Valdosta High School - Sandspur Yearbook (Valdosta, GA)

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Coach Steve Sloan Gives Light Touch To Banquet sneak play with his topic. He gave no platitudes. Instead he spiced his address with a run- ning patter of jokes gleaned from his experiences as a coach at Flo- rida State University. Georgia Tech. Vanderbilt, and Texas Tech. After the program, club mem- bers presented awards in the form of trophies to outstanding play- ers. checks to all coaches, and a Thunderbird to the head honcho. Coach Nick Hyder. Dr. Jose Campa, team doctor, and Miss Barbara Barnes, cheerleader sponsor, also received gifts. All awards had a magnitude in keeping with the size of the club, eleven hundred members this year. These supporters had con- tributed money and public rela- tions backing for all of the Wild- cats efforts. What does a speaker at a foot- ball banquet usually choose for his subject? Inspiring tidbits of personal reminiscences designed to applaud character building? Praise for the local team's records? Touchdown Club members, players, and guests at the annual grid awards event may have expected a mixture of these top- ics. But Coach Steve Sloan of the University of Mississippi pulled a — Duke’s Photo FOOT BA LLAWA RDS — 1978 Scholastic.........Jimmy Hartman Super Skipper.........John Bond Most Improved . . . Rodney Gordon Spirit of 'Cats....John Lastinger Allen Worthy. Mark Stephens Sportsmanship......Lynn Roberts Best Defensive Lineman . .. Curtis Wright Best Defensive Back . Troy Thomas Best Offensive Lineman....Gary Guthrie Most Valuable Player......Robert Baldwin Most Outstanding .... Buck Belue Duke's Photo Duke's Photo — OPPOSITE PAGE. TOP. LEFT: Coach Steve Sloan relates a football yarn at the banquet. OPPOSITE PAGE. BOTTOM Players pose with their awards and trophies; Gan Guthrie. John Bond. Buck Belue. Cur- tis right. Allen Worthy. Rodney Gordon. Robert Baldwin. Russ Scruggs. Jimmy Hartman. Lynn Roberts. Frank Council. John Lastinger. and Troy Thomas. OPPO- SITE PAGE. TOP. RIGHT Owe » and Mrs. Nick Hyder show surprise and excite- ment in their new '78 gold Thunderbird. TOP. LEFT: Coaches gather to receive awards: Freddie Waters. Jack Rudolph. Manon Brooks. Jerry Don Baker. Wright Bazemore. Charles Tarp ey. Edw ard Jones. Bob Bolton. Roger Rome. Norman Sain:. James R Burroughs. FAR LEFT: Buck Belue. South Georgia Player of the Year, accepts his trophy from Lawrence Dennis of the Florida Times Union. Dennis graduated from Valdosta High School. LEFT: Gary Gussie Guthne receives a trophy from Bobby Green for being Best Offensive Line- man of the Year. 13

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Teachers Choose Senior Superlatives With Care From sports to academics, the twelve senior superlatives repre- sented a cross section of the sen- ior class because teachers took the voting seriously. Instead of quickly circling names and mumbling about why they had to stay after school for fifteen minutes to make choices, eighty-eight of the one hundred plus faculty members and admin- istrators studied the complete list of seniors and gave thought to this task of selecting students who best fit the connotation of the word “superlative.” Meeting in the Little Theater first to narrow the list, the teach- ers did not concentrate on one characteristic, but on many. They considered academics, athletics, and extracurricular activities, of course; but they then bolstered their choices by evalu- ating class behavior, personality, character, and charisma. One week after the first voting session, teachers voted again. This time the list included only the names of seniors who had received at least one vote the first time. BUCK BELUE — Football I. 2. 3. 4. quarterback 1. 2. 3. 4. captain 4. Prep All-American. Baseball I. 2. 3. 4. Key Club 3. 4. OUTLOOK 4. sports editor. BRET ALLEN Who’s Who Among American High School Stu- dents. National High School Award for Excellence. Society of Distin- guished American High School Students. QUILL AND SCROLL. Student Council 3.4. vice-president 3. president 4. Interclub Council 3. 4. president 3. vice-president 4. Band I. 2. 3. 4. SANDSPUR 4. two quarters. Honor graduate. CHARLES (BUCK) BLANTON —Baseball 1.2.3. Basketball 1.2. 3. Football I. Golf I. 2.4. captain 4. Most outstanding player 4. Tennis I. 2. 3. Freshman class president. Homeroom representative I. 4. Who’s Who Among High School Students 3. 4. National High School Award for Excellence. Society of Distinguished American High School Stu- dents. Beta Club 2. 3.4. Key Club 3.4. Elks Scholarship. Honor gradu- ate. 15