Rome and Floyd County students celebrated a long holiday break. Both school systems were closed the week of Christmas and the week of New Years, giving students 16 days in a row out of school. Floyd County non-school employees got all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as a holiday. Rome city non-school employees got the shortest break of all; they had to work until noon on Christmas Eve and then got Christmas Day off.
Rome didn't get a white Christmas, but it did get a cold Christmas, with a low of 15 degrees on Christmas Eve night and a high of 35 on Christmas day. Temperatures warmed into the upper forties later in the week.
West Rome defeated Cedartown 74-56 on December 23rd to advance to the semifinals of the Rome News-Tribune Holiday Festival basketball tournament. William Shelton was the Chieftains' high scorer with 18 points. West Rome then defeated Pepperell 60-51 on December 26th to advance to the finals; Kenny Stephens was the high scorer with 18 points. Alas, West Rome lost 75-49 to the Calhoun Yellow Jackets in the final round of play.
Rome and Floyd County released nine prisoners so that they could enjoy Christmas with their families--but two of them returned to jail on Christmas day because they didn't want to miss the Christmas meal for prisoners, which included baked ham, turkey, dressing, lima beans, Waldorf salad, cranberry sauce, fresh biscuits, fruitcake, coffee, and tea, along with an assortment of candy, fruit, and nuts. Warden Bill Scoggins said it wasn't unusual for prisoners to voluntarily return to jail. "Most of them can't get a meal this good anywhere else," he said.
Vandals damaged almost every gravestone at the West Seventh Avenue Cemetery in the early hours of Monday morning, December 23rd. According to the Rome Police, the vandals climbed over a fence and entered the cemetery at about 2am, where they used sledgehammers to shatter tombstones and used other implements to tear up the grass on numerous graves. They also scattered all flower arrangements around the cemetery. The vandals were gone by the time the police arrived.
Christmas thieves went looking for their own gifts in the early morning hours of Christmas Day, and found them at Quality Produce Company (where they broke into a safe and stole $400 in cash, $1000 worth of stock certificates, and a bag of old coins), at Hill Truck & Tractor Company (where they stole almost $7000 worth of tools), and at S&S Supermarket (where they stole two hams, a turkey, some cigarettes, and about $100 in cash). Burglary attempts at Big K and the Singer Sewing Center at Gala Shopping Center proved unsuccessful.
Three adolescents (all East Rome students, of course) were found under the Second Avenue Bridge on the night of December 27th, all highly intoxicated. Their beverage of choice? Vanilla extract, which had an alcohol base; they had all drunk several bottles before passing out. The 13 and 16 year olds were released to their parents, but the 12 year old drank so much that he had to be hospitalized.
Piggly Wiggly had hog jowl for 16¢ a pound, Heinz tomato soup for a dime a can, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 33¢ a carton (plus deposit). Kroger had five pounds of Dixie Crystals sugar for 39¢, tom turkeys for 28¢ a pound, and oranges for 33¢ a dozen. Big Apple had sirloin steak for 99¢ a pound, Southern Maid black-eyed peas for a dime a can, and bananas for a dime a pound. A&P had jiffy steak for 89¢ a pound, Irvindale ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon, and golden delicious apples for 12¢ a pound. Couch's had pork roast for 59¢ a pound, collard greens for 25¢ a bunch, and ten pounds of potatoes for 49¢.
Astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders celebrated Christmas 1968 very far away from home—farther than any human being had ever been before, in fact. Shortly before Christmas, they became the first humans to orbit the moon (and the first humans to see the dark side of the moon, as well as the first humans to witness Earthrise over the surface of the moon. On Christmas Eve night, while in orbit around the moon, the crew assured those of us who were still earthbound that there is a Santa Claus, after which they read a passage from the book of Genesis. They left lunar orbit on Christmas Day and returned to Earth on December 27th.
The cinematic week began with The Split (starring Julie Harris) at the DeSoto Theatre, Far From the Madding Crowd (starring Julie Christie) at the First Avenue, and Salt & Pepper (starring Peter Lawford) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Hellfighters (starring John Wayne) to the DeSoto Theatre, Bullitt (starring Steve McQueen) to the First Avenue, and Coogan's Bluff (starring Clint Eastwood) to the West Rome Drive-In.
Marvin Gaye climbed to the number one slot this week in 1968 with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." Other top ten hits included "For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder (#2); "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" by Diana Ross & the Supremes (#3); "Soulful Strut" by Young-Holt Unlimited (#4); "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell (#5); "Cloud Nine" by the Temptations (#6); "Love Child" by Diana Ross & The Supremes (#7); "Stormy" by the Classics IV Featuring Dennis Yost (#8); "Who's Making Love" by Johnnie Taylor (#9); and "Hooked on a Feeling" by BJ Thomas (#10).
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