November 10, 2017 Coats Museum News
The year was 1966 and the Medicare federal medical insurance program for the elderly went into effect with 17 million enrollees. Eight student nurses were murdered by Richard Speck in a Chicago dormitory. In Austin, Texas, Charles Whitman had shot and killed sixteen people. Most of them were shot from a campus tower at the University of Texas and Whitman was later shot by the police. Beatle John L. Lennon had said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, leading many radio stations to take Beatles songs off the air. Later in the year, the Beatles made their last concert appearance as a group.
Sweeping automobile safety legislation was signed into law by President Johnson. The law established such things as anchored seat belts, emergency flashers, recessed dashboard knobs, and post sale notices and recalls. He signed another bill later that created the Department of Transportation and added a twelfth member to the Cabinet, Secretary of Transportation (Dickson, Paul-From Elvis to E-Mail-Federal Street Press-Springfield, Massachusetts-1999).
News was being recorded on the Coats High School campus where Darlene Stevens was serving as Editor-in-Chief and Teresa Avery as the Business Manager of Echoing Memories. To be included in the yearbook were those who were chosen as having outstanding or special traits.
The class voted Darlene Stevens and Jeff Stewart as “Best All Around”, Angela Stephenson and Robert Pleasant as “Most Likely to Succeed”, Vicki Stewart and Tony Miller as “Most Dependable”, Susan Faircloth and Ronnie Byrd as “Beau and Belle”, Cathy Peede and Franklin Dorman as “Cutest”. Charlotte Ennis and Frankie Colville were selected as “Friendliest”, Susan Faircloth and Kenneth Hayes as “Most Original”, Becky Stephenson and Garry Williams as “Most Talented”, Nancy Cummings and Andy Joyner as “Wittiest”, Sherry Page and Franklin Dorman as “Neatest”, Joy Bowden and Robert Pleasant as “Most Popular”, Christine Stewart and Andy Joyner as “Most Athletic”, Shirley Godwin and Garry Williams as “Best Sports” and Darlene Stevens and Jeff Stewart as “ Mr. and Miss Echoing Memories”.
Can any graduates of 1967 recall who your senior class sponsors were? Coats High seniors of 1967, do the names Mrs. Roena Honeycutt, Mrs. Virginia Cross and Mr. Wade Stephenson sound familiar? Another question-How many of you can recall your senior class officers? Something unusual about the Class of 1967 is that there was no vice president listed. President Robert Pleasant, Secretary Joy Bowden, and Co-Treasurers Susan Faircloth and Charlotte Ennis were pictured in their 1967 Echoing Memories.
Sports have always played a role in the lives of students. There was a time when the pasture, yard, school and church were the places for involvement of young athletes. The Coats Museum can verify that Coats athletes were winners on the basketball court, baseball and softball diamond and the football field in that we have dozens of trophies won by the teams over the years at the museum.
In 1967, the co-captains of the boys basketball team were Robert Pleasant and Jeff Stewart while Christine Stewart and Kathi Stephenson headed the girls team. Norfleet Gardner coached both and those had to be a long days for Mr. Gardner who likely taught six classes of history and math.
Clubs gave countless opportunities to develop leadership. Robert Pleasant served as Monogram Club president; Andy Joyner was vice-president; Jenny Flowers was secretary and Jeff Stewart was sergeant-of- arms. The Student Council officers were Jeff Stewart, Beth Stephenson and Jeff Turlington.
Darlene Stevens, Richard Davis, Jenny Ferrell, Jo Ann Moore, Faye Williams, Betty Jean Stevens, and Tim Langdon were Beta Club officers. The 1966 class marshals had been Chief Darlene Stevens, Jeff Turlington, Angela Stephenson, Teresa Avery, Jenny Ferrell, Greg Beard and Pat West. Charlotte Ennis, Susan Faircloth, Lynda Daniel and Sherry Byrd were Library Club officers.
Christine Stewart, Beth Stephenson, Jenny Ferrell, Angela Stephenson, Teresa Avery, Kay Fish, Ann Stewart, Pat West, and Darlene Stevens were FHA officers. Tim Langdon, Dan Honeycutt, Durane Currin, Ronnie Pope, Bennie Harmon, Cecil Parrish and Hank Barnes were FFA officers. Beth Stephenson was voted FFA Sweetheart and Joy Coats was Miss Coats High (1967 Coats High School Echoing Memories).
There was a new baby in the Coats area. Mr. and Mrs. Stacy Andrew Williams were parents of a son born on September 24. The former Judy Norris was the new mom. Who would ever have known that Stacy and Judy would be working 50 years later in 2017 with this son Andy and younger son Allen to upholster furniture from over the country?
