Chapel Hill High School Class of ‘57

Milburn Gibbs is alive and well, terrorizing South-central N.C. with his words, observations and deeds. Though he is “most at home” at The Chatham News, his excesses will periodically spill over here. (The Editors)

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Milburn Gibbs

50th Reunion Photo By Ness
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1957 Reunion
By Milburn Gibbs
May 22, 2007

A very special coming together happened on a cool, windy Friday evening in May in the quiet Orange County community of White Cross on May 18 at the home of Patricia and Gordon Neville.

The Saturday evening dinner was held at the new catering facility of Joyce and Jimmie Freeland on Murrow Mill Road.

The Chapel Hill High School Class of 1957 (in addition to inviting the classes of 1954, ‘55, ‘56, ‘58, ‘59 and ‘60) held its 50th Anniversary reunion.

Our class of 1957 brought some divergent elements together to form our class in the fall of 1953 – farm boys and girls from White Cross, students from the mill village of Carrboro, and the sons and daughters of UNC professors from the Southern Part of Heaven, called Chapel Hill. We were merged into a viable unit by our freshman year president, Gordon Neville, fittingly at whose home the 50th reunion was held.

About 130 alumni and spouses gathered with one purpose in mind – to make this the most memorable of all our frequent reunions. The mission was a great success. Doctors and merchants, dairy farmers and retired squires came in droves. Frowns were not allowed, but the occasional tears of joy were welcomed. A few folks we had not seen in half a century – a few from our own 1957 class – recombined into what had been the great melting pot when we tentatively became one in 9th grade when we first unified into Chapel Hill High School.

The school was then on West Franklin Street, where University Square now stands. It was a giant edifice compared to the smaller and very divergent little schools from whence we came.

Our freshman president, Gordon, was a White Cross boy and thank goodness he was. He helped convert all of us from across the area, into a cohesive, pulling-together class. That may have been his finest hour.

Miss Jessie Belle Lewis, our beloved senior English and Journalism teacher, attended the reunion, as did Mrs. Bob Culton, widow of our fabulous Coach Culton.

We could remember our past and reflect upon how a very diverse group could have become such a united and positive force. We greatly care for each other, but it was, at first, a learned reaction. We had cliques and circles of friends, but in the long run, we became a class of many parts and many talents pulling in single harness. We are proud of our past but more hopeful for our future.

If there is one legacy these classes leave to those who will follow is that divergence can become unity - with the right leadership and intent. It has been a 50-year work in progress.

Our reunions are always significant and rewarding. The 50th was one for the ages. We shall continue to have mini-reunions a couple of times a year in and around Chapel Hill.

I wonder if our grandchildren will have such success as we have known in class-building. Will they have the will to love these school years and classmates, and develop lifelong bonds with so many for so long for such good reasons?

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UNC Basketball Champions
By Milburn Gibbs
February 12, 2007

The telecast of the UNC-Wake Forest basketball game on February 10 brought forth a ton of memories when the UNC NCAA Championship Teams of 1957 and 1982 were invited to attend the game.

It was like living history to see Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Lennie Rosenbluth, Pete Brennan, Joe Quigg, Tommy Kearns and others from those teams in the house.

Ironically, the two deceased players from the 1957 team (Gehrmann Holland and Roy Searcy) were the only two in-state players on the team.

The 1957 Heels went on to two triple-overtime wins in the NCAA Tournament over “Jumping” Johnny Green and Michigan State, and “Wilt the Stilt” Chamberlain and Kansas.

Chamberlain was not the first seven-footer, but he was the first great one (with a nod to Oklahoma State’s. Bob Kurland).

Losing was an unknown to the great 1957 UNC team. Heart, courage, wonderful coaching and New York talent made this team exceptional.

I think the 1982 team was even more talented, but so was the competition. Jordan, Worthy and Perkins might be the best three men ever to play together on the same college team.

Matt Doherty and Jimmy Black (the other starters) were exceptional in their own rights as well.

It gave me goose bumps to see these two masterful teams in one place at the same time. It probably has never happened before, and maybe never again. Dean Smith got a kiss on the top of the head from the great Michael Jordan, the Best Athlete of the 20th Century in the world.

Michael looked like he could suit up now and score at will against anybody.

I was at the 1957 celebration in Chapel Hill following the NCAA Championship. Two thousand crazed fans poured into the Carolina blue streets. It was pandemonium personified, and a 17-year-old high school senior went down to Franklin Street just like I had good sense.

Our own basketball team at Chapel Hill High School had an undefeated regular season as well, as did the black Lincoln High School team.

But neither of those things matched the historic moment I knew was unveiling before my eyes.

Classmate Anthony Ballenger met me downtown and we hung onto a car’s open doors as it slowly headed down Franklin Street.

Beer was everywhere.

