January 1, 2016 Coats Museum News
If we look up at the date on the Daily Record today, we see the date, January 1, 2016. However, in our travel into yesterday, the calendar date is May 8, 1956. The Daily Record issue of that paper posted that the two top senior students at Coats High School were Billy Smith (valedictorian) and Lena Pope (salutatorian). The two had the highest overall average of the 43 seniors.
These 43 graduates in the Coats High Class of 1956 were the following: Faye Catherine “Fay” Avery, Jean “Jeanie” Barbour, Betty Lee “Lee” Byrd, Billie Jean “Bill” Byrd, Glenwood “Mil” Byrd (Did some call him Doodle?), Linda Ruth “Lindy”, Evelyn Dare “Pinky” Campbell, Shelton “Shelt” Davis, Margaret “Dimple” Denning, Ethel “Wingy” Dorman, Fred Allen “Moody” Elliott, Joyce Ann “Joey” Ennis, Carolyn Sue, “Susie” Ennis, Doris Jean “Paul” Gregory, Robert Glynn “Inhie”, Harmon, Fred Fleming “Uncle Fred” Holder, Benny Lewis “Blinky” Holmes, Jimmy “Jim” Honeycutt, Della Mae “Della” Jackson, Lois “Gray” Jernigan, Larry Wilson “Big Larry” Johnson, P.J. “Cote” Johnson, Willadean “Dean” Johnson, Lacy “M.C.” Langdon, David Allen “Crockett” Matthews, Betty Lou “Bet” McGee, Pattie “Stinker” McLamb, Russell “Runt” McLean, Hilda Ruth “Smiley” Moore, James A. “Archibald” Moore, Jr., Virginia Lee “Jenny” Norris, Laura Lee “Lucy” Parrish, Lena “Jippy” Pope, Jean “Jeannie” Ryals, Billy “Smithy” Smith, Dwight “Dewitt” Tripp, John Henderson “Clark” Turlington, Rosa Leigh “Rosie” Turlington, Barbara “Monk” Whittington, McKinnley “Wheatie” Whittington, Betsy Jo “Snook” Williams, Burney Glenn “Goose” Williams and Madrid “Maggie” Williams (1956 Coats High Yearbook).
How did they get those nicknames? This I do know. The paper wrote that Herbert L. Johnson, R. Hal Smith and M.O. Phillips had sent a delegation to the HCBOE and asked for an additional agricultural teacher at Coats. Mrs. Everett Barnes was in ill health at her home according to the same issue of the paper. The Coats FHA Chapter had entertained their mothers at a Mother Daughter Banquet in the Coats Baptist Church basement. Patricia Byrd, Barbara Stewart and Faye Avery took part in a dragnet skit that was directed by Pattie McLamb. Sybil Beasley and Vickie Lou Lee spoke. Ann Godwin sang “Mother” and “My Mother” was sung by Patricia Byrd.
The new officers were installed and 23 members were awarded the Homemakers Degree at the banquet. Club officers were Joyce Faye Johnson-president, Patricia Byrd-vice president, Julia Whittington-secretary, Joy Clayton-treasurer, Joyce E. Johnson-reporter, Nancy Lloyd-parliamentarian, Linda Parrish-historian, Norma Lee Johnson-song leader and Sybil Beasley-county song leader.
Did the girls have initiation into the club as did the boys in FFA? Wayne Parrish recalled that he was like most farm boys in that he had done his share of farm work and had been in some uncomfortable jobs but nothing compared to FFA “INITIATION” night. He recalled the seniors were responsible for preparing the building for initiation jokes, and with some slight input from teachers, they were left to their own ideas as to what to put the freshmen through.
Every freshman was walked through the Ag Building by a senior and was shown several tests that the freshmen would have to do blindfold. They never suspected that what they saw was not what they got. For instance, they were shown a plate of chicken poop that they would have to put into a bottle with their hands. The poop was switched to raw oysters instead, but the blindfolded freshman did not know that.
Another test was to climb on a frame ladder to the top and jump off of it. The senior “Brothers” would catch them before they hit the cement floor. After the boys were blindfolded, the brothers quietly rolled a wagon full of hay around behind the ladder so if they did jump, they would land in the hay.
