10 Years Ago – February 1999

Students of the month for January at the Richfield Springs Elementary School are Jacob Zydel, Peter Woytowich, Mirissa Llewellyn, Chelsea Guzik, Alex Sovocool, Brittany Burdick, Amber Kelly, Sheila Smith, Michael Dyn, Todd Duncan, and Katie Conlan. Five students from Richfield Springs placed among the leaders during the Regional of the National Elks Hoop Shoot Competition, hosted January 23rd by Herkimer County Community College. Each participant took 25 foul shots with those who made the most shots going further in the national competition. In the girls’ 12-13 age group, Adrianne Spytko finished first. In the boys’ 12-13 age group Shawn Connolly finished first. In the girls’ 8-9 age group Hannah Rehm finished third. In the boys’ 8-9 age group, Kyle Maxson finished fourth. And, in the boys’ 10-11 age group, Kyle Richards finished third.

20 Years Ago – February 1989

At a recent meeting Richfield Springs’ teacher Jim Hill briefed the district’s board of education on the “Richfield Springs Challenge Program.” The program enables local students to participate in Outward Bound. Only two schools in New York have this program – Cooperstown and Richfield Springs. Outward Bound provides students with outdoor life experiences, teaches life and survival skills, offers team work and leadership training, and develops self-reliance and self-esteem. The program is sponsored by Outward Bound and the Clark Foundation at a cost of about $25,000. Students will only have to pay for hiking boots.

50 Years Ago – February 1959

Below zero temperatures have no terrors for members of Boy Scout Troop 114 of Schuyler Lake. Five of the troop recently went on an overnight hike, slept on the ground, prepared their meals in sub-zero weather with no ill effects, and all report they enjoyed the experience. The boys, Johnny Kelly, Richard Bancroft, Donald Ferguson, Jim Hext and Gregory Hext, accompanied by scout master Truman Davis, hiked to the Angel Hill area on Saturday, remaining overnight and all day Sunday in the woods. All the boys passed their cooking test and they also worked on their small game tracking test.

60 Years Ago – February 1949

By Tuesday morning the accumulated snow pile caused by the snow plow on one hand and sidewalk clearing on the other was removed from the south side of Main Street from Klem’s service station to the east end of the post office property. Last night this work of removing a hazard and a great inconvenience to the public was continued. Main Street snow removal is a State matter because the street is a part of Route 20. Tuesday, through Otsego County Highway Commissioner Victor Hoke, Supervisor Monahan sought permission of the state highway department to remove the snow from the curb with local equipment, the state to pay the cost on the equipment use basis. Pending a decision, the town and village forces are combining in this most commendable project and will continue the snow removal each night until the street is cleared in the business section.

75 Years Ago – February 1934

To dress well is an art, says Emma Dodson of the New York State College of Home Economics in a message to 4-H Club girls about how to plan their wardrobes. She adds that a great deal of money is not needed, and that some girls, even with plenty of money, often make mistakes in buying clothes. “Is it wise to have a different dress for every day in the week, even if one can afford it?” she asks, and answers that it would be much more interesting to have dresses that may be changed in appearance by adding different collars, belts, or jackets, or to have a two-piece dress for use with different blouses. Two dresses of this kind, Miss Dodson says, will last through the Fall and Winter.

100 Years Ago – February 1909

Town Topics – The ice harvest is again in progress. The New York mail now reaches Richfield over the trolley at 6:43 a.m. and is distributed for the patrons by 7:30 a.m. This is quite an improvement on having to wait until nearly 10 o’clock. Last Friday evening at the Elk Opera House the high school basketball team played a strong game against the lively Utica Academy five, but were defeated by a score of 34 to 26. The visitors were undoubtedly the strongest aggregation of players from a school that has ever come here.

Resources for this column have been provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library.