PARADE OF STARS

Class of 1965

Compliments of Claire Turner Fussell

The MHS Class of 1965 grew up in the GOLDEN AGE of Minden High School and Minden, Louisiana.
They can tell you first hand stories about MHS icons: Miss Kuma Shealy, Mrs. Avis Foret, Mrs. Lucy LeRue Lyon, Mrs. Connie Harper, and Coach Joe Oliphant.

They played on the teams that won state championships in FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, AND TRACK!!!
Their average ACT was 25 and every one of their Top Ten had above a 4.0 GPA!

They boast beauties who held the titles of MHS Darling, MHS Homecoming Queen, Miss Minden, and Louisiana Egg Queen!


They danced to the music of Buddy Holly, Elvis, and the Beatles at the Community House and Hunters Playhouse. A normal evening in Minden included hours of “cruising” between the Dixie Cream and the Dairy Queen. They could afford to, gas was only 25¢ a gallon. They also frequented the Super Courts Café, the Coffee Cup, Thad’s Café, and the Southern Kitchen. No one had ever heard of a Pizza Hut or a McDonalds.


They watched the first sitcom, I Love Lucy, and were amazed at the first “reality” show, American Bandstand, on the family black and white TV. Everyone sang the Mickey Mouse song as they watched the Mickey Mouse Club. TV heroes were cowboys Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger.


For entertainment, the class of ’65 could choose between the Rex, the Tower or the Joy walk-in movie theaters, or the Joy Drive In. With a quarter on Saturday, they could enjoy a movie (with newsreels and cartoons), a box of pop corn, and a drink. During the summer months, they spent their days at Caney Lake--back when it had a pier, swimming area, and concession stand!


As children, they played with Frisbees, hula hoops, tops,
and the first Barbie.


Girls wore poodle shirts and saddle oxfords. Boys wore dungarees with three inch cuffs and coonskin caps. Hair styles ranged from beehives to flips for girls and flat tops to duck tails for boys.


In their era
FAST FOOD was what you ate during Lent,
GRASS was mowed,
POT was where your mother cooked the roast, and
COKE was what you drank with your pop corn.
AIDS were helpers in the principal’s office,
a CHIP was a piece of wood,
a MOUSE was something you caught in a trap,
HARDWARE was found in a hardware store, and
SOFTWARE was not even a word.


They watched boxer Muhammad Ali when he was still Cassius Clay. They lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis with no idea of how close their country had come to a nuclear war. They mourned the death of President John F. Kennedy, and watched the post-assassination drama unfold on TV sets brought from home into the classrooms at MHS.


Their days at Minden High School began with the Lord’s Prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the National Anthem. They were taught that living in this country was a privilege. They were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for their actions. The Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense governed their lives.


TIDE PRIDE has brought these 1965 graduates from Washington to Delaware for their 40th Homecoming

This class of preachers, teachers, home-makers, doctors, lawyers, pilots, authors, entrepreneurs, engineers, and business people are true representatives of Minden High School, HOME OF CHAMPIONS. They leave you with these words of wisdom for the faculty, staff, and students at MHS who have so graciously allowed them to participate in these homecoming activities: ROLL, TIDE, ROLL!!!




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