N. Granville’s Fairvale Inn opens successfully
By Erik Pekar
A few weeks ago in “Granville Then and Now” we told of advertisements in a 1923 issue of the Granville Sentinel, including one for the upcoming dance at the opening of the Fairvale Inn in North Granville. The April 6 issue included a report on the business’s successful opening, and dance: “The Fairvale Inn opening, under the management of Messrs. Lenny and Dwyer, at North Granville Easter Sunday, was a gratifying success, a superb dinner being served to one hundred and thirty persons. It was a corking gastronomical layout, well cooked and efficiently served by Mrs. Lenny and four sisters dressed in white. Everyone who participated in the meal is now a walking advertisement for the hotel.
“The dance Monday night was attended by a crowd that could not be accommodated, at least thirty couples being turned away. As it was some one hundred and fifteen couples had the time of their young lives with a fine lunch thrown in free of charge. The new managers have now introduced themselves to the public, won its confidence and ought to command a large patronage. While regular and special meals will be furnished anytime they will make a specialty of Sunday dinners.”
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Last week we mentioned that the Granville Central School District received an increase in state aid this year and in 1983. Going back a little further to 1923, we find in the April 6 issue a reference to state aid money that was received, and dispersed in a far different form:
“The following school money has been received by Supervisor N. W. Parker for the town of Granville: District No. 1, $387.83; No. 2, $272.08; No. 3, $222.37; No. 4, $288.40; No. 5, $251.28; No. 6, $224.70; No. 7, $5,000.74; No. 8, $1,184.50; No. 9, $257.00; No. 10, $256.80; No. 11, $163.50; No. 12, $250.90; No. 13, $296.00; No. 14, $221.97; No. 15, $211.90; No. 16, $224.50; No. 17, $189.20; No. 18, $250.18; No. 19, $230.88. Total, $10,384.73.”
It is interesting to note the low amounts of the time, and that most of the districts were schoolhouse districts receiving aid in the $200 to $300 range. Two of the remaining schools received less than $200, and Districts 7 ($5,000.74) and 8 ($1,184.50), were respectively the Granville and Middle Granville union free school districts, with larger buildings and more teachers. The other districts were common school districts, and the overall system in Granville would not change until the centralization movement in the 1950s.
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Main Street is looking up. Some new businesses have opened in recent years, but there are still vacant buildings. Some are available. The 11 West Main Street building, formerly Edwards Market, is for sale at $575,000. The 23 Main Street building is for sale, price unknown. Hopefully, buyers will find these buildings and buy them, so that new businesses will open on Granville’s Main Street. New businesses would be eagerly welcomed by Granville area residents.
Speaking of business development, the future Amazon “last mile delivery” distribution center is coming along. The contractors, the Walsh Company and Rozell Construction, have been busy since last fall, and have made much progress on renovating the building, to the fullest extent of the term. An overhead roof extension is being constructed which will be for shelter from the elements when loading the delivery vehicles. Completion is anticipated by mid-summer.
The whole idea of Amazon coming to Granville – first in rumors, then in fact – set off a lot of discussion in Granville on what impact Amazon would have, with many in this vicinity having an optimistic outlook of growth in the years after their opening. An interesting aspect of how Amazon came to Granville is that they decided on Granville of their own accord. They did not ask for any assistance, not even tax abatements from the Warren-Washington Counties IDA, nor did they ask anything of local politicians. Amazon did it themselves, and they are to be commended.
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Bicycle riding is a popular pastime, and quite a few people like to travel, but it is not always the case that people get to combine both. However, that is exactly what two people originally from this area are planning to do, in a big way, by bicycling across the United States. John David Norton of Colorado, and Tom Taylor of California, will be bicycling from Santa Monica, California, to Boston, Massachusetts. While they both enjoy bicycling, this is not the only reason they are making the trip. They are raising awareness and funds for sarcoidosis, an illness which Taylor’s late wife had suffered from; accordingly, their cycling trip is called the “Sarcoid Bike Tour.” The trip has been in planning for over a year, and they anticipate leaving Santa Monica on April 7. Taylor’s family and friends will gather with the cyclists as they begin their journey. “We will be dipping our rear wheels in the Pacific and, if God willing, our front wheels in the Atlantic,” said Norton.
Their bicycle trip takes them through both established cycling routes and less common routes. To Santa Fe they will use Route 66, after which they will reorient to be further north of Route 66 in order to reach the Kansas trail system. They will go through Missouri on the Katy Trail, a rails to trails conversion of a former railroad line. They will then go along cycling routes through Indiana, Illinois, and on to Ohio. They will then go along Lake Erie and across New York on the Empire State Trail system to Albany, then across Massachusetts to Boston. Albany and Boston were chosen as they have relatives in the vicinity of those cities, including in Granville; both are originally from the Granville area.
The cycling trip across America will take several weeks to complete. Best of luck to Norton and Taylor for success with their bicycle trip and sarcoidosis awareness efforts.
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Late last year, in this column of Dec. 1, we wrote a section encouraging the supporting of local businesses, and that it is better to purchase from them than to go out of one’s way to distant stores in cities such as Glens Falls or Rutland. In recent months we have noted another trend. Since Michael “Craig” Campbell Realty closed a couple years ago, there has been a small increase in the number of properties being listed for sale by real estate agencies based well out of the Granville area. This is after taking into consideration that at times in recent years there has been a “drought” of sorts with lower numbers of available listings than in past years. For obvious reasons, we will not name the non-local firms.
It is unfortunate that some go out of their way to work with real estate agencies in the cities, and it is unnecessary as there are real estate agencies in this vicinity. The Granville area itself has four capable firms of this nature: Country Horizon Realty, D C Realty, Heritage Manor Realty, and Steve Bernard Realty. Local real estate agencies know their communities and the possibilities and potential of activities and whatnot; the distant agencies in the cities have little knowledge or interest in the trends and activities of communities such as Granville. We encourage anyone looking to buy or sell a home or any other property in the vicinity of Granville to consider shopping local with their real estate firms as well.
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