By Morris Rote-Rosen
"Main Street" is making an appeal to our readers by calling their attention to a sick, lonely and forgotten man. His name is Fred Thompson, a former Granville man, well known by many of the older generation. He is a bedridden invalid, almost blind, spending his time in darkness in a disabled veterans hospital in Canada. Living along with his thoughts of Granville and of the United States he hopes and prays that he will not be forgotten this coming Christmas. All that he asks is a card of remembrance from some of the people of Granville.
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But "Main Street" wants to go further than that. We are making an appeal for $1.00 donations for the Fred Thompson Christmas Fund to show Fred that the good people of Granville are thinking of him in his lonely hours and fast-ebbing life, who wish to bring him a few expressions of cheer for one of the merriest Christmas days he has ever had. Fred Thompson never had many happy moments in his life, although when able he never refused to do something for others who were in need.
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Enlisting from Granville before the United States entered the first World War, Fred Thompson joined a Canadian regiment. The first time he went "over the top" in 1916, he was taken prisoner of war by the Germans and confined to a concentration camp on bread and water. After the war he was released and returned to his home in Granville. While working in the slate quarries he was blown up by a charge of dynamite, the powder blast seriously injuring his sight. Eventually, he was taken to a Canadian veterans hospital for treatment. He was never able to leave his bed and is still confined up in Ontario.
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Those of us who are not in need, or sick or confined to a lonely hospital bed, can give thanks by remembering one who is. His parents and brothers are dead. A stranger in a strange country, he needs our help. Won't you send your dollar contribution to the Fred Thompson Christmas Fund, c/o "Main Street," Granville, N. Y., and let us add your name to a long list (we hope) of kind-hearted human beings who won't forget a fellow in need at Christmas time. The contributions will be mailed to Fred Thompson, Saturday, December 20, with a list of the names of those who remembered him.
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John S. Gunther met Bill J. Roberts and Jack Worthington coming from the American Legion Armistice night banquet. "What kind of a dinner did you have?" asked Gunther of Bill J. "Fine," replied Bill, "it was the nicest leg of lamb I ever ate." Said Jack Worthington, "leg of lamb my eye, that was turkey you ate." John Gunther then turned to Bert Yurdin and said: "What did you fellows have at the banquet tonight?" Bert replied: "Roast pork!" There the cross examination ended.
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Dr. Walter S. Bennett, the principal speaker at the VFW Auxiliary Armistice banquet, told the one about the census calling on a "hill billy" family to inquire about the number in the household. The woman said there were five in all. Asked about their political affiliation the woman replied: "Paw, he's a Republican; I am a Democrat; the baby is wet; the cow is dry and the cat is a Mormon." ... And the piece de resistance to a pleasant evening was a humorous recitation by that old grizzled Spanish-American war veteran, Pat Kelly.
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Ordered by Commander Gardner Norton to command the firing squad of World War II [?] Armistice Day, we dug into the pepper and moth balls and brought out our 1917-1918 army uniform, stand-up collar blouse, riding breeches, spiral puttees and the original over-seas cap. It fitted perfectly since we have retained our 1917 enlistment weight of 165 pounds to the present time. But what impressed us most was the fact that when we first put on the uniform 30 years ago last spring, not one of the young men we commanded on the firing squad and on the color guard on Armistice Day of 1947, was even born when we entered World War I service.
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Mark down November 12 as the first snow fall which only whitened the streets for a couple of hours, except on the Vermont hills where it stuck ... Ruth Barnard pointed to three dandelions, in full bloom, near Vic's shoe shop window, on November 14 ... The bull-dozer did a good job enlarging the skating rink for the coming winter ... When we will have the pleasure of enjoying the little ladies like Marilyn Sheloski and Mary Williams and several others who insist on holding hands with us while going around the rink.
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Jay Middleton, on November 4, completed 60 years as a voter. He cast his first vote when he was 21 years of age and never missed an election. "I was challenged the first time I voted," said Jay, "and I said that I could lick the man who would deprive me of my first vote." And no one accepted Jay's challenge ... The snow loader is here and snow removal will no longer be a problem ... Mr. and Mrs. John Zubell heading south with the rest of the birds to return with the robins next spring.
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Victor Mancini was the first customer in the Hayes diner. Knocking on the back door before the front door was opened for business Vic produced one of the old style large size one dollar bills. "Just for good luck," said Vic to Lawrence Hayes, who expects to frame it and hang it on the wall ... The hospital donation by the Granville fire department this year is ten chemical fire extinguishers placed in the different rooms ... David (Duck) Williams feeding his daily menu of doughnut crumbs to the trout jumping for it under the West Main street bridge.
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Jerry Dwyer will be remembered for many years to come as the first one in Granville to introduce television, an experiment being tried out in his restaurant by a major telecast company. It is the first introduction of the latest invention in contrast to the first introduction of the Edison gramophone in 1890 - 58 years ago next February, when John K. Seaver gave a public exhibition in the Central House to give a reproduction of the human voice.
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The first gramophone exhibited at the Central Opera House was without a horn or an amplifier. The records were made of wax, cylindrical in form, and had a reproducer attached to two rubber tubes similar to a physician's stethoscope with ear phones to fit into the ears. The first record transmitted to the ears of the Granville people, who marveled at the wonder of the age in 1890, was "Annie Rooney" sang by a tenor and accompanied by a harp. Now, after 58 years, Granville is to marvel at a more modern invention - television.
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