September 29, 2017 Coats Museum News
It is September 29, 2017 as you are reading this column. I challenge each of you who have your high school yearbook, go find it today and look at those individuals with whom you graduated. Count the number of those you have not seen since your graduation night and then those whom you have seen a few times only. When we sat in those desks throughout our school years, those classmates impacted our daily lives in so many good and bad ways in that they helped us see how we were perceived by our peers and often times how we treated our classmates.
Next I challenge you to look at each classmate’s picture and note the path of travel that each took since your graduation. Did the classmate choose medicine, law enforcement, public service, farming, teaching, business, law, military, technology, banking and the list could go on and on?
The Coats High Class of 1965 chose as their class motto –“We took the road less traveled.” Did they? I do know that the seniors gathered to recognize those classmates that they saw as having specific traits and talents in those twelve years.
Those students identified in the superlatives of the 1965 annual were Sandra Flowers and Gary Denning –“Best All Around”, Judy Mabry and Jerry Ferrell-“Beau and Belle”, Cheryl Stewart and Leon Whittington-“Most Courteous”, Laura Turlington and Lee Gregory-“Neatest”, Pat Cook and Howard Penny-“Friendliest”, Sondra Ennis and Larry Byrd-“Most Popular”, Brenda Wilkins and Fleming Parker-“Most Dependable”, Ann Johnson and Ronnie Parrish-“Most Studious”, Cathy Penny and Milliard Faulkner- “Wittiest”, Joan Ivey and Wallace Pollard-“Most Original”, Frances Gregory and Dickie Wiggins-“Best Sports”, Beverly Langdon and J. Keith Parrish-“Most Athletic”, June Powell and Joe Tart-“Most Talented” and Linda Ruth Barefoot and Joseph Turlington-“Most Likely to Succeed”. Did they continue on the path of life possessing those same traits and talents? Class of 1965, share with me the names of the girls who were the FFA Sweetheart , Homecoming Queen and Miss Coats High of 1965?
Recall that the class of 1965 had ninety-one first graders. The following are those who graduated from Coats High School in 1965: Judy Barefoot, Linda C. Barefoot, Linda Ruth Barefoot, Larry Byrd, Milton Byrd, Linwood Carroll, Pam Clevenger, Billy Coats, Danny Coats, Pat Cook, Kenneth Davis, Gary Denning, Connie Dorman, Gerald Ennis, Sondra Ennis, Johnny Faircloth, Millard Faulkner, Jerry Ferrell, Kenneth Fish, Sandra Flowers, Becky Frye, Jean Godwin, Betty Jean Gregory, Frances Gregory, Lee Gregory, Charles Grimes, Joan Ivey, Ann Johnson, Carmen Johnson, Christine Johnson, Freda Johnson, Kathryn Johnson, David Knox, Beverly Langdon, Edna Collier Langdon, Doris Lawrence, Judy Mabry, Sandra McKinnie, Danny McLamb, Wayne Miller, Devon Moore, Fleming Parker, J. Keith Parrish, Lena Parrish, Ronnie Parrish, Cathy Penny, Howard Penny, Cecil Pleasant, Annie Bell Poindexter, Donnie Pollard Wallace Pollard, Jo Ann Pope, Raymond Pope, June Powell, Peggy Pollard Smith, Cecil Stephenson, Sue Stevens, Cheryl Stewart, Larry Stewart, Joe Tart, Margie Tart, Bette Turlington, Joseph Turlington, Laura Ann Turlington, Peggy Turlington, Nancy Underwood, Doris Weaver, John West, Leon Whittington, Brenda Wiggins, Johnnie Wiggins, Brenda Wilkins, Annette Williams, Glenda Williams, Judy Williams, Phil Wood and Susan Yarborough (Coats School Echoing Memories).
Did you say, “That is a large class for such a small rural school in 1965”? Did you recognize the names of students not on the superlative list , not club officers, and not stars on the ball teams who have made a tremendous personal success and impact in the community and beyond as they traveled their path of choice.