Who remembers Lewis Norris? He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Norris. We sometimes read about David under the name of J.D. Norris and recall that J.D. was mayor of Coats for several years beginning in 1949. I bet he and his partner Herbert Johnson were proud to read that J.D.’s son, Airman Apprentice Lewis E. Norris, USN, had participated in the South China Sea anti-submarine warfare training exercise “Silverskate” aboard this U.S. Seventh Fleet Unit (Daily Record Sept. 26, 1967). Does anyone know where Lewis is today? When his name is mentioned at the museum, we are told that he was a talented cartoonist.
The Coats Jr. Order had planned a “Fun Day” for October 1. The festivities that had been planned were a fish fry, bingo, and a street dance. Members of the Junior Order were Ronald Wiggins, Delbert Lockamy, Louis Dupree and Graham Byrd who had a music combo. Stedman Ray, Mack Parrish, Owen Bennett, and Earl Williams were to be in charge of the games and races. Was this in any way connected to the annual Farmers Day which should have been occurring around this date (Daily Record Sept. 28, 1966).
Many of you have read about Grove Township, Turlington, Troyville, Oakdale, Sorrell Community, Bethel and Barclaysville since the “Coats Museum News” made its Daily Record debut in 2009. It was in 1905 that Coats was chartered as a town and as time passed, the other small communities closed their schools and consolidated with the District #3 known as Coats School. As the pages on the calendar were flipped forward displaying different months and years, we read about more and more students who made their way from the town and farms into the armed forces or into colleges. As each year passed, it seemed that more and more of the young people left the area.
Read the following list to see the large number of students from the 1966 Coats graduating class who were attending colleges near and far. At Fayetteville Technical Institute were Ronald Barefoot, Murray Phillips, David A. Surles, Douglas Weeks, and Edwina Parker. Teresa Byrd, Janet Carlson, Doan Coats, Shelia Dupree, Glenda Flowers, Gail Grimes, Becky Page, and Jeanette Stewart were attending Campbell. Jerry W. Beasley and Hope Stewart were studying at Hardbargers Business College. Michael Ennis Coats, Marcia Dorman, and Carol Franklin were at NC State. Glenn Lee and Charles Malone were attending East Carolina. At the IBM School was James Ronald Denning; at Augusta Military Academy was Frank H. Turlington and at the University of Maryland was Miriam Beard (Daily Record Sept. 29, 1966).
Death had come to Coats on Sunday and taken Rufus Benton (Bent) Harmon, 85, of Route One. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Eula Stephenson Harmon; two sons, George and Hubert B. Harmon, and two daughters, Mrs. Mildred Wiggins (Norman) and Mrs. Mary Ennis (Clyde). Services were held at the Coats Baptist Church and the burial was in the Buies Creek Cemetery.
How is Benny Harmon connected with this family? I do know that on the back wall of our Kress and Nell Penny Williams Exhibit Hall, the museum volunteers have mounted enlarged pictures of the dwellings of the Rufus Benton Harmon farm. We have the pictures of their outhouse, garage, utility barn, pack house, wash house and an old covered well. We have displayed in front of the huge pictures, artifacts that would have been associated with the dwellings such as an old ringer washing machine, cane cutter, corn sheller and many, many more. The exhibit affords opportunities for locals to share their families’ artifacts.
The Oakdale HD Club continued to be active in 1966 as it met in the home of Mrs. Harvey Barefoot where Mrs. Rob Adams presided and Juanita Hudson recorded minutes. Fifteen people had attended the annual picnic at the home of Mr. and Mrs. U.M. Ennis who displayed an array of antiques for viewing. The program for October was “Tips on How to Save Heat”. The “How Does Your Garden Grow?” contest had been won by Mrs. W.R. Langdon of the Turlington Club (Daily Record Oct. 3, 1966).Those of you who knew Mrs. Harvey Barefoot, did her pecan pie have the reputation of being the best? The news article mentioned that the group enjoyed Mrs. Barefoot’s pecan pie.
There have been three deaths in Coats connected families in the past week. All three ladies lived to be in their nineties. H.L. and I have fond memories of all these remarkable ladies who eagerly shared history and stories of the Coats community with the museum volunteers. The deceased were Aunt Florine Penny, Cousin Brookie Sorrell West and Mrs. Pearlie Tart, the mother-in-law of my brother. Mrs. Brookie Sorrell lived to be 92; Mrs. Pearl Tart, 96 and Mrs. Florine Penny, 97. Memorials have been made in their honor to the Coats Museum Endowment.
Thank you goes to Bethany Langdon Stevens for dropping into the museum to share the sewing basket of Mrs. Ophelia Brock Roberts. There was a monogrammed tie tack that belonged to Haywood T. Roberts, former Harnett County Board of Education member from Coats. Many will recall that Haywood and Dr. Clarence Roberts were the sons of Dr. H.C. Roberts, one of the first doctors in Coats and an avid pilot who died young from injuries in a plane crash in Coats.
