Friday, October 25, 2019

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/27/1969 to 11/2/1969

The week started off pretty badly for the Chieftains as Nick Hyder announced, "The grave's been dug, but we're not in it yet." What led to such a grim statement? The news that five regulars would most likely miss the Saturday night game against the Pepperell dragons. End-linebacker David Watkins, quarterback Randy Hatch, end Jim Poplin, tailback John Sapp, and end Frank Felker were all on the injured-or-ill list. "I don't ever recall a worse situation with injuries in all my years of coaching," Hyder said. "Right now, we're working with several combinations in practice, trying to find replacements for these boys. Hyder had already called Johnny Thompkins up from the ninth grade team at the recommendation of Coach Wesley Jenkins, who said that the ninth grade team was undefeated in seven games thanks largely to the work of Thompkins.

In spite of those missing players, West Rome managed to rack up a 21-13 victory over Pepperell at Barron Stadium on Saturday, November 1st. That put West Rome in a tie with East Rome for first place in Region 7-AA South--which also meant that the upcoming East-West game would determine the sub-region championship. Thomas Crowley racked up the first touchdown with a ten-yard run; Allen Carrington racked up the second touchdown with an 83-yard run; and Stan Green picked off a Pepperell pass, kicking off a drive that set up David Love for a quarterback sneak that turned into West Rome's third touchdown.

Georgia's Tax Revision Commission continued to look at ways to modify Georgia's tax system. The plan under consideration in October would have exempted groceries and prescription drugs from sales tax, but would raise the tax on other items from 3% to 3.5%. The exemption would cost the state $46 million, but the half-percent increase would bring in $50 million, making the state $4 million richer under the new plan. The Tax Revision Commission also okayed local option income taxes for cities and counties that wanted to add a 1% income tax on those who lived or worked within  their borders.

The Georgia Board of Regents said that (in spite of the fact that they were re-bidding the contract for permanent construction) the new Floyd Junior College should be open for classes by the fall of 1970. They did say, however, that the classes might start in a temporary facility if construction wasn't finished by the time the fall quarter was scheduled to begin. The Board of Regents also revealed that they were modifying the plans to make the initial facilities about 10% smaller than initially planned in order to save on construction costs.

Rome City School Board representatives revealed that they were working on plans to fully desegregate all grades  in the Rome City school system by the fall of 1970 in keeping with new Department of Health, Education, and Welfare rulings. This would require that Rome desegregate all twelve grades one year earlier than their previously approved plan had specified, but Rome said that they were close enough to that level already that the earlier deadline should not be a problem and no education funding should be in jeopardy.

The Rome Pilot Club donated a Baldwin studio piano to the Rome Boy's Club assembly room for use by the Rome Boys Club Choir; the piano would also be available for supervised use by Boys Club members.

Piggly Wiggly had chicken livers for 39¢ a pound, a six pack of Coca-Cola/Sprite/Tab/Fanta in cans for 49¢, and bananas for a dime a pound. A&P had rib steaks for 89¢ a pound, Armour Vienna sausages for 27¢ a can, and corn for 12¢ an ear. Big Apple had smoked center cut pork chops for 99¢ a pound, Mrs. Bell's mayonnaise for 39¢ a quart, and Irvindale ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon. Kroger had sirloin steak for $1.19 a pound, medium eggs for 49¢ a dozen, and oranges for a dime a pound. Couch's had chili meat (which I presume was chunky ground beef) for 59¢ a pound, Bama peanut butter for 39¢ a hard, and cabbage for 9¢ a pound.

The cinematic week began with Some Kind of a Nut (starring Dick Van Dyke) at the DeSoto Theatre, Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (starring Tony Curtis) at the First Avenue, Alice's Restaurant (starring Arlo Guthrie) at the Village, and Romeo & Juliet (starring Leonard Whiting & Olivia Hussey) at the West Rome Drive-In. The end-of-week switchout brought Battle of Britain (starring Michael Caine) to the DeSoto, Hell's Angels '69 (starring Tom Stern) to the First Avenue, File of the Golden Goose (starring Yul Brynner) to the Village, and Kiss & Kill (starring Christopher Lee) to the West Rome Drive-In.

The 5th Dimension moved into the number one slot this week in 1969 with "Wedding Bell Blues." Other top ten hits included "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley (#2); "Come Together" by the Beatles (#3); "I Can't Get Next To You" by the Temptations (#4); "Baby It's You" by Smith (#5); "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies (#6); "Hot Fun in the Summertime by Sly & the Family Stone (#7); "And When I Die" by Blood, Sweat, & Tears (#8); "Something" by the Beatles (#9--and I have no idea how they determined the Beatles' placement this week, since "Come Together/Something" was a double-A-sided single); and "Smile a Little Smile for Me" by the Flying Machine (#10).

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