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Down the Decades

August 23, 2022 Edition

Compiled by Lee Hermann, Muse, & Ruth Huggler
Posted 8/23/22

110 Years Ago - 1912

Wednesday morning the bowling alley of William Ives at Beach Lake took fire and was not only destroyed but also took the lives of three boys, John Gaw and Elwood and Neil …

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Down the Decades

August 23, 2022 Edition

Posted

110 Years Ago - 1912

Wednesday morning the bowling alley of William Ives at Beach Lake took fire and was not only destroyed but also took the lives of three boys, John Gaw and Elwood and Neil Ives. The boys slept on the second floor of the bowling alley. Fire broke out about 3:30 a.m. while the boys slept.

The Reliance and U.S.A. moving picture company have a company of 36 actors at Lake Huntington. The company will remain in the county until about September 15th, saying the hills and valleys of Sullivan County make an ideal setting for the scenes of romance and love.

Wayne (Pa.) County’s first courthouse and jail were erected at Bethany in 1805 at a cost of $2,000, the labor and material, according to one writer, having been principally paid for in “store and trade and drinks.” Carpenters then received 90 cents a day, masons $1.00 and laborers 50¢.

To Mr. and Mrs. Edward Koberlein of Cochecton Center, on August 2, a daughter.

Herman Reinshagen, who spent the summer with his family on their farm, the Darling place in Bethel, returned to New York this week where he is a musician in the orchestra of Harry Miner’s 8th Ave. Theatre.

The celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the organization of the Presbyterian Church of Cochecton will be held Thursday of this week, afternoon and evening.

100 Years Ago - 1922

One hundred twenty-five guests fled in their nightclothes when fire broke out at the new Leona summer hotel in White Sulphur Springs early Sunday morning. A few hours later fire in the plant of the Fallsburg Lumber Co. at Fallsburg cause $30,000 damage when it destroyed sheds 162 feet long, two stories high. The Leona had been opened formally on Memorial Day weekend.

For the first time in the history of its existence, St. Joseph’s Seminary will throw open its spacious grounds and gymnasium on August 23 to a social event that has a purpose of raising funds to finance the building of a new church and wing. Figuring on an increase in student enrollment, the new wing will provide housing for 100 to 150 more students. The whole work should be completed by 1923.

Mr. and Mrs. Orin Maudsley of South Branch, Pa.,  are rejoicing over the arrival of a baby girl, August 10. She has been named Nora Mae and weighed 9 1/4 pounds. Mr. and Mrs. Archer Dutton have welcomed the first member of their family. The little miss has been named Genevieve Lorraine and she arrived July 18 … Born to Mr. and Mrs. Fred H. Baer of Callicoon, August 13, a daughter, Winifred Alberta.

Effects of the railroad strike are being noticed here with almost all of the trains arriving late.

We are glad to again hear the pump station noon whistle and see the boys home again… Three young men from Easton, who are canoeing down the Delaware from Deposit, camped near town for a few days this week… An opportunity to see the latest and greatest wonder of the age – the wireless telephone – will be given to Cochecton and vicinity at the radio concert given in connection with the annual supper by the Catholics at Erie Hall on August 22. A most complete and up-to-date loud speaking set will be installed, and weather conditions permitting, everyone in the hall will be able to hear speaking and singing from all parts of the country and dances will be put on to radio music. —Cochecton Corresp.

90 Years Ago - 1932

Last Friday morning the first earth was removed from the rear of the school building in Callicoon for the new gymnasium. Contractor Botsford of Callicoon was awarded the contract for the erection of the new building which is to be completed October 15. Carpenters Herman Molusky, Henry Gabel and Ernest Bauernfeind are engaged in putting in several partitions in the old school building and making other necessary changes there.

A fire apparently of incendiary origin destroyed the dance hall of the Amusement Park at Monticello early Monday with a loss estimated at $25,000.

Bids for the construction of that portion of Route 3-A, known as the Hawk’s Nest in Orange County, were opened in Albany yesterday and the contract for the work was awarded to the A Construction Co. of New York City for $308,000. This step marks a final chapter in the building of this route along the Delaware River.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Teeple of Fernwood are rejoicing over the birth of a daughter, Mary Amelia, born August 6.