Wayne Parrish recalled that he was the only one who got “Glued”. He was stripped to his underwear, blindfolded, and shoved down, bottom first, into a large tub of glue. Wayne remembered the brothers laughed as they painted his entire body with glue which partially dried as he walked home. He recalled that it took several hours for that glue to come off when he sat in a hot tub of dish detergent trying to remove that coating of glue.
The only consolation, Wayne commented, was that he was as clean as a plucked chicken for the rest of the school year. He also noted that he didn’t have “much use for those guys from then on.
Wonder if W.G. Pope’s son Gail went through such an initiation when he was in FFA. I do know that Gail was likely very proud of his dad’s ability to invent things. Mr. Pope was a genius for seeking ways and means of improving operation on the farm for the advantage of farm people-particularly tobacco farmers. He had earlier invented and patented a process to add to the conventional tobacco curing process, not only to save time in curing, but also to improve the quality of the cured leaf.
Several farmers like Lonnie Cameron from Cumberland County made $125 per barn using the invention. He saved money on fuel and cut the cost of curing. Mr. Joe Ben Pope also gave the product similar accolades (Daily Record May 16, 1956). By the way, we have one of those patents in the museum to display later.
Can any of our readers recall the names of other men in the Coats area who were innovative and had their names on patents? Who recognizes the names- M.P. Lee, Albert Gregory, Willis Gregory, and Jerry Tyndall? We also have copies of a couple of their patents.
Ted Malone of Coats was in an aggressive campaign for commissioner in District 2. His slogan was “Use your head-vote for Ted”. Harnett County farmers in Grove were likely using their heads and physical strength to get tobacco and other crops into the ground. In 1956, 18,000 acres of tobacco and 16,000 acres of cotton were planted in Harnett (Daily Record May 22, 1956).
May is the month of graduations in both high schools and colleges. Dorothy Jean Barnes had graduated from ECC. She was a former graduate of Coats High School and was the daughter of Howard and Iris Langdon Barnes.
Elsewhere in the area, Mrs. Nellie Dupree, 74, of Coats, had died on Tuesday morning. She was the daughter of the late Amos and Mollie Young of Wake County. Mrs. Ruth Dooney of Coats was her daughter (Daily Record May 23, 1956).
Jean Sorrell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Sorrell, was picked to serve as editor-in-chief of the 1956-57 edition of the Angier High School yearbook. She served as a cheerleader and president of MYF (Daily Record May 24, 1956).
Floyd C. Turner, 70, of Varina, son of the late Preston and Mary W. Turner of Harnett County, died at his home. Funeral services were at the Coats Baptist Church and burial was in the Coats Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Ada Parrish Turner; two sons-Roy and Linwood; two brothers-A.L. and Maylon Turner of Coats. His three sisters were Mrs. A.D. Williams of Coats, Mrs. Ray Page of Erwin, and Mrs. Eldridge Lee of Dunn (Daily Record May 29, 1956).
Two more former graduates of Coats high School had earned college graduation status. Ann Pleasant and Charlotte Ferrell were Campbell College graduates (Daily Record May 29, 1956).
Mr. and Mrs. C. Mack Smith celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They were the parents of R. Hal Smith and grandparents of Bobby and Billy Smith, graduates of Coats High. R. Hal Smith had come to Coats in 1946 as principal and on occasion his name comes up at the museum.
We have witnessed so many improvements as we have traveled on this journey of our heritage. First there were open windows, then sliding window screens, then window fans and finally the window air conditioner which was affordable at $229.95 per room in 1956. Wonder if the farmers bought many of them? How would the cooled air affect their ability to tolerate the severe heat of the fields? This writer does not know the answer to that question, but I do know that in 1956, the odds were 1 to 7 that each person would be in an automobile accident (Daily Record May 31, 1956).
This writer wishes for each of you to have a new year filled with hope, peace, joy, love and good health. Please find time to visit us at the Coats Museum in 2016 and then go home and preserve some of your heritage for your descendants.
