Main Street – September 30, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

We never realized the old saying of "Absence makes the heart grow founder" than we did Saturday night. After spending our evenings, for the past five months, sitting on the cottage porch, looking out on the lake and the mountain range on the east side of the lake, or gliding over the lake waters, fly casting for bass in the cool of the evening, the world at rest and not a living human soul in sight, we drove into Granville and down through Main street at 8 o'clock Saturday night, and the impression Main street made on us was a revelation.

It was our first Saturday since last April. Main street was crowded with people, both sides a mass of humanity. The many colored dazzling electric signs in different designs made the street look like a little white way. Stores were full of customers. Merchants were hustling from one side of the store to the other. Ice cream stores and soda fountain counters were busy as a beehive. Automobiles occupied every bit of available space in the village. Along Main street, North street and Church Street, cars, cars, and some more cars. And the free parking lots were filled to capacity.

New stream-lined automobiles, old cars, jalopies, town cars, new trucks, old rattle traps, even a horse and buggy hitched to a tree. Everybody came to Granville for Saturday night. Boys and girls stood around in groups along the store fronts. Beer places - standing room only. Radios blasting forth with the latest popular songs. Gasoline service station attendants on the run. Everything was on the move. It was a contrast to the silent, peaceful Saturday night at Lake St. Catherine. And if we hadn't known before we learned just what makes Granville tick and why its native, no matter where they may be, yearn for Granville and a peep at our Main street.

Driving in from the lake, our mind was on the distant hills and mountains silhouetted against the clear September moon. Scenes, like we have been looking at for years still fascinated us and we awoke from our dream when we ran into a line of traffic on East Main street. That's when we were awakened, came down to earth, and realized that it was Saturday night. When we reached the village square we were amazed at the activity in the village and to see the human ant-hill, which is Main street, on a Saturday night. If one slips in his enthusiasm for Granville a brief absence would make his heart grow fonder for our home town and for our people.

Going through Londonderry, Vt., recently we stopped to call on Mr. and Mrs. Matt Hurd, better known in Granville 30 or more years ago as Gilbert and Gilbert producers of amateur theatricals. The Hurds made Granville their home for a while and produced several successful home talent musical comedies, when Granville was chock full of excellent local talent. As a memory test to the Hurds, we put on a pair of sun glasses, which we never wore before, and walked into the restaurant on the main highway leading through the village of Londonderry. It was 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon.

There was no one in the restaurant at the time. A kettle was steaming in the kitchen. We stood in the doorway and looked in. In the farther end of the room there was a couch and we recognized at once, Mrs. Hurd, stretched out on the couch enjoying a few minutes rest. We walked up slowly, as Mrs. Hurd got into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes, without saying a word. "Do you know me?" we asked. Mrs. Hurd squinted her eyes and said: "I guess not. But, if you will remove your sun glasses maybe I can see you better. My eye sight is failing me, too." Removing the sun glasses we stood speechless and Mrs. Hurd again failed to recognize her visitor. Thirty-five years is a long time.

We admitted our identity and she jumped from her couch and shouted to her husband: "Matt, this is Morris Rote-Rosen from Granville". And a man in dungarees came running in from somewhere, whom we at once recognized as Matt Hurd, who, with his right hand extended pumped our hand with: "Why, Morris, you old son-of-a-gun!" And in less than it takes to write it the three of us were in a reminisces pow-wow which lasted only minutes, but was enough to fill a book about Granville and some of its people of a time when Granville was at its height in the show business. They asked for Ernestine Schiff, for Jim Mason, for John K. Williams, for Harold Paul, for Arthur J. Williams, for Bill (Swago) Thomas, and many, many others who wore the wig and mask in amateur theatricals in Granville, long, long ago.

We recalled to Matt Hurd how he used to admonish his chorus girls, by pointing a finger at them before curtain time and say: "Now, get in line girls and stay there." We never knew of a harder working woman than Flo (Gilbert) Hurd. A tireless worker, well versed in amateur theatricals, an excellent piano player, she put in hours and hours in rehearsals and hen it was curtain time for a Gilbert and Gilbert production there was nothing lacking. Scenery, drops, floodlights, costumes, make-up, orchestrations. It was all there and the Pember Opera House saw many nights of the Gilbert and Gilbert local talent shows sold out with standing room only at curtain time. It was good to see Matt and Flo. It brought back a nostalgia which was as refreshing as the cool breeze which wafted down from the Green Mountains surrounding that quaint little Vermont village - Londonderry.

Claus Swanson, expert on heating and Bible student, stopped at the office the other day. "I see where you mention some shut-ins in your 'Main Street' once in a while and I think that you ought to mention Mrs. Fred Beecher, who is an example in courage. She has been invalided for several years now and I never leave her without feeling the inspiration of her wonderful character and that of her Christian gentleman husband Fred." ... In a recent "Main Street" column we stated that some one was entitled to the credit for beautifying the Middle Granville Roman Catholic cemetery. Which brought an anonymous telephone call from a member of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church, who said: "Give credit to Father Dignan for a fine job, well done." Glad to do so, particularly to one who is a good friend of ours and one who is always ready to do a good deed.

When we stopped at the Reed place in Wells, little Clifford Reed, 11, came running out of the woods with a handful of stones. When we inquired what the stones were for, Clifford said: "Oh, I hunt squirrels with stones. I always hunt them with stones". Then we asked him if he has had any luck hunting with stones: "Yes, sir," he answered, "so far my record is one out of every three". A Daniel Boone, if there ever was one ... And while mentioning Daniel Boone, we were visiting with Melvin Blossom, his brother Louis and "Ted" Brown at the North Granville fire department carnival and Mel talked about the Sons of Daniel Boone, a forerunner of the Boy Scouts, a junior lodge, in existence at one time at Blossom's Corners. The initiation ceremonies as exposed by Mel Blossom were quite interesting, particularly the story of how George Kallahan rode the harness maker's goat.

Louis Blossom of Detroit, visiting Granville, looks exactly like his brother as much as his brother Melvin looks like Judge Blossom. His father Lou also likes to recall the old days of the Pember Opera House when he was a well known violinist and a member of the Pember orchestra. Lou laughs as he tells about the time he invited a young lady from Lake St. Catherine to see "The Red Feather" at the Pember theatre. "I had a horse who refused to go up the lake hill", says Lou, "but I took a chance and hitched him and came to call for the young lady. When we reached the lake hill the horse stopped and would go no further". And so did Louis Blossom who did not finish the story and left us guessing.

The people of the older generation who think that our young people lack the friendship and sentiment of reunions, no doubt received a shock when they read the "Open Letter" in the September 9, "Sentinel" by Georgia Seferlis Giannestras calling the 1939 GHS class for a reunion ... And it was good to see Mary Symboile, Helen Connors, Ruth Evans and Marilyn Rote-Rosen, former classmates, in a dinner party get-together recently ... And there was the prize drawing not long ago by Elaine Sheldon DiMichele for the benefit of her high school class reunion ... The young people of today are the older generation of tomorrow and our future welfare is in good hands.

Main Street – September 23, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

George Roberts, who closed his barber shop on Main street to continue part time work in his residence on the New York-Vermont state line, on East Main street, is the last of another generation. When he quit "the little flatiron building", George Roberts wrote finis to an institution in Granville, which flourished half a century ago in keeping with the horse and buggy era and with the kerosene burning lamps of that period. George Roberts is the last of that school of barbers and happens to be the only survivor of a profession which listed such names as John Mayo, Burke Morehouse, Barney Smith, Bill Cornell and others.

We called on George Roberts late in the afternoon and we found him sitting in a comfortable chair on a green lawn, surrounded by flowers - and waiting for a customer. On the rear of his residence on East Main street, was a small red, white and blue barber pole and the door of his specially improvised barber shop was wide open. His dachshund sniffed at a prospective customer as George laid aside his newspaper. As is customary when in a barber chair, the customer talks and the barber joins in a steady patter while the scissors are snipping and hairs falling in all directions.

We recalled to George Roberts the early days of the John W. Mayo barber shop. "That's where I got my first job in Granville," said George, "when John Mayor had a barber shop in the Dick Durham building." It was located where the Lichtig store now stands, on the ground floor where there were four barbers in waiting and as many chairs. The price of a hair cut was 25 cents and it cost ten cents for a shave. George stayed with John Mayo when he moved to the Joe Green block and later to the Munson House. "What about the barber shop bath tubs?" we asked George, recalling the time when barber shops installed public tubs when hot water was not only a rarity but a luxury in the average Granville home.

George stopped his hair cutting for a moment. "We had two bath tubs there and the customers had to take their turns on Saturday night." He said that the bath tubs were going all day, on a Saturday, and the charge was 25 cents for bath, soap and towel. "What killed the bath tub business in the Granville barber shops", continued George, "was the Young Men's Guild, a young men's club in the old Pember Opera House block. Rev. Zorn, an Episcopal minister at Trinity church, became interested in the Granville young men. He formed a club and installed a bath tub and shower there. That finished the bath tub business for the local barber shops."

"What about the shaving mug era, George?", we asked. We had in mind the days when everyone who could afford it had a special shaving cup, in his favorite barber shop, for his exclusive use. "When I worked for Mayo, we had one hundred thirty five private shaving mugs", said George. "The so-called 'barber's itch' broke out and to avoid an epidemic, or an infection, from the shaving cups and brushes used for the general public, many of the local citizens purchased their own private shaving mug. I have some of them in my possession today as souvenirs of many of my old customers when I was in business for myself and when I had thirty-five cups in use."

Some of these old shaving cups, which, no doubt, would bring fancy prices from some antique dealer, are still in the possession of George Roberts. These bear names of familiar Granville people of another generation. "George W. Henry's number was 29", said George, "old Bud Bowker owned a private cup and so did Steve Carpenter and Bill Munson and Harve Barden. Although Aaron Goodspeed is remembered by you with a long beard, in his later years, he was smooth shaven and he had a cup here. Little Mike Hickey was another and so was Dr. L. A. Bromley, Solon C. Mason, Mike Welch, Roy Lee and G. W. Mason of the West Pawlet creamery."

