The “BHS Back in the Day” column will appear each week in The Broadcaster, featuring articles from past editions of the newspaper from 1940 to the 2000s. Have an idea for a column? Email Mrs. Heaslip at broadcaster@tcsnc.org

What made the news in past November editions of The Broadcaster? Thanksgiving, sports, plays, class trips, travel abroad and so much more.

The Nov. 29, 1989 edition of The Broadcaster included a front-page photo of a crane being used to build walls for the new gym, a photo spread of outfits worn during Homecoming dress-up days, an article on hunting and an ad against smoking cigarettes.

It also included a column on prejudice, which its headline declared was “alive and well at Brevard.” Staff writer Ashley Fortune wrote about a time when she saw a girl walking down the hallway only to be met with stares, students making faces, and even one student bumping into her and saying “a string of vulgar words.”

“What was wrong with this girl? How could she have possibly wronged all those people?” Fortune wrote. “She hadn’t. She was from a different cultural background. She was black.”

Fortune said the school had a problem with prejudice, and that every student should have “the right to walk school hallways without fear of racial persecution from their peers.”

Lead photo: Opinion column on prejudice in the Wednesday, Nov. 29, 1989 edition of The Broadcaster.

The Wednesday, Nov. 29, 1989 edition of The Broadcaster.

The Thursday, Nov. 21, 1978 edition of The Broadcaster detailed the expenses seniors faced when graduating. It listed “$50 or $60 for senior orders. Add to that sum anywhere from $40 to $60 for pictures…”

The Nov. 13, 2000 edition of The Broadcaster included the article “Sanitary Conditions at BHS,” which decried the “unsanitary” conditions of the restrooms, noting dirty walls and floors and a lack of paper products.

Also in this edition is the “Car of the Month,” a 1989 GMC Sierra truck; an article on fall fashions; and reviews of the movie “Meet the Parents” and the album “White Pony” by Deftones.

Perhaps the most amusing article is an autographed, front-page feature on Coach Tim Trantham kissing a foot-long trout. In those days, The Broadcaster held an annual contest called “Kiss the Creature” as a fundraiser for the newspaper. Students and staff donated money toward the teacher they wanted to kiss the creature chosen for that year, and the teacher with the most donations was the “winner.”

Trantham smooched the fish during a varsity football game: “Holding the trout, Trantham kissed the slimy fish on the lips. The crowd went wild…”

Trantham described it as “an absolutely nasty experience” and said that “revenge is sweet.”

Perhaps this is a tradition that needs to return?

The November 1956 edition includes the names of 15 “beauty contestants” chosen by the faculty to have their photos taken and sent to “one of the beauty academies in Asheville.” Some of the contestants would then be chosen for the beauty section of the Brevardier, the BHS annual yearbook.

The edition also featured information on the Salk polio vaccine, the crowning of the BHS Huddle Queen during the Oct. 12, 1956 football game and the crowning of the Popularity King and Popularity Queen at the Oct. 26 football game. Ads were run for the Crest 5 cent and 10 cent Store, Biltmore Dairy Farms and Ecusta Paper Corp.

A November 1943 edition could not be found in the archives, but the December 1943 edition recounts a football game between Brevard High and the Brevard College Tornadoes, in which BHS lost 25-0. BHS then lost its second game of the season before tying 0-0 with Biltmore in its third game. The team went on to score touchdowns in later games.

The edition also details “frills and fads” worn at BHS. “Looks as if frivolous ruffles have given way to the smart tailored look for the duration, so forget to have gleaming locks, crested sweater sleeves and shoes that you can see yourself in,” says the column, signed by “Red.” Sweaters are “still useful” and “everyone is wearing blue, green or brown plaid shoe-strings to brighten brown Oxfords.”

The Looking Back feature is published by The Broadcaster every Wednesday. Written by Mrs. Heaslip