Local Knowledge: Notable Macon grads take center stage

There has been plenty of pomp and circumstance at high school graduations in Macon over the years.

Some of the graduates who walked across those stages went on to star in movies or performed on some of the world’s biggest musical stages. Others were launched into space or made Olympic teams.

This week is the first of a two-part “Local Knowledge” with trivia questions about some of the city’s notable grads. (The second part will appear in The Melody on May 30.)

1. Actress Carrie Preston graduated from Macon’s Central High School 40 years ago this spring in 1985 and has had a successful career in movies and television. She is the star of what CBS series, now in its third season?

• “Elsbeth”
• “NCIS”
• “Matlock”
• “Blue Bloods”

2. Robert McDuffie (1976) and Steve Penley (1983) are graduates of Macon’s First Presbyterian Day School. McDuffie is a Grammy- and Emmy-nominated violinist. The Center for Strings at Mercer University is named for him. Penley’s work has appeared everywhere from the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta to the White House and more than 20 congressional offices in Washington, D.C. What is his claim to fame?

• Architect
• Artist
• Speech writer
• Soda jerk

3. In 2000, Antonio Pettigrew made the U.S. Olympic team as a sprinter. Chip Minton, his classmate in the Southwest High Class of 1987, was twice an Olympian in what sport? 

• Fencing
• Bobsledding
• Equestrian
• Decathlon

4. Betty Cantrell (Maxwell) won the Golden Eagle Award in music in a ceremony at Macon’s Grand Opera House in 2012. Four years later, she joined Neva Langley Fickling, of Macon, as the only Miss Georgia to be crowned Miss America. Where did Cantrell graduate from high school?

• Rutland High School
• Central Fellowship Christian Academy
• Howard High School
• Mount de Sales

5.  John T. Edge is a Southern food writer and commentator. He is former director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, which is part of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss. For the past seven years, he has hosted the television series “True South” on the SEC Network/ESPN. Where did he graduate from high school in 1980?

• Academy for Classical Education (ACE)
• Westside High School
• Tattnall Square Academy
• Gilead Christian Academy

6. PGA golfer Russell Henley graduated from Macon’s Stratford Academy in 2006 and recently played in his ninth Masters golf tournament. Which of the following professional athletes is NOT a graduate of Stratford?

• John Rocker (baseball)
• Jaime Kaplan (tennis)
• Le Kevin Smith (NFL player)
• Peter Persons (PGA golfer)

7.  Mike Mills and Bill Berry, both 1976 graduates of Northeast High School in Macon, were founding members of what internationally acclaimed rock band?

• The Rolling Stones
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• R.E.M.
• Herman’s Hermits

8. The late Allan Evans grew up the oldest of eight children on Elm Street in a house built in 1925 by his father, Will, who worked for the railroad. He graduated from Macon’s Ballard-Hudson High in 1959 and made a name for himself in what field?

• Physics
• Computer science
• Neurosurgery
• Opera

9.  Sixty years ago this spring, Manley “Sonny” Carter graduated from Macon’s Lanier High for Boys. He became an astronaut and was a member of the flight crew on the space shuttle Discovery. What else is Carter known for?

• He was the first American-born player to sign with the Atlanta Chiefs (NASL) professional soccer team 1970. 
• He co-starred with Tom Cruise in “Top Gun.”
• He invented the fidget spinner.
• He ran in the Boston Marathon 19 times.

10. Which of the following is true about Hazel Raines, a 1934 graduate of Miller School for Girls on Montpelier Avenue in Macon? 

• She was a pioneer in local radio broadcasting.
• She was the first woman in the state to earn her pilot’s license.
• She caught the world’s largest catfish while fishing on the Ocmulgee River.
• She received a patent for solar-powered scooters.

ANSWERS: (1) A. (2) B. (3) B. (4) D. (5) C. (6) A. (7) C. (8) D. (9) A. (10) B.

REPORT CARD: (8-10) Valedictorian (5-7) Salutatorian (2-4) After School Tutorial (0-2) Remedial Studies