ONE MAN’S OPINION – By Jim Freeman

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – It was fun seeing Sunday’s News Sentinel.  If you saw it, you know what I’m talking about.  It featured the front page and second page from its Monday, July 21, 1969, edition highlighting the man on the moon landing.  What a great keepsake!  And what a great trip down Memory Lane!Much has changed over the years.  I’m no longer 12-years- old, and the News-Sentinel no longer has a hyphen in its name.  We’re both closer to extinction now than we were 50 years ago, but we’re still hanging on.

After many moves and lots of different towns, I find myself back in La Follette still regularly catching up with some of my pals  from that summer of ’69  these 50 years later.  For the News Sentinel, it’s now the morning newspaper rather than the evening paper, and it costs more than 10 cents for the weekly edition.  The newspaper even has a different zip code and new location plus something that I had no clue about 50 years ago- a website.

“Jo Jo Says” was a regular front page weather forecast feature.  Believe it or not, it was even hot in July back in those days.  The day before this edition, Sunday, July 20, 1969, the high was recorded at 93 degrees with a forecast high of 89 for Tuesday after a Monday night low of 70 degrees.

The phone number no longer sits atop the front page.  In its place is its website address.

Thanks for the memories, News-Sentinel.  I mean News Sentinel.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 07/22/2019-6AM)

 

One Reply to “What a difference, or not, 50 years make”

  1. I was on summer vacation between first and second grade in Ohio, but spending the summer with Granny and Papaw in La Follette. I remember watching the live reports of the first moon walk on a b&w TV while sitting on the floor in their living room. Must have left an impression… that moment has been with me ever since.

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