The year was 1966 and the Medicare federal medical insurance program for the elderly went into effect with 17 million enrollees. Eight student nurses were murdered by Richard Speck in a Chicago dormitory. In Austin, Texas, Charles Whitman had shot and killed sixteen people. Most of them were shot from a campus tower at the University of Texas and Whitman was later shot by the police. Beatle John L. Lennon had said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, leading many radio stations to take Beatles songs off the air. Later in the year, the Beatles made their last concert appearance as a group.
Sweeping automobile safety legislation was signed into law by President Johnson. The law established such things as anchored seat belts, emergency flashers, recessed dashboard knobs, and post sale notices and recalls. He signed another bill later that created the Department of Transportation and added a twelfth member to the Cabinet, Secretary of Transportation (Dickson, Paul-From Elvis to E-Mail-Federal Street Press-Springfield, Massachusetts-1999).
News was being recorded on the Coats High School campus where Darlene Stevens was serving as Editor-in-Chief and Teresa Avery as the Business Manager of Echoing Memories. To be included in the yearbook were those who were chosen as having outstanding or special traits.
The class voted Darlene Stevens and Jeff Stewart as “Best All Around”, Angela Stephenson and Robert Pleasant as “Most Likely to Succeed”, Vicki Stewart and Tony Miller as “Most Dependable”, Susan Faircloth and Ronnie Byrd as “Beau and Belle”, Cathy Peede and Franklin Dorman as “Cutest”. Charlotte Ennis and Frankie Colville were selected as “Friendliest”, Susan Faircloth and Kenneth Hayes as “Most Original”, Becky Stephenson and Garry Williams as “Most Talented”, Nancy Cummings and Andy Joyner as “Wittiest”, Sherry Page and Franklin Dorman as “Neatest”, Joy Bowden and Robert Pleasant as “Most Popular”, Christine Stewart and Andy Joyner as “Most Athletic”, Shirley Godwin and Garry Williams as “Best Sports” and Darlene Stevens and Jeff Stewart as “ Mr. and Miss Echoing Memories”.
Can any graduates of 1967 recall who your senior class sponsors were? Coats High seniors of 1967, do the names Mrs. Roena Honeycutt, Mrs. Virginia Cross and Mr. Wade Stephenson sound familiar? Another question-How many of you can recall your senior class officers? Something unusual about the Class of 1967 is that there was no vice president listed. President Robert Pleasant, Secretary Joy Bowden, and Co-Treasurers Susan Faircloth and Charlotte Ennis were pictured in their 1967 Echoing Memories.
Sports have always played a role in the lives of students. There was a time when the pasture, yard, school and church were the places for involvement of young athletes. The Coats Museum can verify that Coats athletes were winners on the basketball court, baseball and softball diamond and the football field in that we have dozens of trophies won by the teams over the years at the museum.
In 1967, the co-captains of the boys basketball team were Robert Pleasant and Jeff Stewart while Christine Stewart and Kathi Stephenson headed the girls team. Norfleet Gardner coached both and those had to be a long days for Mr. Gardner who likely taught six classes of history and math.
Clubs gave countless opportunities to develop leadership. Robert Pleasant served as Monogram Club president; Andy Joyner was vice-president; Jenny Flowers was secretary and Jeff Stewart was sergeant-of- arms. The Student Council officers were Jeff Stewart, Beth Stephenson and Jeff Turlington.
Darlene Stevens, Richard Davis, Jenny Ferrell, Jo Ann Moore, Faye Williams, Betty Jean Stevens, and Tim Langdon were Beta Club officers. The 1966 class marshals had been Chief Darlene Stevens, Jeff Turlington, Angela Stephenson, Teresa Avery, Jenny Ferrell, Greg Beard and Pat West. Charlotte Ennis, Susan Faircloth, Lynda Daniel and Sherry Byrd were Library Club officers.
Christine Stewart, Beth Stephenson, Jenny Ferrell, Angela Stephenson, Teresa Avery, Kay Fish, Ann Stewart, Pat West, and Darlene Stevens were FHA officers. Tim Langdon, Dan Honeycutt, Durane Currin, Ronnie Pope, Bennie Harmon, Cecil Parrish and Hank Barnes were FFA officers. Beth Stephenson was voted FFA Sweetheart and Joy Coats was Miss Coats High (1967 Coats High School Echoing Memories).
There was a new baby in the Coats area. Mr. and Mrs. Stacy Andrew Williams were parents of a son born on September 24. The former Judy Norris was the new mom. Who would ever have known that Stacy and Judy would be working 50 years later in 2017 with this son Andy and younger son Allen to upholster furniture from over the country?