It was a moment of madness and mayhem, and a memory Anthony and I will never forget. In a few months, he and I would graduate and join the UNC student body, though we never saw anything like that March Madness night in 1957 again. Thanks Coach, Lennie, Pete, Joe, Tommy and Bob, and all the rest of you Yankees who came south to lead us country boys to the Promised Land.

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CHHS ‘59er Clogs Way To Fame
By Milburn Gibbs
February 8 2007

The Carolina Heartland Cloggers have been clogging since 1984. Don Atwater (CHHS ‘59) of North Chatham holds the practices in his antiques-laden barn each week.

The Carolina Heartland Cloggers dance for the sheer joy of it. The group was first formed in 1984, and continues to this day under Director Ellis Perry, and his wife, coordinator and choreographer Audrey Perry of Durham.

Both Audrey and Ellis are members of the National Clogging Hall of Fame. “We are a non-profit,” long-time member Don Atwater of north Chatham said at his barn where the weekly practices are held. He built the practice building in 1990, “because we had a hard time finding a place to dance. We needed a wooden floor to dance on as wood is the best surface for dancing.”

The club has performed in many venues over several states, and occasionally will receive a fee for performing. All monies raised go toward outfits instead of any dues being charged.

The dancers pay their own traveling expenses at all time. “Clogging is hard work,” Atwater admitted, “but we love it.”

Atwater is 65, though not the oldest member. Their members are about half men and half women. Dedication to dancing and practicing are the qualifications.

“We choreograph our own routines,” Atwater explained. “Normally we will do about six routines at a booking. Our dances will include a ‘Rain-bow’ — smooth dancing, precision and free style clogging, and line dancing.” The team has performed at the Special Olympics in Raleigh, the N.C. State Fair, the Alabama Theatre in Myrtle Beach, and three times at Disney World in Orlando, among many other venues, including numerous rest homes in the area.

“It is a hobby, a labor of love,” team member Donna Cunningham of Pittsboro said. “We do it for love of dancing, not for money. In fact, it costs us to do it.”

When the weekly practice class started on January 30, the temperature was below freezing outside the barn. But, inside it was toasty warm as a baker’s dozen of dancers began to cut a rug.

The team started practice to a rollicking version of “Rocky Top,” to get them in the mood. Pretty soon, sweaters came off and sweat appeared on every brow. This would continue for the next two hours.

“It has been a big part of my life for the last 20 years,” Atwater said with a moist smile. ”I have taught line dancing classes for over 10 years. And loved every second of it.”

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Exercise Nuts
BY MILBURN GIBBS
September 1, 2006

As is our wont, no snippet of rain stops our five-times-a-week exercise
class from performing at least part of our ritual outdoors. So it was Friday evening in the heavily misting Randolph County NE quadrant (Liberty).

I am the class slackard when it comes to running (the word causes me to wretch), but my dearest wife loves it. She runs the mile or so each class as though it were the gateway to the Southern Part of Heaven (rather than the road to Guilford County in all of its infamy).

She said of me last night what may be the unkindest cut of all — “You are all wet,” she announced in the midst of our comrades.

I coulda been a priest.

YMCA (Your Most Charming Amigo)

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FROM 2003

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BILLY ARTHUR MEMORIAL
By Milburn Gibbs
April 10, 2006

Billy Arthur, Sr. was small, but his life was a giant success. A memorial was conducted to his life and achievements on April 8 at his home for many years, Carolina Meadows.

He had long been a legend in literary circles, and in his beloved Chapel Hill.

He graduated with a degree in Journalism from UNC in 1933. He was head cheerleader in 1931 and 1932. One of his greatest accomplishments began in 1933, when he took the position of reporter/city editor of the New Bern Tribune.

Among his duties there was to write a daily column. The column would continue uninterrupted for 66 years, in various NC newspapers and magazines, including “Our State” magazine. It became the longest continuing daily, weekly and semi-weekly column in North Carolina history.

Billy, Sr.. was a member of the N.C. House of Representatives, elected in 1943 and 1945, and from 1955-1961 served as Reading Clerk of the House.

He and Edith Varina Harris, who was the Onslow County home economist when Billy owned the newspaper there, were married in 1950 and the family moved to Chapel Hill in 1954, where they would remain.

In 1962, Billy, Sr. and Edith opened Billy Arthur’s Hobby Shop in Eastgate Shopping Center, later moving to University Mall. Margaret Baker worked for Billy and Edith in the hobby shop in the 1960s and 1970s.

“The Arthurs were wonderful to work for,” she remembered. “I went to Chicago for my first hobby show. I had never flown before. Billy wrote me a detailed description of what to expect on the plane and at the show, which helped me a lot.”

She remembered UNC’s 6’11” basketball player, Rusty Clark, coming into the shop several times. “His gaze was on the top shelf of the store. He and Billy were a contrast in heights and smallness,” she said.