The cups George spoke about are the private shaving mugs inscribed in different style lettering with the names of the owners. Some are in gold lettering and the purchase price of these shaving cups ranged from $4 to $5 each. These cups are not only identified by the Old English script letters, but are of various designs. Some are blue with gold bands at the top and bottom, some are decorated with floral designs and, one in particular, belonging to a lover of horses, shows the heads of two spirited horses. George has now passed his 70th year and he can sit back in that chair on the green lawn with the flowers around him, take it a little easier, but still able to do some work after sixty years of public service.

No matter where some of our former Granville residents may be living now the word "Granville" brings to them a little bit of heaven, as is evidenced from the following letter: "523 Front Street, Upland, Chester, Pa., August 29, 1948. Dear Mr. Rote-Rosen: Just a few lines to let you know we enjoy your 'Main Street' in the Granville Sentinel. I just wanted to write and tell you of a little incident which happened last Tuesday (August 24). My husband and I were sitting in a restaurant on Pacific Avenue, in Atlantic City, when a truck went by with the words 'Tatko Bros. Middle Granville, N.Y.'. Well, for a second I thought that I was back in Granville. It is a small world. I lived in Granville for 21 years having left in 1934 when I married. You may remember I used to work in the Farmers National Bank. Best wishes to you and yours. Sincerely, Mrs. Mamie Williams."

The merry-go-round of friendly callers to "Main Street" brought Thomas H. Roberts of the U.S. Veterans Hospital, Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, N.Y., one of the chief cooks of the hospital. He yearns for Granville and hopes some day to be transferred to a Veterans hospital nearer to Granville to keep in closer touch with his many friends ... Another was Samuel H. Shames, Granville tailor of several years ago, who came all the way from Cal. to visit his grandchildren who are living with Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Smith, Mettowee street. "I came to Granville", says Mr. Shames, "all the way from California to see the grandchildren. You know blood is thicker than water."

Then Charles and Kate (Roberts) Lord marched into the office with extended hands and smiles. We used to pal with Charlie when he worked for George H. McDonald and Nathan Goldberg. As for Kate, she insists that we helped her out of a tough spot in Miss Noonan's seventh grade, in the Church street school, when we lettered her map with the inscription "Switzerland". Charlie and Kate show some wear and tear of the years, like all of us do, but they haven't changed in spirit and are happy to recall the days of their youth in Granville which they will always claim as their home.

When they left there came Dr. Hiram Evans and his cute little wife Jean (Buckland) and that sweet prize baby Susan. Hiram was quite proud of his little family and he wanted Susan to "show off". But babies have that way about them. She buried her head on his shoulder. We were impressed by the resemblance of Jean to her father Rev. Harold Buckland, former pastor of the Granville M. E. church, now superintendent of the Burlington (Vt.) District ... We were stopped by Fannie Duel, who isn't a bit shy about her years, and admits crowding 80 years of age. "How do you keep so young?", we asked Mrs. Duel. "Oh, that's easy", she said: "Never be disagreeable. Smile and the world smiles back at you".

And as the friendship merry-go-round kept going around and around, Truman Temple stopped at the office, carrying a bag full of freshly picked tomatoes: "Since you have no garden of your own", he said, "here are some tomatoes." ... John F. Evans placing a brown bag on the desk: "Here are some cucumbers and squash to take home with you." ... Gladys King: "If you like sweet corn here is some we picked for you." ... Friendship - the crown jewels of the Kingdom of Happiness - without which life wouldn't be worth much ... And we are grateful.

Main Street – September 16, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

The New York Times of Sunday, August 22, 1948, published a story which read in part as follows: "A Civil War story never recounted in history books was brought to light yesterday by a Confederate newspaper called 'The Daily Citizen'. Printed on wall paper, it was dated July 2, 1863. An original copy of the paper which was published in Vicksburg, Miss., is in the possession of Dan Zilko, of the Hotel Sheldon, Lexington Avenue and Forty-ninth street. Mr. Zilko said that he believed, after checking the museums, that the copy was the only one in existence."

While interviewing LeRoy L. Barnard, Granville's last Civil War veteran about 17 years ago, for a newspaper article, he brought out several souvenirs and relics which he salvaged while serving with the Union Army. "Here is something interesting", said Mr. Barnard, and he unrolled a copy of "The Daily Citizen" referred to in the "Times" story and he gave it to us as a souvenir of the interview. When we read the story in the New York Times, Sunday, August 22, we unrolled that wall-paper newspaper and it is another original copy which Dan Zilko claims is non-existent. If he has the "only" copy as far as he could learn we have one too.

Because of the shortage of newsprint in the Confederacy during the War of the Rebellion, newspapers were printed on the back of wall paper in some instances. "The Daily Citizen" in our possession is yellowed with age. It was printed 85 years ago - July 2, 1863. It is a four column sheet, printed on one side only, is 19 inches long and eleven inches wide. All, except a three inch item at the bottom of the newspaper, was set by the printers of "The Daily Citizen" who because of the attack by the Union Army were unable to finish setting up the full paper. The "Yankees" finished the setting up of the three inch space and ran off several copies as souvenirs such as is in our possession.

We are reprinting some of the items which appear in "The Daily Citizen" of Vicksburg, Miss., during its siege, dated Thursday, July 2, 1863, as follows: "We are indebted to Major Gillespie for a steak of Confederate beef, and meat. We have tried it, and can assure our friends that if it is rendered necessary, they need have no scruples at eating the meat. It is sweet, savory, and tender, and as long as we have a mule left we are satisfied our soldiers will be content to subsist on it."

"Grant's forces did a little firing on Tuesday afternoon, but the balance of the day was comparatively quiet. Yesterday morning they were very still and continued so until early in the afternoon, when they sprung a mine on the left of our center, and opened fire along the line for some distance. We have not been able to ascertain anything definitely as to our loss, but as our officers were on the lookout for this move of the enemy, the expectations of the Yankees were not realized by a great deal."

"Porter is enjoying a season of rest and his men are doubtless obliged to him for his kind consideration for their welfare. On Tuesday he fired a few shells from his parrots, and kept his men tolerably busy sharpshooting across the river, with no other result than might be expected. The mortars have not been used for nearly forty-eight hours. Poor fool, he might as well give up the vain aspiration he entertains of capturing our city, or exterminating our people, and return to his master, to receive the award such a gasconading dolt will meet at the hands of the unappreciative Government in Washington."

"Again we have reliable news from the gallant corps of Gen. Lee in Virginia. Our brave men under Lee are striking terror to the hearts of all Yankeedom. Today the mongrel administration of Lincoln is like Japhet in search of a father, for their old Abe has departed to parts unknown. Terror reigns in their halls. Lee is to the left of the them, the right of them, in front of them and all around them, and daily do we expect to hear of down on them. Today Maryland is ours, tomorrow Pennsylvania will be, and the next Ohio - now midway, like Mohammed's coffin - will fall. Success and glory to our arms. God and right is with us."

"If aught would appeal to the heart of stone of the extortioner with success, the present necessities of our citizens would do so. It is needless to attempt to disguise from our enemy, or our own people, that our wants is great. A rumor has reached us that parties in our city have been, and are now, selling flour at five dollars per pound, molasses and ten dollars per gallon and corn at ten dollars per bushel. We have not yet proved whether such prices are being paid, and to whom; and if so, let a brand not only be placed on their brow, but let it be smeared into their very brain, that humanity may scorn and shun them as they would the portals of hell itself."

"In devoting a large portion of our space to federal intelligence, copied from the Memphis Bulletin, it should be remembered that the news in the original truth is whitewashed by the Federal Provost Marshal, who desires to hoodwink the poor Northern white slaves. This paper (Memphis Bulletin) is in duress and edited by a pink-nosed, slab-sided, toad-eating Yankee, who is a lineal descendant of Judas Iscariot and a brother germain of the greatest Puritanical, cycophantic, howling scoundrel, unhung - Parson Brownlow. Yet, with such a character, the paper cannot cloak the fact that General Rob't E. Lee has given Hooker, Milroy and Co., one of the best and soundest whippings on record, and that the 'glorious Union' is now exceedingly weak in the knees."

"That great Ulysses - the Yankee Generalissimo, surnamed Grant - has expressed his intentions of dining in Vicksburg on Sunday next, and celebrating the Fourth of July by a grand dinner and so forth. When asked if he would invite General Joe Johnson to join, he said: 'No, for fear there will be a row at the table.' Ulysses must get into the city before he dines in it. The way to cook a rabbit is 'first catch the rabbit' etc." ... This item was written on July 2, 1863, but when the Union soldiers captured Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, the three inch blank space, referred to at the beginning of this column, was set in type and the paper printed in full.

The part that the Union soldiers included to fill out the "Daily Citizen" reads as follows: "NOTE. July 4th 1863. Two days brings about many changes. The banner of the Union floats over Vicksburg. Gen. Grant has 'caught the rabbit', he has dined in Vicksburg and, he did bring his dinner with him. "The Citizen" lives to see it. For the last time it appears on "Wall Paper". No more will it eulogize the luxury of mule meat and fricaseed kitten - urge Southern warriors to such diet nevermore. This is the last wall paper 'Citizen', and is, excepting this note, from the types as we 'yankee printers' found them. Copies will be valuable in years to come as a curiosity."

It is obvious that the Dan Zilko copy of "The Vicksburg Daily Citizen" is not the only one in existence. We don't know whether there may be others scattered around the country, but the one in our possession is evidently an authentic print from the "Yankee Printers" and apparently one of only two copies known to be in existence. We expect to frame this wall-paper newspaper, and in the near future, present it to the Pember Library and make it a part of the photo-history collection of the Library. It will be a memento to LeRoy L. Barnard, Granville's last soldier of the Civil War, who died at the age of 102, in 1944.

Main Street – September 9, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

Returning from the Wells cemetery, where we paid our last respects to Lester L. Hopson, we met Levi Pratt, Wells nonagenarian. He leaned on the fender of the car, thought for a moment as his eyes became moist, and said, "Lester Hopson was a GOOD man." It was a fine tribute to one of the most respected citizens of the town of Wells, coming from one who had known several generations of the Hopson family. Then Ruel Park came along and said, "Lester Hopson never made an enemy." And those who knew Mr. Hopson in life know that no finer epitaph can be engraved on the stone marking the last resting place of L. L. Hopson than those expressed by Levi Pratt and Ruel Park.

