From the Sun-Times
Dec. 27, 1989
Steve Duncan of Clayton is one of first troops sent to Panama
By John Flood
Louise Bush of Clayton is spending her holidays close to the television set and the telephone. As of last Friday, her son, Steve Duncan, was in combat in Panama.
If her prayers have been answered she is with him in Ft. Bragg, N.C., right now.
Duncan, 26, a graduate of Smyrna High School, was one of the very first American troops in Panama on Tuesday. A staff sergeant in the Delta Company of the 82nd Airborne Division, Duncan dropped in on Panama in the dead of the night Tuesday morning. Duncan is a paratrooper....
Although extremely concerned for her son, Louise believes that the invasion of Panama is worthwhile.
“I’m glad that it’s been done and that he [Noriega] is going to be stopped. When you think of the harm done to children by people who sell dope I am glad that he’s going to be stopped.”...
Wicks named District Teacher of the Year (photo caption)
Teacher of the year for the Smyrna School District this year was high school special education teacher Debbie Wicks. This is the second time in her career Wicks was named district teacher of the year. At last week’s school board meeting she received a license plate from the board, as presented here by board member P. Brooks Banta.
Ace Hardware coming to downtown Smyrna
Downtown Smyrna will again have a hardware store, probably opening in February.
Ace Hardware will move into the former location of the Smyrna Hardware Store, where there has been a hardware store since 1957, said Manager Robert E. Pierce.
The hardware store will share space with the Little Is Much office supply store which is going to move across Commerce Street to the Smyrna Hardware location....
Say goodbye to the 1980s
By Jonathan Vendrick,Smyrna High School Eagle Eye
When looking back on the 80s, the entertainment industry and its growth on t.v. and screen has got to be a trademark....
And even if the price of theater admission (up to $5 a head) doesn’t appeal to your taste, surely the variety of movies did....
Those making more than one appearance on the big screen included “Police Academy (5),” “National Lampoon Vacation (3),” and “Beverly Hills Cop (2).”...
Other than going to the big screen in the 80s, we also had to be ‘in’ with the latest fads because it was the only radical thing to do.
In the 80s we played with a square called Rubik’s Cube and then found Pac Man to be a much better dude to spend free time with....
One of the biggest fads had to be the overnight successes of Cabbage Patch dolls, Transformers, He-Man and the California Raisins....
While some people played with toys and watched movies, others in the 80s stayed at home to watch television, which also saw its share of growth the last decade. Matter of fact, if you weren’t home, you missed the chance to say goodbye to “Family Ties,” “Facts of Life,” “MASH,” “The Jeffersons,” “Miami Vice,” “Taxi” and “Dynasty.”
Then again, you would have also missed the chance to say hello to new shows like “Cosby,” “Falcon Crest,” “Night Court,” “Growing Pains,” “Golden Girls,” and “Head of the Class.” And it seemed that just as many shows which were born on the screen died soon after with little or no favorable response.
Also on the tube, talk show hosts had planet to talk about in the 80s. Late at night, viewers of the long running “Tonight Show” often got to see more of guest host Jay Leno than the king himself, Johnny Carson. But who could blame Carson with the new queen of talk show, Oprah, already crowned, and new hip host Arsenio Hall nipping on Carson’s heels....
And music in the 80s also underwent changes and growth. We had fads in punk, rap, renegade, heavy metal, soul, pop, reggae and folk. “Thriller” Michael Jackson proved to be number one, but others like Madonna, Paula Abdul and Guns ‘n’ Roses also left their mark on the industry....
Rest in peace to the decade we called the 80s.
