1- 1966 Jan: School Bus Sagas, Arsonist Strikes Again, Wizard of Oz, & Braces!
Another year of remembering. These quoted writings come from my childhood diaries I kept from 1964–1970. My diary entries from 1966 are detailed in the next episodes. I’m having fun reminiscing as I share them. I hope the glance back into the past is a reminder that although things have changed a lot technologically and even culturally, many threads of family and friends still were similarly strong then as in many cases today. I’m happy to share with those who will remember these times and with many who may find through these writings a piece of history not previously realized.
In those first days of January 1966, historical events unfolded around the country/world. I mention a few here to provide the backdrop for a 13 year old’s story. My sources are Wikipedia and a site called “On This Day.”
The transit workers in NYC went on strike the 1st–12th and shut down NYC’s subway system. An announcement by President Johnson stated that the US should stay in South Vietnam until the communist aggression ends. The Georgia State House of Representatives denied Julian Bond his seat because of his being against the Vietnam War.
The TV show Batman starring Adam West premiered on ABC. After torrential rains, landslides killed 550 in the mountains just behind Rio de Janeiro. The spy plane the SR-71 known as the Blackbird went into service at Beale AFB.
Most students in Junior High School in Southwest Georgia, took little notice of these events as they did not affect them personally in their day to day lives.
People mentioned in this story:
Friends: Laurie, Brownie, Diane, Wanda, Razz, Johnny and Ramona were all my same-age classmates; Dan, Ken, and Jackie were my brother’s classmates
Family: my mom and dad and Uncle Leonard (my father’s brother), my brother Adie (16), Uncle Rody (my mother’s brother) and Aunt Gladys
Other grownups in my world were: Mr McKinney (Science teacher) and Dr. Pugh (our only medical doctor in Lumpkin, small town population ~2000)
“1 Jan 1966 (8th grade), Today is the beginning of a new year. I’ve been listening to the radio a lot. Mama is sleeping in the room next door. 2 Jan 1966, I didn’t go to Sunday School or Church. We went to Columbus and ate supper at the S & S cafeteria. Uncle Leonard is still here. 3 Jan 1966, Went back to school today. Got to get back in the routine. Mr. McKinney is so nice. Laurie and I helped serve at the Lion’s Club banquet.”
An off-white clock radio, my main Christmas gift in 1965, offered so many hours of good listening. A couple of FM channels broadcasted out of Columbus, but I recall listening a lot of AM radio in this era. The Big BAM out of Montgomery Alabama was one of my favorite stations. I remember at 5PM every weekday a broadcast called “Dan’s Dusty Disks” played old songs from the 1950s and early 60s. I loved those sounds.
With my Uncle Leonard visiting, I suspect sleeping arrangements were shuffled. Why else would my mom be sleeping in a room next to mine? Perhaps the two brothers (my dad and Uncle Leonard) needed time to talk and discuss the loss of their mother and other problems of the world!
School was back in full swing. For me, that meant riding the bus to our junior high school located in Richland, another small town nine miles away. Bus rides offered before and after school ‘visiting’ time with friends. By mid year, we had all found our favorite riding partners and favorite places to sit on the bus.
Laurie and I seemed to land the ‘honor’ of getting to serve at Lion’s Club banquets as they came and went from year to year, since our fathers were members of the local Lion’s Club. I remember wearing aprons with the Lion’s logo and having our moms go over the serving beverages to this side or that side and offering refills on bread or drink according to proper etiquette as well.
“4 Jan 1966, Tuesday, I didn’t have a music lesson today. I made Laurie mad. I sat with Brownie on the school bus. Laurie and Diane have been hanging out. Tonight, the other Cherry house burned down. I think someone is setting houses on fire for sure! 5 Jan 1966, I wore my new coat to school today. I sat on the bus with Wanda. Laurie rode the bus that Razz rides. I’m scared because of so many fires. 6 Jan 1966, Today, I have been studying really hard. Had lots of lessons. Dad thought he heard gunshots uptown. I’ve been watching TV all evening.”
Ah, yes, we had settled into the school bus rituals by this mid year point. Just sitting with another friend could upset the ebb and flow of the expected. Sitting with Brownie one day and Wanda another seemed to upset friend Laurie who was now “hanging out with Diane.”
As my family had just been through fire related tragedy in December, we were certainly on edge as it seems a fire was now breaking out in town once a month. People were unnerved and talk around town unravelled misgivings about someone on the loose who might be a firebug.
As I read about gunshots being heard and then read further below in my entries, I can only imagine that some of my dad’s unsettled moods were prompted by the raised air of concern amongst the town folk in general.