The Great Society was unveiled by President Lyndon B. Johnson in his State of the Union address. It was the most ambitious program of social legislation since the New Deal. Malcolm X, the leading spokesman among black nationalists, was shot and killed while speaking in New York City. The first of President Johnson’s Great Society bills was signed into law, a billion-dollar package of and for the eleven-state Appalachia area. America’s first two-person space flight began as Gemini 3, nicknamed Molly Brown. Astronauts Virgil Grissom and John Young were on board. The Astrodome, the world’s largest air conditioned room, opened in Houston. President Johnson sent 14,000 troops to the Dominican Republic “to prevent another Communist state in this hemisphere”. President Johnson signed the bill requiring cigarette packages and ads be printed with health warnings.
The U.S. confirmed that Americans were undertaking combat assignments in Vietnam. Mariner IV took close-up pictures of Mars. This was the year that a coinage bill that eliminated silver from quarters and dimes and restricted its use in half-dollars. The president announced that 125,000 American troops would go to Vietnam. The draft calls doubled. Over the objections of the American Medical Association, the Social Security Act was amended to create Medicare, a government-funded health insurance plan for older citizens. Riots broke out in the watts section of Los Angeles involving 10,000 blacks who looted and burned 500 square-block areas. Anti-Vietnam rallies began to be held across college campuses. A massive power blackout occurred in the Northeast US.
Some facts and trends in 1965 were bell bottom trousers and miniskirts. This was the year that the Frisbee flying disc came on strong. The lava lamp was born and the man from U.N.C.L.E. and “Get Smart” were TV hit shows. The nation was spending $654 per public school student-$262 billion in all. U.S. automakers saw profits exceed $3 billion. Color television arrived this year. Ninety-six of NBC’s programs were in color and fifty percent of ABC’s. Americans bought $60 millions in prescription drugs to them lose weight (Dickson, Paul -From Elvis to E-Mail Federal Street Press: Springfield, MA 1999, pp143-145).
It is now August of 1965 and parents are preparing for a new school year. The seniors of 1965 have plans for work, college, military and marriage and a new class is stepping forward to take on the new title of Coats High Senior Class of 1966.
Once again, as in 1964-65, there was a shortage of community news and the column will cover voluminous school news taken from the Echoing Memories that this group of students wanted to remember and share with future generations.
The class had chosen to have a black annual and to have as their class colors-black and gold. They picked the yellow rose as the class flower. They used the wheel as the tool by which to connect the various units of their yearbook. The motto was “The world is a wheel and will all come around”.
Jeanette Stewart, a 1966 senior, wrote the class poem, “The Path of the Wheel”. In her poem, Jeanette wrote of the emotions of joy, laughter, and sorrow experienced as the wheel of the school years moved slowly on its paths in the part of their school journey, but as the journey was nearing its end, the pace was faster, causing the classmates to search for every memory to tuck away to become a cherished one-long after they have left this road of travel.
The yearbook staff recorded that the editor was the “industrious “ Marcia Dorman and Mick Coats was the “dynamic” business manager. Marcia was aided by assistant Darlene Stevens and James Johnson, Dwight Roberts, Hope Stewart, Gail Grimes, Carolyn Regan, Charles Malone, Roger Faircloth, Becky Wilmoth, and Ruth Sorrell. Mike had assistance from Teresa Avery, Sue Turlington, Teresa Byrd, Doan Coats, David Surles, Carol Franklin, Barry Cutts, Becky Page, Ronny Denning, Jerry Beasley, Gay Flowers and Shelia Dupree. Roena Honeycutt guided the entire annual staff.
A special thank you goes to Sandra Denning for her beautiful painting depicting “A Mess of Food” for the militia of the Continental Army. Sandra’s painting joins those of Myrtle Bridges and Diane Allen. These ladies’ talent will be part of the upcoming exhibit of the Revolutionary War and Beyond. The volunteers at the museum are so appreciative of the community’s support and because of it, a variety of history is displayed for the public to appreciate.
Thank you goes to the Coats Woman’s Club for remembering Juanita Hudson with a memorial to the museum. Juanita loved the ladies in her clubs and was a part of most of the clubs from the start. These volunteer clubs make such a difference in the town and beyond.
