By Erik Pekar
Again we turn back
the clock, and look at the news stories and other items in the Granville
Sentinel of yesteryear. From the June 1, 1923 issue there is this item from
Wells, concerning a poetry entry: "Wells is once more on the map. We have
a poet in our midst. Early in the spring some one of needy brains favored the
Sentinel correspondent with a languishing love song entitled 'A Glowing
Tribute'. By slightly altering the title to read, 'A Fool's Tribute', it has
been possible to sell the poem to a popular magazine for $10.65. This amount
Mr. Brown will be glad to turn over to the author when called for."
Attempts to search for the "A Fool's Tribute" poem referred to in
this news item were unsuccessful.
A baseball game was
announced: "The Hudson Falls baseball team will play Granville at
Williams' field Sunday, June 3, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Hudson Falls
expects a strong team and with Granville's usual strength to figure on a good
game can safely be predicted." This was a semi-professional team.
The Granville
baseball team's previous ball game was reported in the local mention column:
"In the first local ball game of the season Sunday afternoon Granville
defeated Poultney by the score of 3 to 1. The Granville battery was Humphrey
and McGrath, while Davis and Batman were in the points for Poultney." The
original text did indeed identify a Poultney batter as "Batman"; it
is unclear if this is a nickname or surname.
An interesting item
came from Lake Saint Catherine that week: "Attorney W. B. Morton, who has
a cottage on the island, has erected a large garage on the peninsula and is
connecting the island with the mainland by a footbridge." The island is the
only one on the lake, and it must have been an involved process to build the
cottage on the island before constructing a footbridge.
Lake Saint
Catherine was also the location of a place for those wanting to dance:
"The Forest House dances are largely attended, there being many from
Granville present Friday night." The people who enjoyed the Fairvale Hotel
dances mentioned some weeks ago would likely have attended these as well.
Speaking of the
Fairvale, they had resumed their dances by this time in 1923, as evidenced by
this short two-line advertisement among the local mention columns: "Music
and dancing every Saturday and Sunday at Fairvale Inn, North Granville".
An announcement was
made of Flag Day exercises in North Granville: "On Flag day, June 14,
there will be an interesting program at the Fairvale Inn with prominent
speakers taking part, including Ex-Governor Glynn. Mr. Lenny will on this day
present a flag to the village of North Granville." The use of
"village" in this context was not in the sense of an incorporated
village, of which North Granville has never been, but rather to refer to the
North Granville community. This event may seem unusual to people today, as Flag
Day is presently generally celebrated at elementary schools; the day passes
with little fanfare nor public ceremonies.
New electronics
were making their way to the area. The Truthville column had this item:
"Leon Carpenter has installed a radio." In this era the radio, and
the broadcasting and receiving of radio signals, was a new and modern
technology.
Road construction
was already happening in Hebron, as evidenced by this item in the Hebron Center
column: "The road leading from West Rupert to Hebron is in the best
condition it has been since Sheldon Morey was road master. Many thanks to
Herbert Saunders, the present road master". This would be referring to the
connection by means of the town roads presently named Sheldon Road in Hebron,
and Hebron Road in Rupert.
A case of crowded
quarters was reported in the local mention: "Two Slavs, brothers, have
purchased the Organ property on Park avenue of the Granville National bank and,
with a third brother, will occupy the house. It's a sort of family affair as
the three brothers married sisters. There are twelve children in the three
families, who with their parents make a colony of eighteen persons in the
house."
Several local women
attended a special reception: "Mrs. John B. Davis, Mrs. F. C. Sheldon,
Mrs. P. R. Manchester, Mrs. Carrie Rogers, Mrs. Raymond Stevens, Mrs. C. M.
Guild, Mrs. E. R. Norton, Mrs. F. W. Scott, Mrs. Margaret Williams and Mrs. J.
L. McArthur attended a reception and tea Thursday afternoon at the home of Mrs.
J. W. Holler, Fort Edward, in honor of Mrs. Carl Sherman and Mrs. Dwight LaDue
of Albany, wives of the Attorney general and state engineer."
There was a sight
this time of year up in the vicinity of Castleton Corners in 1923:
"Saturday of last week was Blossom day at the MacRay orchard at Hydeville
and Castleton Corners. There were 14,000 trees in bloom and the beauty and
fragrance were wonderful to a degree. Mr. MacRay sets a day aside each year and
invites those interested to come and view the orchards. He employs scientific
men, who go through the trees and point out things of interest in apple growing
such as the number of apples that may be expected from certain clusters of
blossoms. At one time more than two hundred autos were parked on the roadway
near the trees." This orchard was in operation in the early 1920s, but
little information has been found beyond that.
+++
The return of the
flower pot holders to Granville's Main Street a few weeks ago signaled that the
flowers would soon follow. It was last week when flower pots of bubblegum
petunias were placed in the holders lined along Main Street. The flowers will
give a nice look to Main Street once they are in bloom. The flowers were
donated by Van Riper's.
Also returning in
recent weeks are the banners of the Slate Valley Military Honor Banner Project,
which were put back up in the Village of Granville, as well as in Hampton and
Wells.
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