It was our privilege to have known Mr. Hopson for many years. we will always picture him sitting behind the glass show case of the village grocery store, getting up and joining the groups around the store, summer or winter, for a discussion of any topic. Always agreeable, with a gentle disposition and pleasant smile, he commanded respect from every one and received it. Although in failing health for some time, his replay to those inquiring about his health was always the same: "I'm feeling better now." Within a few weeks of his death we saw him climbing the fence on the John Hayes farm, wearing hip boots and fishing jacket, trout lines stuck in his hat, with a pop in his hand. He was a great sportsman.

At the service in the little Episcopal church on the village green in Wells, friends from all walks of life filled the pews, many standing in the rear of the church and some being unable to find room inside, standing in silence in groups under the shady elm tree on the lawn. At his grave side, that narrow gulf which sometimes separates those of different race, creed or religion, vanished in thin air as they gathered in a spirit of brotherhood such as exemplified the life of Lester Hopson to see him laid in his final resting place. Even the tree leaves, which had been motionless in the humidity and the heat of the few previous days, rustled a requiem by a north breeze, and the tiny American flag markers, snapped at their holdings, as the casket reached the grave.

As a citizen, as a friend, as a neighbor, as a councellor and adviser, Lester Hopson left an indelible imprint on the memories of his fellowmen and a monument to the town of Wells. To know Mr. Hopson was to love him for his fine character for his broad vision and for his understanding. Only death could obliterate that pleasant way of his and his smiling and cheerful greetings in his daily life. He met every one on the level. It is once in a lifetime that a community produces a man of the calibre of Lester L. Hopson, who as Levi Pratt and Ruel Park said, was a good man who never made an enemy. No finer record can be left behind by any one. The town of Wells was better off for having Mr. Hopson for its own. The town of Wells has sustained a great and irreparable loss.

John M. Zubell of North Hebron was mystified by that floating burlap bag in the pond which "had something soft in it". He poked at it and called in the State Police. The solution of the mystery: A dead calf ... Recruiting Sergeant Smith, who makes his regular stops at the Granville post office, is part Comanche Indian and a native of Oklahoma ... Some one deserves a bouquet for taking steps to make the Roman Catholic cemetery in Middle Granville look clean and attractive. It impresses every one who visits it ... In reporting the three eligible who passed the examination for the office of Granville postmaster, we were not given the full report which includes a fourth eligible one - Acting Postmaster Charles Statia, who also passed the exam with a high rating.

The provisions in the New York State Bonus Law, that a veteran must be a resident "at the time of application" for the bonus, has worked a hardship and has been unfair to many Granville veterans, whose home has always been Granville, but who had to seek work elsewhere, or find a home, because of the housing shortage, in nearby states. Some Granville veterans lose out temporarily because of their residence being in Vermont, or in some other state. However, it is expected that when the amendment to the Bonus Law is approved by voters of the state of New York in 1950, these veterans will receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

A Fair Haven man appealed to the Granville police to help located his son who had just been released from the Windsor, Vt., state prison and for whom the father posted a $1,000 bond to appear in court on a Monday morning. Asked why he bailed his son, knowing his record, the father said: "What would you do if he were your boy? I furnished bail because as a father I thought that it was my duty to try to help him. On the other hand by helping him he jumped the $1,000 bond which I put up for him. I know he is a bad boy, but what would you do if you were in my place?" It is the old, old problem of the battle of juvenile delinquency. It is anybody's answer.

Sharon, four-year old little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Woodruff, gave an unrehearsed and spontaneous dance recital to the large audience on the closing night of the Wells carnival. Because of the glaring footlights on the entertainment stage, Sharon could not distinguish the large crowd watching her. She toe-danced, tried a tap dance, wiggled in the latest oriental style as she performed a hula-hula and finally taking hold of the ends of her little dress she curtsied to, what she thought was, an imaginary audience, while the crowd standing around the platform roared in approval of her graceful moves. A natural born little dancer if there ever was one.

When we met Clarence Wilbur of Tinmouth, on the village green in Wells, during the Old Home Day celebration, the subject of discussion turned up to be John D. Kelley. Said Wilbur: "I read 'Main Street' and John Kelley. John and I used to slide down hill together when we were boys. John was once an organizer for the Woodmen", continued Mr. Wilbur, "and he drove his mare on one of his business trips. He hitched the mare in the shed and when John came out he got the surprise of his life. He found the mare's family had increased by one colt." John Kelley may still remember that incident.

In Albany recently, on our way to the State Education Building, we met Benedict Maloney, former Granville resident, now one of the building engineers. "If you want to see something interesting," said "Bennie", "go up to the fifth floor of the building and take in the Indian exhibit." It was good advice and we spent most of the afternoon studying the exhibit of the aborigine of the Empire State, one of the finest exhibits of its kind. Life-size Indian figures portray the life, habits and customs of the red men of our state. One of the exhibits showed skeletons unearthed with their ceremonial paraphernalia furnished the dead Indian to take along with him to his happy hunting grounds. It was an afternoon well spent.

Fair exchange: When Ed MacEachron handed the master of ceremonies, at the Wells carnival entertainment, a hot dog to refresh him the favor was returned a few minutes later when the M.C., had a little boy draw a prize winning cake number. The winner: Ed MacEachron ... Why not give some credit to Carl (Sparky) Hall, that tireless little fellow, who can be seen wearing a Legion cap at military funerals although he wasn't old enough to serve either in World War I, or World War II. He has been sounding "Taps" for practically all the Legion funerals recently and has been a willing worker, offering his services voluntarily whenever asked to perform a community task. Carl merits a salute of appreciation.

The long touted semi-pro football eleven is having its curtain raiser the coming Sunday afternoon, September 12, on the high school athletic field, when it will lock shoulder pads and helmets with the Scotia Packers. This is the long awaited opening game and many of the local football fans are eager to see the gridiron babies in action. There are forty-five huskies, all former star footballers, from Granville, Pawlet and Poultney, trying for a regular berth in the line up and the rivalry is keen. Any one trying out will have to make good to stay on the team. The opening game should have a bearing on the result.

With the Scotia Packers booked for the coming Sunday, and the Watervliet Garnets scheduled to play in Granville the following Sunday, September 19, local football enthusiasts will have a good bird's eye view of what is in store for them during the eight home games by the new born  semi-pro team. Granville has the reputation of being a good football town and there is no doubt that the team will receive the support it deserves. The management and members have had this new team in the making for nearly a full year. The blankets will be removed Sunday. Let's see a record crowd to cheer them on to victory.

Main Street – September 2, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

Silence on Factory street on the morning of August 21 ... Sullivan M. Fringi, another of Granville's Gold Stars, has come home ... Friends and neighbors stand around whispering ... The thick gray fog, like a pall of gloom, descends on the village to obscure the morning sun ... Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and of the American Legion arrive to pay a soldier's farewell to a former comrade ... Flags and rifles are stacked against the house and on the lawn ... A click his heard as a member of the firing squad checks his rifle bolt.

Ladies, members of the veterans auxiliary organizations, stand on the sidewalk in silence ... The Gold Star flag which hung in the window of the Fringi home, no longer there ... In its place is the flag draped casket on the inside ... Mrs. Stephen Zayachek and Mrs. Anthony Szymanski, neighbors from across the street, stand on their veranda, with heads bowed ... There is a rustle inside the house and the door is flung open ... The red and white stripes of the flag come to view ... "Attention!" comes from the commander of the veterans detail ... Sullivan Fringi has come home.

The church bell rings intermittently ... The fog is now lifting as the white-helmeted, uniformed, firing squad leads the cortege ... Corporal John Boland, who accompanied the remains, wears a black band over his left arm ... From inside the church come the opening strains of the funeral service ... As the casket is wheeled down the center aisle near the sanctuary ... Scattered in the pews are World War I veterans: Ardino Secci, Nicholas Fragnoli, Carmen Furlo, Joe Consoli ... Veterans outside the church are passing the time instructing little Louis di Statio in the infantry manual of arms.

The closing of stores brings people out to the sidewalk curb ... Main street is in absolute silence ... As men take off their hats in salute to the passing colors ... A gray-haired man, clicks his heels, throws out his chest, raises his chin, and snaps to a salute ... A middle-aged woman slowly crowds her way to the sidewalk curb to have a better glimpse of the procession. She falters and her arm is gripped by a woman companion. A Gold Star mother? ... A little girl pulls on her mother's skirt, stands on her toes and whispers in mother's ear ... The mother nods her head ... From behind the express truck, Harold Douglas, American Legionnaire, comes to salute.

"Hut, hut, three four", are heard above the shuffling steps of the marching veterans as they keep in perfect cadence ... The bank clock strikes the half-hour as the cortege crosses the village square ... At the cemetery, floral tributes, tied in the national colors, are banked around the grave under the canopy ... Two grave markers lie on the ground ... One of the American Legion, the other of the Veterans of Foreign Wars ... The son has come to join his father ... Just then the post colors of the VFW disclose the name of the veteran after whom the post is named ... Sullivan M. Fringi.

Laura Fringi, the mother, who has given encouragement and expressed sympathy to other Gold Star mothers until now, is mourning her own dead ... Her son died for his country on the soil which gave birth to his father and mother - Italy ... The sun is now beating down on those fathered at the grave as the words of the committal prayer are heard distinctly .. Accompanied by a singing bird perched high on a tree in the nearby woods ... While a white butterfly comes to rest, its wings fluttering, on the ride pole of the canopy containing the flag-draped casket.

At the sharp command of Herman Trop, rifles click ... The loud volleys echo and re-echo in the distant hills ... Followed by the notes of "Taps" from the adjoining woods where the bugler has stationed himself for that purpose ... Corporal Boland and Commander Bennie di Nucci step to the head and the foot of the casket ... The flag is gently lifted and folded triangularly as Corporal Boland presents it to the mother, steps back and salutes ... White handkerchiefs are slowly lifted out and tears wiped away ... Sullivan M. Fringi has come home!

We have attended many funerals of veterans in Granville. For Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II veterans and the feeling is always the same at the sound of "Taps". A tug at the heart-strings, a lump in the throat and at times a tear-dimmed eye. We are not over sentimental. Death comes to all of us sooner or later. But no one can understand the meaning of "Taps" except one who has served his country. "Taps" is not only a farewell to a dead comrade. It is sounded at 11 o'clock at night on every army post or camp. And many a soldier closes his eyes in peaceful sleep with the last fading note of "Taps".

