40 years

Did we just wake up and 40 years flew by for a lot of us? Has it been 40 years since we first heard Johnny Cash sing about "A Boy Named Sue"? My dear class of 1969 went on a class trip to Washington D. C. and New York City and I figured out what I wanted to do with life as the trip included a trip to "30 Rock" also known as Rockefeller Center and a tour of NBC and WNBC radio where Big Wilson was on the air and watching him have so much fun gave me the idea that radio might be a wonderful thing to do. The trip took us to the top of the Empire State Building and some of us were bold enough to walk up the million stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty. I remember that we got back on a Saturday and the following day John Lennon and Yoko Ono got married. A month later the group Chicago released their debut album "The Chicago Transit Authority" and it remains to this day a favorite on my Ipod. The horn band that was red hot by the time the class of '69 got diplomas at Tallapoosa High School from Haralson County School Superintendent Dr. Wilson Freeman was Blood, Sweat, and Tears with the hit "You've Made Me So Very Happy". I wore out that 8-track that summer. That summer I also got a job that changed my life. Jess Newman was personnel director at American Thread and after pestering him daily for a couple of weeks, he gave me a job in the maintenance shop. I was a horticulture engineer for the textile firm that summer. Yes, that means I cut the grass at the cotton mill. I also got to know some great people like Wayland Lee, Lee Roy Brooks, Sue Muse, and Howard Brooks who all encouraged me to go to college and make something happen in my life. I am glad I listened to those wonderful folks. Jess Newman went to bat for me for scholarship money and because of him and the efforts of some others I was able to go to LSU that September. LSU stands for little Southern Union down in Wadley, Alabama. Bobby T. Welch who coached at Tallapoosa High School and served as principal at the elementary school i n our town was dean of students at Southern Union and he as Jessie Lee Newman told me that failure was not an option. 1969 was a year that saw the death of Boris Karloff whose portrayal of the Frankenstein monster kept me sleeping with the light on until I got married. August of this year will mark the 40 year anniversary of me registering for the draft and a couple of days later we first heard the name of Charles Manson. November of this year will mark the 40 year return of a 7 year absence from the charts for Elvis with "Suspicious Minds". This summer will mark 40 years for the creation of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Woodstock, New York hosted one of music's biggest outdoor events in August of '69. I have never been to Woodstock except for the one just north of Marietta. The Beatles gave us their final project "Abbey Road" and then Yoko broke them up. Yoko Ono also broke up the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis I was told by a show business conspiracy expert. My recollections of 40 years ago mostly center around music and the final months of high school and the first few months of college. I first heard of Merle Haggard and Bonnie Raitt that year. How many of you remember July of 1969 and Neil Armstrong's team landing on the moon? I was at Lynnie Goebel's house on Freeman Street watching Walter Cronkite's account on CBS with her granddaughter Lynn Harris who proceeded to break my heart by going to Auburn, marrying an engineer and moving to St. Louis. I guess I got over it. Actually several others have broken it, or at least dented it over the years. Speaking musically one more time, 40 years ago seemed like yesterday. The Beatles song "Yesterday" has a line that makes me think of Tallapoosa, "Oh, I Believe In Yesterday". Here's to another 40 years for all of us.

Rhubarb Jones is a Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Communication at Kennesaw State University and is director of special projects in the office of university development. Contact him via email at Rhubarbjones@aol.com or by writing P.O. Box 1001, Tallapoosa, Georgia, 30176.