Granville Then & Now – April 13, 2023

Buses served Granville 100 years ago

By Erik Pekar

Cars were gaining in popularity in the 1920s, but there were other ways to move about. This article in the April 13, 1923 issue of the Granville Sentinel mentioned buses: “The Glens Falls-Granville bus started again Monday morning, not having been able to run through the winter owing to the roads. It now leaves Granville at 7:45 a.m. for Glens Falls and returns at 12 o’clock. The bus leaves Granville on the second trip at 1 p.m. and arrives from Glens Falls at 5:45 p.m.” The roads would remain in bad condition for some more years until improvements were made to certain roads between communities; today these are the state and county highways in this part of Washington County.

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People think of “making it big” in various fields, but religious circles may not be one’s first thought of a “line” in which to succeed in. One Granville native did exactly that, as mentioned in the same issue: “Rev. Dr. George C. Douglass, who Monday was made superintendent of the Central District by the Methodist Conference at Glens Falls, has been superintendent of the Northern District since 1921 and lives in Glens Falls. In 1899, Dr. Douglass received his first charge at Blue Mountain Lake. From 1900 to 1902 Dr. Douglass was stationed at Chestertown; from 1903 to 1904, at Corinth; from 1905 to 1913 at Gloversville and from 1914 to 1920 at Saratoga Springs. He has much executive ability and his work at the different charges has been productive of much good. At Saratoga Springs he made extensive improvements to the church property.”

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The Lake Saint Catherine section in the April 13 issue mentioned this item: “The Lake St. Catherine Realty Company of Poultney has contracted with Fred H. Graves to remodel one of its buildings at the north end, making a two-tenement cottage.” There is at least one other reference to a camp division around the 1920s, mentioned years later in both the Lake St. Catherine scrapbook by Iris Hopson Read and in “Historic Architecture of Rutland County”, where the “Balance Rock” camp of Norman Burdick became two, cleverly named “Calv-Inn” and “Cool-Edge” after Calvin Coolidge, the Vermont native who was President of the United States from 1923 to 1929. It is unclear how many such divisions took place, or even whether the two instances here are referring to the same camp, or two different and distinct camps.

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The surprise of the area occurred a couple weeks ago, when a Dollar General opened at 61 Beaman Street in Poultney, on or about March 31. The store inside looks like a typical Dollar General of its size, but the story of how Dollar General came to Poultney is anything but typical.

The idea of a Poultney Dollar General had been a controversial one for some years, since Dollar General’s first attempts to enter the community in 2017. The interest has always been in the same location, the former VEMAS building at 61 Beaman Street, owned by Poultney Properties. The earlier attempt culminated in a vote held on July 5, 2019 to decide whether to change the zoning to allow Dollar General to use the property. The vote amounted to a referendum on Dollar General itself; Poultney voters turned down the zoning change, 549 no votes to 302 yes votes.

Reasons cited for allowing Dollar General into Poultney included encouraging economic growth; conversely, opponents had concern that Dollar General would stifle business. When plans became public for a Dollar General in Middle Granville, Poultney residents hoped the Middle Granville Dollar General would be considered close enough by corporate to satisfy desires to serve Poultney without being in Poultney.

After the talk quieted down, Dollar General resumed its efforts to establish itself in Poultney. Eventually the circumstances changed, and Poultney Properties received the go-ahead to convert the property to make way for Dollar General. Over the winter the property was refurbished, and lastly signs went up in late March.

The store is now open, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hopefully its presence will benefit, not harm, the business atmosphere in Poultney.

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As anticipated in our column of March 23, all four incumbents were reelected in the Granville village election on March 21 to four-year terms. Three of the candidates were unopposed: Dean Hyatt, board member, 133 votes; Dan Brown, board member, 133, and Roger Forando, village justice, 125. In the case of the mayor position, 139 votes were cast for incumbent Paul Labas, with two write-ins for Bob Tatko. One hundred forty-two votes were counted, with four absentee ballots declared void. There was no breakdown this year of which votes out of the 142 were cast in-person or via absentee balloting.

