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The Historians with Bob Cudmore

Conversations and Interviews

Coming in April

Friday, April 7, 2023-Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love.  CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library. On Friday May 26, the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany; Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade; and Sunday, May 28 at 3pm at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam remembers Teddy Roosevelt

By Bob Cudmore

               Memories of Amsterdam’s Theodore Roosevelt Junior High on Guy Park Avenue where a senior housing project exists today continue to come in.

               Evelyn Riccio, retired schoolteacher and librarian, said that the song about junior high quoted in a previous column had a verse, which indicates the song was written specifically for the Amsterdam school.  Otherwise, the words—to the tune of “Stars and Stripes Forever”—could be applied to any junior high.

               Riccio said the verse went like this:

Other students may think their school’s the best

And serve it with loyal devotion.

But the school that is dear to you and me

Is this school of ours with colors blue and silver.

               Riccio said that longtime Roosevelt principal Fritz Heil compiled the lyrics, although another alumna recalled that a student named Barbara Casey wrote the words as part of a school contest.

TEDDY REMEMBERED

`             Former student Paul Russo remembered that Heil addressed students on the first day of school in the auditorium, “He said that when he was a kid, Teddy Roosevelt came to town and Heil jumped up on the running board of Roosevelt’s car and shock hands with him.”

               There are 20 references to Theodore Roosevelt in Frank Yunker’s online database of newspaper headlines from the early twentieth century in Amsterdam (www.mohawkvalleyweb.com).  Roosevelt spoke in Amsterdam in 1898, 1900, 1910 and 1914.  When he died in 1919, the city held a Roosevelt Day in which clergymen paid tribute to “the great statesman.”

               The junior high was dedicated to the former President on October 2, 1925 with the main address given by state education commissioner Dr. Frank P. Graves.

               At Roosevelt Junior High in the late 1950s, student reporter Elizabeth Dye Russo found a ladder sticking up into the attic of the building and covered the story for The Broadcaster, the school newspaper.

               “We got permission to go up in the attic and see all the old stuff and I wrote an article about it. I can't remember, however what was up there!”

               Several people informed me that the name of my eighth grade homeroom and art teacher was Marian Gode Carnwright, married to John Carnwright, the printing shop teacher.

               As Amsterdam was the carpet city, a shop course was taught in textiles, first by a Mr. Noble and then by Bill Fennhahn.  My mother was a sewing teacher and my father a carpet weaver so I felt pressure to excel in Fennhahn’s course.  I did all right on the sewing machine but, alas, my partner Tom Christman and I messed up the threading of our loom so much that it was beyond help.

               Another alumnus recalled that physical education teacher Richard Ruback, who passed away recently, coached a seventh grade basketball team sponsored by a private sports club, the Hurricana Club.  Some of the outstanding players in Amsterdam High basketball received a solid foundation in the sport by participating in that club.

               A popular student stop near the junior high was Eddie Doyle’s confectionery store, where Eileen Macvean of Amsterdam recalled the big item in her day was the Jo-Jo Pop.

`             Students bought school supplies at Sam Soula’s card and magazine store.

Former student Peter Betz said, “We also bought the little glass bottles of colored ink there which in the spring we loaded in our water pistols to shoot at each other as the class lines moved from room to room.  That brought a lot of parent complaints so there was a crackdown---locker inspections, confiscation of weapons, etc.

“Sometimes we put cheap perfume in them too but that was a give away as to who was 'armed' so we didn't do that much.” 

Tomorrow, Friday, March 31, 2023

#468

Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family.  The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil.

The Glove Theatre 

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 30, 2023

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The Historians with Bob Cudmore

Conversations and Interviews

Coming in April

Friday, April 14, 2023-Episode 470-Patrick Chaisson has written a multi-media presentation Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WW II.  Chaisson is a retired (26 year) US Army Lieutenant Colonel now an author/historian from Scotia.

Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore

U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You

Wednesday, March 29, 2023-Mark Sullivan discusses his historical novel, The Last Green Valley

Caught between two warring forces and overcoming horrific trials to pursue their hope of immigrating to the West, the Martels’ story is a brutal, complex, and ultimately triumphant tale that illuminates the extraordinary power of love, faith, and one family’s incredible will to survive and see their dreams realized

Bob Cudmore Print Story tomorrow, Thursday

Remembering Teddy Roosevelt

At Roosevelt Junior High in the late 1950s, student reporter Elizabeth Dye Russo found a ladder sticking up into the attic of the building and covered the story for The Broadcaster, the school newspaper.