In peace, or in war, soldiers thousands of miles from home are brought face to face in their thoughts with their parents and loved ones when they listen to the notes of "Taps". When they lie in their tents or bunks and listen to these notes fade out in the stillness of the night they are at rest. The notes bring peace and hope for a new and happier day, for the return to their homes and families and to be reunited with those they love. The next time you hear "Taps" sounded, note the expression on the face of a veteran. It tells more than can be written in words.

Wasn't that Ray Allen who drove across the village square and shouted: "Hello, Morris, how are you?" ... Grandma and Grandpa Lichtig doing a polka, while walking down the street. All because their daughter presented them with a granddaughter. Lena is running around in circles, mumbles incoherently and Sam prances like a colt just being broken to harness. Note his strut when he comes walking down the street ... It is good to see Mr. Edward Issler out on the street after a summer's illness. Mrs. Issler and Helen are old summer visitors to Granville and Lake St. Catherine.

And then there are the two Mrs. Millers - Mrs. Theodore and Mrs. William - and Mr. and Mrs. Willis Pratt, who are still visiting the lake as they have for more than half a century. One can go back to the days of the Lake St. Catherine hotel and find among the registered guests the Millers and the Pratts. They are the survivors of a generation which developed Lake St. Catherine to what it is today. The Millers and the Pratts came to the lake when summer visitors were met at the local depot with horse and wagon and driven to the hotel. And some will recall the New Year day dances at the lake hotel when guests were driven there on sleighing parties.

Melvin Blossom, the maharaja of Blossom's Corners is back home after a 3,000 mile trip to the middle west, having made the trip with Hazel and with their son Frank and wife. "Mel" reports an interesting time, going as far west as Elkhart, Indiana. He got homesick when the Green Mts. faded out of sight and he hurried back to the old Vermont homestead. He was impressed with the Amish people he saw in Indiana, but he shakes his head and wonders what makes them tick. "They are queer folk", says Mel, "but they are honest as the day is long."

Main Street – August 26, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

With E. C. Hewitt going out of the grocery business, after 29 years, Granville is left with the Barnard brothers as the only old grocery firm still doing business on the Main street. The chain stores are gradually forcing local merchants out of business because they can not compete with volume purchases and cash volume sales. And with the closing of the local grocery stores the old institution of credit in the grocery business is closing out with it. There was a time when people paid their grocery bills, once or twice a month, on pay days. The chain store has brought the pay-as-you-go plan into being and people no longer ask for credit.

There were as many as ten or more grocery stores on the Main street of our village a generation ago and the grocery wagons carried such familiar names as Temple and Mason, H. H. Ensign, A. B. Waller and others, printed on them. A grocery man had to be a bookkeeper as well as a merchant in those days. E. C. Hewitt bought the Waller store in 1920. It was located in the building now occupied by the electric light company. With the passing of the name Hewitt from the grocery business the Barnard brothers remain as the only survivors of a grocery system which meant long hours, lost accounts, and delivery headaches in all kinds of weather.

The Granville fire department is appreciative of the non-firemen who are always ready to assist at the carnival, which, having developed into a big business, can no longer be handled by the firemen alone. Such fellows with community spirit as Dr. Harold Winkler, Charles Richards, Jack Edwards, Harry Williams, Jim Crandall, Lester M. Browde, Donald Reynolds, Tom King and several others, are appreciated as pinch hitters, particular when there are about ten firemen do not come near the carnival lot and who show no interest in firemen activities. Resignations and retirements, as well as the presentation of new names, are in order for the Granville fire department.

Paul Hughes, Elton Murphy and William E. Roberts, is the order of the successful candidates for the office of postmaster and it will be interesting to watch the political developments about who receives the position, particularly in an election year when jockeying and swapping is the order among the politicians. Knowing what goes on behind the political blackout, the civil service examination which is supposed to decide the appointment on the merits of the applicant, is not taken too seriously by any one. In the mean time it is anybody's guess about who will be the next Granville postmaster. Politicians will decide that - after the election.

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Greenman and son Phil were on time with their vacation this year, as usual - carnival week. Phil, that little Granville Boy Scout of a few years ago, is a medical student in the Buffalo University ... The tradition of "no rain" on carnival nights, has now run true to form for the past 17 years setting a record of 119 carnival nights without losing one night's business because of rain. The carnival has had some narrow escapes, and more so this year than in previous years, but the record still holds good. The closest shave came Thursday night, this year, when the shower drove the last act of the entertainment program off the stage. But, business had ceased by then.

Boxing has always been a popular sport in Granville and this is true also with the carnival crowds. When Friday's boxing program presented an all-local boxing card, hundreds stood around the ring until the end of the last bout. And the Granville boxing talent always presents an exciting show to the sports fans. The bouts were limited to two, two-minute rounds, which gave the boxers an opportunity to fight fast and to throw all the punches in their repertoire. No one was hurt with the exception of one bloody nose, and the crowd had the thrill of a lifetime watching the boys sting leather.

One of the hardest working, among the non-firemen, assisting at the carnival, was Eugene von Gerichten of New York, a brother-in-law of Mrs. Thomas J. O'Brien. Taking over the high striker in the middle of the week, Eugene worked like a professional carnival man. His reward? A shiny new badge of the Granville fire-police department, taken back with him as a souvenir of a pleasant week ... Friday the 13th had no ill-omen on the carnival. It brought out a Saturday night crowd on a Friday night, which spent more than $1,600. It was one of the largest Friday night crowds in the history of the carnival.

One of the men associated with the vaudeville booking agency, which brought its acts to the carnival, stood around the platform, watching the children. "I hate kids:, he said, "and I could kick one every time I run into one. They are all bad. No good." Then he paused for a moment, looking at the children around the entertainment platform, and said: "But, what do you do in Granville to make them behave as they do?" We could have told him that those of us who love children find nothing wrong with them, but, he wouldn't understand because he doesn't understand children.

Frank Redding, at 91, had the time of his life when Neal Hulett took him up to show him Granville and the Mettowee Valley from his plane. He had never been up before ... Mrs. William Martin, who spends her winters in Dannemora and summers at her home was enjoying her walk up and down Main street. "It's good to see some one I know", said Mrs. Martin, "I don't see too many I know and the young people don't know me." ... When a driver complained to Chief of Police Stanton about a reckless driver who nearly ran into him at the Baptist church corner, Chief Stanton said: "In that case, brother, start praying". The plaintiff being of another religious denomination replied: "It's a hell of a place for me to start praying - at the Baptist church."

Andrew Samudosky paid "Main Street" a visit, as he always does when he returns to visit Granville from his present home in Bridgeport, Conn. "Andy" always makes his rounds to look up his former friends and he brings regards from Mr. and Mrs. Chatlos, the latter, nearing 90, former residents and well known among the Granville Slovak people ... Paul Miller, whom we haven't seen for twenty three years also called. He had his son Donald, 16, with him. Paul is gray and bald and when we recognized him he was greatly surprised. "So few recognize me here", said Paul, "I wondered if you could". He is the son of the late William B. Miller, the last Granville harness maker.

A letter from George (Chick) Karaffa from Toronto, Canada, brings regards from Fred Thompson, whom he visited at the veterans hospital in Toronto. George writes that Fred is crippled and bed-ridden. "Fred cried from joy", writes George, "as we talked about Granville and its people and he asked me to write to you and send best regards to everyone in Granville. If you can send him some cheer do so as it will be a great help to him. Tell the folks to write to him to his address at the Christie Street Hospital, Christie Street, Toronto, Canada."

From the Ticonderoga Fish and Game Club Scrap Book: "Remember when a dozen eggs cost ten cents; two pounds of pork chops, 25 cents; a stick of candy was one cent; men worked for $1.25 a day and built homes; milk was five cents a quart; you could buy a watch for a dollar; liquor was 25 cents a point; a suit of clothes was $12; it cost 25 cents to have a tooth pulled; tickets to a good show were 10, 20 and 30 cents and to a movie five cents? Well, you got more for a day's work then than you do now."

Main Street – August 19, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

The Carnival: The lost and found department returning a crying boy to his father ... William J. Norton: "This is the biggest crowd I ever saw", referring to the opening night .. Anna Barrington chaperoning "Pat Kelly", that Spanish-American war veteran, around the lot ... That ever accommodating, big, good-natured "Joe" Paro, a gentleman in any emergency ... And "Jim" Jenkins well past the three-quarters century mark in life, who knows more about carnival equipment than any fireman in the department ... John Evans with that look of satisfaction at his customers at the miniature train.

"Newt" Williams taking his baby daughter around the lot, going from one stand to another ... John Closs, pop corn bag in hand, interestingly studying the penny pitch ... The craned necks at the high striker and the groan when the bell fails to ring ... Russell Flower, hands in his money apron, carrying on a steady flow of words, like any side show barker ... Mrs. Fred Elwell and Mrs. Wayne Potter, the smiling hostesses in the cake booth on the opening night ... "Bill" Pritchard, an interesting study, as he crowds his way to the entertainment platform to catch the magician cheating.

Easton Owens, smearing mustard on a hand full of "hot dogs" ... The little tots on the new ride the "Pull-Away" and enjoying it ... The little boy and girl, riding the ponies, hanging on to the saddle horn, traveling into a land of make-believe ... Two visitors on the lot. Says one: "I'm from Buffalo", said the other: "I am from Pennsylvania" ... And Belleville, New Jersey was well represented with several campers from Lake St. Catherine ... The well behaved Granville children on the lot is a puzzle to a member of the vaudeville group.

Arthur Woodard, between parking cars on the lot, running around, checking on two cars containing two babies. "Their mothers asked me to keep my eye on them," says Arthur, "but how can I quiet their yells with the cars locked?" ... That gracious Polly Gibbs, praising Granville and the firemen for a good job in conducting the carnival. Miss Gibbs is from Louisiana and has a summer home in Hebron ... Dr. Harold Winkler, a volunteer helper, was initiated at the ticket booth of the Octopus ride. When he cashed in at midnight, Saturday, his eyes were baggy, his hair mussed, his walked zigzag and he was a push over for a ten second count. Harold would rather pull teeth any time than work one night at the carnival.

