By Morris Rote-Rosen
No other day in the year draws such large crowds to Granville as does Decoration Day. Averaging excellent weather, for many years past, on this particular day, people come from far and near to witness the parade and to renew acquaintances from year to year. The local cemeteries become alive with activity and the result is that the city of the dead becomes a city of life, flowers, and of memories which are brought to friends and relatives who have made the final journey. The Mettowee Valley cemetery, Elmwood cemetery and all the others scattered throughout the town of Granville become alive with people.
We noticed a couple of visitors standing near a gravestone while their little girl, who came with them, tenderly and gently placed a bouquet of lilacs at the foot of the stone. The couple stood with heads bowed, as in prayer, and we wondered just what memories wee running through their minds. Perhaps they were thinking of their childhood days, or of the days of their youth when a kind father or a loving mother was guiding them through life. Perhaps of the picnics or the entertainment which their parents in life provided for them or for their education in their later years. We never wanted to read anyone's mind more than we did that couple's which stood with heads bowed while their little daughter placed flowers in memory of a grandparent she never saw. It was a touching scene.
The Granville High school, which for the past few years had the girl graduates outdistancing the boys, has turned the tables for 1948. Whether it was the war or for some other reason, the girls captured all of the honors. But, this year there are three of our GHS boys at the top, trailed by one girl. Royal Hanna comes first, Roger Edwards second and Paul Pelton, third... Jean Sumner need not feel hurt at being fourth to such headliners. She is not far behind and is an excellent representative of our intelligent GHS girls. The boys do not excel her in one department - she has good looks.
Granville sportsmen have struck a fishing bonanza at Lake St. Catherine the past two weeks. The perch are biting! And after the word was passed around, local fishermen enjoyed some fine fish frys, the perch varying in size from six to ten inches. Milford Sheldon, Ray Brown, John F. Evans, John Donovan, Wilson Gilman and Ed Moloney and many others have cut down their meat bill. These fishermen have had more fun evenings than young William (Butch) Billow had in landing his 1 1/2 pound trout. No one seems to know the reason why the perch have become so angle-worm conscious at this time of the year, unless it is because those pesky motor boats haven't yet appeared on the lake to keep the fish on the run from one place to another. May the motor boats run out of gas before they are launched!
We sat in our row boat with one eye on our fish pole, landing a perch now and then, and with the other eye focused on the boat nearby, which contained Wilson Gilman and Ed Moloney. It is the first time we ever saw our fire chief in action with two poles, one on each side of the boat. The contortions and acrobatics of Ed Moloney when he got a bite on both lines at the same time while his fishing reel slid off the fish pole handle, to drop into the lake, was something to see. But, he retrieved the two perch and the reel which happened to be tied to the other end of the line, without catapulting Wilson Gilman into the lake. "Busier than a one armed paper hanger with the seven year itch," grumbled Moloney to himself - which could be heard over in Wells.
The sudden death of Serafina Caruso during the Decoration Day parade recalled the time when Oscar P. Munson died on a Decoration Day, an hour or so earlier. Mrs. Caruso's sudden death saddened many of the standees along the sidewalk who scurried to their homes rather than see the rest of the parade. And we never had a tougher assignment than to walk up to Michael Caruso, a member of the band, and tell hhim that his mother had had a "fainting spell" on the sidewalk. We knew the truth, and it seemed that Michael too had sensed it.
We hadn't seen any of the old large currency bills since they were called in from circulation, until the other day when a man approached us and asked if "that was good money. He handed over a handful of crumpled money consisting of one $5 bill, a $2 bill and two $1 bills of the large notes. He said that he had found the money in a junk bag on the public dumping grounds. When he was informed that it was "good money" he hurried to the bank and in a few minutes came out smiling with $9 in his pocket. "Someone told me that it was good money, but I didn't believe it, that is why I came to ask you," and he hurried away with a big grin from here to there.
The last time we saw the old large bills after they were out of circulation was several years after the gold certificates were called in by the U. S. Treasury. An old lady would come into the office and pay her village tax and her water rent with large $20 gold certificates. These bills were wrinkled and had a musty smell as if they had been hidden in a damp cellar. The old lady was afraid, during the depression, that the United States was going broke with the WPA the CCC and the other alphabetical government agencies. "That Roosevelt is crazy," she would say, as she unfolded a large $20 gold certificate, "and I hain't taking chances."
While standing in front of the bank with Rev. Malcolm F. Kelley and Rev. Ira M. Stanton, the latter remarked: "Why do ministers hang around banks all the time?" And every minister, as well Mr. Stanton knows, that the answer lies in the present financial headaches of all churches ... The Sentinel building, one of the oldest landmarks in Granville, is undergoing a facial and beauty treatment which improves the looks of the building a lot ... Mr. and Mrs. Beman Waite of Pawlet were entertained by 100 of their friends on the occasion of their sixtieth wedding anniversary. It couldn't happen to a nicer couple.
The many friends of Donald Sweet learn with regret that he is to give up his business at the West Main street service station after 15 years of courteous service. He is the victim of a corporation system which insists that its products only be stressed to the public, without performing any other services such as repairing or washing cars. "It's bad enough to pay $2,400 a year in rent to try to make a living," says Don, "but they insist that nothing can be sold except their products. Now, after giving them 15 years they don't care what happens to you even if you go out with nothing. It's a raw deal," concluded Don.
Granville veterans are now unanimous in a movement to have a bronze memorial with the names of the veterans of World War II erected on the site of the present wooden Honor Roll. A Memorial committee is now being organized and the names of the veterans, which are to be inscribed on the bronze tablets, will be published in the Sentinel between now and September 1 for the purpose of making such corrections and changes as are necessary. Veterans and their families should read the roster of names carefully and notify the Roster committee of such corrections and changes.
Rumors and reports that Joe Louis will not be in his best physical condition when he meets Joe Walcott at the Yankee Stadium in New York, June 23, can be taken with a grain of salt. It is propaganda to affect the standing of the betting odds by professional gamblers. We saw the television pictures of their previous fight and all that Joe Walcott needed that night was a bicycle to keep up a faster gait in running away from Joe Louis. True, he landed two good punches during the first fight which sat Joe Louis on his boxing trunks, but he was up and looking for more which Walcott hesitated to furnish. We are going out on a limb with our predictions. Joe Louis will win by a knockout before the sixth round - if he can catch Walcott.
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