Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/28/1968 to to 11/3/1968

The West Rome football team went into the week one game behind crosstown rival East Rome in Region 7-AA... and that meant that West Rome had to win the Friday night game against Pepperell if they had any hope of advancing to post-season play. Coach Nick Hyder tapped senior Jimmy Edwards to take the quarterback position (replacing Mike Johnson, who fractured his shoulder two weeks earlier against Marietta) in hopes that his prior experience would help to offset the loss of Johnson. Alas, it was not to be: in spite of a great performance by Edwards, West Rome lost to Pepperell 26-14 as Pepperell methodically took advantages of weaknesses in West Rome's defense. West Rome dominated the first half and began the third quarter with a 14-6 lead, but Pepperell simply outplayed the Chieftains in the second half

We take the concept of school lunches for granted nowadays, but this time fifty years ago, there was no requirement that schools offer any sort of lunch program. Amendment Four was written to require the school lunch program to be considered a vital, essential, and mandatory part of any Georgia school. Georgia had higher than average school lunch program participation at 73%, while Rome City Schools' school lunch program participation was even higher than that at 80%. The proposed amendment would require schools to offer a lunch program and to subsidize lunches for students who were unable to afford the cost of a prepared lunch every day. "The price and availability of a school lunch determines whether some children can have any lunch at all or not," Mrs. Anne McDonald, president of the Georgia Food Association, said.

Rome businesses were pushing hard for the bond referendum for the construction of the proposed Floyd Junior College, with the Chamber of Commerce coming out strong in support of the referendum, along with all Rome radio stations.

Shorter Avenue had the dubious distinction of serving as the site of three of Rome's ten most dangerous intersections, determined by the number of accidents that occurred there in the prior year. The intersection with Redmond Circle (at the corner where West Rome High School stood) was the "winner," with the Burnett Ferry Road intersection coming in at #4 and the Division Street intersection coming in at #7.

Murphy's got the jump on Christmas by announcing plans to have Santa at the store every Saturday from November 2nd through Christmas. Big K actually brought in Santa one day earlier on Friday, November 1st, but that was just for one day, not for every weekend, so it was Murphy's for the win!

Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, Kroger white bread for 18¢ a loaf, and a five-pound bag of oranges for 59¢. Piggly Wiggly had Chuck Wagon bacon for 49¢ a pound, Lady Alice ice milk for an ultra-low 29¢ a half-gallon, and Brach's Pic-a-Mix candy (I have always loved their chocolate covered peanuts and their malt balls!) for 49¢ a pound.  Big Apple had veal cutlets for $1.19 a pound (which may be why we never once had veal when I was growing up), Mrs. B's frozen pizza for 59¢, and (get ready for it) six-foot tall aluminum pom-pom Christmas trees with 48 branches for only $3.97 each! A&P had rump roast (admit it, you still snicker at the name, don't you? Well, I do, anyway...) for 99¢ a pound,  Golden Rise biscuits for 6¢ a can, and a 2 pound Jane Parker fruitcake for $1.79. Couch's had three-pound Armour Star boneless hams for $2.79, Maxwell House coffee for 69¢ a can, and Bama jelly for 25¢ a jar.

The cinematic week began with Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (starring Shirley MacLaine) at the DeSoto Theatre, Bill Wallace of China (starring Gregory Walcott--and no, I've never heard of it, either) at the First Avenue, and A Covenant With Death (starring George Maharis) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought The Ugly Ones (starring Richard Wyler) the the Desoto Theatre, a double feature of Thunderball and From Russia With Love (two James Bond films starring Sean Connery) at the First Avenue, and The Shuttered Room (starring Carol Lynley) to the West Rome Drive-In. Fifty years later, it still baffles me that, in a town with only two indoor theatre, one of them would feature a double feature of a three-year-old and five-year-old film rather than actually showing something new...

This week in 1968, the Beatles maintained their hold on number one with "Hey Jude." Other top ten hits included "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkin (#2); "Love Child" by Diana Ross & The Supremes (#3); "Little Green Apples" by OC Smith (#4); "Hold Me Tight" by Johnny Nash (#5); "White Room" by Cream (#6); "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf (#7); "Elenore" by the Turtles (#8); "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (#9); and "Midnight Confessions" by the Grass Roots (#10).

Did you remember a time when soap operas were only fifteen minutes long? We'll, if you watched The Guiding Light or Search for Tomorrow prior to this week in 1968, you do! Both soaps went from a fifteen-minute format to a half-hour format this week in 1968, marking the end to fifteen-minute-long network programming.

Fifty years ago this week, the first solo Beatles album was released: Wonderwall Music by George Harrison. The album blended classical elements, Indian music, and a dash of experimentalism; guest musicians included Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton. Since Harrison did not include himself on the list of contributing musicians, many assumed that Harrison just produced the album, but he actually played keyboard and guitar on many of the tracks.