Little girls grow up. There goes Clarissa Olson, that little girl who used to romp around with her daddy "Dick" when they lived in Granville. Now an attractive young lady ... And little Shirley Wait of West Pawlet who used to perform on amateur nights, and we had to lower the microphone for her, now a cute little blonde lady, leaning on the arm of Chief of Police "Dick" Stanton ... The lumber jack trying to ring the bell of the high striker awarded with a lei for his futile efforts ... The firemen and wife teams working for the carnival: Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Hughes and Mr. and Mrs. Leon Stark ... "Ted" Lutz and "Jack" Edwards in the doll booth crying their wares: "Spin the wheel, something's got to come; 10 cents, only a dime; watch it spin, 7, 9, 11. There she goes!"

"Jim" McDonough stopping for a few moments to reminisce about the old fair grounds and race track located on the present carnival lot, so many years ago. "And I can tell you where the old floral hall is now. It is one of the Weinberg buildings on the lumber yard." And we thought all the time that "Jim" McDonough was only a "boy" ... Walter Curtis, piano tuner from Rutland shouting: "Remember when we were in show business, Morris, back in 1906?" ... Walter was dreaming of the old days of the motion pictures, the one night stands, and the minstrel shows ... The "good old days" in show business, gone but not forgotten by old timers.

Daniel Benjamin of the Ray Brown studio, snapping candid shots of the people at the ringside on boxing nights ... Will E. Roberts and little John Vanderwalker, childhood and age, hand in hand, patronizing the fish pond and the ice cream stand ... Walter Hughes hadn't lost a duck at the duck pond the first two nights. "I teach the ducks to 'duck'" says Walter ... Fire Chief Moloney, a well man otherwise, walking around with a carnival headache, trying to keep things going ... The old woman, sitting on a bench, smoking a pipe, and dreaming dreams.

The inebriate, who couldn't punch a hole through a cobweb, challenging the world to combat, wrestle, box or rough and tumble. Meekly he was marched two steps ahead of Dr. Bennett, the captain of the fire-police to disappear on Quaker street ... Everybody loves a fight judging by the rows of spectators around the boxing ring until the last bell of the last round ... For the first time in carnival history the Tuesday boxing card featured two heavyweights in the main bout and their "socks" weren't exactly love taps ... Carmen Fragnoli, who refereed the main bouts is remembered by some as a formidable lightweight himself when the American Legion conducted boxing in the old barn which stood back of the Race Milling company building.

Ed Vail, who with Leon Stark, popcorn, and sometimes corny jokes, standing in the opening of their stand and calling out the horses of a make-believe harness race. The stand was once the judges' stand on the Middle Granville race track when John Reil conducted harness racing there ... When a boxing program is announced every kid in Granville wants to put the gloves on to show how good he is. The answer to why the United States of America never lost a fight ... And the sportsmanship of the two little principals in the Dennison-Doty boxing bout, when they threw away their gloves and shook hands at the end of the bout, drew rounds of applause. It is America in action.

George Woodard in the food booth, the only fireman having ladies working for him. "You lucky dog," shouted a passer-by ... Hattie Thompson, 78, enjoying a stick of cotton candy like the little girl beside her ... Mrs. Arch Drake and Mrs. Henry Adams sharing the same pop corn bag ... Jack Brown, pianist and accordionist with the vaudeville acts, who nearly froze to death the opening night, returned Wednesday night in his winter wear and almost roasted to death ... George Staten, who did a comedy acrobatic-dancing-singing act, was the hit of the week's entertainment. Reason: He was ten years with Olsen and Johnson of the famous "Helizapopping" show.

Mayor "Ted" Brown who hadn't had a chance to shout "bingo" in the last sixteen carnival weeks finally broke through Wednesday night, and, while he won the prize, "Bill" Bigelow, a kibitzer looking over his shoulder, shouted "bingo!" for him and robbed "Ted" of the thrill which comes once in seventeen years ... The few firemen who have lost interest in responding to fire alarms and in doing their part at the carnival would do well to ask for retirement to make room for younger and more willing volunteers.

From a "Main Street" reader in Albany comes a communication which reads in part as follows: "July 22nd, you write: 'Local governments are being deprived of the power and authority', etc. It would be more factual and truthful if you said that Granville always votes to send a representative of the Republican Party to Albany. Come November, Mr. Rote-Rosen, et al, will be working strenuously to send another Republican Legislator there for 1948-49. There are few Democrats there and 'tis your fault." And he concludes that he is writing more "with sorrow than in anger".

We try to keep politics out of "Main Street" but we must answer this one, also more in sorrow than anger. Sorry because the writer is no doubt a supporter of the "New Deal" which elected a man to the vice presidency and which kept him in office for about twelve years for the purpose of spawning, and now propounding a theory of "Wallaceism" for the destruction of our way of life and our present form of government. It is the "New Deal" that produced a Wallace to organize the communists, the radicals, the parlor punks (some spell it with an "i") and all their fellow travelers, culminating with the expose that key men in the "New Deal" were kept for the purpose of forming an espionage ring for the Soviet to destroy our democracy.

Having voted for Roosevelt during the war "not to change horses in midstream" with the hope that it would return our fighting boys sooner, we can atone for our "sin" by working strenuously to support and elect "Tom" Dewey at the November election, and help, in a small way, to return the government of the people to the people and to help destroy a form of government which for the past sixteen years has placed the United States of America on the brink of destruction and annihilation, thanks to the wishy washy namby-pamby foreign and domestic policy of Harry Truman. We still have the privilege of voting as we please, but let's not forget, that our country comes first, last and always while we still have that vote.

Just about when we are catching up on our seven nights loss of sleep from the Granville carnival, the Woodmen of America of Wells, have sent out an SOS call to assist them with their carnival next week Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Being a native of Wells six months of the year it is a pleasure to rub elbows and work with such good fellow as Ruel Park, Beauford Hopson, Stuart Park, Durward Lodbell, Willis Scott and others. And besides, where can one have a better time than at the Wells carnival and Old Home celebration, to say nothing of the supper at the Methodist church. We'll be there fellows!

Main Street – August 12, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

Because he is too busy fishing Dr. W. S. Bennett did not submit a monthly health report for the month of July. When Doc. Bennett's fishing fever subsides and his pulse becomes normal once more, he will go back to his regular routine of attending his patients and to his health officer activities. Doc is suffering from "Waltonitis", an aquatic disease, discovered by Izaak Walton. Doc Bennett's exhaustion is not a rare disease. Like hay fever it strikes its victim this time of the year. The victim becomes nervous, his knees shake, his finger tips itch, he loses his appetite and fumbles with rods, reels and fish lines. He carries his hooks in his vest pocket, on his hat and in his hair, if he has any, and sometimes even takes them to bed with him. Dr. Bennett will recover - we hope.

To escape the local heat wave Sim Rising was way up in Saint Johns, New Brunswick, Canada, trying to cool off. And he probably did. On a post card from the far north Sim writes: "Morris, the frost is just going out of the ground here" ... Mr. and Mrs. Earl Coffey and son "Jackie" are on their annual visit to their Lake St. Catherine cottage and the place looks natural once more. Mrs. Coffey is the former Mary Sullivan, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sullivan of Granville and "Jackie" is no longer that talkative and voluble little boy. He is now a young man. His grandparents, if they were living would be proud of him. The only boy in the Sullivan family.

The recent death of Frank Ingalls takes away one of Granville's upholsterers of the old school. Another trade no longer learned by the younger generation. The upholsterer in Granville now takes his place in history with the tailors, the harness maker, cabinet maker, tanner, sawyer, tinsmith, miller, blacksmith and other such trades of another era. There is only one shoe maker in Granville now and when Victor Mancini closes his shop it will be the end of shoe repairing in our village. Time marches on!

When Fred Ladd of Salem stopped in Granville recently, he took the stance of a boxer, danced on his toes, shadow-boxed for a few moments then said: "I am in great shape, yes, sir, great shape. Had a doctor examine me and I told him I thought at one time I had water on my knee. The doc poked me all over, felt of my pulse and my heart and what do you suppose he said? He said that I didn't have water on the knee that I had it on the brain. Yes, sir, he thought there was nothing wrong with me except my head". And concluding his remarks he trotted out, turned back and said: "See you at the carnival!"

Watching the "Sentinel" coming off the press last week our thoughts drifted back to the days when there was a different group of people working there. It was the day of the handpress when Frank Lortie stood on a soap box feeding the cylindrical press by hand and when all the type of the "Sentinel" was set by hand. Not one of them is living today except Gene Farrar, the others being J. L. MacArthur, Frank Lortie, Bob Potter and Willie Moloney. Mary Weller was local correspondent. The paper went to press on Friday. MacArthur and Lafayette Carr were off for their week-end to the lake as soon as the paper was off the press.

Ernie Whiting who conducted a livery stable in the rear of the present telephone building, would hitch on MacArthur's favorite mare to a buggy and give her the signal. The horse would stop in front of the "Sentinel" office where Mac came out and gave her a lump of sugar. Then loaded with several steaks which resembled a half of a steer and with Lafayette Carr by his side the two would tell the mare to "giddap" and she took them to Lake St. Catherine, where the two cronies had a most enjoyable week-enmd. Mac weighed over three hundred; Carr about one hundred and twenty-five.

With the buggy looking lop-sided, weighted down on Mac's side, Carr was way up in the air. Arriving at the cottage Carr would gather the wood, Mac would put away the week-end food supply and the beer bottles. Summer or winter their routine was always the same. And when the gasoline buggy was invented Mac drove a small open roadster, which looked as dilapidated and tipsy as the buggy did. When the pesky thing refused to go Mac would call for help from "The Great Jehovah and Tom Stanley" to get them off the top of the lake hill. But "Tom Stanley" Edwards was the one who always got the Ford going.

John Carey, formerly of Middle Granville, now of Seneca Falls, stopped for his annual summer visit. He is hale and hearty and a young man in spirit. John talked of another generation of Granville and of the village as he knew it when a young man. He said that he well remembers before Main street was graded to its present level, horses were watered, on the Mettowee river, north of the present bridge. John Carey enjoys the association of many old and young friends. Being the holder of the 50-Year Masonic Grand Lodge Medal with Palm, designating more than sixty years of service to the Craft, John finds pleasure in his fraternal associations.