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The village board conducted much business at its annual reorganizational meeting on April 3, including designating appointed positions, committees, and official venues for various functions. Perhaps the most significant news to come out of the meeting was the appointment of Denise Davies to fill the remainder of the term of Lisa Ackert, who resigned earlier this year. Davies will be familiar to many, as she worked for many years as the deputy clerk-treasurer.

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Warmer days have finally arrived, but one group is already thinking ahead to this coming December. The Granville Lighted Tractor Parade planning committee announced last Saturday, April 8, that the sixth Granville Lighted Tractor Parade will be held on Dec. 6.

The announced date is on a Saturday. Granville’s tractor parade has been held on the first Friday of December in every year it has been held: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022. The parade was inspired by a similar yearly event in Greenwich, which started several years prior, and has always been held there on a Saturday in mid-November.

The major reason cited for moving to Saturday was that some of the participants stating Friday was inconvenient for them, and some would-be participants couldn’t participate at all as Friday nights conflicted with their schedules; both groups said Saturday would work better for them. It was from these comments that the idea of holding future Granville Lighted Tractor Parades on Saturdays was considered by the committee.

We look forward to this year’s Lighted Tractor Parade. This new Granville tradition may have been started on a Friday, but tradition is not made by the choice of day on which a parade is held. Tradition is made by the Granville community coming together to watch or participate in the memorable Granville Lighted Tractor Parade. This will happen regardless of whether the parade is held on a Friday or a Saturday.

Granville Then & Now – July 1, 2021

'Father Zach' to lead St. Mary’s, 2 other churches

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

The right-of-way clearance at the Church Street bridge in the village of Granville is progressing. Verizon crews began to look over the project area on June 16. By the weekend, two bracing poles were installed at important locations, and two new poles were brought to the area. The utility poles were placed on June 22; one on the north side of the Mettowee River, and the other across the street from an already existing pole on Church Street. The holding wires for all but one of the utility lines were installed last week. The first of the replacement utility cables were taken across the river last week.

The Church Street bridge replacement project was set to begin with the closure of the 1920 bridge structure on June 16. The project was delayed on June 14 because Verizon had yet to move their utility lines. Verizon is progressing with their work, and should be done before the end of next week. The completion of the right of way clearance will allow for the bridge replacement to begin.

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The wait for a new priest by parishioners of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Granville is coming to an end. There had not been an assigned priest there since March of 2020, when Rev. Father Joseph Arockiasamy was transferred to Cobleskill, to serve the parishes of both St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in that town as well as St. Joseph Catholic Church in Worcester.

A new priest likely would have been assigned by the summer, but the pandemic shutdown began around the time of the transfer. Mass was resumed in late June, with Rev. Robert Powhida.

The announcement came on June 15, when Bishop Scharfenburger of the Diocese of Albany said that Rev. Zachariah Chichester had been assigned as priest associate at St. Mary’s of Granville. It was also announced that Father Chichester will be serving the Our Lady of Hope in Whitehall and St. Ann’s in Fort Ann. Congratulations to Father “Zach,” as he is known, on being assigned to serve this area.

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Work continues on paving Route 149 between Route 4 in Kingsbury and Route 40 in Hartford. The section east of the bridge over the Champlain Canal in Smith’s Basin was paved with the final layers by June 18, as well as the west leg of the wye at the intersection with Route 4. The section from Route 4 to the bridge was paved with a base layer a couple of weeks ago, and has not been fully paved yet.

Two local paving projects in Vermont have been finished. White edge lines were painted last Wednesday on the newly paved sections of Route 30 and 149, in Pawlet and Wells. The yellow center lines had been painted a couple of weeks ago.

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An important bridge in Poultney may be reopening soon. The Town of Poultney’s select board announced on June 18 that they were in talks with private bridge engineers and bridge contractors to design a plan to make repairs to reopen Poultney Bridge No. 4, the bridge on Route 31.

Going ahead with the plans depended on comment and input from the State of Vermont. The state approved the plans, and the announcement was made on June 25 that the necessary repairs would be made to the bridge. The VHB engineering firm of South Burlington, Vermont, designed the plans, and Renaud Bros., Inc., of Vernon, Vermont, is making the repairs. Construction was set to begin on Monday, June 28. No pedestrians or bicycles are allowed during construction.

