HISTORY COLUMN
By Tom Heitz |
10 Years Ago – March 1999 The fate of Richfield’s transfer station, a service many want to keep, will be decided at a meeting of officials from the town of Richfield and the village of Richfield Springs. If village and town officials can’t come to agreement, the attorney for the town, Jeffrey Reinhardt, has written that the transfer station will close July 1. The move to close the station has raised hackles and at Monday’s town board meeting, there were too many people to fit into the room. Town supervisor John Donnelly fielded questions from the crowd, which seemed nearly unanimously opposed to closing the facility. Lack of a contract between the town and village to operate the station has raised liability questions. 20 Years Ago – March 1989
The Richfield Springs Central School Student Council lowered the flag to half mast March 13th in memory of Karen Ehlers, 18, the school’s 1988 valedictorian, who died in her dormitory room at Colgate University, March 11. Ehlers was born June 20, 1970, in Cooperstown, the daughter of David H. and Linda Ehlers, both of whom teach at RSCS. She majored in Biology at Colgate where she entered as a freshman last September. She was a member of the National Honor Society at RSCS and a member of the Church of Christ Uniting in Richfield Springs. For two years she led the RSCS Marching Indians as drum major. A moment of silence was held Monday morning at the school and at the Board of Education meeting Wednesday evening. 50 Years Ago – March 1959
Future plans for the betterment of Canadarago Lake were discussed at the Tuesday night meeting of the Richfield Springs Sportsmen’s Club. The project started last summer when the club cooperated in a survey by state bacteriologists. Findings from this study are expected to be available in April. A community survey, conducted last summer by the Department of Sociology of Cornell University brought out points which have been stressed by the Sportsmen’s Club – the need to maintain a constant lake level, improving boating and swimming facilities, and fishing conditions. The fact that the lake lies within three townships, and is ringed by more than 370 summer resident units which make it an important tax asset was pointed out. Plans are underway for a joint meeting with the supervisors of the towns of Otsego, Richfield and Exeter to discuss the lake problem and ways to proceed to improve it. 60 Years Ago – March 1949
Richfield Springs sixth-graders set the pace for the local 1949 Red Cross Drive by raising a sum of $25 in a benefit basketball game staged at 3:30 p.m., Friday afternoon, March 11th in the school gymnasium. A junior team composed of Lawrence Klunder, Norman Winne, Thomas Brady, Lyle Wilbert, Robert Bernhardt, Charles Bruce, James Vertucci, Michael Brady, Robert Kaminski, and James Berry met and defeated a team from Ilion’s Annunciation Church by a score of 35-32. Spectator enthusiasm was at a high pitch. Cheerleaders were Marilyn Grabowski, Judy Vaughn, Joan Vrooman, Bertha Ames and Carol Brady. Clarence Ackerly, publisher of the Richfield Springs Mercury generously donated 500 tickets which the sixth graders promoted and sold for 9 cents apiece. 75 Years Ago – March 1934
At a meeting of the Cherry Valley Turnpike League held at West Winfield High School on Monday, March 12th, Mr. R.T. Sant of Cherry Valley outlined the history and purposes of the League. He stated that the League was formed to promote and foster good feelings between the pupils of the schools on the turnpike. The intense rivalry generated during athletic contests would be somewhat alleviated by holding inter-school contests in one-act plays, debates, prize speaking and other forms of joint activity. He stressed the benefits derived from exchange of assembly programs as promoting good will. 100 Years Ago – March 1909
What an index to character is man’s laugh! What surer clue can we have to both his intellect and his temper unless it be that he seldom or never laughs? “Nothing,” says Goethe, “is more significant of men’s characters than what they find laughable.” “You know no man,” says Tieck, “till you have heard him laugh – till you know when and how he will laugh.” “The perception of the ludicrous,” says Emerson, “is a pledge of sanity. A rogue alive to the ludicrous is still convertible. If that sense is lost his fellow men can do little for him.” Resources for this column have been provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library.
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