"The Water Wagon" is again making its rounds on Lake St. Catherine as a pleasure boat after several years of retirement by its former builder and owner Captain Walt Bdown. The Ellis boys, Alton and Clifford have rejuvenated the old boat, which could go around the lake, with its passengers, unguided, after these many years. "The Water Wagon" follows the same route as in former years and is the only pleasure boat on the lake, all other crafts on the lake having been built to disturb the peace and tranquility of the cottagers. Some of us will not get used to seeing anybody but Walt Brown at the steering wheel, but the young people will never know the difference.

This is carnival week and we hope to have a few word descriptions, of the snap-shots on the carnival lot, in our next week's "Main Street". The fireman's carnival is one of the most picturesque entertainments of its kind in this vicinity. It is more like a county fair and a home week reunion. And from the vantage point of the entertainment platform, which is elevated above everyone on the lot, the panorama which passes in review and the merry-go-round of friendly and happy faces is one of the most interesting sights there is on the lot.

To see youngsters hustling from one ride to another, or from one attraction to another; to watch the boys and girls of the teen age holding hands and passing the pop corn to each other; to see the expression on the children's faces at the fish pond, or at the duck pond; to observe the older people drifting back to the dreams of their youth by participating in some mirth provoking game which brings happiness and pleasure to them; to observe the hundreds of people milling in and around the midway, going up and down, pushed by the moving force of the crowd, all this is humanity passing in review and there is nothing more interesting in the world.

To the members of the Granville fire department belongs the credit for making the annual carnival what it is. The work, worry, effort and time which these 68 volunteers give unselfishly for the best interests of the community without any fee or reward, it unheard of, except in Granville, as far as we know. Such is the spirit of Granville. Under the leadership of Fire Chief Ed Moloney, who is beloved and respected by all the firemen, they work as one unit to make the carnival what it has been for the past 16 years - a credit to the department and to the village of Granville.

Main Street – August 5, 1948

By Morris Rote-Rosen

The passing parade: Catherine Murphy with her two little daughters Kathleen and Claire, trailing close behind ... The three Kniess sisters - Anna, Jennie and Elsie ... Howard Chandler Christy, internationally famous artist, with his bushy gray hair and hand full of groceries ... Former Mayor Hugh G. Williams, leading two children, a boy and a girl, by the hand, heading for an ice cream parlor ... The bus unloading shoppers from the rural area ... The line-up at the bank waiting for the clock to strike 9:30, on a Monday morning ... The Sentinel delivery boys, fidgity and restless, waiting for the weekly to go to press.

The out of state cars: Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, etc., a lesson on geography ... The blatting calf in the truck in front of the Shell service station ... The Bogart, new steel bodied, garbage dumping truck ... Dr. Charles N. White, retired Granville dentist, bareheaded, shirt open at the neck, puffing his pipe, between his slow steps and taking a view of the street ... Dr. Henry Friedman with his two "internees" - Freddie and Rickie - who ride with him on his professional calls ... Michael Macura, strutting like a turkey gobbler, when wheeling his attractive little daughter.

What was that decoration Chief of Police Dick Stanton received as a welcome to the Yankee Stadium at a recent New York-Detroit baseball game? It was definitely not the Order of the British Empire ... And, didn't Police Justice Albert Berkowitz receive a ticket for overtime parking in violation of the two-hour parking ordinance? And what disposition did he make of it? No, you guessed wrong. He fined himself one dollar, saying: "The law applies to all and I'm no exception. We treat everyone alike." ... After watching motorboat maniacs going in circles and stopping at no particular place, it is good to see the "Water Wagon" on the lake with happy, pleasure loving passengers.

Which brings up the motor boat question once more in a few interesting lines, in a letter received by "Main Street" from George W. Davis, director of the Vermont Fish and Game Commission, dated, July 22: "Today, i have written to the Hon. Merritt A. Edson, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, Montpelier, Vermont, offering the assistance of our men and facilities to the State Police in enforcing (the law) as passed at the last session of the Vermont Assembly. It is our hope that we may be able to help them do something which may prevent the loss of life through careless and negligent use of outboard or motor boats. You may be assured that we are anxious to be of help to you and other persons throughout the State of Vermont in this matter."

Mac Manchester, editor of "The Reserve Officer"  official publication of former officers in the United States service, resembles his late grandfather, James L. McArthur as the years go on. He also inherited his grandfather's newspaper ability and is doing fine work on one of the most important publications in our country ... Has Nettie Button really had another birthday? It doesn't matter if it was the seventeenth or seventieth, her many friends will wish her well. We have known Nettie a long time as a friendly, kind-hearted friend and neighbor. Congratulations, Nettie, and may you go on for many more happy years.

Those who donate their dollars to the Boy Scouts of Granville, during their annual campaign, were more than rewarded by the post cards mailed them by some Scouts of Troop 44 from their summer camp, recently. We acknowledge such a card from our young friend Donald Fish of Middle Granville, which reads: "Dear Friend: Camp is swell. Swimming, hiking, good eats and other things sure make me glad I'm a Boy Scout. The gang here wants me to thank you for making our camps possible. Yours for Scouting, Donald Fish. Troop 44." ... There is no finer organization in our country for the building of good citizenship than the Boy Scouts.

Thumbed for a ride we stopped door and invited him in. Not a word was spoken until we reached the railroad crossing on North street and then: "Middle Granville is getting to be a hell of a place", said our passenger, "when you can't even buy a beer there any more. I have to make a daily trip to Granville for my beer" ... Which reminded us of the story the late Harry N. Jennings used to delight in telling, about a character in Middletown Springs, Vt., who after working hard all week, would get up early on Saturday mornings and say: "Well, it's Saturday. I got to go to Granville and get drunk and Lord how I dread it."

Seeing our happy, healthy children playing on the lawns and sidewalks of our village, and the many rose-cheeked babies in carriages, we have learned to appreciate the wealth which is Granville's and which we would not exchange for all the gold in the underground vaults of Fort Knox. This was particularly brought to our attention when we had the sad duty to issue a burial permit for an infant which had only lived two minutes. And the diagnosis on the death certificate chilled us from head to foot. It read: "Monstrosity".

We receive inquiries in the mail from people who are planning their vacation for the firemen's carnival week, asking the dates of the annual affair. Letters have come to us from Hartford and Bridgeport, Conn., and from Utica and Ilion. "We don't want to miss the carnival", writes one, "it is a good week to meet with our friends while we are vacationing." ... John B. Lloyd, octogenarian, stopped in and says: "I am ready to cut grass for the village. I wasn't feeling too good a few weeks ago, but if you have work for me know I am able to do it." Not bad for an eighty-year old man.

Frank W. Johnson of Rutland, paid us an office call. He left Pawlet 45 years ago and recalled his boyhood days when he knew Paul and Hazel Manchester and where he went to school with Nellie Bushee. Asked if he knew John D. Kelley, Mr. Johnson said that he did not. And we thought that every one in Pawlet knew John D. Kelley a hundred years or more ago. "Pawlet has changed", said Mr. Johnson, "I hardly know anyone there." If Mr. Johnson and John D. Kelley could get together we could compile a contemporary history of who's who in Pawlet for the past 50 years.

Then Halsey Woodell entered and personally delivered a friendly message to us from his parents Mr. and Mrs. Charles Woodell of Santa Monica, California ... We were given a lift by Walt Barnard and offered the seat in the grocery truck which was once occupied by LeRoy L. Barnard, Granville's last Civil War veteran. The low wooden chair, the cushion and blanket, is all there as when "L. L." rode in it last. Whether Walt or Will drives the truck there is that vacant seat and in it the spirit of one of Granville's outstanding citizens marches on beside them. The living dead.

Howard E. DeMott, who left Granville for his new home at Selinsgrove, Pa., to take up his new duties on the faculty of Susquehanna University, takes with him the best wishes of his Granville friends. And the new position is a well deserved promotion for Howard. We will miss little Sally's "Hi" and coy little smile ... Cottage owners on the West side of Lake St. Catherine are grateful to Gladys Cox, for taking the interest in spreading a petition to have the lake road "blacktopped". The petition has the approval of 100 per cent of the cottage owners on that side of the lake.

Granville Then & Now – December 29, 2022

Granville’s 2022 business review

By Erik Pekar

As 2022 comes to a close, it can be said it was a year of activity around here. Let’s take a look at some of the business changes and events which occurred in the Granville area this year.

In January, announcement was made that Van Riper’s Gardens was bought from the Van Riper family in late December of 2021 by John and Diane Kent. Ralph and Judy Van Riper, the original owners, both passed away during 2021. The Kents have renamed the business as Van Riper’s Greenhouse.

Parker’s Dairy, the longtime dairy farm operation in South Granville, closed in February. It had been in business for more than 120 years. The land, cattle and equipment were auctioned off separately.

Granville gained a new pizza place last winter. Tommy’s Place opened Feb. 24. Located at 38 Main Street, it is owned by Tommy Festa. The restaurant has an Italian theme, and the menu includes other pizzeria fare as well as specials and Italian dishes.

A business in Wells, Vermont, reopened after several years of being closed. Amy’s Trading Post, on Route 30 just north of the town line with Pawlet, opened on March 31, and is owned by Amy Mears.

Another new pizza place opened in Granville in April. Miley E’s Pizza, 24 West Main Street, opened on April 6. It is owned by Ryan Baker and named for his granddaughter Miley. The pizzeria also makes subs and other dish specials.

From February to April, there was curiosity into activity at the car hop in the Village of Granville. The mystery was unveiled on April 12, when it was announced that the car hop had been purchased from Andy McEachron by the Barlow family, Wes and Laura Barlow and their children Payton and Matthew. The Barlows announced they would be returning the name to Scarlotta’s Car Hop; the new Scarlotta’s opened on April 27.

Middle Granville’s drive-in eatery reopened for the 2022 season. Jen’s Pit Stop opened on April 27. Aside from slight menu changes and improvements, the only major difference was the phase out of car hop service, started in May 2020, in favor of returning focus to their traditional window counter service.

The Glens Falls National Bank, which had been renovating their Granville branch since late 2021, finished their renovation in a noticeable way. The old iconic digital clock and temperature assembly, which had been in place since the bank opened in 1997, was replaced in early June. The new assembly is in maroon, in line with the bank’s new branding scheme, mentions the “Arrow family of companies” on the sign, and has an LED screen that displays the time and temperature.

