12 -1964 Spring Time in Southwest GA

Spring time in the southeast is undoubtedly a mesmerizing time. The weather is beautifully sunny and warm with a few afternoon thundershowers becoming quite common.

All around the country, this incredible time offers rebirth and new beginnings. School children can hardly stay focused with the lure of summer just around the corner.

I’m continuing a look at typical activities in small town GA during the springtime of 1964. My observations are based on my own diary entries from 1964.

During those remaining school weeks, Thursday sessions of “Music” in our school would have us march into the school auditorium, go dutifully into rows of chairs lined in the auditorium and take our turn for an hour of music appreciation of sorts. This consisted mainly of group singings. The school had no band. These weekly group sing-a-longs served as our music from the school’s perspective. Sometimes, we would sing the national anthem or perhaps America the Beautiful. I recall God Bless America as a favorite.

Also, we’d sing folks tunes: Oh Where Have you Been Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Oh My Darling Clementine, She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain, Hail to Thee, our Alma Mater, or Way Down Yonder in the Pau Pau Patch.

Occasionally, the music teacher would have picked a dance for us to try to participate in. Oh my, the sixth grade was kind of an awkward year. I remember being paired up with a boy named Gary for the dance of “Put your Little Foot Right down.” This is not a made up name. I’m forsaking anonymity for a moment, as I’m sure Gary lives in a far far away land these days.

Also, very common for elementary school grades was the springtime “play,” a theatrical performance! Usually each grade of 3, 4, 5, and 6th self-composed a play with the help of the teacher, of course, and had weekly practices in a plan for a May performance for the entire elementary school assembled in the main school auditorium. One year I recall we did a “Time Machine” story and another year’s play was themed around the tale of Saint Patrick.

A big event for our family in April was that our little dog Tiny had a litter of puppies. For the first time ever, I was allowed to witness the birth of baby animals! Seems that Tiny had had a puppy or two earlier, but I was always forbidden to see the actual birth. I suppose at 11 going on 12, the family decided I could probably cope all right with such an event. On this particular time, she gave birth to four little puppies! I was so excited and began marking in my diary, when they opened their eyes and other little signs of progress, such as scooting around or crawling or being weaned and attempts at all kinds of ‘firsts.’

The county health department sponsored another event in April 1964 which I suppose was fairly commonplace throughout the country, not just in the South. After church, families dropped by the local courthouse or schoolhouse to get their sugar lump laced with Polio vaccine. I think within a given year, folks usually took three doses to be safely vaccinated.

As in life along any path, small towns do not escape some of the tragedies of life. I have chosen not to mention specifically any of these which are part of the calendar year 1964. Families who experienced those events still cope with those memories and I choose to honor them by letting those events stay in the shadows.

In trying to recall some of the extra-curricula activities that occupied some of the adult population in town, I remember that spring time would often find parents assisting in planning of high school proms and perhaps scouting out areas where children might be looking to go to summer camp, perhaps a weekend drive over to Saint Simons Island, site of a church camp, or a day trip up to Eatonton familiar for the 4-H summer camps.

My mother, along with several of my friends’ moms played a bi-weekly game of Bridge, a much looked-forward to social gathering, where the players took turns hosting the games in their homes. Usually a snack such as cake with coffee became the food of choice for a two-three hour card game. I can remember setting up card tables and ‘setting the tables’ with small dishes, cups and saucers, as well as placing decks of cards appropriately on the tables. Our living room was about the right size for three or four card tables.

There were organizations within the churches for both men and women: Missionary Circle and Brotherhood meetings. Community support organizations such as Lions’ Club and perhaps the Rotary Club. To be quite honest, I don’t know much beyond the Lion’s Club, since that was my father’s main connection. I think a group of men in the county, the Masons met monthly for camaraderie and community goals.

It’s amazing to think that so long ago, we still experienced some sense of lack of safety that seems to plague our culture so often nowadays. I have a diary entry on May 1, 1964 that read “Today a dirty prank was played. Someone called the school and said there was a bomb planted and that the school was going to blow up. Everyone was very scared. We evacuated school for a short while until things could be checked out. Turns out there was nothing; but, man, was that scary!”

Mother’s Day always brings to mind going to Sunday School and Church with the family. In 1964, Mother’s Day was May 10. I recall that on Mother’s Day my mom always pinned a white flower to her lapel (perhaps a carnation or lily) and I would get to wear a red rose or carnation. The white symbolized that her mother was deceased. The red color meant that my mother was alive. I don’t see that custom so much anymore (at least not in the part of the US where I currently live)

As May ushered in warmer weather and thoughts of summer, everyone looked forward to the opening of the town swimming pool. I also noted a Saturday excursion with my Sunday school class to Callaway Gardens , which I called Ida Casons in my diary — about 1 1/2 hour trip to Pine Mountain.

All the piano students around town were preparing for the annual piano recitals in May. My piano teacher had reserved the school auditorium. I recall the excitement of buying a new dress and shoes — almost as exciting as Easter time — a new outfit! There were rehearsals about a week out from the big date and then on May 26 a number of somewhat stressed but proud students performed for the local community.

The swimming pool opened May 15. Everyone was always excited for the opening of the pool, as the heat of a GA day was coming in full force by end of May. Our African American community also looked forward to the opening of a swimming pool. There were two public pools in our town.

The high school graduation ceremony highlighted the last day of school on May 29, 1964.