mrs. hornet22
Beach Dreamer
Here they come - Hondas, Jeeps, BMWs, pickups and SUVs - packed with stuff, tons of stuff. But this year, 4,970 UGA freshmen will lug more than stuff to their dorm rooms. They also bring an average SAT score of 1273 - the highest ever.
Considering today’s admission standards - compared to 1966 - I’m lucky to be an alumnus, let alone a past president of The University of Georgia Alumni Association. Now, the admissions office would laugh at my application. And these freshmen will probably snicker, reading this.
Forty-six years ago, freshmen couldn’t have cars. My parents hauled me and my stuff to Athens in their 1964 Buick. The 215 miles was “too far” to travel in one day. We stopped short in Greensboro.
To get back to Jesup, I hitched rides on Peede and Bramblett Cabinet Company’s truck. The firm was doing the exquisite millwork in the law school’s expansion. The father of Randall Bramblett, my boyhood buddy and now Athens musician, owned the company. In return, I helped Lester Dixon unload materials on Sunday nights.
To stay in school, you followed rules that had nothing to do with academics. Women couldn’t wear shorts, except in PE classes. London Fog did a big raincoat business, covering legs of young ladies - rain or shine. Sounds ludicrous, huh?
Laugh, if you will, but William Tate, dean of men, prohibited coeds in the downtown Varsity. Your girlfriend waited outside, on the corner of College and Broad, while you bought the ice cream cones.
Dean Tate was The Law, a one-man enforcer. If he confiscated your student ID card, you might as well call your parents and warn, “I’m coming home early.” Thousands wrapped around the coliseum, trying to register for classes. If Dean Tate saw you break in line, uh-ho. You didn’t want to see the old guy in the red cap scowling and storming your way.
When he was in law school, my friend Larry Walker wanted to marry Janice Knighton. He heard that Dean Tate had to approve student marriages. Larry went to see the dean. On Aug. 26, the Walkers celebrate their 48th anniversary.
And don’t forget curfews. On weeknights, women had to be in by 11. You could party until midnight on Friday and Saturday. One of my classmates was kicked out for taking an unauthorized, overnight trip to see her boyfriend at an out-of-town campus.
For the freshmen and sophomore guys, ROTC was required. You might be a hippie, but on drill day, you spit-shined your military boots.
In the 1960s, Clarke County was dry - there were no liquor stores - but bootleggers kept whiskey within reach for the Jack Daniels-thirsty. Sanford Stadium wouldn’t have held the drained Pabst Blue Ribbon cans after each season.
And speaking of Sanford Stadium, there were no reserved student seats - just a section. As fraternity pledges, we went to the games early to sweat and stake out spots for the brothers. We wore a starched shirt, tie, burlap-like, itchy wool slacks and a blazer. Don’t look for those outfits when the Bulldogs kick off to Buffalo on Sept. 1.
Other things these record-breaking freshmen won’t see are the Snack Shack, Tony’s Restaurant, Charlie Williams’ Pinecrest Lodge, Harry’s, Davis Brothers Cafeteria, Chase Street Café, the Swamp Guinea or Poss’. I ate my way through UGA at those places. If I had $10, I’d take my date to Tony’s for lasagna. If I was borderline broke - which I usually was - we dined on buck twenty-five UGA hamburger steaks at Poss’.
Laugh, if you will, freshman of 2012.
But as Mary Hopkins sings, “Those were the days, my friends ... we thought they’d never end.”
And they haven’t - at least in our minds.
‒ Dink NeSmith is president of Community Newspapers Inc., and serves on the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
Hello reader, our article commenting that you would normally see here is temporarily shut down. We still
Considering today’s admission standards - compared to 1966 - I’m lucky to be an alumnus, let alone a past president of The University of Georgia Alumni Association. Now, the admissions office would laugh at my application. And these freshmen will probably snicker, reading this.
Forty-six years ago, freshmen couldn’t have cars. My parents hauled me and my stuff to Athens in their 1964 Buick. The 215 miles was “too far” to travel in one day. We stopped short in Greensboro.
To get back to Jesup, I hitched rides on Peede and Bramblett Cabinet Company’s truck. The firm was doing the exquisite millwork in the law school’s expansion. The father of Randall Bramblett, my boyhood buddy and now Athens musician, owned the company. In return, I helped Lester Dixon unload materials on Sunday nights.
To stay in school, you followed rules that had nothing to do with academics. Women couldn’t wear shorts, except in PE classes. London Fog did a big raincoat business, covering legs of young ladies - rain or shine. Sounds ludicrous, huh?
Laugh, if you will, but William Tate, dean of men, prohibited coeds in the downtown Varsity. Your girlfriend waited outside, on the corner of College and Broad, while you bought the ice cream cones.
Dean Tate was The Law, a one-man enforcer. If he confiscated your student ID card, you might as well call your parents and warn, “I’m coming home early.” Thousands wrapped around the coliseum, trying to register for classes. If Dean Tate saw you break in line, uh-ho. You didn’t want to see the old guy in the red cap scowling and storming your way.
When he was in law school, my friend Larry Walker wanted to marry Janice Knighton. He heard that Dean Tate had to approve student marriages. Larry went to see the dean. On Aug. 26, the Walkers celebrate their 48th anniversary.
And don’t forget curfews. On weeknights, women had to be in by 11. You could party until midnight on Friday and Saturday. One of my classmates was kicked out for taking an unauthorized, overnight trip to see her boyfriend at an out-of-town campus.
For the freshmen and sophomore guys, ROTC was required. You might be a hippie, but on drill day, you spit-shined your military boots.
In the 1960s, Clarke County was dry - there were no liquor stores - but bootleggers kept whiskey within reach for the Jack Daniels-thirsty. Sanford Stadium wouldn’t have held the drained Pabst Blue Ribbon cans after each season.
And speaking of Sanford Stadium, there were no reserved student seats - just a section. As fraternity pledges, we went to the games early to sweat and stake out spots for the brothers. We wore a starched shirt, tie, burlap-like, itchy wool slacks and a blazer. Don’t look for those outfits when the Bulldogs kick off to Buffalo on Sept. 1.
Other things these record-breaking freshmen won’t see are the Snack Shack, Tony’s Restaurant, Charlie Williams’ Pinecrest Lodge, Harry’s, Davis Brothers Cafeteria, Chase Street Café, the Swamp Guinea or Poss’. I ate my way through UGA at those places. If I had $10, I’d take my date to Tony’s for lasagna. If I was borderline broke - which I usually was - we dined on buck twenty-five UGA hamburger steaks at Poss’.
Laugh, if you will, freshman of 2012.
But as Mary Hopkins sings, “Those were the days, my friends ... we thought they’d never end.”
And they haven’t - at least in our minds.
‒ Dink NeSmith is president of Community Newspapers Inc., and serves on the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
Hello reader, our article commenting that you would normally see here is temporarily shut down. We still