It is September 29, 2017 as you are reading this column. I challenge each of you who have your high school yearbook, go find it today and look at those individuals with whom you graduated. Count the number of those you have not seen since your graduation night and then those whom you have seen a few times only. When we sat in those desks throughout our school years, those classmates impacted our daily lives in so many good and bad ways in that they helped us see how we were perceived by our peers and often times how we treated our classmates.
Next I challenge you to look at each classmate’s picture and note the path of travel that each took since your graduation. Did the classmate choose medicine, law enforcement, public service, farming, teaching, business, law, military, technology, banking and the list could go on and on?
The Coats High Class of 1965 chose as their class motto –“We took the road less traveled.” Did they? I do know that the seniors gathered to recognize those classmates that they saw as having specific traits and talents in those twelve years.
Those students identified in the superlatives of the 1965 annual were Sandra Flowers and Gary Denning –“Best All Around”, Judy Mabry and Jerry Ferrell-“Beau and Belle”, Cheryl Stewart and Leon Whittington-“Most Courteous”, Laura Turlington and Lee Gregory-“Neatest”, Pat Cook and Howard Penny-“Friendliest”, Sondra Ennis and Larry Byrd-“Most Popular”, Brenda Wilkins and Fleming Parker-“Most Dependable”, Ann Johnson and Ronnie Parrish-“Most Studious”, Cathy Penny and Milliard Faulkner- “Wittiest”, Joan Ivey and Wallace Pollard-“Most Original”, Frances Gregory and Dickie Wiggins-“Best Sports”, Beverly Langdon and J. Keith Parrish-“Most Athletic”, June Powell and Joe Tart-“Most Talented” and Linda Ruth Barefoot and Joseph Turlington-“Most Likely to Succeed”. Did they continue on the path of life possessing those same traits and talents? Class of 1965, share with me the names of the girls who were the FFA Sweetheart , Homecoming Queen and Miss Coats High of 1965?
Recall that the class of 1965 had ninety-one first graders. The following are those who graduated from Coats High School in 1965: Judy Barefoot, Linda C. Barefoot, Linda Ruth Barefoot, Larry Byrd, Milton Byrd, Linwood Carroll, Pam Clevenger, Billy Coats, Danny Coats, Pat Cook, Kenneth Davis, Gary Denning, Connie Dorman, Gerald Ennis, Sondra Ennis, Johnny Faircloth, Millard Faulkner, Jerry Ferrell, Kenneth Fish, Sandra Flowers, Becky Frye, Jean Godwin, Betty Jean Gregory, Frances Gregory, Lee Gregory, Charles Grimes, Joan Ivey, Ann Johnson, Carmen Johnson, Christine Johnson, Freda Johnson, Kathryn Johnson, David Knox, Beverly Langdon, Edna Collier Langdon, Doris Lawrence, Judy Mabry, Sandra McKinnie, Danny McLamb, Wayne Miller, Devon Moore, Fleming Parker, J. Keith Parrish, Lena Parrish, Ronnie Parrish, Cathy Penny, Howard Penny, Cecil Pleasant, Annie Bell Poindexter, Donnie Pollard Wallace Pollard, Jo Ann Pope, Raymond Pope, June Powell, Peggy Pollard Smith, Cecil Stephenson, Sue Stevens, Cheryl Stewart, Larry Stewart, Joe Tart, Margie Tart, Bette Turlington, Joseph Turlington, Laura Ann Turlington, Peggy Turlington, Nancy Underwood, Doris Weaver, John West, Leon Whittington, Brenda Wiggins, Johnnie Wiggins, Brenda Wilkins, Annette Williams, Glenda Williams, Judy Williams, Phil Wood and Susan Yarborough (Coats School Echoing Memories).
Did you say, “That is a large class for such a small rural school in 1965”? Did you recognize the names of students not on the superlative list , not club officers, and not stars on the ball teams who have made a tremendous personal success and impact in the community and beyond as they traveled their path of choice.
