UT's Homecoming Queen, 1969-1970 Beauty and the Bag

[ArdentVol]

What a fun trip down Memory Lane. My mom mailed me some clips about Vince from the Daily Beacon and heard more about his antics when I was at home from school the following summer. I'll be re-reading Jack Neely's piece when I have a clear head Wednesday morning and had forgotten how much I enjoyed his MetroPulse work.

For this '72 grad, it was a wonderful, wild and wicked time to be alive.

Couldn't make out any of the names of the Homecoming candidates. Just wondering if ...

ptcarter, that was some good work

 

[ArdentVol]

hey PT, Really enjoyed my years in Huntsville

 

[ptcarter]

hey PT, Really enjoyed my years in Huntsville

I'm still here!! First round is on me.

 

[ptcarter]

By the way... Modern Marvels on the History channel did some shows about hardware stores. Vince was one of the narrators and he told tales of (I think) his dads store in Kingsport.
He wrote a book "Did Monkeys invent the Monkey Wrench".

For you Kingsport folks, here is a whopping meat loaf and potatoes helping of Vince:
Vince Staten

 

[Knox-a-rue]

Looks like old Vince has a blog. I haven't read any of it, but this seems like probably the same guy.

Vince Staten

Edit: Definite.

 

[Firebirdparts]

Thanks so much for posting this! I had no idea. I live in Kingsport, so I have an idea of what Vince is like, but I never heard of this.

 

[ArdentVol]

I'm still here!! First round is on me.

great
havent spent any time in h'patch since the late 90s but have many friends there.

like sasquatch, ive taken social distancing to the extreme and need to change that.

spent high school years in Knoxville, saw a lotta football in Huntsville but only saw the Artful Dodger play in Neyland,, Nashville and possibly Memphis

 

[Plano Vol]

Very interesting! I had forgotten about his blog.

Kingsport is the hub of the universe......even Vader has been there and had lunch at Pal's.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

Good question. I was acquainted with Vince in 1974 in Nashville. They mention a campaign and I too worked in that one. It's been so long and such an age difference, it might be a stretch to say he even remembers who I am. Later, I was informed of this event (I started in '75, so I wasn't around) and was somewhat in awe that it was Vince that pulled this off.

My curiosity was always there, and being bored with Freshman orientation (The only important thing to know during orientation is where the bursars office is) - I stopped in the library. Started looking at things from my era, then drifted into the Homecoming events of '70. Obviously it caused quite a stir and homecoming was never the same for decades.

Yep, I sat on the story and still would be if I didn't come across the BBQ article today. I thought.. gee - there would be some old heads here that would like to revisit this, and the surprise nugget is that a Manson killer probably sat in a class at Ayres hall.

Ayers Hall probably had that effect on a lot of people. I don't recall any classes there, but, I think I participated in a psychology study there.

 

[1972 Grad]

Ayers Hall probably had that effect on a lot of people. I don't recall any classes there, but, I think I participated in a psychology study there.

I went to U.T. as a math major, and my Freshman 1st quarter , I had Calculus at 7:50 in the morning, 4 days a week. It was on 3rd floor. I don't know how it is after the restoration, but there were no elevators then , nor was there the flyover walkway from the library to half way up the Hill. I lived in Reese Hall, and walked it every time. Down the hill past Glocker to the very bottom (on the level with football stadium) and all the way to the top of the Hill. I'm thinking there were 118 steps or something. Don't remember, but I counted them.

 

[TNREADER]

Most fun that I ever had was at U.T. during those years. My life was fine before and after, but I met so many friends that I still have, and have a ton of good memories. I still talk and/or visit with several guys from back in those days, and we still laugh our asses off over some of the stuff we did.

I agree. Four of my five closest friends are ones I met as a freshman or sophomore at UT. I was a freshman in 1970 when this Homecoming event occurred and remember it well. I also noticed passing through Knoxville a month ago that my old dorm, Carrick, is still standing....thought it was to be torn down a few years ago.

 

[1972 Grad]

I agree. Four of my five closest friends are ones I met as a freshman or sophomore at UT. I was a freshman in 1970 when this Homecoming event occurred and remember it well. I also noticed passing through Knoxville a month ago that my old dorm, Carrick, is still standing....thought it was to be torn down a few years ago.

I will pass along a story that happened 3 years ago. One of my suite mates in Reese Hall Room 429, who I hadn't seen in maybe 25 years, called me, and told me that he would be coming from Long Island to Gatlinburg for vacation, and wanted to see if I could meet him, since I live about an hour away. He was going to be there one day, and then heading to North Carolina to visit his wife's family.

I told him that it would be just as easy to meet him in Asheville, NC , and he would be fairly close to there. We agreed on that and the date. Without telling the New Yorker, I called his former roommate (Freshman year only), and told him what we were doing. He agreed to drive from where he lived in Myrtle Beach, SC and meet with us.

Then, I also called my former roommate , who lives in Atlanta, and told him of the meeting. He was the only one still working, but he took the day off. All 4 of us met at a Cracker Barrel near Asheville, and visited for a couple or three hours, and everybody had to go back home. The look on the New York guy's face was priceless when he saw us all sitting out front of the Cracker Barrel waiting for him. Some of us hadn't seen each other in 50 years. We had a 50th anniversary get together for Room 429 in Reese Hall. It was like we picked up where we left off, 50 years before.

Another group of 8 of us met in North Carolina a few years ago , and rented a cabin in the mountains. They came from Texas, Washington D.C., Greensboro, Nashville, Atlanta, and 3 from East Tennessee.

 

[amaralfan1]

I took a camera into the library and they pulled these beacons out and let me look through them, photographing pages of interest. My kid was at freshman orientation and I had some time to kill, 2011.
Did you know that one of the Charles Manson killers was once a UT student? When I got back and was looking closely at the photographs, I spotted this among the Homecoming story:

View attachment 310136

I was completely unaware of this! Bruce Davis was also at one time suspected of being the Zodiac Killer. I wonder if there's anyone around who remembers his time at Tennessee. Various reports say he was in Knoxville for 2 to 3 years before moving out west, meeting Manson, joining scientology and then getting kicked out for drug usage.