The Granville Family Diner completed its reopening of the former AJ’s Restaurant space in early June, when they received their bar license and reopened the bar room. A juke box, pool table, and computerized dart board have been added. The diner section previously opened in December of 2021.

After several years’ absence, Bardin’s Laser Wash reopened to the public on June 16. Owner Mark Bardin noted that the system is all new and modern, and that doors have been added so that cars can be washed even during the winter.

A new eatery opened in Poultney in late July. Toad’s Burger Bar opened on Main Street at the site of the former Taco Experiment. There is a full bar, along with a pool table and other such equipment. It is owned by the proprietors of Third Place Pizzeria in Castleton.

The Pine Grove Motel changed hands this summer. Bob and Mary Lou Tressler sold the motel on Aug. 26 to Wes and Laura Barlow. The Barlows announced plans to renovate the motel rooms and modernize the website.

Hampton’s Brookside Pub, which opened last year with a creative and different take on the restaurant business, closed its doors. It was last open the week of Sept. 17, and on that day the proprietors made the announcement that the restaurant was out of business.

Over the summer, the plans proposing to turn the former Manchester Wood factory into a package distribution center for an “online retailer” made headlines, was the catalyst of many a rumor of the retailer’s identity and caused some of the best local interest in the town’s planning board meetings since the solar farm proposed early last year. From July to September, the plans proceeded through the town planning board. At the September meeting, it was revealed that the “online retailer” was Amazon, which plans to make it a “last mile delivery” center.

With the changing of the seasons, the seasonal eateries closed. Jen’s Pit Stop closed Sept. 26. Scarlotta’s Car Hop concluded the first season of its return on Oct. 31.

Last year, around the time that the plans for building a new Fair Haven Stewart’s Shop surfaced, plans also showed up at the Poultney Stewart’s for an expansion and remodel of the existing store there. While the Fair Haven Stewart’s was built and opened in 2021, Poultney received its new Stewart’s this year. Starting the week of Sept. 15, the store was expanded in the back, the old back-room resources relocated, and the store space expanded. By the week of Nov. 19, the work was practically done.

Construction on renovating the former Manchester Wood factory into an Amazon distribution facility began in October and full work commenced in November. The Manchester Wood sign was removed and fencing was placed up along County Route 24. The main contractors are Rozell Construction and the Walsh Group.

Granville gained another hair salon on Nov. 16 when Twisted Scissors opened at 61 Church Street. It is owned by Cindy Loucks, who has worked at area hair salons for several years.

A new kind of shop opened in Granville in December. The Opal Rose Company opened on Dec. 14 at 13 East Main Street. The store is owned by Kelsey Preston, and her family is well involved with the business. She describes the store as a specialty shop, in the niche of the metaphysical and spiritual.

2022 was a year of change, with some things returning to the regular, and other things starting anew. The Granville area witnessed the opening of businesses, the changing of hands of ownership for some, as well as others closing.  Happy New Year to all and best wishes to everyone. May the Granville area prosper in 2023 and in the years ahead.

Granville Then & Now – December 22, 2022

Cold didn’t deter tractor parade, spectators

By Erik Pekar

Granville was again the place to be on the night of Dec. 9. Many spectators braved the chilly temperatures in the mid-20s to watch the fifth annual Granville Lighted Tractor Parade.

The judges’ stand was set up on Main Street a few hours before the parade. Music started playing on Main Street just before 5 p.m., consisting mostly of Christmas music with some recent country music included as well. The parade participants, with their tractors or floats, began to assemble in the Telescope parking lot near the shipping entrance.

The parade started at 6 p.m. This year’s route went up Church Street to Main Street, down Main Street and West Main Street, around Veterans Memorial Park and down Quaker Street to Potter Avenue, and east on Potter Avenue and East Potter Avenue back to the Telescope alternate shipping entrance through the Granville Rescue Squad parking lot.

Sixty-six floats were entered in the parade this year. The head of the parade line arrived at Main Street at 6:22 p.m. The participants’ floats ranged from more simplistic designs to elaborate productions. These included the Penrhyn Engine and Hose’s 1952 fire truck decorated with lights, and pulled by three of the company’s firefighters; Ritchie’s “Toy Story.” a flatbed truck with a recreation of Al’s Toy Barn, led by three people dressed as Woody, Jessie and Rex; the Granville Masons’ “Faith, Hope, Charity,” with the North Pole, a Christmas tree, and a giant lit up representation of the Masonic symbol of the compass and square; Barlow’s “Christmas Creamland,” a trailer decorated with ice cream cones and a themed poster, riding on which were dogs, a couple of people, and Payton Barlow with an ice cream cone hat; and a decorated large size Rubik’s cube.

As the floats turned to come down Main Street, they passed the judging booth. This year’s panel of judges were Lisa Ackert, Will Kuban, Jenine Macura, Cara Talmadge and Sara Williams. Those who entered their tractors or floats were encouraged to slow down as they passed the judging booth and show their entry’s features or talents to the judges.

The large parade took more than a half hour to clear Main Street. The last float, from the Rescue Squad, stopped at the judges’ stand about 7 p.m. In a departure from past years, rather than letting it through, the spectators parked along the parts of the parade route already cleared by the paraders were allowed to depart from Granville. This resulted in a practical traffic jam on all the primary thoroughfares of Granville, which slowly cleared out. By 9 p.m. the traffic situation was back to normal.

After the parade ended, the judging booth was brought down to the starting area at Telescope, and the award recipients were announced. The first registrant was the Aldous family, and the 50th was Seth Chapin; both won Stewart’s gift cards. This year, there were six honorable mentions, up from two last year: Hayes’ “Abominable Snowman,” Penrhyn Engine and Hose Company’s “Magical Christmas Firefighters,” Szkutak Family Lights’ “Up on the Rooftop,” Ritchie’s “Toy Story,” Hunt’s “Candyland Christmas”, and the Granville PTO Backpack Program.

The prize winners were then announced. First place went to the Aldous family’s “Whoville,” a “train” of tractor and hay wagons with scenes from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Second place was Maynes’ “Elf” and third place was Hammond’s “Santa’s Workshop”.

Open voting for “People’s Choice” was held as well until noon the following day. Brownie’s won first place in this voting and received a trophy. The rest of the top five were Aldous family’s “Whoville,” Szkutak Family Lights’ “Up on the Rooftop,” Maynes’ “Elf” and Hunt’s “Candyland Christmas.”

The cool wind may have chilled and nipped at the spectators and parade participants, but it did not shut out the flames of good spirits in the hearts of all who were present. The lighted tractor parade was again a success this year, and both the crowds and participants were pleased with the show. Many are already thinking of next year, to watch, or to make and enter floats. The lighted tractor parade is the fifth such event to be held in Granville; the first was held in 2017.

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In Whitehall, work has begun on a new business building at 132 Broadway, at the corner of Gilmore Street. This was the site of Joe’s Pizza until the flooding in August 2020 damaged the building; it was razed that year. In August 2021, owner Joe Kelley revealed plans to the village of Whitehall to construct a three-story building on the property. The building will occupy roughly the same square footage as the demolished building, with a pizza shop, restaurant, and apartments. The façade is planned to have a historically minded appearance and there will be porches on the upper floors.

Construction began in steps last year, and work on the foundation began this fall. When the building is complete, it will be the first new three-story business building in Washington County in more than 80 years. Kelley is to be commended for his efforts.

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Another new business has opened in Granville. The Opal Rose Company opened on Dec. 14 at 13 East Main Street.

The business is owned by Kelsey Preston and, together with her husband Tyler and children Penelope and Grace, the whole family is well involved in the business. The business is named after the children of the family, for Penelope’s birth stone and Grace’s middle name, respectively. Preston describes the store as a specialty shop, in the niche of the metaphysical and spiritual.

Opal Rose Company began in early 2021 as an online shop, expanding last year to area festivals. In recent weeks the shop at 13 East Main Street was made ready for opening. The shop opening was in the “soft” form, with a preview on Dec. 11 and opening outright on Dec. 14.

The Prestons are Granville residents, having moved here in early 2020; they like Granville and want to grow their business here. Preston is optimistic that Main Street will be revitalized in the coming years. Opal Rose Company is open from Wednesday to Sunday and is closed Monday and Tuesday. Congratulations to the Opal Rose Company on the shop’s opening and best wishes for success.

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The Christmas holiday season is well underway, and Christmas itself is a few days away. Many homes are festive for the season with lights and other decorations. Several locations around the village of Granville are decorated as well, including the Pember Library and Museum, the Slate Valley Museum, the walkway from the rail trail bridge to the footbridge connecting the museums, and Veterans Memorial Park.

There are several business buildings in Granville with windows decorated for the holidays. On Main Street, there are the windows of Blown Away Hair Salon, Joel Carpenter, Maggie’s Hair Salon, On the Rocks, Tommy’s Place; the 26 Main building, with Christmas trees; New Creation Church, with a nativity scene; Second Time Around, with white lights and trees; the storefront of the vacant building at 15 Main Street, which has been decorated in recent years by volunteers. Up in Middle Granville, Chapman’s is also decorated for the season, with lights and decorations such as an inflated Santa Claus.

All are encouraged to drive around Granville and see the decorated houses and businesses. Thank you to all who have decorated for the Christmas holiday season.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours this season.

Granville Then & Now – December 15, 2022

Granville was busy with Christmas events

By Erik Pekar

The start of December had a variety of weather. November concluded with a somewhat warm day, with temperatures in the 40s, and lots of rain. On Dec. 1, it was cooler, in the low 30s, with snow flurries but no accumulation. By early last week, it was warmer again, and on Wednesday, Dec. 7, the area once again had a heat wave, with temperatures in the low 60s. By this past weekend, it was cooler again with highs in the 30s. Hopefully the weather will cooperate in the next couple of weeks to allow for weather typical of the season, that will give the area an appearance more in line with the Christmas holiday season.

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Granville was a busy place the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 2, as two major Christmas holiday events were held; the Festival of Trees and the Tree Lighting Ceremony.

The Slate Valley Museum held its Festival of Trees. This was the first festival since 2019; the event started in 2012. Many trees were exhibited by locals and area businesses and organizations, each having its own unique theme.