After repairs are finished, the State of Vermont will inspect the bridge and make a load-rating assessment. The bridge will then be reopened; the Poultney select board anticipates reopening will be during the first week of July.

The Route 31 bridge, an important link in the Poultney area, was closed on June 1. Through the efforts of Poultney’s select board, the bridge is being repaired.  The duration of the bridge’s closure will end up being only several weeks.

Granville Then & Now - July 23, 2020

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

Note: This is the first installment of the Granville Then & Now column.

The ongoing replacement of the Granville High School running track at Sam Eppolito Field has been the topic of many a conversation in the area over the past two months. Since the fence came down on May 4, there has been quite the construction work there.

The ongoing track construction was not the first overhaul of the track, however. The original track built in 1929 was a narrow track built of ground up shale. This track served the high school track teams well over the years, but by the 1970s it was becoming obsolete.

Although there were plans to expand the high school in the late 1960s and early 1970s, between the five plans voted on over six times, all but the first utilized the existing track. The first plan from the first vote in 1968 had the track moved to accommodate the expansion, which had about double the new classrooms from what was built, as well as an indoor swimming pool.

At the April 14, 1975 meeting of the Granville school board, track coach Anton Kastberg appeared before the board, recommending the school district replace the old track with an all-weather track. His estimates from his research were about $38,000. Kastberg noted that it would be used for both practice and regular league track meets, and if Granville built the new track, they could host regional track meets.

Construction started in late April of 1976. The new track was a six-lane, all-weather track. The track would have a synthetic binder coating for a runner surface, which would be easy to clear during the winter months with a snowblower. It was noted that "during the football season 3/4 inch thick plywood sections will protect the track surface from cleats of players"; it is unclear whether this was a plywood layer beneath the coating, or planks of plywood that were placed over the track. The builders were the Wilk Brothers Paving Company of Center Rutland, Vermont. 

This track was not voted on by residents; as noted at the budget hearing of June 9, 1976, it was paid for by means of "... a referendum passed early in 1973 [that] authorized additions and improvements to the high school building and site ... track [was] constructed from these funds as part of site improvement."

The new track was completed in time for the start of the 1976-77 school year. The work was finished with a chain link fence built around the track. This fence was the source of a minor uproar during the 1976 season. Granville fans sat on the hill where the concession stand is, while fans of the visiting teams sat in the area level with the field between the track and Church Street. A few of the opposing teams' fans complained about the fence obscuring their view.

This year's school track project was approved last year, as part of the school district's "capital project", When the district's voters went to the polls last May to vote on board members and the budget, the capital project was on the ballot. It had several components, including the maintenance work recently done with the roofs of the district schools.  The work on replacing the track did not go without some controversy, however. Some residents balked at a project they felt was not necessary. Others lamented the loss of the "steps" and the rocky part north of the concession stand.

The new track will be wider than the old track. The rocky and hilly area has been leveled and will allow for more space for spectators. When finished, the new track will be an improvement, and a showpiece for the Granville school district.

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The Granville Baptist Church has a pastor once more. Jeff Lamphear was installed as pastor on July 8 and held his first service July 12.

St. Mary's Catholic Church, on the other hand, does not have a resident priest as of present. Rev. Father Joseph Arockiasamy was transferred to Cobleskill in March, to serve the parishes of both the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Cobleskill and the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Worcester. Mass has been held at St. Mary’s for the past month, however, with Rev. Father Robert Powhida. Longtime parishioners and former residents will recall that Fr. Powhida served as priest at St. Mary's from 1989 to 1993.

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Middle Granville will be getting a Dollar General after all. The lot at the corner of Route 22 and County Route 23 has been sold, and work began on leveling the property a couple of weeks ago. The lot is now owned by Primax Properties, who will lease the building to Dollar General after it is completed. Representatives of Primax had been a staple at most of the Granville Town Planning Board meetings held from October of 2019 to this May, and they worked with the board to get their plans approved. Primax has already built three stores for Dollar General in Washington County; these are in Argyle, Fort Ann, and Salem.