Memories of Red Bud and Fairmount High; Coach Pruett

Missing Fairmount and Red Bud High School

Not much time passes without someone mentioning to me the disappearing of Fairmount High and Red Bud High from the academic and athletic scene of Gordon County. It will be the closing of those two schools to which I give some attention today. Before I write feelings concerning the closing of those high schools it needs to be emphasized that these feelings or remarks in no way reflect upon the actions taken by the Gordon County School Board in their move to consolidate the educational operation into a more efficient or practical body. The closing of the two school and moving students to Gordon Central and then the new school of Sonoraville might have been the most expedient action to take.

That last sentence above gives me the opportunity to offer a suggestion for readers. The word “expedient” has been used on several occasions in my writings. Often someone mined that the reading level of the average reader of what we write is that of an eighth grader; and from my experience I will add the comprehension level of written material is much lower than that.

Changing of the scene and people who made a difference

The above section gave emphasis to the fact that two schools of long standing have disappeared from the scene. As new high schools appeared on the scene the schools were incorporated into the newer schools. The two schools of Gordon Central and Sonoraville now provide high school education for Gordon County students.

With the closing of older schools, athletic programs and coaches disappeared from prominent positions. Fairmount and Red Bud High Schools were the heart and soul of their sections of the county. The stories of their accomplishments, of their coaches and programs are stories legends are made of in any area.

In growing older and becoming a part of the athletic activities in Gordon County this writer became much more conscious of the contributions of schools and coaches and their contribution to the communities they served and the young people who participated in their programs.

How can one think of Red Bud or Fairmount without thinking of dedicated and passionate coaches such as Frank Hall, Norris Hall, Bubba Faulkner J.B. Bearden, John Canoy, Cliff Key, Frank Caputo, Ray Tucker, Kenny Mitchell, Tommy Honeycutt and Jerry Burkett? Their involvement was much more than calling the shots on the field. The testimony of these coaches concerning their players and the players’ accomplishments are a matter of great satisfaction.

These are not all the coaches who should be mentioned (I write without a note in front of me). There were others before these. Several of those mentioned are now gone from this life. It needs to be stated that these coaches gave of their time, effort and enthusiasm to their youngsters.

I, along with many others, miss Fairmount and Red Bud High Schools. The same can be said about those of us who can see back before the 1950s and the existence of nearly a dozen high schools in Gordon County and Calhoun. The enthusiasm was great and the athletes excelled in so many areas.

Coach Jerry Pruett

Attention is given here to a coach who appeared on the scene and stayed at his post for a long while. Coach Jerry Pruett came to Calhoun High as head girls’ basketball coach and for 14 years he headed a very successful program before turning the duties over to Kayla Ralston this school year. Kayla had been his assistant for many years. One of my conclusions was Coach Pruett was good for Kayla and Kayla was good (possibly) for Coach Pruett.

Coach Pruett came to Calhoun after years with the girls program at Reinhardt College in Waleska. An observation was made by this old coach to Kayla Ralston who would be ninth-grader in Coach Pruett’s second year. Kayla was told that every girl who was to participate in Coach Pruett’s program should express thanks in their nightly prayers for the fact he had come their way. The reason given was that during his first summer and early into the season there had never been so much complaining as to how hard the workouts and practice was. The conclusion was the Lady Jackets were going to be a better team.

Coach Pruett’s 14 years at the helm are a testimony to diligence and dedication to the task on the part of both coach and players. He brought an ingredient to the program which had been lacking for much too long. There is nothing but admiration and respect for the job he did.