Granville’s tree lighting ceremony also occurred that afternoon. It is sponsored by the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce. The parade started about 5:45 p.m. at the Great Meadow Federal Credit Union on East Main Street. The paraders went down Main Street and West Main Street to Veterans Memorial Park. The actual ceremony at the park followed. Rick Roberts spoke briefly and led a countdown to the lights. At the end, speakers started playing the Andy Williams recording of “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and the light show commenced; the time was 6:15 p.m. There were a few different features following the ceremony, including visits with Santa, horse carriage rides, vendors, and a petting zoo.

The Pember Library and Museum also held an event concurrent to the other two events. Hot chocolate was available, as were arts and crafts for the children. The Pember Museum’s naturalist was also present to discuss happenings with the museum.

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Granville has another new business. Twisted Scissors, a hair salon, opened Nov. 16 at 61 Church St. It is owned by Cindy Loucks, who has worked at area hair salons for several years. The building was formerly the location of the Full Treatment Hair Salon, which closed within the past few years. Best of luck to Twisted Scissors, and may the business be successful.

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The construction efforts to turn the former Manchester Wood factory on County Route 24 into an Amazon distribution center are now underway. The project began to take off the week of Nov. 18. At that time, a trailer was brought in for those supervising the project, and a portable fence was placed along the property near County Route 24. The Manchester Wood sign was removed. The factory had been closed for four years, since August 2018. In the meantime, the factory building had remained vacant and the signs were still up until construction commenced. The building has now been gutted and old additions removed. The firms contracted for the construction work are Rozell Construction and the Walsh company. The opening of the distribution center is anticipated for next summer.

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Over this summer, the Granville Central School District has worked on renovations in sections of the Granville High School, mostly in the original section, now the junior high wing. This work was preceded by the overhaul of the high school cafeteria in the summer of 2021. The look goes more for a college “café” style and is similar to changes made over at the Queensbury high school cafeteria several years ago.

This year’s renovation was primarily focused on the junior high wing. The floors were refurbished, going right down to the original wooden floors, checking and repairing them, then putting in new floors. The original cabinets and slate chalkboards, which dated from 1929, were gutted and the walls made level for new whiteboards and electronic interactive displays. New cabinetry was also installed. The former agricultural room, which was originally the study hall and connected to the original library until the early 1970s, and more recently was a technology and shop room with a computer lab, has been transformed into a multi-purpose room, with tables and stepped platforms. The ag room moved to the senior high wing near the new gym, with a greenhouse added.

Getting out of the classrooms, the main hallways on both floors have been renovated with new ceilings and flooring. The north-south hallways now have new lockers, and several benches. The walls have been painted blue, and the floor tiles are now gray, separated into sections by rows of blue tiles. The junior high guidance office has been overhauled, and is now about twice as large as before, with room for both offices, as well as room in the main area. The bathrooms have also been renovated.

Out of the junior high wing, the most significant renovation took place in the library. Previously, there were rooms off to the right side upon entry, with a central area of chairs, bookshelves and aisles to the left, a library media center with computers in the back straight ahead, and another group of tables in back near the other door. The library has been overhauled. An expanded librarian’s office and desk now occupies much of the space of the old first room to the right. The second and third rooms have also become part of the main library space. The former site of tables is now home to a cushioned double-sided bench. The old aisle space now has tables, with books on shelving around that space. The former library media center side is now a conference room, and the former site of tables nearby is now more book space.

The senior high gymnasium was lightly renovated, with a new coat of paint. An interesting addition is a band of blue with a gold stripe, painted several feet high around the entire gym. Lettering has been placed on the cushioned wall at each end of the basketball court, one end has “Granville” and the other has “Golden Horde.”

The renovated areas of the high school now have a stylish “new look” that is a marked improvement in look and function from their predecessors. Congratulations to the Granville Central School District on finishing of this renovation work.

Granville Then & Now – December 8, 2022

Season’s greetings of Granville in 1952

By Erik Pekar

As Christmas Day approaches, the time is here again for the annual reminiscing of Christmas greetings by Granville merchants of yesteryear. Reprinted in this week’s column are all the Christmas greetings given by area businesses in the Sentinel in 1952.

Practically all the businesses below were based in the town of Granville, and of those, almost all were in the village. The two exceptions were the Cambridge Valley Livestock Market of Jackson, owned by the McLenithans of that community who at the time also owned the North Granville Livestock Market, and the Poultney branch bank of the Proctor Trust Company of Vermont.

Some of the greetings were simple, others were longer. There were a few other businesses that didn’t give greetings. With the exception of Goldberg’s advertising the store still had a good inventory of Christmas gifts available (typical for the last issue before Christmas Day but odd on the day itself), none of the other advertisements were Christmas-themed.

Let’s turn the clock back to the Dec. 25, 1952 issue of the Granville Sentinel and see how the merchants gave their yuletide greetings.

Wilson Clothing Company: “All of us at Wilson’s wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.”

Lichtig’s: “Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

L. E. Roberts, Jeweler: “Season’s Greetings – May Christmas bring you all its joy.”

J. J. Scott Coal and Oil: “Christmas Joy – Happiness and good will are the order of the day.”

Bert E. Yurdin: “Christmas Greetings and Happy New Year”

Stanley Godlewski heating and plumbing: “Joyful Holiday – And, we might add, a double Merry Christmas.”

Washington County National Bank: “Season’s Greetings to all of you, our friends and neighbors, from all of us at the bank. We wish you a happy Christmas – and a new year to match it!”

Western Auto Associate Store: “Season’s Greetings – The greatest gift is given again on Christmas Day; may this new Yuletide bring joy and faith abundant.”

Henry D. Allen Co.: “Greetings – Let’s help Santa make this the merriest Christmas of all.”

Whitcomb Hardware: “Have a gay Holiday – We’re popping up to wish you a joyous Christmas.”

S. Weinberg Co.: “Now, at this joyous season when good friends come once again to mind, we send you our best wishes for A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

Thompson & Norton: “A Smooth Holiday Track – We’d like to ‘engineer’ a Merry Christmas for you.”

Granville Restaurant, Angelo DiBernardo: “Merry Christmas to all.”

Hughes Service Station: “Greetings! A bright and merry Christmas to our friends and neighbors.”

Haskins' Drug Store, and The Gift & Yarn Shop: “Happy Holiday – May your heart sing with the true joy of Christmas time.”

Granville Co-Op G.L.F. Service, Inc.: “Christmas Wishes 1952 – In the prevailing spirit, we offer our hope for your complete happiness, and we commend to you the extra joy this season brings to all our hearts.”

Jones Tavern: “Happy Holiday – We hope you may be surrounded by joy and gladness and filled with the warmth Christmas brings to everyone.”

W. J. Williams, cleaner & tailor: “Greetings at Christmas – The splendid spirit of the season shines in the hearts of men.”

The American House: “Christmas Greetings – To you and yours this Christmas season, we extend our sincere wishes for happiness that will long outlast the tinsel and the tree and live on in your hearts through all the days and years to come.”

G.L.F. Farm Service Store: “Christmas 1952 – May all Happiness be yours – You deserve a wealth of Yuletide joy and peace.”

Bert Goldberg: “Christmas Greetings – We wish you all holiday happiness.”

Mettowee Garage: “Greetings – In the East, a star, and in the hearts of men a great joy, for unto the world is born a Saviour. His blessing upon mankind!”

Krause Garage: “Merry Christmas – All the blessings of the season to you and yours.”

Stevens-Price, Inc.: “Merry Christmas – The gift we cherish most is the priceless one of your friendship.”

Kelly’s Restaurant, Middle Granville: “Season’s Best Wishes – The peace and happiness of Christmas belongs to you.”

The Granville Florist: “Merry Christmas – Our hope for your peace and happiness goes out to every one of you.”

Race Oil Company: “Merry Christmas To All – Best wishes for a wonderful holiday.”

Wiesner’s Garage: “Christmas Greetings and all good wishes.”

R. E. Rudd, Sr.: “To our many friends – A Joyous Christmas – The spirit of the season strengthens our bonds of mutual friendship.”

McHenry & Roberts: “A Christmas Wish for You! May you enjoy the true peace of the season.”

Bardin Service Station: “A warm word of Cheer – Christmas ’52 – We offer our best holiday greetings and pledge you a bright and merry Yuletide season.”

Wooddell’s Dairy: “A wealth of happiness be yours this Christmas.”

Mike’s Market: “A Christmas Greeting Especially for You – Peace attend you the season through. And may your fondest dreams come true.”

Minogue’s Liquor Store: “Best Wishes – To everyone in town goes our devout wish for a merry and untroubled Christmas.”

Steve Kranak, groceries: “Merry Christmas – We are stocking up on wishes for your Holiday happiness.”

Proctor Trust Company, Poultney, Vermont: “Wishing you all A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”

George’s Grill: “Our Christmas blessing to you – May wisdom light your path and lead you on the way to true happiness. We send you thanks for your past patronage.”

Old Trading Post, North Granville: “We’re on time with ‘special’ wishes for a bright and happy holiday season.”

Pine Grove Diner: “Happy Yuletide! A bountiful, merry Christmas to one and all.”

John Stokowski Service Station: “Christmas Cheer – May the great joy of the season find its way into your hearts in large measure.”

New York State Electric & Gas: “Season’s Greetings from your Neighbors, the Men and Women of New York State Electric & Gas.”

North Granville Livestock Market: “We wish you a very Merry Christmas.”

Cambridge Valley Livestock Market, Jackson: “Merry Christmas.”

Barnard Brothers: “Merry Christmas To All.”

Eleanor Lawler: “Merry Christmas – Our sincere good wishes go out to you.”

Fred Elwell Barber Shop: “We’re happy to be spending another holiday season with you.”

Harry K. Williams heating and plumbing: “Greetings – Silent as the snow upon the roof, Christmas comes upon us. Our very best wishes to you.”

Jones Bros. Firestone Dealer Store: “Yuletide Cheer – Let’s help Santa make this the merriest Christmas of all.”

Geo. Rathbun & Son Fuel: “Season’s Greetings – May the joy of Christmas abide in you all.”

Ritz Theater: “Christmas Greetings.”

The newspaper from which the greetings above were derived can be seen by visiting https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn88074490/1952-12-25/ed-1/seq-1/