Saturday, April 21, 2018

Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 4/22/1968 to 4/28/1968

Daylight saving time went into effect for the second year in a row on Sunday morning, April 28th, much to the dismay of most Romans. A local survey showed that 72% of Romans were opposed to daylight saving time; the survey also showed that 28% of those who were opposed also had no idea that daylight saving time had actually gone into effect!

Mike Johnson and Xavier Smith picked up three first places each in Monday’s track meet against Berry Academy, which was enough to secure West Rome’s 85-51 win. Johnson not only took first place in the 100-yard dash and the 220-yard dash, but he also took first in the shot put—and that wasn’t an event he normally participated in, but he was filling in for an absent teammate! Smith took first in the high jump, the high hurdles, and the low hurdles. Johnny Rimes took two first places, in the triple jump and the 440-yard dash. 

Two days later, the West Rome track team racked up another win in a three-way meet against Dalton and Cherokee. Mike Johnson and Johnny Rimes were the only double winners for the Chieftains; Johnson won in the 100-yard dash and the 220-yard dash; Rimes won in the broad jump and the triple jump. 

West Rome lost against crosstown rivals East Rome in a region baseball game on April 23rd in a 3-0 game. The team performed much better in Saturday’s region game against Wills, which the Chiefs won 4-1. Gerald Tucker pitched the winning game, giving West Rome a 5-4 record, with a  4-2 record in region play. 

Berry College hosted an Up With People concert on April 22nd. The concert, organized by a non-profit group called Moral Re-Armament, used popular music as a tool to stress positivism. “We believe in the four moral standards of love, purity, unselfishness, and honesty,” Larry Moudy, a member of the group, said. “We try to apply the four standards to our daily lives. We are trying to create a society that not only believes in these standards but actually put them to work.”

Russell Field airport officials were taken by surprise when the federal government approved a grant of $16,500 for improvements, rather than the $288,000 that the airport officials had requested. “We are very disappointed,” federal programs coordinator Richard L. McCullough said. “There is a pressing need for improvements at Russell Field. I think they only granted us what they thought was the most pressing need at the airport. This amount is only a drop in the bucket.” McCullough pointed out that the entire amount that had been requested was necessary to implement improvements that had previously been recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Big Apple had baking hens for 29¢ a pound, corn for 7¢ an ear, and Irvindale ice cream or sherbet for 49¢ a pound. A&P had pork loin for 59¢ a pound, Parkay margarine for 25¢ a pound, or iceberg lettuce for 19¢ a pound. Piggly Wiggly had beef roast for 39¢ a pound, cucumbers for a dime each, and strawberries for 39¢ a pint. Kroger had sirloin steak for 99¢ a pound, a 16-ounce jar of Peter Pan peanut butter for 49¢, and Morton frozen pot pies for 14¢ each. Couch’s had lamb roast for 49¢ a pound, cantaloupes for 33¢ each, and the ever-popular Couch’s custom-ground country sausage for 49¢ a pound.

The cinematic week began with Walt Disney’s Blackbeard’s Ghost (starring Peter Ustinov) at the DeSoto Theatre, The Graduate (starring Dustin Hoffman & Ann Bancroft) at the First Avenue, and Eight on the Lam (starring Bob Hope) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Stay Away Joe (starring Elvis Presley) to the DeSoto and Sergeant Ryker (starring Lee Marvin)  to the West Rome Drive-In, while The Graduate was retained at the First Avenue.

Bobby Goldsboro held on to the number one slot for another week with the sentimental ballad “Honey.” Other top ten songs included “Cry Like a Baby” by the Box Tops (#2); “Young Girl” by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap (#3); “Lady Madonna” by the Beatles (#4); “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone” by Aretha Franklin (#5); “I Got the Feelin’” by James Brown and the Famous Flames (#6); “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding (#7); “Dance to the Music” by Sly & the Family Stone (#8); “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & the Drells (#9); and “The Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde” by Georgie Fame (#10). 


The Monkees released their fifth album, The Birds, The Bees, & The Monkees, this week in 1968; while it made it to #3, it was the first Monkees album not to make it to the number one slot. 

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