Remember the Maypole Dance? (East Elem.)

At least six MHS Class of 63 gals can be spotted in this photo of the Maypole Dance at East Elementary School. (were we in the 7th grade?)

Photos from those early years bring back so many memories of friendships and growing up in Monroe.

MHS 63: 12th Annual Fall Beach Retreat

Laughter, friendship, sunshine, BBQ and Trivia! Great fun..........so good to see everyone again.

Center Theater

Partial of front page on 2-8-1940 of The Monroe Enquirer, Monroe, NC for opening of The Center Theatre. Microfilm copy of newspaper available at the Union County Public Library, Monroe, NC. F. Wheeler Smith was the former owner & operator of The State Theatre, which burned in 1939 about a block north of his new Center. "Soft" opening of theatre on Feb. 9th with formal opening set for Feb. 12th (1940).

Center Theater

Center Theater - Main Street - Spring/Summer 1963

Center Theater

Center Theater - Main Street - Spring/Summer 1963

Fun in 2003.....Class of '63

Came across this photo today, and just had to stop and think back about the fun we had that year, Fall Retreat '03.

Sharing the memories!

Classmate and a movie..........

Have you been to see the new George Clooney movie "Leatherheads"??

I have and enjoyed the stars, the laughter.............and watching for our classmate, Steve Davis.

Hoping he'll share some behind-the-scenes fun with us, from his experience as an Extra, during filming in Greenville, SC.

CHIEF A A MAUNEY 1956

Monroe Hardware

Monroe Hardware

Late 50's - Early 60's

Beach Retreat 2007

Happy Birthday, Snoopy!

On October 4, 1950, a small dog wandered down a cartoon sidewalk with a flower and a smile. Some of the folks who were reading the comic page in their local newspapers that day probably grinned at this sight. Few, however, could foresee that this little dog would soon become the world's most famous beagle.

Happy Birthday, Snoopy!

At 57 years old, this star of stage, screen, and comic page has entertained several generations. He has taken on the infamous Red Baron, written numerous unpublished short stories, played several sports, sold insurance, created a legendary dance, and achieved the rank of Beagle Scout. From his humble beginnings on Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, Snoopy has gone on to conquer the world with his energy, determination, and heart.

Simple Days of Birthday Parties.....

Remember the days....? Just cupcakes, punch...........friends from school. A long way from the extravaganzas of today for our grandchildren.
(Maybe we've come full circle.... I do remember just cake and "punch" and "friends from school" at that MHS Fall Retreat 60th celebration..................but it seemed like a grand celebration!)

Just sharing an old photo. (Maybe some of you recognize yourselves? There are eight members of Class of 63 visible above. Probably about age 6 or 7?)

Happy Summer,
Mary E

Pet Show 8

Can you imagine what it would take to put on a event such as this nowadays? Permits, port-a-johns, liability insurance, private security guards, clearance from the EPA and the ASPCA…

I’ve noticed Nita Wall has added some names to the Coca Cola Police post below (click on comments). If you’re not clicking on comments, you’re missing out on more than half the action.

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Miss Ollie Alexander's Pet Show - Year 1952
(John Milliken’s home on South Main Street)
Click here or on the picture above to enlarge.

Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!

One of my favorite classmates has dreamed of Christmas here in the middle of March. A sign? Could be. Let’s hope so, anyway.

Our original lottery ticket has been renewed for another 52 draws – 26 weeks!

(Thanks to the many folks, classmates and friends, who’ve posted and commented below. You are the best!)

Recognize anyone??

Remembering the Hand-Made "Mail Boxes"....

...May we never grow too old to love those little candy hearts with special messages, or the joy of exchanging notes & calls with friends.....

Happy Valentine's Day.......to all the Young-at-Heart!

Pet Show 7

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This proud owner and his prize-winning puppy also appear in Pet Show 2 below.
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If you have old photographs stashed in your dresser drawer - why not pull them out, dust them off, scan them in, and share them with us?
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Click here to take a quick detour through the fifties.
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Miss Ollie Alexander's Pet Show - Year 1952

(John Milliken’s home on South Main Street)

Click here or on the picture above to enlarge
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Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge

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ANOTHER FOOTBALL SUNDAY!

If you attended Walter Bickett (Monroe High School), you know all about our awesome winning football teams and you should have no problem identifying these people. If not, you have two choices: (#1) brush up on your Nita Articles or (#2) pray for comments.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

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Proof?

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Proof? Balloon hats were invented in Monroe.
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Do you recognize this catalog showroom?
Do you recognize the people in this picture?
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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

TEST YOUR AERIAL SKILLS (Level 3)

This is a well-known Monroe landmark. What is this structure?