80 Years Ago - 1942

According to Bulletin 326, received by war price and rationing boards under date of August 15, Stamp No. 8 has a weight value of five pounds of sugar… certificates for two new cars were issued to Philip W. Reum and James Roche. Tire certificates were issued to Harry E. Layman for two truck tires; to William H. Eller for one new truck tire; and to Mrs. Fern Engert for two passenger retread tires. Certificates were issued to Lawrence Ferber for two implement tires and two implement tubes.

Chauncey Simpson circulated a petition recently in Roscoe seeking to raise sufficient money to purchase a service flag to be hung over Broad Street in that village, to measure 10 by 18 feet, and to bear 43 stars, representing a soldier, sailor or Marine who enlisted or was drafted from the Twin Villages.

The resignation of Francis V. Huff, warden of the county jail for twelve years associated with the Sheriff’s office, was disclosed this week by Sheriff Harry Borden.

Harold A. Menges of Jeffersonville is stationed at Fort Myer, Va., where he is in charge of the kitchen that does the cooking and baking for the officers.

Mr. and Mrs. John Driscoll of White Lake are the parents of a daughter born Tuesday; Mr. and Mrs. Herman Wyss of Callicoon RD 1 are parents of twins, a son and a daughter born Wednesday, August 9.

Pvt. William Schad of Roscoe is in England… Louis Baum, who has been in the Army about a year, states that he is somewhere in the Caledonian Islands, off Australia… Chief Petty Officer Edwin Hermann is stationed somewhere in the Aleutians with the U.S. Navy.

70 Years Ago - 1952

A daughter, Kathy Lee, was born August 16, to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Stabbert Jr. at Ft. Belvoir, Va. Proud grandparents are Sullivan County Democrat Publisher Fred Stabbert Sr. and his wife, Nellie, and Percy and Katherine Kohler of Kohlertown. Kathy is the couple’s first child.

A start has been made in the Town of Cochecton toward the operation of the Civil Defense Observation Post at Lake Huntington.

The Board of Education of the Delaware Valley Central School called a meeting of the qualified voters to take action on the use of the old school building. A lingerie factory is interested in the old building. If the voters approve the Kiwanis may take title and turn the property over to the manufacturer.

The Callicoon Center Firemen have decided to discontinue their annual field day. Instead a dinner and dance will be held.

Copies of a new book, written by Mrs. Thomas C. Desmond, “Alexander Hamilton’s Wife, a Romance of the Hudson,” were presented this week by Senator and Mrs. Desmond to the various public libraries in Orange, Rockland and Sullivan counties.

After spending seven months in the Far East operating with units of the US Naval forces, the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea has returned to the United States. Serving aboard her with Fighter Squadron 113 is Ens. Valleau E. Curtis, son of Mr. and Mrs. V.C. Curtis of Callicoon.

L.P. Orth has provided two benches at his place of business for those who care to rest a bit as they come that way. Just in case they want to discuss politics, he has labeled one of the benches “Republicans” and the other “Democrats.” Anything for a laugh is one of L.P.’s mottos.

A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. George Loderhose at the Monticello Hospital on August 10. — Roscoe Corresp.

60 Years Ago - 1962

The Misses Peggy and Kathy Roemer assisted Town of Delaware Supervisor John Eschenberg in cutting the ribbon which officially opened the new Callicoon creek bridge at dedication ceremonies on August 11. About 100 attended.

A flash explosion at a fire school on the Delaware Youth Center field last Wednesday caused serious injury to George Rosenberger of Fremont Center. The accident occurred as local firemen were attending a fire school sponsored by the New York Department of Public Safety. Ten gallons of gasoline had been poured onto a rubbish pile and the firemen had retreated about 25 feet. As Rosenberger struck a match to ignite the fire a flash explosion occurred and he was enveloped in flames. Apparently the fumes from the gasoline did not evaporate but crept along the ground due to the heavy atmosphere. He will be a patient in the Callicoon Hospital from a week to ten days.

It was a son to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Peters of Callicoon RD at the Callicoon Hospital, Thursday.

