Friday, May 29, 2020

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 6/1/1970 to 6/7/1970

(The next few weeks of Fifty Years Ago... will be skimpier than I'd like, because many daily issues of the Rome News-Tribune are missing from the archives. This week, for instance, the paper only had four of the six days available (there was no Saturday paper back then). Sunday papers seem to be missing for most of the summer, and some weeks have as few as two days of newspapers on file.)

The opening of Floyd Junior College brought an end to the Rome Center for Continuing Education, which launched in 1948 as an extension of the University System of Georgia. The center, which had an enrollment of 441 in its final year of operation, offered courses in western world literature, English composition, algebra, western civilization, contemporary social problems, American History, American government, speech, psychology, sociology, and trigonometry. The center planned to merge its course offerings with the new junior college when it began offering courses in the fall of 1970. (Until I found this article, I had no idea that there was a Rome Center for Continuing Education offering courses that could transfer to any Georgia University System school!)

Rome city pools (the main city pool and the Hardy Street pool) opened at 1pm on Friday, June 5th. Admission was 25¢ for children 12 and under, 35¢ for teenagers, and 50¢ for adults.

The Braves held Rome Night on June 2nd, with Rome's Ralph Primm throwing out the first ball and Judge HE Nichols singing the national anthem. Rome civic leaders organized busses to transport Romans to Atlanta Stadium for the game against the New York Mets.Romans got to watch the Braves win that game 4-1, thanks to Phil Niekro, who threw a four-hitter for the night. The Mets blamed the evening rain for their loss, complaining that the game should have been called due to bad weather that left puddles on the field, but Romans who attended the game dismissed those complaints as sour grapes.

A&P had beef roast for 69¢ a pound, Bush's pork & beans for a dime a can, and large eggs for 39¢ a dozen. Piggly Wiggly had Wilson's ham for 39¢ a pound, canntaloupes for 33¢ each, and 100 Tetley tea bags for 99¢. Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 27¢ a pound, carrots for a dime a bag, and Downy Flake frozen waffles for a quarter a box. Big Apple had ground beef for 55¢ a pound, Irvindale ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon, and whole watermelons for 99¢ each. Coiuch's had sirloin steak for $1.09 a pound, corn for 8¢ an ear, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 33¢ a carton plus deposit.

The cinematic week began with Let It Be (the Michael Lindsay-Hogg documentary about the making of the Beatles' final album release) at the DeSoto Theatre, Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?  (starring Geraldine Page) at the First Avenue, Norwood (starring Glen Campbell & Kim Darby) at the Village, and The Reivers (starring Steve McQueen) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Walt Disney's King of the Grizzlies to the DeSoto, the X-rated Cindy & Donna to the First Avenue, and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (starring Paul Newman & Robert Redford) to the West Rome Drive-In, while Norwood hung around at the Village for another week.

The Beatles held the number one slot this week with "The Long & Winding Road." Other top ten hits included "Which Way You Going Billy?" by the Poppy Family (#2); "Everything Is Beautiful" by Ray Stevens (#3); "Get Ready" by Rare Earth (#4); "Love on a Two-Way Street" by the Moments (#5); "Cecilia" by Simon & Garfunkel (#6); "The Letter" by Joe Cocker (#7); "Up Around the Bend/Run Through the Jungle" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#8); "Make Me Smile" by Chicago (#9); and "The Love You Save" by the Jackson 5 (#10).

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