The Great Society was unveiled by President Lyndon B. Johnson in his State of the Union address. It was the most ambitious program of social legislation since the New Deal. Malcolm X, the leading spokesman among black nationalists, was shot and killed while speaking in New York City. The first of President Johnson’s Great Society bills was signed into law, a billion-dollar package of and for the eleven-state Appalachia area. America’s first two-person space flight began as Gemini 3, nicknamed Molly Brown. Astronauts Virgil Grissom and John Young were on board. The Astrodome, the world’s largest air conditioned room, opened in Houston. President Johnson sent 14,000 troops to the Dominican Republic “to prevent another Communist state in this hemisphere”. President Johnson signed the bill requiring cigarette packages and ads be printed with health warnings.
The U.S. confirmed that Americans were undertaking combat assignments in Vietnam. Mariner IV took close-up pictures of Mars. This was the year that a coinage bill that eliminated silver from quarters and dimes and restricted its use in half-dollars. The president announced that 125,000 American troops would go to Vietnam. The draft calls doubled. Over the objections of the American Medical Association, the Social Security Act was amended to create Medicare, a government-funded health insurance plan for older citizens. Riots broke out in the watts section of Los Angeles involving 10,000 blacks who looted and burned 500 square-block areas. Anti-Vietnam rallies began to be held across college campuses. A massive power blackout occurred in the Northeast US.
Some facts and trends in 1965 were bell bottom trousers and miniskirts. This was the year that the Frisbee flying disc came on strong. The lava lamp was born and the man from U.N.C.L.E. and “Get Smart” were TV hit shows. The nation was spending $654 per public school student-$262 billion in all. U.S. automakers saw profits exceed $3 billion. Color television arrived this year. Ninety-six of NBC’s programs were in color and fifty percent of ABC’s. Americans bought $60 millions in prescription drugs to them lose weight (Dickson, Paul -From Elvis to E-Mail Federal Street Press: Springfield, MA 1999, pp143-145).
It is now August of 1965 and parents are preparing for a new school year. The seniors of 1965 have plans for work, college, military and marriage and a new class is stepping forward to take on the new title of Coats High Senior Class of 1966.
Once again, as in 1964-65, there was a shortage of community news and the column will cover voluminous school news taken from the Echoing Memories that this group of students wanted to remember and share with future generations.
The class had chosen to have a black annual and to have as their class colors-black and gold. They picked the yellow rose as the class flower. They used the wheel as the tool by which to connect the various units of their yearbook. The motto was “The world is a wheel and will all come around”.
Jeanette Stewart, a 1966 senior, wrote the class poem, “The Path of the Wheel”. In her poem, Jeanette wrote of the emotions of joy, laughter, and sorrow experienced as the wheel of the school years moved slowly on its paths in the part of their school journey, but as the journey was nearing its end, the pace was faster, causing the classmates to search for every memory to tuck away to become a cherished one-long after they have left this road of travel.
The yearbook staff recorded that the editor was the “industrious “ Marcia Dorman and Mick Coats was the “dynamic” business manager. Marcia was aided by assistant Darlene Stevens and James Johnson, Dwight Roberts, Hope Stewart, Gail Grimes, Carolyn Regan, Charles Malone, Roger Faircloth, Becky Wilmoth, and Ruth Sorrell. Mike had assistance from Teresa Avery, Sue Turlington, Teresa Byrd, Doan Coats, David Surles, Carol Franklin, Barry Cutts, Becky Page, Ronny Denning, Jerry Beasley, Gay Flowers and Shelia Dupree. Roena Honeycutt guided the entire annual staff.
A special thank you goes to Sandra Denning for her beautiful painting depicting “A Mess of Food” for the militia of the Continental Army. Sandra’s painting joins those of Myrtle Bridges and Diane Allen. These ladies’ talent will be part of the upcoming exhibit of the Revolutionary War and Beyond. The volunteers at the museum are so appreciative of the community’s support and because of it, a variety of history is displayed for the public to appreciate.
Thank you goes to the Coats Woman’s Club for remembering Juanita Hudson with a memorial to the museum. Juanita loved the ladies in her clubs and was a part of most of the clubs from the start. These volunteer clubs make such a difference in the town and beyond.