The grade school, located in former common school district No. 5 in Barryville, has been discontinued by the Eldred Central School District as of July 30.

Dr. Lester E. Woolsey, a longtime Delaware County coroner who had practiced medicine in Hancock since 1901, died August 7, at his home in Hancock. He had been associated with his brother, the late Dr. Frank Woolsey Sr.

Jesse Lindsley’s Model T took first prize last week at Brewerton as best in class for black Model T cars.

Mr. and Mrs. Ruby Katz of Monticello are the parents of a son, born Monday at Hamilton Ave. Hospital. They also have a daughter, Valerie, 2.

Virginia Lyons, daughter of former Deputy Agricultural Commissioner and Mrs. James G. Lyons of Monticello, was married Sunday to Elmer C. Dering of Cambridge.

Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Woods of Livingston Manor quietly marked their 58th wedding anniversary and Mr. Woods’ 80th birthday on Friday at home.

50 years ago - 1972

Once again the 100-year-old English style surrey with the fringe on top was put in use by Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Peters of Callicoon for the wedding of their daughter, June. She was married August 5 to Marcel Carrier at the North Branch Grace Lutheran Church.

Rad Yaun, 16, of Liberty won the New York State Junior Golf Championship at Jamestown last Thursday. He is a junior at the Liberty High School.

Mr. and Mrs. Earl Krum celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on August 6 when they were feted by more than 50 people at a gathering at the Les Krum home on the Buck Brook Road in North Branch.

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Sykes of North Branch celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on Thursday.

Mr. and Mrs. Francis Brace of Livingston Manor became parents of a son, Steven Jon, July 23, at the Liberty-Loomis Hospital.

It has been announced that BOCES has been approved for training of veterans in vocational trades.

Raymond Browne of Jeffersonville has been appointed assistant cashier at the Liberty office of Marine Midland Bank.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Freyer of Voorheesville are the proud parents of a boy born August 13. Jeffrey Allan is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Freyer of Callicoon.

Jewelry valued at $9,100 and $900 cash was reported stolen from the home of Daniel Yeager, well-known county oil distributor at Liberty, early Saturday morning.

40 Years Ago - 1982

Paul Grossinger, president and chief executive officer of the resort bearing his name, will receive the 1982 Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith of Sullivan, Ulster and Orange counties at a reception scheduled for August 18 at the Concord Hotel in Kiamesha Lake.

The 103rd Little World’s Fair will be held August 13, 14 and 15 in Grahamsville. An independently run agricultural fair, it is the only one of its kind in New York State.

Fred Denman, a lifelong dairy farmer and uniquely dedicated leader in the improvement of area farming, died unexpectedly in Roscoe Sunday, August 15. He was 66 years of age… Tom Belmont, the first village manager of Monticello, who served in that capacity for 20 years, was buried Saturday in Herkimer. He was 59.

The State Department of Social Services has licensed the Jeffersonville Adult Care Home in Jeffersonville and the 20 bed facility is expected to be at full capacity within seven weeks.

Contracts for construction of a 120,000 gallon sewage plant were awarded by the Village of Jeffersonville at a recent village board meeting. CRC Enterprises, Inc., of Highland was awarded the contract for construction of the plant, with a bid of $1.16 milion.

Viggo Schonberg, 82, the oldest living charter member of the Indian League of the Americas which sponsors the Pow Wow in Barryville, was among those attending the 17th annual event this past weekend.

30 Years Ago - 1992

The Class of 1952, Delaware Valley Central School, held a 40th reunion on July 4 at the Western Hotel in Callicoon with 22 of its 27 members attending. They decided to establish a music fund in memory of their deceased classmate Janet Rosenberger Von Ahnen.

What could be the oldest surviving railroad station in New York State is in danger of being demolished despite the fact that it is being put on the state register of historic sites. The one-story Greek Revival station was built around 1850. Today the building is owned by Cochecton Mills which is considering removing the building in order to expand.

The Village of Liberty has received a $5,000 grant to plant trees along Main Street as part of a major revitalization effort.

