star (the Army's third highest award for valor) in a ceremony at For Benning. Burns, who was a 1965 graduate from West Rome, received the award for heroic actions while serving in Vietnam.
Governor Lester Maddox named the West Rome High School Band, directed by Johnny Shook, as the official flag-bearers of the six flags which had flown over Georgia during the state's history. The band's flag-bearers included Jeanne Ellison, Deborah Helms, Marilynn Little, Pam Lundy, Linda Shaw, Jeanne Thompson, Kathy Tolbert, Jane Upshaw, and Mimi Upshaw.
Coach Nick Hyder spoke at the Breakfast Optimist Club of Rome during their Wednesday morning meeting on September 10th. Hyder offered some insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the 1969-1970 football team.
Talking about the week's game against Coosa, Coach Hyder described the 1969 Eagles as "the finest Coosa team we've ever played, judging from what we saw in the spring and in their first game." No matter how good Coosa looked, though, West Rome apparently looked better: the Chieftains won the game 7-6. The Eagles had a shot at a win, but they blew it when the tried for a 2 point conversion after their touchdown; they failed, while Mark Brewer was right on target with his one-point kick after the James Blanton's touchdown.
The Rome City School Board trimmed the 1969-1970 school system budget by $110,000 in anticipation of curtailment of all funding from the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The reduction resulted in the loss of 17 instructors, including two music teachers, one drivers' training instructor, one reading specialist, and thirteen classroom teachers (6 elementary, 3 junior high school, and 4 high school).
Piggly Wiggly had sirloin steak for $1.29 a pound, Royal Cup Coffee for 49¢ a pound, and Dempsey Dairies milk for $1.18 a gallon. Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 48¢ a half-gallon, and Campbell soup for 11¢ a can. A&P had hickory smoked hams for 39¢ a pound, iceberg lettuce for 25¢ a head, and Van Camp's pork & beans for 29¢ a can. Big Apple had Cudahy bacon for 79¢ a pound, Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 33¢ a carton plus deposit, and a 20-ounce jar of Bama strawberry preserves for 49¢. Couch's had chicken breast for 59¢ a pound, tomatoes for 19¢ a pound, and Van Camp's chili for 33¢ a can.
The cinematic week began with Goodbye Columbus (starring Richard Benjamin) at the DeSoto Theatre, Smith (starring Glenn Ford) at the First Avenue, Ice Station Zebra (starring Rock Hudson) at the Village Theater (Rome's newest theater addition, which opened on Turner McCall on August 14th), and Gone With the Wind (starring Clark Gable) at the West Rome Drive-In. The end-of-the-week switchout brought Chairman (starring Gregory Peck) to the DeSoto, McKenna's Gold (starring Omar Sharif) to the First Avenue, Shoes of a Fisherman (starring Anthony Quinn) to the Village, and 2001: A Space Odyssey (starring Keir Dullea) to the West Rome Drive-In.
This week in 1969, Janis Joplin released her first solo album (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!) after leaving Big Brother and the Holding Company. Also this week, John Lennon flew to Toronto to appear in concert without any of the other Beatles. This was also the week that the Rolling Stones released their best-selling Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits Volume 2), a great album visually distinguished by its octagonal record cover.
The Archies took number one this week with the song "Sugar, Sugar." This was the second number one hit of the year for singer Ron Dante, who was the lead singer and instrumentalist on this song as well as "Tracy," ostensibly recorded by the Cuff Links. Other top ten hits included "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones (#2); "Green River" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#3); "A Boy Named Sue" by Johnny Cash (#4); "Easy to Be Hard" by Three Dog Night (#5); "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Tom Jones (#6); "Get Together" by the Youngbloods (#7); "Jean" by OIiver (#8); "Little Woman" by Bobby Sherman (#9); and "I Can't Get Next To You" by the Temptations (#10).
This was the week for cartoons: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? and The Archie Comedy Hour both joined the CBS Saturday morning line-up on September 13th.
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