Pulaski County High School - Cougar Pinnacle Yearbook (Dublin, VA)

Page 27 text:

Older cars were popular among the students. Here, )on Neblett and Mill¬ er Bushong cruise up to tennis prac¬ tice in Miller ' s sixty-five Mustang. Christmas is a time for all kinds of celebrations. Here, Lee Cox deco¬ rates her car with artificial snow for the last day of school before vaca¬ tion. Showing off a new car to a friend is the best part of buying it. Rana Whited displays the interior of an eighty-three red Transam to Julie An¬ derson. 23 Cars

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Start VROOM! That was the sound the typical student ' s car made on its way out of the parking lot on Friday afternoon. That student usu¬ ally had a weekend full of plans, and the car was most likely a major part of them. The automobile was trans¬ portation, a way of showing off, and a friend. In other words, it took you there, you looked great because you had your own wheels, and it went cruising with you when no one else would. On weekends, the cars were taken on various roads, highways, and interstates across the country en route to the game, the store, or the movies. Sometimes these rit¬ uals were performed with a date. Sundays usually saw cars at church or parked in a friend ' s driveway. On week¬ days, the cars hobnobbed in the student parking lots about where they had been over the weekend, and where they would be going in the future. Many of the cars had the Your Engines same maker, so they resem¬ bled each other, but each car was different in respect to the personality of the owner. In one corner of the lot was a black Nova with a dual ex¬ haust and a V-8 under the hood. In the other corner was a Volkswagen Rabbit with Smurfette swinging from the rear view mirror. One of the most seen cars was the Chevrolet Chevette, but they came in a rainbow of colors and personalized license plates. Bumper stickers could tell you about the owner ' s fa¬ vorite team, radio station, college, and sport all in one glance. Some bumpers told you to Beware of Cougar, while others simply said ”K- 92 . Inside of the car was as personal as the outside. Where the owner just ate dinner was evident by the McDonalds and Hardees bags strewn over the back seat. The all-important op¬ tion, the car stereo, usually cost up to three paychecks and played a variety of tunes from cassette or radio. Some people had seat covers, oth¬ ers used a blanket. Carpeting was anything from plain black to red shag. Rebel flags and desert scenes often hung from the back win¬ dows. Having your own car was great, but there were also a few minor drawbacks. Mon¬ ey was one of the factors when cars sat idl e for days at a time. Rising gas prices were the reason for empty pock¬ ets, lifeless paychecks, and allowance advances. Cars also had a tendency to break down just when you needed them most. Many a student has felt the humiliation of sit¬ ting on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck. The massive metal mon¬ sters were a way of life. Ad¬ ministrators, teachers, and students all recognized the value of your own set of wheels. It was well put by Miller Bushong when he said his car was nothing fancy, the radio ' s broken. I love it! Varieties of cars — even in the teacher parking lot. Everything goes, from vans to Hondas to Buck Sta- tionwagons. Teachers weren ' t the only ones who couldn ' t afford brand new cars. 22 Cars

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Going Out Every Friday at 3:05, the students poured out the doors of the school and into their cars and buses to head for home. The talk of what to do tonight was always in the air. Little House On The Prairie and The Waltons until six o ' clock, an hour in the bathroom, all to be ready at seven or eight o ' clock for the big night out. In the fall and winter a common date might be a football game or if in the right season, a basketball game. And afterward the couple might be found jam¬ ming down to Michael Jack- son or slow dancing to De- barge. Also in the fall, a big time for couples was homecom¬ ing. The couples dressed in semi-formal attire and danced to the music of the Kings. In the spring when school oriented activities were few, a typical date might range from dinner at Macado ' s, a cheeseburger and some fries at a local fast food restaurant, a game or two at Cosmos, or maybe a movie. Frequently, one might be found a little low on mon¬ ey and have a date at home, where homemade popcorn and a good movie on T.V. dominated the evening. The evening might be more of a challenge and consist of Air Battles and Pacman games on the Atari, or even some¬ times a pool match to decide the best player. In warmer weather couples might be found soaking up the sun, skiing, or for the more daring groups, jumping from the cliffs at Claytor Lake State Park. For working students with the advantages of money, a special date would find the couples c lapping with the beat of a Loverboy or Van Halen concert at the civic center. No matter if you worked or not, prom was the most expensive word in the PCHS dater ' s dictionary. With prom came the ex¬ pense of clothing, shoes, plus extras such as hats, canes, gloves, gas money, dinner, pictures, and flowers along with many other hid¬ den costs. After prom many daters were dated out for a month, but it seemed well worth it. Game rooms have become one of the most popular fads of the 80 ' s. Here, Pam Martin and Shannon Ro¬ berson are seen playing the game Tron in the Cosmos Came Room of Pulaski. 24 Dating , , Breaking the monotony of seeing a movie or getting a pizza, Keith New¬ ton and Susan Vaughan stop for a bite to eat at Hardees in Pula ski.