I was both shocked and pleased with the response my first blog about Fort Oglethorpe got. If you haven't read that one, you should read it first. Go here. I guess the nostalgia of it all really resonated with folks that I grew up with in Fort Oglethorpe. The post was read, liked and shared so much that I thought that I should write another one and see if people liked it just as well. There are obviously more than just five ways to tell if you grew up in Fort Oglethorpe. I've come up with five more.

Here we go:

1. Labor Day BBQ

Remember that? When I was a kid, the Labor Day BBQ at the Polo Grounds was symbolic of the beginning of school. It was a great day spent out on Barnhardt Circle seeing friends, playing games (the Cake Walk, anyone?), and listening to James Rogers sing. This was before James got famous and hit it big in Dollywood too. I knew nothing about music or how to entertain anyone when I was a kid, but I knew that I loved watching and listening to James. None of us who grew up going to the Labor Day BBQ each year could be surprised at the success James enjoyed at Dollywood. His voice is a background to some great Polo Ground memories. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the actual BBQ itself. To me, that BBQ that I got to eat once a year on Labor Day was the best BBQ in the whole world. I suppose the innocence of my age added to the taste, but man...it sure was good.

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2. The skating rink and Fort Lanes

Can you believe that that skating rink is still there? I can't say that I remember when it was built because I don't. But, I don't remember it ever not being there, for sure. I used to go on Saturday mornings. I remember dancing in front of the DJ booth over in the corner. I remember dances like "The Bump" and "The Hustle." I remember "couple's skate." I stopped going to the skating rink about the time I got to junior high, but for most of my elementary years, I spent a lot of time at that place. For some reason, I think it was called "Fort Lake Skating Rink," but others say it was (and still is) "Roller Coaster Skate World." Either way, if you're around 50-years-old and you called Fort Oglethorpe home during your childhood, I'm betting you've spent some time at the skating rink. How sad was it when Fort Lanes closed and the building was destroyed? I hated it. Fort Lanes bowling alley once stood in what was essentially the center of town. Highways 2a and 27 crossed just down from Fort Lanes and the building stood proudly on a small hill overlooking the booming KMart shopping center and had Oscar's Pizza Inn snuggled right next door. I can't tell you how many hours I spent at the bowing alley. I remember watching Alabama's famous goal line stand in the Sugar Bowl against Penn State at the bowling alley. I don't know why that stands out because I hated Alabama then and now, but I remember watching at Fort Lanes. I remember winning a small change purse when I was about six because I made a somewhat difficult shot for a 6-year-old to make back then. The guy working the desk had announced before my bowl that if I made it, I could come to the desk for a prize. I made it and ran up to the desk. I thought I was something special.

3. You still don't think it's right that McDonald's is out on 2A

Even thought it was situated near My Place, home of incredible hamburgers and the world's greatest milkshakes, the McDonald's on 27 was still a booming place. I can't tell you how many times I rode my bike from Elaine Circle all the way to McDonald's for those amazing french fries. I'm pretty sure my mom is horrified after reading this sentence as I don't recall ever asking permission to ride my bike that far from home. Anyway, McDonald's fries were my very favorite, but I also ordered plenty of hamburgers, milkshakes (I was partial to strawberry) and orange drinks from there. I think that McDonald's was my very first fast food experience and I thought those hamburgers were so good (I haven't eaten a McDonald's hamburger in forever). I learned "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun" there too. It was hard to make it to McDonald's after a baseball game at the PRA though because we'd have to cross 27 and, well, you didn't have to do that to go to My Place. Even so, the McDonald's out on Battlefield Parkway is still the "new" McDonald's to me.

4. The name Jack Archer still kind of scares you

If you grew up in Fort Oglethorpe in the 1970s or 1980s, you knew full well who Coach Jack Archer was and he terrified you. I knew Coach Archer all of my life. His youngest daughter, Michele, and I went to school together from kindergarten through high school. I lived right down the road from the Archers. I've been to their house many, many times. Coach Archer coached me in baseball when I was 14. I worked for him at the pool (but mostly mowing grass) one summer when I was 16. He was always good to me. He was probably always good to you too. Oh yes, he was intimidating. He was scary. I saw him grab guys by the ears and put them on the lunch table. He was strong. He played football for Ohio State and played in the Rose Bowl. He was the head football and baseball coach at Lakeview and won two baseball state championships. The baseball complex at Lakeview carries his name. He was the recreation director for the city of Fort Oglethorpe for years. He drove around in that hideous station wagon with that big arm hanging straight down out of the car window. His wife, Miss Lila, is STILL royalty to me. She made the best popcorn balls on the planet. But Coach Archer, or, as some of my friends called him...never, ever to his face though..."Daddy Jack", was synonymous with Fort Oglethorpe. Coach Archer is gone now. He passed away peacefully in his sleep almost 19 years ago. I waited in the line to pay my respects to him and his family for what seemed like hours. It was obvious then just how many lives he touched. He definitely deserves to be on this list.

5. The gangs

Wait, there were gangs in Fort Oglethorpe?! Yes, absolutely. Don't get me wrong. There were no Crips and Bloods. What there were were really four major gangs and then those four were broken up into their own little sub-gangs. The four gangs carried the names of the four feeder elementary schools: Fort Oglethorpe (the best of the four gangs), Westside, Cloud Springs, and Battlefield (yes, I realize that I left off Lakeview Elementary, but it closed when I was too young to consider this a gang in my lifetime). I mean, if you went to one of these schools, you probably had friends at one of the other three, but you almost never saw them. I played baseball with boys from the other schools, but I saw them during the season and that's it. It was like that was a whole other world and those schools are probably no more than five miles (at most) apart. When you got to Lakeview Junior High, that first day as a seventh grader (a truly terrifying day in my life), you pretty much hung out with the people you went to elementary school with...at least for the first few days. To me, seeing kids who I played ball with, but didn't go to elementary school with, felt weird the first few days. Eventually, we all came together as 7th graders, but then we formed new gangs (and these are present at every school) divided by interests. Athletes, potheads, band folks, etc. You know what I'm talking about...don't judge. But the main four gangs were further divided into sub-groups. These groups were organized by neighborhoods. Not everyone who went to Fort Oglethorpe Elementary lived in my neighborhood, of course. Fort Oglethorpe had some fantastic subdivisions back in the 70s and 80s. I lived in the Elaine Circle/Delores Drive/Gaddis Drive area. If you lived elsewhere but still went to Fort Oglethorpe Elementary, you were still cool, but you weren't "hood". You know? I know each of you who lived in other subdivisions secretly judged those who didn't live in your subdivision. It's okay to admit it.

Are there more signs? Yes, of course. But, I've done my best to reach back into my mind and relive those wonderful days of 1970s and 1980s Fort Oglethorpe life. If you've enjoyed this post, please share it with your family and friends who remember those days.