Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 3/9/1970 to 3/15/1970

West Rome was ground zero for funny money this week in 1970. Counterfeit $20 bills (all with the same serial number) showed up at two West Rome groceries and at the First National Bank. Soon after that, a girl found three more bills scattered along Williamson Street in West Rome. After she heard the story about counterfeit bills on the radio, she called the police and turned in the three bills. Rome City police investigated and then called in the Secret Service.

Village Inn Pizza opened at 1803 Shorter Avenue in West Rome this week in 1970. The restaurant was open from 11am to 12am on Monday through Saturday and from noon until 10pm on Sunday, with live entertainment by Frances Jones and her Dixieland Band both Friday and Saturday. In addition, the restaurant offered prize drawings every hour on Fridays and Saturdays for their grand opening, along with free soft drinks, candy, and balloons for kids. (Village Inn became a favorite for Susan and me in the 1970s, because their Italian sausage was richly flavored with lots of fennel and they often offered ground pepperoni, a pizza topping a preferred to sliced pepperoni because it enabled you to get a richer pepperoni flavor in each bite. But one of the main reasons we liked it was that it was so convenient, less than a mile from my parents' house in West Rome. Convenience is always a big plus!)

Sheriff Joe Adams kept his promise to enforce Georgia' blue laws, arresting Big K manager Montie Rasure and assisting manager Levi Phillips for violating the Sunday closing law. According to the Rome News-Tribune, "the atmosphere inside the store was almost festive, and everyone from the sheriff to Rasure seemed amused about the entire affair. Employees and customers voiced approached newsmen and voiced their opinion about the Sunday closing law after asking what the sheriff was about to do." The most insightful comments quoted in the paper? "If the Sheriff locks this place up, he out to lock up all the mills are here that open on Sunday, too. I need a day off," and "That damned law don't make a bit of sense to me. It's plum cockeyed." When the managers realized that the officers planned to arrest clerks for selling the merchandise, Rasure and Phillips stepped in and sent the clerks elsewhere, manning the registers themselves to ensure that no one on their staff went to jail for selling the merchandise. Customers applauded the manager and assistant manager for their actions to protect their staff from arrest. (And if there was any doubt that this was the beginning of the end of Georgia blue laws, the response of the people watching this show put that to doubt.)

The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare turned their attention from high schools to colleges in the spring of 1970, serving notice that Georgia and nine other states were operating segregated college and university systems. The notification gave Georgia until the end of April to submit desegregation plans. It was pointed out that Floyd Junior College, under construction for a fall 1970 opening, would be fully desegregated from the day it opened.

Temperatures dropped to a sub-freezing 20 degrees on Saturday night, March 14th, tying the all-time low record for that date. Sunday night saw scattered snow flurries with a low of 35 degrees--but because it never got below freezing, the snow melted soon after falling and there were no weather-related problems.

Piggly Wiggly had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, Oscar Mayer hot dogs for 69¢ a package, and sweet potatoes for 12¢ a pound. Kroger had jiffy steak for 89¢ a pound, Starkist tuna for 33¢ a can, and fresh strawberries for 29¢ a pint. A&P had T-Bone steak for $1.19 a pound, Bush beans for a dime a can, and tomatoes for 39¢ a pound.  Big Apple had whole hams for 43¢ a pound, Campbell's tomato soup for a dime a can, and bananas for a dime a pound. Couch's had leg o' lamb for 79¢ a pound, Saltine crackers for 39¢ a box, and lettuce for 15¢ a head.. 

The cinematic week began with Gaily, Gaily (starring Brian Keith) at the DeSoto Theatre, Chastity (starring Cher) at the First Avenue, Cactus Flower (with Walter Matthau) at the Village, and Planet of the Apes (starring Charlton Heston) at the West Rome Drive-In. The weekend switch out brought Downhill Racer (starring Robert Redford) to the DeSoto Theatre, The Sterile Cuckoo (starring Liza Minelli) to the First Avenue, John and Mary (starring Dustin Hoffman & Mia Farrow) to the Village, and Lady in Cement (starring Frank Sinatra) to the West Rome Drive-In. 

Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" held its lock on the number one slot this week in 1970. Other top ten hits included "The Rapper" by the Jaggerz (#2); "Give Me Just a Little More Time" by the Chairmen of the Board (#3); "Instant Karma (We All Shine On" by John Lennon (#4); "Rainy Night in Georgia" by Brook Benton (#5); "Let It Be" by the Beatles (#6); "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by the Hollies (#7); "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse (#8); "Evil Ways" by Santana (#9); and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" by the Delfonics (#10).