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Click here to enlarge the picture and look for the red-dot laser pointer.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

Coca Cola Police

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Do you remember John D Hodges? …Lancaster Avenue? …the Coca Cola police? …the student safety patrol?
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Surely, you recognize Mr Kirkman. How about the other gentlemen in this picture?
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Should we move on to TEST YOUR AERIAL SKILLS (Level 3)? Or, fall back to the safety of another PET SHOW PICTURE?
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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

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Monroe Fire Department (1951)

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Thanks to the members of the Monroe Fire Department for the many favorable emails we’ve received (Christmastime at the Monroe Fire Department). Yes, here is another picture of the Monroe Fire Department (1951) and there could be more to follow.
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Unfortunately, I cannot identify the firefighters in the Christmastime picture or in this picture. Hopefully, some members of our class can help with that.
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We can accept credit for the comments but not the photographs. Credit for these photographs of the MFD should go to Mr John Gulledge. The picture quality you refer to is due to John’s use of a “digital negative scanner” totally eliminating the paper process altogether (film to pixels).
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We appreciate ALL you do.
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FOLLOW UP FROM NITA WALL: The names of the firemen are: "Dub" McClellan, ? Griffin, Jim Broome, Randy Quick, Ralph Skinner and Chief Goodwin.
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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

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From Monroe to the NFL!

When Tom Coughlin became the Giants’ head coach and began hiring assistant coaches in January 2004, he retained only one position coach from the previous staff: tight ends coach Michael Pope. Coughlin’s reasoning was simple and logical.
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“He is the best tight ends coach in football,” Coughlin said.
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Pope has proven that for many years. This is Pope’s 24th consecutive season as an NFL coach. He is one of the league’s most experienced, respected and successful assistant coaches. Pope has coached in 23 postseason games and is one of the few assistants to make four trips to the Super Bowl, having also gone with the New England Patriots in 1996. He is in his seventh season of his second tour of duty as a Giants assistant coach. In his two stints with the Giants, Pope has been with them for all three of their Super Bowl appearances.
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Click here to open a new page and read the rest of this story.
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Mike Pope (MHS 1960) is # 56 in the picture posted below ( see MHS FOOTBALL! Posted January 1).

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Thanks to our Margaret McGuirt Broome
For submitting this information

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TEST YOUR AERIAL SKILLS (Level 2)

This was TWO of Monroe's better known landmarks.

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What are they?

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Hint: The four-lane highway in the foreground is US HWY 74 better known back in the day as "the boulevard". This aerial photograph was taken in the mid-fifties prior to the introduction of fast-food restaurants, super WalMarts, and multi-car families. Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Landmarks in this picture have been properly identified as Bundy's Drive-In Theater and Put-Put Golf Course. Click on "comments" under this post for more details.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

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TEST YOUR AERIAL SKILLS (Level 1)

This was a well-known Monroe landmark.

What is it?
Where was it?

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Marizell has properly identified this aerial photograph as the Ellen Fitzgerald Memorial Hospital. Click on "comments" under this post for more details.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

MHS FOOTBALL!

This picture of the Monroe Rebels Football Team was taken in the stadium at Walter Bickett High School.

• Do you know the year? – the players? – the coaches?
• Do you notice anything unusual about this picture?

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"Driving" around Monroe

Love the old photo fun!

Came across this photo from Drivers Ed class.....(Sorry, John Gulledge. Wish our old snapshots were the quality of your great photos from those early years!)

Decided to go ahead and post this one, hoping it will trigger memories of other classmates about those Driver Ed days with Paul Taylor.

I just remember the excitement of my own summertime "driving days", and sometimes getting to drive out on "the Boulevard". (My parents only let me back our car out of the garage and pull around to front of house, in those pre-license days.)

At least for all the girls, "straight-drive" was a complicated undertaking. With the extra set of pedals on the front-seat passenger side, I guess Mr. Taylor had a little control on things!

Who's who? L to R: Bertha Horton, Sara Catherine Flow, Mary Eda McCollum. Class of '63

The Old Overhead Bridge

The overhead bridge linked Church Street and Winchester Avenue above the Seaboard Railroad tracks. The business in the center of this picture is Henderson Roller Mill.

An enlargement allows us to read the sign on the building, “Henderson Roller Mill Co. – Home of Mystic Flour.” Apparently, the grain cars on the right delivered the raw material (wheat) for processing and the finished product (flour) was loaded back onto rail cars to the left for distribution across the country – a fairly sophisticated operation.

