As my forty-year high school reunion draws near, more memories of yesteryear
resurface.  Life back then was much more simple and pure.  No law enforcement
officer walked the school halls as now.  No drug sniffing dog searched student lockers
as now.  No parent or student defied or even challenged the decision of a principal to
discipline.  No teacher raped his student as now.  No student physically attacked his
teacher as now.  No student brought an automatic firearm to school to kill his
classmates as now.  Yes, the high school culture and all the guidelines, rules, and
regulations have changed from the days of yesteryear.

Back in the day, the most heinous crime a student could commit at Rockingham High
was to smoke in the bathroom.  During a test, a student might try to sneak a peak at
your answers.  He may even be bold enough to whisper for an answer.  Do not dare
get caught going the wrong way down a hall even if you were the only one on the hall.  
To be caught meant a court date with the Student Government Executive Council.  
The punishment for a first-time violator was thirty minutes after school in detention
hall.

Our school was somewhat defiant to today's standards and laws.  If a student, a male
student that is, brought a parental signed slip from home, he could smoke at school in
a designated area regardless of age.  Wesley Webb (RHS ' 66) signed Keith Sinclair's
(RHS '66) permit as payback for Keith signing his, just as many buddies did in the
"smoking area".  Occasionally, but not often, a fistfight would break out in the
"smoking area".  The fights never lasted long before cooler heads or a teacher broke it
up.  The fights were almost always premeditated and pre-announced by the
participants.  The excessive number of non-smokers in the "smoking area" was a dead
give-away that a scuffle was eminent. The instigating factor to most fights involved a
disagreement over a young girl's affections.  My good friend Johnny Coble (RHS '67)
particularly comes to mind.  His girlfriend Bootsie Diggs (RHS '68) was a looker with
a personality just as cute as she was.  Their high school romance had a "going steady"
period that was off and on again and resulted in a few short exciting matches in the
"smoking area".  Only because of the amnesty laws that exist in this country do I have
a confession to make.  On December 25, 1965, I picked Bootsie up and escorted her to
the Richmond Theater in beautiful downtown Rockingham.

       Bootsie and I shared a big box of popcorn and a few laughs that night.  Shortly
after the movie was over, she and I were sitting in her driveway.  We chatted briefly
and I walked her to the door.  I am sure I got a hug on the porch but I am just as
certain I never got that good night kiss.  Per 'old school' etiquette, girls of the '60s did
not kiss on the first date.  "Why did you take that good looking girl home so soon,
Bob?"  you ask.  Where was I going to go?  It was Christmas night.  I could not go to
the drive-in.  Tom was at home with Sarah.  I could not go bowling.  Jimmy "Juice"
Newton (RHS '68) was home with his daddy playing with his new toys.  I could not go
to Hamlet.  The only thing turning at the Hub was "lights out".  "First date" etiquette
again kept me out of the Rockingham Ballpark.  Besides, being alone on those
premises would have been too scary.  In fact, I saw only two other people that night.  
One was the lady at the movie ticket booth who doubled as the concessions lady and
the projectionist was the other.

       Nineteen sixty-five came and went as I returned to school in January of 1966 for
the last semester of my senior year.  Johnny and Bootsie had kissed and made up and
were enthralled again in their roles as Romeo and Juliet. I was good friends with
Johnny and Bootsie before the "only date" and wanted to resume that friendship.
Still, I retained a self-contained gloat in high school and even throughout the years.  I
was the only boy known, perhaps only by the ticket lady and the projectionist, to have
dated Bootsie Diggs and not receive a bloody nose from Johnny Coble. Yet, I was
always aware of my surroundings when in the presence of Johnny.  For you see,
Johnny lived by the same proven theory of the boys of the '60s when applied to the
rules of fighting; "the first to land a punch is usually the winner."

       The class of 1967 has combined with our class of 1966 to celebrate our renewal of
friendships and good times during our high school years. Did Johnny and Bootsie
ever marry?  Did Bootsie not tell Johnny about her Christmas date?  If  she confessed,
did Johnny view me as harmless?  Now that I have confessed, will Johnny still punch
me in the nose?  Can Johnny forgive me?  I hope to find out September 23rd.  Johnny
is a graduate of the class of '67.  I am looking forward to seeing you Johnny and
sharing memories of growing up in Rockingham, North Carolina - a small textile
town in the South in the '50s & '60s.

ps: Sorry to say that Johnny did not make it to the class reunion. Hopefully Bob will
get his question answered at our 45th reunion in 2011. jb.