If we look up at the date on the Daily Record today, we see the date, January 1, 2016. However, in our travel into yesterday, the calendar date is May 8, 1956. The Daily Record issue of that paper posted that the two top senior students at Coats High School were Billy Smith (valedictorian) and Lena Pope (salutatorian). The two had the highest overall average of the 43 seniors.
These 43 graduates in the Coats High Class of 1956 were the following: Faye Catherine “Fay” Avery, Jean “Jeanie” Barbour, Betty Lee “Lee” Byrd, Billie Jean “Bill” Byrd, Glenwood “Mil” Byrd (Did some call him Doodle?), Linda Ruth “Lindy”, Evelyn Dare “Pinky” Campbell, Shelton “Shelt” Davis, Margaret “Dimple” Denning, Ethel “Wingy” Dorman, Fred Allen “Moody” Elliott, Joyce Ann “Joey” Ennis, Carolyn Sue, “Susie” Ennis, Doris Jean “Paul” Gregory, Robert Glynn “Inhie”, Harmon, Fred Fleming “Uncle Fred” Holder, Benny Lewis “Blinky” Holmes, Jimmy “Jim” Honeycutt, Della Mae “Della” Jackson, Lois “Gray” Jernigan, Larry Wilson “Big Larry” Johnson, P.J. “Cote” Johnson, Willadean “Dean” Johnson, Lacy “M.C.” Langdon, David Allen “Crockett” Matthews, Betty Lou “Bet” McGee, Pattie “Stinker” McLamb, Russell “Runt” McLean, Hilda Ruth “Smiley” Moore, James A. “Archibald” Moore, Jr., Virginia Lee “Jenny” Norris, Laura Lee “Lucy” Parrish, Lena “Jippy” Pope, Jean “Jeannie” Ryals, Billy “Smithy” Smith, Dwight “Dewitt” Tripp, John Henderson “Clark” Turlington, Rosa Leigh “Rosie” Turlington, Barbara “Monk” Whittington, McKinnley “Wheatie” Whittington, Betsy Jo “Snook” Williams, Burney Glenn “Goose” Williams and Madrid “Maggie” Williams (1956 Coats High Yearbook).
How did they get those nicknames? This I do know. The paper wrote that Herbert L. Johnson, R. Hal Smith and M.O. Phillips had sent a delegation to the HCBOE and asked for an additional agricultural teacher at Coats. Mrs. Everett Barnes was in ill health at her home according to the same issue of the paper. The Coats FHA Chapter had entertained their mothers at a Mother Daughter Banquet in the Coats Baptist Church basement. Patricia Byrd, Barbara Stewart and Faye Avery took part in a dragnet skit that was directed by Pattie McLamb. Sybil Beasley and Vickie Lou Lee spoke. Ann Godwin sang “Mother” and “My Mother” was sung by Patricia Byrd.
The new officers were installed and 23 members were awarded the Homemakers Degree at the banquet. Club officers were Joyce Faye Johnson-president, Patricia Byrd-vice president, Julia Whittington-secretary, Joy Clayton-treasurer, Joyce E. Johnson-reporter, Nancy Lloyd-parliamentarian, Linda Parrish-historian, Norma Lee Johnson-song leader and Sybil Beasley-county song leader.
Did the girls have initiation into the club as did the boys in FFA? Wayne Parrish recalled that he was like most farm boys in that he had done his share of farm work and had been in some uncomfortable jobs but nothing compared to FFA “INITIATION” night. He recalled the seniors were responsible for preparing the building for initiation jokes, and with some slight input from teachers, they were left to their own ideas as to what to put the freshmen through.
Every freshman was walked through the Ag Building by a senior and was shown several tests that the freshmen would have to do blindfold. They never suspected that what they saw was not what they got. For instance, they were shown a plate of chicken poop that they would have to put into a bottle with their hands. The poop was switched to raw oysters instead, but the blindfolded freshman did not know that.
Another test was to climb on a frame ladder to the top and jump off of it. The senior “Brothers” would catch them before they hit the cement floor. After the boys were blindfolded, the brothers quietly rolled a wagon full of hay around behind the ladder so if they did jump, they would land in the hay.