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Another view of the old overhead bridge is from a postcard dated 1913 (Source: Looking Back at Monroe's History, by Virginia A. S. Kendrick).

Some of the concrete supporting pillars are still standing alongside the railroad tracks today but the overhead bridge was torn down in the 1950’s when the new Skyway Bridge was opened for traffic.

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

That's MY Doll!

Seeing the previous posting of the Pet & Doll Show........and spotting my own, treasured Bride Doll....has just really had an exciting effect on me. Suddenly seeing an actual photograph of something held only as a memory all these years!

That doll was so, so special......far grander than anything I'd even seen, let alone had for myself. Perhaps my grandmother ("Miss Pearl" at The Smart Shop) had gathered scraps from alterations or something? She had fastened a "baby doll" to a stand, and then dressed her as a Bride, in rich satin and soft netting, little pearl beads and a tiny bouquet.

I remembered entering her into those doll shows, and always winning ribbons......still amazed that she really was mine.

Suddenly feeling the excitement of that little girl again, I've spent some time climbing around in our basement storage, digging back through leftover boxes from past moves, until I found the "saved doll" container, packaged and taped years ago.

I'm amazed that I still have it...........even more amazed at the size of this container. My first-grade memory of such a tall doll left me laughing as I pulled off the tape and opened the plastic box.

How exciting..........pulling the doll from all the wrappings.... the years melting away. As I straightened her veil, there were the ribbons, a faded pale blue one, and a red one. From the doll shows 55 years ago! (Can't remember if she was judged in two categories, winning the two ribbons, or if I had saved ribbons from two years, and proudly kept them both pinned on the veil?)

The posting on this blog triggered the memory of my doll for me, and renewed my interest. And, it's made this Christmas....so many years after receiving the doll as a little girl....very special. I've left her sitting out, for my son and his fiancee to see when they visit this week. A wedding coming up in a few months...somehow this whole experience seems like no "coincidence". Rather, still another connection to the past and happy memories of growing up in Monroe, to share with my friends and family.

Bride Doll in Pet Show 6

Mary,

Reference comments in Pet Show 6 below: Here is a picture of the bride doll I promised.

I’m hoping I have the right doll and…

...I’m hoping you took the blue ribbon.

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Pet Show 6

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Miss Ollie Alexander's Pet Show - Year 1952
(John Milliken’s home on South Main Street)
Click here or on the picture above to enlarge

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Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge

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Merry Christmas!

Christmastime at the Monroe Fire Department

A look inside the Monroe Fire Department

Superheroes do exist!

There is a Santa Claus!

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CHRISTMASTIME - MFD – 1951
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GULLEDGE

Pet Show 5

Miss Ollie Alexander's Pet Show - Year 1952

(John Milliken’s home on South Main Street)

Click here or on the picture above to enlarge

Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge

Time Magazine's Person of the Year: You

By LARRY McSHANE
Associated Press Writer
New York
Sun Dec 17, 5:10 AM ET

Congratulations! You are the Time magazine "Person of the Year."

The annual honor for 2006 went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals — citizens of the new digital democracy, as the magazine put it. The winners this year were anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web.

The 2006 "Person of the Year" package hits newsstands Monday. The cover shows a white keyboard with a mirror for a computer screen where buyers can see their reflection.

It was not the first time the magazine went away from naming an actual person for its "Person of the Year." In 1966, the 25-and-under generation was cited; in 1975, American women were named; and in 1982, the computer was chosen.

(Special thanks to those contributing to this blog on the World Wide Web either by posting, commenting or sharing photographs and memories.)

Pet Show 4

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Miss Ollie Alexander's Pet Show - Year 1952
(John Milliken’s home on South Main Street)
Click here or on the picture above to enlarge

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Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge

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Google Satellite Map?

Reference the many emailed questions about the map of Main Street (Monroe) linked to the three Pet Show posts below –

No, this is not a Google Satellite Map. Nothing back to the future here!

It is an aerial photograph taken from an airplane (possibly a helicopter). Other aerial photographs will be posted in the future (Bundy’s Drive-In Theater, historic downtown Monroe, The Great Flood of ’49, and the old overhead bridge).

CLICK HERE to enlarge the picture superimposed with the graphics
or CLICK HERE to enlarge the picture without the graphics.

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Photographs courtesy of John Gulledge

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(Some of you may not be aware of the comments under the posts. If so, you’re missing out on the fun. Clicking on the “comments hyperlink” will deliver a pop-up window and allow you to read those comments.)

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Miss Jesse McKee

"We had no idea of the influence some of our teachers would forever have on us!"

Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge

*Nita Wall: September 2004

CLICK HERE OR ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE

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Christmastime at J. Howard Williams Company

This photograph was taken on Main Street in front of the J. Howard Williams Company. At first glance, it appears to be a parade float but as you can see the trailer is obviously stationary. Its wheels are chocked and it’s also equipped with electric flood lamps and a microphone. The wire cage on the right suggests a contest – a store promotion of some type.

This entire block is now gone – destroyed! I distinctly remember Mr. Charlie Rogers and the barber shop but some of the other storefronts escape me…

…maybe one (or more) of our class historians has a better memory of that block?

Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge

CLICK HERE OR ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO ENLARGE

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Pet Show 3

The young lady in the background must be a judge – looks like she’s about to do the eeny, meeny, miney, moe.

I’d give it to the kid in the middle - showing up with a spare dog is brilliant! The red ribbon should go to the little guy holding Rin Tin Tin. Everybody else takes home a white.

John Gulledge captured a picture of the winner and we’ll post that later on. In the meantime, give us your best guess – left to right - which contestant won this event?

Miss Ollie Alexander's Pet Show - Year 1952
(John Milliken’s home on South Main Street)
Click here or on the picture above to enlarge.

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Christmastime in Monroe - 1955

Hargett Electric Company Float

1955 Christmas Parade - Monroe, NC

The "young ladies" on the float are as follows:
In the very front: Betty Hargett (MHS - '57)
Behind and to Betty's left: Sara Lou Richardson (MHS - '57)
Behind and to Betty's right: unknown (please comment if you know)
At the rear, to Betty's left: unknown (please comment if you know)
At the rear, to Betty's right: is our Margaret McGuirt ('59) - mouth wide open, obviously wishing someone a VERY Merry Christmas!!!

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CLICK HERE OR ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO ENLARGE

Photo Courtesy of Margaret and Nita

Pet Show 2

Reference emailed comments I’ve received concerning the “excellent quality” of John Gulledge’s photographs – Actually, these are not scans of old photographs. John used a “digital negative scanner” totally eliminating the “paper process altogether” – both expensive and time consuming! I’m certain each and every one of us is appreciative of John’s efforts and abilities. Thank you, John.

Thanks also to Margaret Broome, for helping us put names to the faces in the Pet Show picture below. Those of you who read the wording under the Sears’ picture, already know Margaret is a graduate of MHS ’59. She is also the sister of Sam McGuirt (MHS ’55) “winningest quarterback ever” at Monroe High School (Walter Bickett) under Coach Jaynes. Also a sister to John – right many of us know John McGuirt (MHS '61).

It’s no secret. Everyone knows about those old photographs you have stashed in your dresser drawer. So, why not pull them out, dust them off, scan them in, and share them with us?

Miss Ollie Alexander's Pet Show - Year 1952

(John Milliken’s home on South Main Street)

Click here or on the picture above to enlarge.

We were all winners!

This photograph was taken in 1952 at Miss Alexander’s Pet Show (John Milliken’s home on South Main Street) in Monroe, North Carolina. Even though, we were six and seven years old at the time, I can readily identify four of our classmates in this picture. Can you name those classmates? Maybe you recognize others?

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of Mr John Gulledge, we have a series of eight of these pet show pictures in our collection. There are prize winning dolls, dogs, birds, ponies and maybe a cat or two in the trees.

I’ll post these pet show pictures periodically over the next seven to ten days. So, check back often. If you’re not familiar with Miss Ollie Alexander’s Pet Shows, you owe it to yourself to learn more about them – See Nita Wall / May 2004.

If you would like to save these pictures to your desktop, you may do so. Click here or on the picture to enlarge it. Right click on the enlarged picture and left click on “save picture as”.

If my memory serves me correctly, there were blue ribbons, red ribbons, white ribbons and possibly more. Ribbon colors were important in those days. Ribbon colors were a measure of success. Fifty-four years later, those colors have faded away revealing the true secret – each and every one of us walked away from that pet show with a ribbon and as a winner.

If you have other pet show pictures, ribbons, stories, memories - I encourage you to share them with us here or email them to nitawall@hotmail.com

Christmastime at Sears

Christmas at Sears Roebuck and Company

*114 E Franklin Street - Monroe, NC

The bank was at the corner, then down

Franklin Street was Robert's, then Sears.

Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge

*Margaret McGuirt Broome - MHS '59

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE

The Rebel Quartet

The Rebel Quartet

(Ducky's Quartet)
Photo Courtesy of John Gulledge
See Nita's Articles: April 2003
CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE

Home Coming Queen

Christmas Parade ~ Monroe, NC ~ 1955
Photo Courtesy of Nita Wall
CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE