Saturday, March 21, 2020

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 3/23/1970 to 3/29/1970

Jesse Laseter was promoted from assistant susperintendent to the position of superintendent of schools this week in 1970. Laseter, who came to Rome in 1968, was the father of West Rome students Jody Laseter (then a sophomore) and Julie, a student at West End Elementary.

The dispute between Ken Stanton Music, The Music Room, and the Rome Board of Education was supposed to advance to the state-ordered hearing stage in response to Ken Stanton Music's appeal of a decision by the board of education to allow only the Music Room to conduct band recruitment programs in city schools. The board of education was scheduled to act as judges in the hearing, which seemed like a strange ruling since it meant that one of the defendants was judging the outcome of the trial, but the State Board of Education said that if Stanton was unhappy with the new hearing, he could again appeal and the next hearing would be adjudicated by the State Board itself. However, the hearing didn't actually take place; Rome School Board chairman W.B. Primm told attendees at the meeting that a problem with a court reporter's schedule required the change--but of course, this "problem" wasn't mentioned until an hour after the meeting was supposed to have started. The Board said the meeting would take place a week later, provided a court reporter could be present. Needless to say, representative for Ken Stanton Music were unhappy, feeling that the delay was little more than a stalling tactic.

West Rome's Martin Rollinson won the Rome Breakfast Optimist Club's annual Oratorical Contest on Monday night, March 23rd, at the Rome Boy's Club (Rollinson's second wind in a row). The contestants spoke on "Youth-Full Partners in a Better Tomorrow," and they were required to speak for a minimum of four minutes and a maximum of five minutes without any notes or aids. They were judged on delivery, speech content, and overall effectiveness. Rollinson advanced to the zone competition, which was scheduled for April in Cedartown.

West Rome's annual Green and White football game took place on Thursday, March 26th, and the White team won 14-13, thanks to a fourth-quarter touchdown by Allen Carrington and a successful point after kick by Randy Hatch.

Piggly Wiggly had hen turkeys for 39¢ a pound, Van Camp's chili for 29¢ a can, and five pounds of grapefruit for 59¢. Kroger had ground beef for 53¢ a pound, sweet potatoes for 12¢ a pound, and Sealtest ice cream for 55¢ a half-gallon. Big Apple had rib roast for 89¢ a pound, apples for 16¢ a pound, and a five-pound bag of frozen french fries for 69¢. A&P had sirloin steak for $1.19 a pound, Hormel Vienna sausages for a dime a can, and carrots for a dime a bag. Couch's had chicken breast for 59¢ a pound, Nabisco vanilla wafers for 39¢ a box, and Van Camp's pork & beans for 15¢ a can.

The cinematic week began with The Secret of Santa Vittoria (starring Anthony Quinn) at the DeSoto Theatre, Fanny Hill (an X-rated Danish film) at the First Avenue, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (starring Jane Fonda) at the Village, and Those Were the Happy Times (starring Julie Andrews) at the West Rome Drive-In.  The weekend switch out brought The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (starring Kurt Russell) to the DeSoto and The Undefeated (starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson) to the West Rome Drive-In, whole They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Fanny Hill hung around at the First Avenue and the Village, respectively.

Jimi Hendrix said farewell to the Experience and hello the the Band of Gypsys this week in 1970. Band of Gypsys, the one-and-only album by Hendrix, Billy Cox, and Buddy Miles, was also the last Hendrix album release prior to his death. This was also release week for Leon Russell's eponymous first album and Ringo Starr's Sentimental Journey, a strange album of cover versions of old standards that was also the first full studio album by any solo Beatle. The album featured Starr singing and assortment of his mother's favorite old songs; he even let her and the rest of the family choose the tracks.

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