Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The way it was: December 18, 1987



As our senior year closed in on Christmas, Jonesboro High School precipitated an international incident.

Don’t remember that? You must not have read Page 4 of the December 18, 1987, edition of the Golden Times, where a banner head screams: “JHS delegates walk out of UN.”

It turns out that JHS’ first-ever team in the Arkansas Mock United Nations got assigned to be Barbados. “Once in the General Assembly, the true insignificance of Barbados shone through,” the story, by Travis Justice (Class of ’89) stated. So the five-member team that included four JHS-88ers (Fran Bailey, Shea Burns, Chris Harris and Melinda Stringer) walked out.

But that political brouhaha couldn’t hold the front page when the Mr. Kool pageant was coming up in just 34 short days.

Joining the Mr. Kool preview on the front page were Kelley Gibbard being crowned Miss Hurricane, the National Honor Society inducting 32, the naming of our class’ “Who’s Who” and William Cheatham being named the 1987/88 winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citzenship Award.

“He wants to attend the University of Arkansas, major in pre-med and pursue a career as a general surgeon,” the article on Cheatham states. No mention of wanting to be a principal or marrying Marcie Brooks.

I’ve caught up on fall issues of the paper so that I can now post each new edition on the actual date it was published. The next Golden Times issue is not until Feb. 1, so I’ll have some time to start profiling a few of our classmates for this blog.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that pre-med idea with William didn't last too long. Also, I think you meant to say, "no mention of wanting to be a "principal", not "assistant" principal. Sheesh. :-)

Now explain exactly why our Barbados team walked out of the mock United Nations. I didn't know that.

Kevin Myatt said...

OK, I don't want to get in trouble with the PRINCIPAL 10 months before the reunion, so I deleted "assistant."

From the story, it sounds like our mock UN team just didn't have much to do or say as Barbados and found better things to do with their time.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Kevin you better watch it. Principal Cheatham is pretty tough, I hear.

Charles Brinkley said...

I'm glad you got the Principal comment correted. I was looking through my McArthur yearbook and William found every picture of himself in the yearbook and either circled himself or added a comment about "the great WC". I will scan in some of the pics tonight and post them on Flickr.

Kevin Myatt said...

It's not the principal I'm scared of ... it's his wife!

Angie Stricklin Buhrmester said...

Can you imagine having to go to Principal Cheatham's office?!?! He does have stone cold stare he can throw on you.