From: robert mcdonald
Date: 07/04/05 01:43:04
To: joel@rockinghamremembered.com
Subject: REMEMBER WHEN


Joel:

As I sat around flipping through our ' 66 ROCKET annual, I came across a speech that I had written and delivered at our ten year class reunion on May 22, 1976. The title of the speech is " Ten Years Ago -- Remember When . "  I thought maybe you and some of those Rockets flying around in internet cyberspace could attach onto this Email long enough to travel back in time.  The only change in this speech today would be the title " Twenty-nine Years Ago -- Remember When ... "  in fact, anyone who graduated from our ALMA MATER in the late ' 50s, the ' 60s, and the early ' 70s just needs to remember his Senior Year and simply do the math.  Rockingham High remained the same throughout the years ; only the Seniors changed.  How long ago do you remember when?  Following is the speech as written and delivered twenty-nine years ago:


                       TEN YEARS AGO -- REMEMBER WHEN

   Remember when Pepsi bottles were made without a twist?  Remember when O.D. was a place to go during the summer and not a cause of death?  Remember when the Beatles were adored and not dusted?  Remember when coke was not even classic? Remember when Wall Street lead to Rockingham High?

   Ah yes... the year was 1966 and we were 17, happy and carefree.  Life was fun and full of excitement.  We were all-knowing.  We came from far away places such as Foxport, Roberdel, Pee Dee, Cordova, Wolfpit, Zion Community, County Home Road, and Great Falls and also came from places as close as Richmond Park, Forest Hills, and Skyland Terrace.  Yet, we had something in common; we all were
ROCKINGHAM ROCKETS and ruled and reigned at the greatest high school in world in what was then the greatest year of our life.  Yes, 1966 was the year - our year!  We were SENIORS! Do you still remember?  Take just a few minutes with me and go back in time -- ten years ago and REMEMBER WHEN...

   Remember when the police station and the "Strand" were on the "SQUARE"? Remember when you could buy a Superburger, a Pizza Burger, a Collard Sandwich, and a Zip all in the same night and all in the same restaurant?  Remember when you could see everyone you had ever met in your life either at TOM AND SARAH'S or THE HUB or at any point in-between on ANY Saturday night?

   Remember the memories only a SENIOR can cherish.  Remember SENIOR ENGLISH -- Miss Kate Crossland and Miss Rebecca Howell bleeding all over our themes. Remember SENIOR PRIVILEGES -- only SENIORS were allowed on the front steps, underclassmen showed their respect by standing as we marched in and out of assemblies and sat in our reserved seats in Kate Finley Auditorium. Remember SENOIR RINGS -- we were different: emerald green.  Remember the SENIOR PLAY.

   Everyone remembers a special teacher for one reason or another.  Coach Jim Biggerstaff and his Biology class with "ZERO ALLEY" or remember him "climbing into the ring" with no pads and knocking everyone down?  Remember Mr. J. C. Mulkey and his "stearn stare" when you did something you shouldn't have?  Remember Coach Bill Eustler and his Bob Hope smile?  Remember the impromptu speeches and themes in Miss Joyce Osbourne's English class on such subjects as "death","legs", and "mother"?  Remember cutting up woodchips and throwing them at the bell and each other while Mr. Raymond Souther tried to identify tools and explain crop rotation?  Remember when politics and government were simple, clean, and idealistic in Coach Jerry Goodman's Civics class?  Remember learning about the history of the world through the modern facilities of Mr. Howard Stogner's TV?  Remember Miss Blondie Morse and her incessant "shhh..."?  Remember when we escaped the boundaries Richmond County through the imagination of Mrs. Louise Gutherie and the French
Club or Mrs. Rachel Canipe or Mrs. Margaret Jenning and the Spanish Club?  Remember Mrs. Virginia Dockery tippy-toeing across her Geometry class and pleading, "Come on class --- the straightest distance between two points is a WHAT???"?

 How could we forget Mrs. Lavinia Dulin and basic math as we now add and subtract our checking account in the daily struggle to pay our bills?  Thanks Mrs. Dulin ! Remember when Mr. James Miller and Mr. John Langley made the past come alive in American History?  Integration, Vietnam, gas lines at the pump, Japanese car imports, moon walks, and Watergate.  Now we know why our dear teachers taught us so intensely. In the past ten years we have lived history, we have made history, and as old as it might sound, folks, we are history!

   Remember when culture was first introduced into our lives?  We got our first taste of culture of the Big Apple through the entertainment of Broadway musicals such as "OKLAHOMA" and "SOUTH PACIFIC" thanks to the DRAMA CLUB.  No sweeter sound existed than the angelic harmony of the EIGHT O'CLOCKERS.  Even the growing pains of a squeaky, adolescent BOYS'  GLEE  CLUB must be considered culture.  Also on the cultural bandwagon (no pun intended) was the precision drill and professional showmanship of Mr. Ed Jones' MARCHING ROCKETS as they performed in such faraway places as the streets of D.C. and such hollowed ground as the Rocket Football Field. Who could speak of RHS without speaking of its athetics.   Even if you didn't play or cheer, so many memories can be connected with pep rallies, cuddling up in the stands, and trips to and from the ball games --- REMEMBER WHEN?                            

   Needless to say, football was # 1.  Pembroke and long practices filled the autumn summer.  With a 5-4-1 record, our ' 66 Rockets at the beginning of the season suffered the  "agony of defeat," 32-0, at the hands of Darrell Moody & Co. on a cold Friday night in Asheboro but experienced the " thrill of victory" at season's end with a 6-0 thrashing of the team from the wrong side of the tracks to keep its post-civil war record against Hamlet unblemished.

   Intergration came too late for Coach Charles Lewis and the round ball team but the visitors didn't have a chance if they dribbled into the far right-hand corner of the RHS gymn. Spring brought out baseball and track teams and a dozen fans. So much for athletics, sports fans!   

   Finally, JR.-SR., graduation, and that last trip down the aisle as a SENIOR and the return trip up that same aisle and out into the cruel, cruel world. REMEMBER WHEN?

     Many changes have taken place in the last ten years.  College, technical school, military obligations, marriage, divorce, career changes, new  towns, new friends, children, health problems, and yes, even death has touched our lives. We are no longer the leaders of tomorrow but the children of yesterday.  Even our old ALMA MATER is now a Jr High; few things in life have remained the same.  Childhood memories are tainted by the years; yet, the most precious of these high school memories, friendship, will go with us forever.  Friendship is the heart of a high school reunion!  We still have each other.  Go back ten years and REMEMBER WHEN!  Rekindle those old afterburners that made you  proud to be a Rocket.  Enjoy yourselves and each other tonight. GO ROCKETS!





P.S. - Bobby, I remember these times too. All the names you mentioned above really bring back the memories. You have put them in writing better than I could ever do. You were a credit to our graduating class and I appreciate you sharing this speech you wrote back then. 1966 Was a great year! I just hope others will find this page that graduated with us and reflect on how it truly was back then - A Time In History that is portrayed so elegantly here. Thank you, Joel.