Ronny McCormick (64)             

Tony Foreman (64)

Yogi Gilleland (64)

Let me say first that you should write these things down as they happen because they seem to have a life of their own after a few years. I have talked to the principals and where the facts are remembered differently I will make note.

Senior English (Floy Jim Hughes) was the first period after lunch in 64. Just a few (days/ weeks) before the senior trip (New Orleans) three of us thought that the best way to spend our lunch hour was to go to one of the farm roads (we have a choice here of the Sweetwater Hwy or the farmroad right after Janet Terry's house) we had marked out for quarter-mile drags. The three cars McCormicks 55, Foremans 56 and Gillelands 64 were very close and every time one of us did a tune up......off we would go.

Well on this particular day, at the end of a particularly close race... a local farmer (majority opinion has it to be Freddie Mac Stewart's daddy) pulled up on the road, no doubt on his way to the pool hall. Confronted with two cars, side-by-side and coming very fast .. he made "the bar ditch move".

We made our way back to the safety of Mrs. Hughes class (that is a relative term) and were totally involved with McBeth when (Mr Hill or Freddie Mac)(came to the door or called us over the loud-speaker) and asked to see the three of us in the hall. We all three remember very well what was in the hall. It was the first time I had ever seen Walter that far away from his car and never in the school. (you remember that feeling in the pit of your stomach). As I remember he was very cool about it and I am sure that there were many witnesses because we were - in the middle of the hall - in the middle of the school - in the middle of the day.

Like so many conversations the three of us had with Walter ,as it started out….he started opening his book. He wrote the statistics from our license, probably from memory, as we discussed the situation. I think it was McCormick that suggested that he was quite sure that in order for Walter to ticket us…..he had to "catch us in the act". When Walter ignored what he said ……. he said it again. Getting no response from him and sure that was because he had not heard him...Ronny said it one more time. Now while Walter was a patient man…..being lectured on the law by a 17-year-old while a whole generation of future offenders looked on, called for more patience than he had brought to school that day. We can't remember exactly what he said, but it had something to do with his boot …. McCormick's butt and the fact that Ronny's dad would hold him while it happened.

We had been saving money for the trip to New Orleans and now we were faced with a dilemma …….. pay our fine before or after the trip. After much discussion….. our friends telling us what they would do ….. and a trip to the JP to see how much the fine was ($16.50) we made the mature decision ………… …………….be conservative in our spending in New Orleans and pay the fine when we got back……But that's another story.