16 -1964 August Adventures & Intrigue
My diary notes from 1964 reveal more adventures from the last month of summer. An international incident, friends Debra and Laurie, summer camp, cousins Bill and Stevie and the politics of an election year played prominently into happenings of the end of summer.
I annotated rather nonchalantly an incident whose consequences were far more extensive than anyone imagined in that August of 1964. On August 4, I made an unusual entry in my diary, front & back-ended by a rather normal commentary for a 12 year old. “ I had a music lesson today. Well it finally happened. We have actually ‘gone to war’ with Vietnam. President Johnson interrupted TV tonight with announcement that North Vietnam had fired on two US Navy ships. Adie went fishing this afternoon.” In the course of everyday life, extraordinary events occurred, even in the eyes of a child.
August offers glimpses at activities such as going to summer camp, digesting world events in small town setting, saying good-bye to friends, last vacations just before school starts, and taking those neighborhood hoop-shots!
My friend Laurie arrived home from a week-long church camp at Epworth by the Sea at Saint Simons, GA. She shared many cool tales with such gusto that I immediately decided I should try to go Epworth the next summer myself!
I actually began planning my own “camp” adventure at Rock Eagle targeted the 10–14 August. I was super excited. I experienced a week of fun and new life experiences. Several of my hometown friends had cancelled going at the last minute, so I had to face making new friends.
We campers were divided into groups named after Indian tribes. My group was called Muskogee. That week was filled with game playing, competitions, picnics, and other surprises, as well. I annotated that at one of the social dances there at camp that a boy asked me to dance for the very first time and then I ended my camp notes with “OK then, a love interest off at camp, sure to be whisked away back into the land of the real. I am glad to be home after all!”
A certain sadness fell over me, soon after I arrived home from camp. I received news from my friend Debra that she and her family were moving to Oklahoma. Her step-father was in the military and he received orders assigning him to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. Debra had been in my life for several years and was a frequent visitor to her grandparents who lived across the street. We had had a great summer but now had to say our good-byes.
My family had a basketball goal in our back yard and it drew neighbors quite often. An afternoon of one-on-one was not uncommon when any friend dropped by. Walt and Jimmy came by on an early August afternoon for a friendly game of H-O-R-S-E. We could easily occupy a couple of hours on any given afternoon shooting hoops.
Family time, picnics and vacation occupied that last week of August. School would be starting the very last day of the month, so there was no time to waste and much to squeeze into those last days of summer. My oldest brother and family arrived from Tennessee. We went on a Saturday drive over to Barnesville to look around the campus where brother Adie had attended ninth grade during the last school year 1963/64 and was scheduled to begin his 10th grade year in the not too distant future!
A weekend vacation to Florida included a family visit with an uncle, aunt and cousins (Bill & Stevie) in Tallahassee. A day at the beach was a highlight. That day was rather blustery, but the white sands of Florida beaches were not spoiled by a little extra wind. We had packed a picnic lunch with the help of our relatives and continued with our plan in spite of items being blown off our picnic tables and our scrambling to recover napkins and light-weight containers of food items. On our drive back to Tallahassee the car odometer changed to 000,000. (no 100,000 on the analog shred-out existed back then)
The summer of 1964 held similarities politically to the summer of 2016. Of course, from the perspective of a child, the notes about political activities held little genuine interest. (Perhaps, that’s still true for many today!) The Democrats met the end of August in Atlantic City and were still dealing with the death of President Kennedy less than a year earlier. President Johnson, who had been sworn in after Kennedy’s death, was nominated for a full term. The Republicans had met in July in California and nominated Goldwater as their candidate. There were eerily similar rants and raves about conservatives and liberals and possibilities of political party disintegration in that election year.
The days of summertime freedom concluded with sleeping late, watching afternoon lightening storms, going to the ‘picture show’ with friends, enjoying the last few days of swimming in the local town pool, and eating catfish at the fish camp restaurant just a few miles down the road.
