11 -1964 Winter: Basketball, Valentines, Easter
What was happening in the world between January and March 1964? Lyndon Johnson was president as result of the world losing JFK in November 1963. Jimmy Carter, whose family was in the local south GA peanut industry, was mid-way into his first term as a state senator. Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup I was in the spotlight. The Beatles made their first American appearance in February 1964. A new dam in southwest GA was about to open up a new era of leisure and commerce on the Chattahoochee river for an entire area of both Georgia and Alabama! Amid the bustling of world news and pop culture, life teemed with everyday concerns and activities for most families.
The norm of most winters hasn’t changed much in 50 years. Children go back to school and visitors return home after the holiday season. For my family that meant an uncle returned to Virginia and a brother, his wife and toddler went back home to Tennessee. My other brother returned to military school and I continued my sixth grade year.
School began January 6 and was quickly livened with the high school homecoming festivities. Basketball was the primary sport around which homecoming centered. Still an elementary school student, I went to the high school game with my parents and then spent the night with a good friend, as part of the celebration. I enjoyed seeing teachers attending school events and cheering on home teams with as much enthusiasm as the students themselves.
Later in the month of January, I had the experience of having my brother bring a roommate home from his military school. I remember the fun of meeting a new person and realizing that this young man was kind of my brother’s brother away from home. They even looked alike a bit — brown hair, freckles, and loved to laugh and joke around a lot.
The month of February sometimes had surprisingly pleasantly warm days in Georgia. I found time to play tennis after school as early as mid-February.
Also, this was an era where almost all school children experienced the bout with measles or mumps or chickenpox. My brother while away at school caught the measles and I remember how worried my folks were as he lay in the school infirmary and was quarantined with several other ninth graders.
A tradition of the times was exchanging Valentine cards at an in-school Valentine party. Most of us kids brought little valentines in envelopes to give to friends and a shoe box to collect the cards from friends. My mom and dad always gave me a card and a heart-shaped box of candy.
As March approached, everyone began to think about springtime and the end of the school year.
My brother turned 15 in early March and got his learner’s license the very next day after his birthday. That required a trip to the neighboring larger city of Columbus. That was such a memorable time. He could drive and was beside himself with excitement. I remember that he was so filled with joy that he forgot a couple of documents needed to get the license and the family had to make two round trips to Columbus to pull off the event.
In 1964 we referred to Spring Break as Easter Holidays which occurred that year Thursday, March 26th through Monday, March 30th. Easter Sunday meant a new dressy-dress for Sunday School and Church. Little girls still wore hats quite often with their Easter outfits. I had an aunt from Nashville who always sent me a new dress and my brother a new sports jacket and dress pants for Easter. It was a fun surprise to unwrap the boxes and try on the new clothes. Usually about a week before Easter, several women from local churches would organize an “Easter Parade” and would invite the school aged towns girls to participate in modeling their new Easter clothes. I still remember the tune, “In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, you’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade!”
Again, the warmth of March allowed for a lot of outside activity. Parents’ ideas for outside fun included mowing the lawn, planting a few new flowers in the flower beds and helping with more planting of the family vegetable garden. My brother and I went beyond the parents’ ideas for outside fun and turned our concrete patio around the backside of our house into a roller-skating “rink” — a little more fun than gardening and mowing the lawn!
Just as Spring Break ended on a Monday, that following Tuesday and Wednesday night, the junior high boy’s basketball team participated in the season-ending tournament winning the first night and losing the second night to the neighboring small town. That sixth grade year was the only time I actually was a cheerleader during my school years. In the next years to come (both junior high and high school), I played basketball for a period.
Annotated on 3 Apr ’64, “Eight more weeks until school is out for the summer.” My home place appeared winter-worn as the last couple of weeks of winter tried to edge out warmer days.