A replica of the Great Seal of the United States, created by Donald Bailey Turrell of Circleville for the nation’s 200th anniversary and to grace the old Federal Hall (once the U.S. Treasury Building) in lower Manhattan, has been given to the Bloomingburg Restoration Foundation to be placed in what had been the pulpit of the old Dutch Reformed Church. Designed originally by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in 1788 in time for George Washington’s first inaugural from the steps of the old treasury building in New York on April 30, 1789 the original seal shows a cluster of 13 stars – one for each new state – on the shield held by an American Eagle. Above them is the Eye of God, surrounded by the symbolic cloud that Israelites followed through the desert from Egypt to their deliverance in the Promised Land. Later the stars would replace the eye in the cluster above the eagle, signifying the greater prominence of the United States of America. Built in 1821, the Greek Revival architectural style church was abandoned as a place of worship after World War II and had fallen into such disrepair that it was about to be torn down when the foundation stepped forward to save it. The church is now the home of the Bloomingburg Restoration Foundation. On the back wall, behind the seal, is a full-length mural of British warships blasting away at American positions in the Hudson River narrows about Manhattan.

A truck carrying liquid chlorine overturned near Fosterdale Monday morning, spilling its contents into a ditch and sending the driver to the Grover M. Hermann Division of Community General Hospital in Callicoon. He was examined and released.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Winski of Kenoza Lake will have the kitchen of their new home featured in the magazine “Kitchens by Professional Designers, Book V.” The edition features the magazine’s choice of best new kitchens in the United States.

20 Years Ago - 2002

Ames will be closing shop. The headquarters of the national discount store announced this week that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the Liberty store will be closing for good.

The old Monticello Middle School on St. John Street may become the site of a new performing arts center.

Liberty native Roberta Zalkin Yagerman was recently elected president of New York Chapter of Hadassah. She lives in Manhattan, and owns an antique business, Aunt Berti’s Collectionz, in White Sulphur Springs. She is the daughter of the late Harry and Hattie Zalkin of Liberty.

The Liberty Rotary Club is celebrating its 50th year. It was established August 6, 1952.

Arthur and Marga Sawall of Callicoon Center celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on May 18 with a party at the Youngsville Firehouse. Their three children, Inga, Herbert and Dieter, hosted the party for about 150 people who came from California, Maine, New Jersey, upstate New York and locally to help celebrate the occasion.

The Little Angels Nursery School in Hortonville recently held its graduation. The Class of 2002 includes Kevin Hart, Sean Hart, Andrew Stabbert, Taylor Brockner, Alexis Pfeil, Eric Schick, Emily Collins, Heather Rasmussen, Shawn Schanil, Brian Stauch, Danielle Sykes, Brittany Maronna, Emily Mirch, Samantha Arnold, Caelum Rogers, Devin Creegan, Nour Goodfriend, Justin Diehl, Felicia Riechenbaugh and Kyra Yanusas.

10 Years Ago - 2012

A woman with numerous family and friends in Sullivan County was found shot to death, apparently at the hands of a man who subsequently killed himself. Though Pennsylvania State Police would only confirm that a murder-suicide had taken place, the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office indicated that Galilee, PA, resident Kristina Sue Adams, 29, was killed. Adams, a bookkeeper at Peck’s Markets’ headquarters in Narrowsburg, was a 2001 graduate of Honesdale High School in Honesdale, PA. 

Photographers ignored the yellow “no paparazzi” tape outside of the Liberty Museum and Arts Center on August 11; the photo ops were too good to miss. It was opening night of the museum show “Grossinger’s Jackie Horner, the Time of My Life,” and Horner was given full star treatment. She waved to those lining Main Street as she arrived at the museum in Jon Wombacker’s vintage red convertible accompanied by a Liberty PD escort. Several of Horner’s dance costumes, including a white gown worn as Mistress of Ceremonies at a Harvest Moon Dance Contest at Madison Square Garden in the early 1980s, were on display. Silver dance shoes from her 1950s stint as a June Taylor Dancer were in a glass case with a pair of pink toe shoes. At evening’s end, the paparazzi convinced Horner to dance outside of the museum’s klieg-lighted entrance as they snapped photo after photo.

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