Who remembers Lewis Norris? He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Norris. We sometimes read about David under the name of J.D. Norris and recall that J.D. was mayor of Coats for several years beginning in 1949. I bet he and his partner Herbert Johnson were proud to read that J.D.’s son, Airman Apprentice Lewis E. Norris, USN, had participated in the South China Sea anti-submarine warfare training exercise “Silverskate” aboard this U.S. Seventh Fleet Unit (Daily Record Sept. 26, 1967). Does anyone know where Lewis is today? When his name is mentioned at the museum, we are told that he was a talented cartoonist.
The Coats Jr. Order had planned a “Fun Day” for October 1. The festivities that had been planned were a fish fry, bingo, and a street dance. Members of the Junior Order were Ronald Wiggins, Delbert Lockamy, Louis Dupree and Graham Byrd who had a music combo. Stedman Ray, Mack Parrish, Owen Bennett, and Earl Williams were to be in charge of the games and races. Was this in any way connected to the annual Farmers Day which should have been occurring around this date (Daily Record Sept. 28, 1966).
Many of you have read about Grove Township, Turlington, Troyville, Oakdale, Sorrell Community, Bethel and Barclaysville since the “Coats Museum News” made its Daily Record debut in 2009. It was in 1905 that Coats was chartered as a town and as time passed, the other small communities closed their schools and consolidated with the District #3 known as Coats School. As the pages on the calendar were flipped forward displaying different months and years, we read about more and more students who made their way from the town and farms into the armed forces or into colleges. As each year passed, it seemed that more and more of the young people left the area.
Read the following list to see the large number of students from the 1966 Coats graduating class who were attending colleges near and far. At Fayetteville Technical Institute were Ronald Barefoot, Murray Phillips, David A. Surles, Douglas Weeks, and Edwina Parker. Teresa Byrd, Janet Carlson, Doan Coats, Shelia Dupree, Glenda Flowers, Gail Grimes, Becky Page, and Jeanette Stewart were attending Campbell. Jerry W. Beasley and Hope Stewart were studying at Hardbargers Business College. Michael Ennis Coats, Marcia Dorman, and Carol Franklin were at NC State. Glenn Lee and Charles Malone were attending East Carolina. At the IBM School was James Ronald Denning; at Augusta Military Academy was Frank H. Turlington and at the University of Maryland was Miriam Beard (Daily Record Sept. 29, 1966).
Death had come to Coats on Sunday and taken Rufus Benton (Bent) Harmon, 85, of Route One. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Eula Stephenson Harmon; two sons, George and Hubert B. Harmon, and two daughters, Mrs. Mildred Wiggins (Norman) and Mrs. Mary Ennis (Clyde). Services were held at the Coats Baptist Church and the burial was in the Buies Creek Cemetery.
How is Benny Harmon connected with this family? I do know that on the back wall of our Kress and Nell Penny Williams Exhibit Hall, the museum volunteers have mounted enlarged pictures of the dwellings of the Rufus Benton Harmon farm. We have the pictures of their outhouse, garage, utility barn, pack house, wash house and an old covered well. We have displayed in front of the huge pictures, artifacts that would have been associated with the dwellings such as an old ringer washing machine, cane cutter, corn sheller and many, many more. The exhibit affords opportunities for locals to share their families’ artifacts.
The Oakdale HD Club continued to be active in 1966 as it met in the home of Mrs. Harvey Barefoot where Mrs. Rob Adams presided and Juanita Hudson recorded minutes. Fifteen people had attended the annual picnic at the home of Mr. and Mrs. U.M. Ennis who displayed an array of antiques for viewing. The program for October was “Tips on How to Save Heat”. The “How Does Your Garden Grow?” contest had been won by Mrs. W.R. Langdon of the Turlington Club (Daily Record Oct. 3, 1966).Those of you who knew Mrs. Harvey Barefoot, did her pecan pie have the reputation of being the best? The news article mentioned that the group enjoyed Mrs. Barefoot’s pecan pie.
There have been three deaths in Coats connected families in the past week. All three ladies lived to be in their nineties. H.L. and I have fond memories of all these remarkable ladies who eagerly shared history and stories of the Coats community with the museum volunteers. The deceased were Aunt Florine Penny, Cousin Brookie Sorrell West and Mrs. Pearlie Tart, the mother-in-law of my brother. Mrs. Brookie Sorrell lived to be 92; Mrs. Pearl Tart, 96 and Mrs. Florine Penny, 97. Memorials have been made in their honor to the Coats Museum Endowment.
Thank you goes to Bethany Langdon Stevens for dropping into the museum to share the sewing basket of Mrs. Ophelia Brock Roberts. There was a monogrammed tie tack that belonged to Haywood T. Roberts, former Harnett County Board of Education member from Coats. Many will recall that Haywood and Dr. Clarence Roberts were the sons of Dr. H.C. Roberts, one of the first doctors in Coats and an avid pilot who died young from injuries in a plane crash in Coats.