In honor of his father, Billy Arthur, Jr. was wearing a Carolina Blue bow tie his father had worn in the Legislature. Former UNC Chancellor Bill Aycock was among those who filled the Carolina Meadows’ auditorium that was filled with Arthur family, friends and admirers.

“There was a time when I ate lunch with Billy and Edith five days a week after my wife died,” the former chancellor remembered. “I knew Billy as a cheerleader in the 1930s, but I got to know Edith. She is an elegant lady. She and Billy had a wonderful marriage.”

Former UNC football great Bob Cox and dozens of other old Chapel Hill friends also attended. The Arthur children, Annis (who was UNC co-head cheerleader in 1971 and 1972) and her brother, Billy, Jr., recounted what it was like living with a legend for a father. Billy, Jr. spoke about their father.

Annis read a poem, a line from which was, “Why cry for a soul set free, Miss me but let me go.” Billy, Jr. remembered, at age five, going downtown to the bonfire when UNC basketballers won their first NCAA National Championship in 1957.

The Rev. Phyllis Koehnline and Aldersgate United Methodist Church’s pastor, the Rev. Donnie Jones, officiated. Connie Rachlin provided musical accompaniment. Rev. Koehnline said that Billy had read the newspapers and his Bible in a morning ritual daily. “His Bible is a mess,” she said, “with printer’s ink all over it. But it shows how often he read in it. He served the Lord with happiness.”

His sense of humor was omnipresent.

Billy once wrote his own obituary. “Billy Arthur, Sr. died suddenly. Mrs. Arthur is being held for questioning,” he wrote.

Rev. Jones said he was a man for all seasons and a man of words. “Think of how many knew Billy through his words,” Jones said.

Annis’ college roommate, Janice, said Billy, Sr. “had given Annis her sense of confidence. He had the biggest heart.. We always felt at home at the Arthur home. We were fortunate to have known him.”

Jim Nash, a neighbor for two years, said that Billy “was always ready for discussion on just about anything. He always got his columns in on time.”

Joe Patterson, a UNC freshman in 1934, said “Billy was already a legend when I got to Carolina. I have known and cherished Billy all of my life. I loved Billy and enjoyed him and will miss him the rest of my life. He was a great man.”

Bill Pittman worked for a clipping service when he was in law school. He said Billy, Sr. gave him “motion sickness” by his great energy.

Billy, Jr. may have said it best: “Dad had great faith in the Lord. I used to hear my mother and him saying their prayers when they went to bed. “And he always had a big smile on his face.”

In spite of being small of stature, Billy Arthur, Sr. was a giant among men.

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Tina Gaines Mouse Column
By Milburn Gibbs

Poor Tina Gaines was petrified.

She frantically had called her father and sisters but no one could be immediately reached for help.

When I dropped by on Monday morning, she was standing on top of a table screaming. I thought it a bit odd that the Director of the Chatham County Salvation Army would be carrying on in such an unusual way in her office.

“I am SO glad you came by,” she blurted. “There is a mouse as big as a house in the back room. I am scared to death of mice. Can you help me?”

I walked to the back room where the canned goods and groceries are kept. There, as big as life (well, death) was a tiny mouse lying in the middle of the floor. His vital statistics were a grayish color (and even more ashen than Tina) and weighing about 3-4 ounces. I would say it was substantially smaller than a house.

“Can you get rid of that thing?” she yelled from the front room.

“Tina, the mouse is dead. He can’t hurt you,” I tried to soothe the dancing lady on the table.

“Well, he might come back to life,” she cautioned.

I had never thought of that, although it was close to Easter. I found a trashcan and a rake, so I could dispatch the interloper to wherever it is that normal folks dispose of dead mice.

“Take it a long way from here,” she said breathlessly.

I figured anywhere she couldn’t see it outside the building would suffice.

“Don’t touch it,” she yelled from the other room as I scooped up the body.

“Do you think he has family in that room?” she timidly inquired.

I didn’t answer, as there was no good answer she wanted to hear. I surely did not want to tell her that where there is one, chances are there are lots more. After dispatching the tiny creature to its final resting place I returned to her office and helped her off the table. It was good that no clients had come in during her ordeal. I don’t think that table would have held two Nervous Nellies doing the Dance of the Truly Troubled. I checked her pulse and was glad to note that it was fewer than 200. It took a few minutes to talk her down from her panicked state.

“It was just lying there looking at me when I came in. I tried to sweep it out, but only got it to the middle of the floor,” she said nearly in tears.

I soothed Tina as best I could, told her everything would be all right. I knew it, but it was not at all clear if she did. I went back to the news office and wrote her a little poem to soothe her fevered brow.

“Fear not, fair maiden, now you are safe,
I dispatched the beast with a rake,
Oh, Tina, Tina, what a louse,
That horrid mouse big as a house!”

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