“7 Jan 1966, Friday, Adie and I went to Columbus. Daddy is very upset tonight. He’s cussing and carrying on. Don’t know what’s got him going. 8 Jan 1966, Laurie came over for awhile. Tonight, Daddy tripped in Adie’s room. Accidentally, knocked TV on the floor. Adie left to go to Dan Elder’s. Mama is upset. Don’t know what’s got Daddy so riled up. 9 Jan 1966, I went to Sunday School. I met Adie at Church. Dan and Johnny Elder and Laurie came over and watched The Wizard of Oz.”
Agitation was in the air. My parents were both on edge. My brother escaped to a friend’s house for most of that Saturday. I wish they had been more forthcoming with me about what was up. In this era, my experience dictated that that kind of frank and open communication between parents and children wasn’t so common.
A nice finish to the weekend of angst saw my brother’s and my friends stopping by to watch the Wizard of Oz on our new color TV. It was still a new phenomenon for folks to have a color TV in their homes. How cool that friends and neighbors came by to enjoy the new experience. We five plopped down on our den couch or spread out across the floor and watched the adventure of the yellow brick road unfold. The first half of the film was in black and white, but as Dorothy arrived ‘over the rainbow,” she suddenly entered a world of spectacular color!
“10 Jan 1966, Monday, Made 99 on my six weeks Spelling test. Probably flunked the Literature test. I jammed my finger at basketball practice. It’s simply killing me. 11 Jan 1966, Ramona moved to Glennville today. Had Spelling, Science, and Geography tests. I have semester English exam tomorrow. 12 Jan 1966, After my English test, Daddy picked me up from school. I was sick at my stomach. Dr. Pugh looked at my jammed finger. I went to Columbus with Mom and Dad.”
We kids were taking semester tests or six weeks tests every single day. What a scene to come back to just after Christmas vacation! The timing certainly seems off. Since we started school after Labor day, we didn’t hit the official end of the first semester until after Christmas. I think that has been rectified through the years, as schools tend to start earlier in August and finish first semester by the holiday break.
Ouch, jammed fingers and pulled ligaments were a normal part of basketball practice. Someone always had a bandaged finger or a wrapped ankle.
I remember Ramona who was a new acquaintance from Richland. We had only been in the same school for 1 1/2 years. We were not particularly close, but my annotation of her moving away reminds me that she was someone I liked and had hoped to get to know better. Some doors close prematurely.
“13 Jan 1966, I took some more English tests today. Wanda and I have been talking on the phone. Ken and Jackie were here today. They both said I should grow my hair long. 14 Jan 1966, Today, I took my semester English test. Saw a Leonardo Da Vinci film. Got out of school at 2:00. Been working on my new scrapbook. 15 Jan 1966, Went to Sunday School. Daddy met me at church. Been studying Geography all day. Dad fixed Oyster Stew for supper. We rode out to Uncle Rody and Aunt Gladys’ afterward.”
Talking on the phone with friends was a favorite pastime. Most young teens might be lucky enough to have a phone extension in their bedrooms. I think we had three phones in our house, one in the kitchen, one in my parents’ bedroom and I had a little pink princess phone in my room. My brother didn’t think it was that important.
A couple of my school friends who lived out in the country had to deal with telephone party lines during this era. One friend who lived out on Pleasant Valley road, another who lived on a rural road between Lumpkin and Richland and another who lived in the direction of Cuthbert contended with sharing their home phone lines with neighbors. Occasionally in the middle of a conversation, we would hear a voice inquire, if the line would soon be free, as another family needed to make a phone call.
The famed Oyster stew has been mentioned in my earlier writings. My neighbor, Jimmy, remembers my dad’s concoction and he actually helped me with the recall of a few key ingredients, as I visited Lumpkin a couple of years ago.
A late Sunday afternoon drive to drop by to see my Uncle Rody topped off the weekend. Memories again flood into my mind. I see this idyllic setting: a house on a hill surrounded by beautiful pines; a pond on either side of the homeplace. A white picket fence lined the outer bounds of the property. The driveway was a right turn off highway 27 which continued northward to Columbus. Louvale was a mere five miles down the road. Mr. Chestnut’s gas station/mom&pop general store just a mile back southward. A little country church sat on a hillside just past Chestnut’s store.
As I drive through this part of Georgia now, I hardly recognize any of this area. The original highway has been superseded by a four lane that runs parallel to that old road bed. Travelers easily by-pass the small towns of Cuthbert, Lumpkin, and Louvale and might unintentionally miss them altogether. US Federal highway 27 and Georgia highway 27 still intersect in Lumpkin. At one time that intersection was marked by the only stop light in town. The stop light is now a four way stop. Things have changed.
The memories are strong and no matter what changes evolve, these reflections back on an era long ago bring back thoughts of a way of life that still lives in the hearts of many who live in small towns throughout the U.S.