Wayne Parrish recalled that he was the only one who got “Glued”. He was stripped to his underwear, blindfolded, and shoved down, bottom first, into a large tub of glue. Wayne remembered the brothers laughed as they painted his entire body with glue which partially dried as he walked home. He recalled that it took several hours for that glue to come off when he sat in a hot tub of dish detergent trying to remove that coating of glue.
The only consolation, Wayne commented, was that he was as clean as a plucked chicken for the rest of the school year. He also noted that he didn’t have “much use for those guys from then on.
Wonder if W.G. Pope’s son Gail went through such an initiation when he was in FFA. I do know that Gail was likely very proud of his dad’s ability to invent things. Mr. Pope was a genius for seeking ways and means of improving operation on the farm for the advantage of farm people-particularly tobacco farmers. He had earlier invented and patented a process to add to the conventional tobacco curing process, not only to save time in curing, but also to improve the quality of the cured leaf.
Several farmers like Lonnie Cameron from Cumberland County made $125 per barn using the invention. He saved money on fuel and cut the cost of curing. Mr. Joe Ben Pope also gave the product similar accolades (Daily Record May 16, 1956). By the way, we have one of those patents in the museum to display later.
Can any of our readers recall the names of other men in the Coats area who were innovative and had their names on patents? Who recognizes the names- M.P. Lee, Albert Gregory, Willis Gregory, and Jerry Tyndall? We also have copies of a couple of their patents.
Ted Malone of Coats was in an aggressive campaign for commissioner in District 2. His slogan was “Use your head-vote for Ted”. Harnett County farmers in Grove were likely using their heads and physical strength to get tobacco and other crops into the ground. In 1956, 18,000 acres of tobacco and 16,000 acres of cotton were planted in Harnett (Daily Record May 22, 1956).
May is the month of graduations in both high schools and colleges. Dorothy Jean Barnes had graduated from ECC. She was a former graduate of Coats High School and was the daughter of Howard and Iris Langdon Barnes.
Elsewhere in the area, Mrs. Nellie Dupree, 74, of Coats, had died on Tuesday morning. She was the daughter of the late Amos and Mollie Young of Wake County. Mrs. Ruth Dooney of Coats was her daughter (Daily Record May 23, 1956).
Jean Sorrell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Sorrell, was picked to serve as editor-in-chief of the 1956-57 edition of the Angier High School yearbook. She served as a cheerleader and president of MYF (Daily Record May 24, 1956).
Floyd C. Turner, 70, of Varina, son of the late Preston and Mary W. Turner of Harnett County, died at his home. Funeral services were at the Coats Baptist Church and burial was in the Coats Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Ada Parrish Turner; two sons-Roy and Linwood; two brothers-A.L. and Maylon Turner of Coats. His three sisters were Mrs. A.D. Williams of Coats, Mrs. Ray Page of Erwin, and Mrs. Eldridge Lee of Dunn (Daily Record May 29, 1956).
Two more former graduates of Coats high School had earned college graduation status. Ann Pleasant and Charlotte Ferrell were Campbell College graduates (Daily Record May 29, 1956).
Mr. and Mrs. C. Mack Smith celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They were the parents of R. Hal Smith and grandparents of Bobby and Billy Smith, graduates of Coats High. R. Hal Smith had come to Coats in 1946 as principal and on occasion his name comes up at the museum.
We have witnessed so many improvements as we have traveled on this journey of our heritage. First there were open windows, then sliding window screens, then window fans and finally the window air conditioner which was affordable at $229.95 per room in 1956. Wonder if the farmers bought many of them? How would the cooled air affect their ability to tolerate the severe heat of the fields? This writer does not know the answer to that question, but I do know that in 1956, the odds were 1 to 7 that each person would be in an automobile accident (Daily Record May 31, 1956).
This writer wishes for each of you to have a new year filled with hope, peace, joy, love and good health. Please find time to visit us at the Coats Museum in 2016 and then go home and preserve some of your heritage for your descendants.