By Erik Pekar
The community of
Wells, Vermont, was an early participant in recognizing Arbor Day, as evidenced
in this section from the Wells personal mention column in the May 11, 1923
issue of the Granville Sentinel: "The exercises in commemoration of Arbor
day and the planting of the pine tree on the village green last Friday by the
children of the village school, were exceptionally well carried out and reflect
great credit on the children taking part and the teachers who worked so
faithfully to make the recitations, songs, dances, etc., so excellent. The
thanks of the community are due to Myron Popper and S. C. Norton, who were good
enough to give of their time and labor to procure and plant the tree for the
children. It is to be regretted that Arbor day and all that it stands for is
not more generally observed in Vermont and in Wells. Planting of trees and
proper observance of the day is a pretty good test of our interest in others,
and in the future of the community."
In more recent
years, children of area schools have been sent home with young tree saplings on
Arbor Day. It has been some time since a tree planting ceremony was held on the
day in this area.
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Although the motion
picture industry was already well underway in 1923, there were still live
entertainment acts touring the country and playing at theaters. This article
appeared in the same issue: "A big treat is in store for the patrons of
the Pember theatre when 'Bob' Ott and his talented company, will open a three
days engagement to-night (Thursday) and during the company's stay in Granville,
they will present brand new musical plays. 'Bob' Ott knows just what the
theatregoers want, and everything he puts on goes over big. The plays have been
well selected and hold intense interest from start to finish, while the musical
numbers are catchy, and most enjoyable. Special mention must be made of the
dancing. A matinee on Saturday will be given for the children. There will be no
picture on Saturday but the regular Saturday pictures will be shown
Monday."
The Pastime
Theatre, on the other hand, was promoting "The Town That Forgot God",
a motion picture film made by the William Fox studio, which would be shown
twice in the evening over three days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The show
was mentioned on the front page. Both theaters' big upcoming showings had large
advertisements inside.
The era of live
comedy and vaudeville type entertainment performing regularly in theaters of
all types, like that of the Bob Ott production, was on its way out. Its fate
would be sealed by the rise of the "talkie", or motion pictures with
sound. The Pember Theatre, formerly the Pember Opera House, would be out of the
picture by the mid-1930s. The building stood facing Main Street, taking up
about the eastern two-thirds of the village parking lot at the corner of Main
and Church Streets. The Pastime Theatre would later be purchased and renamed as
the Ritz Theater. It was located further down Main Street, closer to the
Mettowee River; today, the Heavenly Hair salon building sits at its former
location.
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Morris Rote-Rosen's
American Legion column of the May 11 issue reported of some statistics of the
slate industry: "Here is an item of interest not only to Granville
Legionnaires but the Granville people at large. The total value of slate sold
in the United States in 1922 was $9,156,848, as reported by the Department of
the Interior, through the Geological survey. This amount was 25 per cent more
than that reported for 1921. The roofing slate sold amounted to 479,342
squares, valued at $4,069,761, an increase of 38% in quantity and 27% in value.
The quantity and value of slate sold were as follows: Electrical slate,
1,329,500 sq. ft., valued at $876,022 (increases of 13% and 6%); structural and
sanitary slate, 2,274,200 sq. ft., valued at $810,745 (increases of 33% and
26%); blackboards and bulletin boards, 3,518,700 sq. ft., valued at $880,985
(increases of 12% and 11%); school slate, 8,766,010 pieces, equivalent to
1,479,000 sq. ft., valued at $42,027 (decreases of 23% and 25%); billiard table
tops, 241,500 sq. ft., valued at $81,353 (decreases of 48% and 55%); grave
vaults and covers, 400,100 sq. ft., valued at $87,763. The quantity of slate
granules sold amounted to 379,980 short tons, valued at $2,177,061 (increases
of 64% and 56%), and the quantity of slate sold for miscellaneous uses amounted
to 5,500 short tons, valued at $30,767."
The statistics
preserve part of the equation of the slate industry of the time. The other
information not reported by the Department of the Interior would be the number
of slate companies and their employment counts. Another issue with the reported
statistics is that they cover all the slate quarries in the United States –
including those deposits in places such as Maine, Pennsylvania, and Georgia –
and not just for those operating in the Slate Valley along the New York and
Vermont border.
+++
Jumping ahead some
years, the village dump was closed in 1963. The decision was reported in the
May 9, 1963 issue: "At a joint meeting of the village board of trustees
and the town board an agreement was reached whereby the village dumping grounds
will be abandoned and closed after June 1, the village and town boards having
agreed to use the town dumping grounds in Middle Granville jointly. The village
of Granville will pay the town of Granville $750 annually, for the use of the
dumping grounds, the payments to be made (in) quarterly installments of
$187.50. For the past several years the village dumping ground has been filling
up and the village board has been seeking a new location for a village dumping
grounds for several years past.
"Since the
by-pass has been opened on the west side of the village the dumping grounds is
constantly exposed to the traveling public and has not been a good
advertisement for the village of Granville. The grounds will be covered up and
a fence erected to bar anyone from driving in to the dump. No dumping will be
permitted after June 1. Violators will be subject to arrest and fine."
The town dumping
grounds were later closed, and a transfer station owned by Washington County
opened. The county later sold their transfer stations, which are now privately
owned.
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The announcement of
a new business opening was made in the May 9, 1963 issue. The advertisement for
the opening of Bascom's on May 10 mentioned its products including paint,
window shades; rods, poles, bars, such as curtain rods; lamp shades; batteries;
film and film developing; camping equipment, including sleeping bags and
(locally made) "Telescope Folding Aluminum Cots, with and without
mattress"; tricycles and wagons; swimming items, golf accessories,
baseball equipment; badminton, ping pong and tennis equipment; fishing tackle,
dart boards, archery; sundry items; paint-by-number; toys, books, games, and
hobbies. Bascom's was located at 28 Main Street in Granville. Today this site
is part of the 26 Main Street building.
+++
Many came to
Granville last weekend for the Great Granville Town Wide Yard Sale. Saturday
was a pleasant sunny day with a light breeze, and Sunday also had more or less
the same kind of weather. The streets in the village were packed with people
looking over and buying items from all the sales, and the roads in the rest of
the town had cars lined up along the sides wherever a yard sale was being held.
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