Population growth was boosting West Rome (and East Rome) enrollment so much that the Rome City School Board announced that they could not accept any new tuition students for the 1968-1969 school year. Those who had attended West Rome or East Rome as tuition students for the '67-'68 school year would be allowed to continue, but if any student decided to return to his/her "home school," that student would not be allowed to return to the Rome system as a tuition student. Superintendent M.S. McDonald said that there were 52 tuition students at the two high schools.
New teachers to the Rome City School System were invited to attend the Red Apple Luncheon at East Rome High School. The Rome Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored the luncheon, which continued with a tour of the Rome area, including a stop at the Boys Club of Rome for refreshments and a musical performance.
Normally, high school football players would have begun pre-season practice two weeks before school started--which would have been this week in 1968. However, with new Georgia High School Association rules prohibiting high school football games prior to Labor Day, area coaches decided to wait an extra week before starting practice. That mean that Chieftain football players had one more week of summer to enjoy before reporting for practice on August 19th (and that practice could not include pads, since the new rules prohibited practice in pads before August 26th)--and considering that the highs this week in 1968 were in the mid-90s, you can be pretty sure that the players appreciated the time off the practice field! The players didn't get a totally free week, though: coaches had players report to the high school gym at 8am for two hours of calisthenics.
The Rome Health Department moved to its new facilities on West Tenth Street this week in 1968. The new facility was almost three times the size of the original facility, allowing the medical staff to assist far more Romans. (I still recall getting various vaccinations at the health department facility, as well as my blood test for our marriage license.)
Rome and Floyd County police officers joined with federal agents in raiding an illegal liquor operation located on (get ready for it) Booze Mountain Road. The still's operator had over a hundred gallons of illegal whiskey in his home and garage. Naturally, authorities destroyed the booze and the still.
Car thieves targeted the usually-packed Gala Shopping Center parking lot, with three car thefts reported this week in 1968. All three cars were a year old or less, and two of the three were late-model Chevrolets. Police encouraged drivers to be sure that their cars were locked and that the driver had the keys with him or her; in every case, the cars had been left unlocked, and in one of the cases, the drivers left the keys under the front seat of the car.
Cato's opened its Gala Shopping Center location on Thursday, August 15th, 1968. All opening weekend visitors were encouraged to enter in a free drawings for a variety of clothing giveaways.
Piggly Wiggly had ground chuck for 69¢ a pound, okra for 19¢ a pound, and Maxwell House instant coffee for $1.39 a jar. Big Apple had round steak for 79¢ a pound, cantaloupes for 33¢ each, and a five-pound bag of Dixie Crystals sugar for 39¢. A&P had pork chops for 59¢ a pound, Poss beef stew for 49¢ a can, and Valencia oranges for 69¢ a dozen. Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, Morton frozen cream pies for a quarter each, and Kroger bread for 18¢ a loaf. Couch's had Oscar Mayer hot dogs for 39¢ a package, bell peppers for a nickel each, and Nabisco saltines for 37¢ a box.
The cinematic week began with The Detective (starring Frank Sinatra) at the DeSoto Theatre, Dark of the Sun (starring Rod Taylor) at the First Avenue, and Planet of the Apes (starring Charlton Heston) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought The Thomas Crown Affair (starring Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway) to the DeSoto and Inspector Clouseau (starring Alan Arkin & Peter Sellers) to the First Avenue, while The Detective moved to the West Rome Drive-In.
The Rascals took number one this week in 1968 with "People Got to Be Free." Other top ten hits included "Hello, I Love You" by the Doors (#2); "Classical Gas" by Mason Williams (#3); "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwofl (#4); "Light My Fire" by José Feliciano (#5); "Stoned Soul Picnic" by the 5th Dimension (#6); "Turn Around, Look at Me" by the Vogues (#7); "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream (#8); "Grazing in the Grass" by Hugh Masekela (#9); and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" by Donovan (#10). What an amazing week for great music!
Cheap Thrills by Big Brother & the Holding Company was released this week in 1968. The album featured some pretty solid instrumentation, but the real cause for its success was the performance of the group's amazing vocalist, Janis Joplin, who would soon leave the group and become a rock superstar in her own right.
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