Hobo
Party
I have not told this story before
to avoid offending anyone. With the passage of time
conditions have changed and those whom it might hurt are on
longer with us.
It was in the late 1950’s and my wife and I were teaching
at Fayette County High. We were very young and had taken a
great interest in the students, including their extra
curricular activities. My wife Joan was the sponsor of the
school’s newspaper, “Tiger's Roar”. I had been involved
helping them produce pictures in their mimeographed school
paper and considered myself part of their Journalism Club.
The Journalism Club was made-up of those students
participating in publishing the school newspaper. This was
a very special group of students; all were very
intelligent, energetic, and conscientious.
The group decided to have a “hobo party”. They would dress
as hobos and have a wiener roast. The V.F.W. Club was
located on Georgia Highway 85 south at Sam’s Lake. They had
not used their building for some time. It had a large
barbecue pit outback and seemed to be a perfect place for
the party.
Permission was granted for us to use the V.F.W. Club
building not knowing what we would find. With a couple of
the club leaders, Joan, and I went to the V.F.W. Club
building the afternoon before the party to make plans. What
we saw was quite a surprise!
The Ku Klux Klan had occupied the building apparently
without the knowledge of the leaders of the V.F.W. Club.
The walls were decorated with their symbols and pledges.
There was also a large framed list of the membership with
the local leaders. I knew many of the members. Some were
outstanding members of the community. This was a time when
great change was occurring in our social lives and the Klan
had made a resurgence.
Now what were we to do at this late date! The students had
made big plans and would be disappointed. We decided that
since this was a hobo party we would paper the walls with
newspaper covering up all of the Klan’s decorations. Many
of the activities would be outside anyway. We also made a
pact with the students with us that we would never discuss
what we had seen, not even with other students and we
assume they never did.
The party was an outstanding success. Afterward the same
students who decorated volunteered to do the clean up.
Time changes ALL things.