Nov. 17, 1961 – Orville Tanner is currently building a new six-room home in his Tanner Heights neighborhood. The Fuller Merrill family is adding on to its home on Short Street.

Nov. 17, 1961 – The Post Office Department is asking Congress for permission to raise the cost of a first-class stamp from three to five cents. Airmail stamps would go up to eight cents.

Nov. 17, 1961 – Contractor M. M. Patterson is building a seven-room house on Arcadia Street that he expects to get $11,000 for when he puts it on the market.

Nov. 18, 1961 – A turkey shoot was hosted by the Flint Sportsman’s Club this morning.

Nov. 18, 1961 – Funeral services were held this afternoon at Salem Methodist Church for Henry Blackwood, 78, who passed away at his son Billy Joe’s home here Thursday. Revs. Odie Gregg and Albert Jones officiated.

Nov. 18, 1961 – President Kennedy and former Presidents Truman and Eisenhower were in Bonham, Texas, today for the funeral of the late speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn. Vice-President Johnson was also seated with the group. (He would become president on November 22, 1963. The photo from this funeral features more of the men who were or became president than any other ever taken.)

Nov. 18, 1961 – Hartselle resident Willard Hadley found a parachute in a tree while he was visiting in the Florette community today. The parachute contained a mysterious piece of equipment that looks like a radio signal transmitter.

Nov. 18, 1961 – A few area Auburn fans made the long trip to Athens, Ga., today to see AU take on and beat the Georgia by a 10-7 score. In Birmingham Bama beat Tech 10-0. Bama player Darwin Holt clashed with Tech star Chick Graning in the fourth quarter and knocked six of Graning’s teeth out. Coach Bryant said that Holt was torn up about what he had done and wanted to tell Graning he was sorry.

Nov. 19, 1961 – A Republican senator from Vermont is urging his party to nominate a liberal for president in the next election. He said this would be the only hope “if we are to win the presidency.”

Nov. 20, 1961 – Carol Creel, Maxye Gibson, Carolyn Henderson, and Cherie Ray were in competition tonight to be crowned “senior beauty queen” at MCHS. (Maxye won the beauty contest.) The junior beauty contestants were Linda Collins, Oraleen Johnson, Nancy Kelly, and the Winner, Charlotte Kyker.

Nov. 20, 1961 – Quail hunting season began today.

Nov. 20, 1961 – The Morgan County Board of Registrars is in session to sign up new voters at the courthouse today.

Nov. 20, 1961 – Members of the MCHS chapter of the FHA met for a social with girls from other school groups at the Phillips Roller Rink in Decatur tonight.

Nov. 20, 1961 – A total of 22,456 new 1962 auto tags has been issued by the Morgan County probate judge’s office.

Nov. 21, 1961 – President Kennedy’s determination to balance the federal budget next year may lead to cancellation of the food stamp program. A substantial number of local residents rely on this program to help them make needed food purchases.

Nov. 21, 1961 – ”The Pleasure of His Company” starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds is currently showing at the Ranch Drive-in.

Nov. 22, 1961 – William Hartselle III, who will receive his degree at the Capstone in May, has been tapped for “Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities.”

Nov. 22, 1961 – Terry Lyle and Roger Laney, a guitar duo, won first place in the Falkville Elementary talent contest.

Nov. 23, 1961 – Local Tide fans are incensed over the article about Coach Bear Bryant that appears in the current issue of Time. The article accuses Coach Bryant of running up his team’s margin of victory over weak teams, harassing sportswriters, and both cursing Bama players and kicking them when they don’t do what he tells them to. The writer concedes that Bryant may be the best college coach in America today, however.

Nov. 23, 1961 – MCHS Principal J. C. Pettey was the guest speaker at the Danville High PTA meeting.