Friday, March 31, 2023

#468

Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family.  The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil. 

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Many readers like to use the U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You

..or click the Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore

Pastries helped with popularity

By Bob Cudmore

When Virginia Vidulich O’Brien was attending high school at St. Mary’s Institute in Amsterdam during the Great Depression, she had an in with the basketball team.

Her father John operated Vidulich’s Bakery at 63 Guy Park Avenue and would give his youngest daughter the key to the shop when St. Mary’s played at home.

After each game, “Vidge” led a parade of ball players and girl friends to the bakeshop where they enjoyed the many treats inside.

“It helped with my popularity,” said O’Brien, who now lives in Saratoga Springs.

Her father was a native of Austria who came to America with his parents at age 14 in 1898.  Born into a family of seven, he and his wife Josephine Guiffre Vidulich also had seven children.  Josephine was a native of Genoa, Italy. 

According to his obituary, Vidulich was baking in Amsterdam by 1919.  In 1930 John and his brother Anthony opened the bakery at 63 Guy Park Avenue.  Eventually John became sole proprietor.

O’Brien recalled that Izzy Demsky, who became the actor Kirk Douglas, came in all the time for his favorite doughnuts.  Doughnuts were cream filled, jelly filled or plain—plain doughnuts were three for a nickel.  Vidulich’s also featured charlotte russe, pumpernickel and other breads, sticky buns, coffee cake or kuchen, plus special kuchen for Christmas and Easter.

In addition to Vidulich’s shop on Guy Park Avenue, near the former junior high, John Vidulich operated a second bakery for some years on Market Street.  His brother Nicholas was proprietor of a bakery at 300 Locust Avenue.

In 1953 John Vidulich’s health declined and the bakery was taken over by his son John, Jr.  The father died that year.  John Jr. relocated Vidulich’s Bakery to the corner of Glen and Lincoln Avenues on Market Hill, also in 1953.  A popular item in newspaper ads from the 1960s were Vidulich’s chocolate doughnuts.

The bakery closed March 6, 1971 and John Jr. went to work at Dan Dee Donuts at 169 Market St.  The matriarch of the family, Josephine Giuffre Vidulich, died that year.

In addition to his baking skills, John Jr. was a well-known local golfer.  His brother Larry Vidulich was golf pro at the Antlers in Fort Johnson, Amsterdam Muni and ultimately at the North Shore Country Club in the Chicago area.

Virginia Vidulich O’Brien, now 91, married her late husband Richard when he was a student at Dartmouth College.  Virginia worked for many years in press relations and other jobs for the Saratoga Harness Track.  She conducted tours for school children in the morning hours.  She received kudos from Amsterdam sports columnist Art Hoefs in 1968 for her role in Howard Tupper’s television coverage of the harness track on WRGB.  She is the only woman inducted into the National Harness Racing Hall of Fame.

Amsterdam resident Diane Hale Smith recently visited O’Brien and took her sticky buns from Amsterdam’s newest bakery, Dolci on Bridge Street.

“They got her personal seal of approval,” Smith said.

O’Brien recalled Smith’s mother—Dorothy Bennett Hale—who used to work at Morrison Putman’s Music Store on Market Street and oversaw listening booths where O’Brien and others could enjoy music of the day for free.

Tomorrow

Wednesday, March 29, 2023-Mark Sullivan discusses his historical novel, The Last Green Valley that chronicles how members of a German family living in Ukraine were able to escape clashing armies in World War II and find a new life in America.

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Remembering Teddy Roosevelt

The junior high was dedicated to the former President on October 2, 1925 with the main address given by state education commissioner Dr. Frank P. Graves.

Friday, March 31, 2023-Episode 468-Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family.  The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil. 

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

The Historians Interviews and Conversations. Go Fund Me 2023 needs your partnership in History. April on The Historians-Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love. Coming in November Episode #500

Many readers like to use the U.S. Mail. (You need a pen, check, envelope and stamp) Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You

..or click the Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore

Monday, March 27, 2023-Story behind the story. We’ll call the baby Harry

Tuesday, March 28, 2023-Pastries produced popularity

“It helped with my popularity,” said O’Brien, who now lives in Saratoga Springs.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023-Mark Sullivan discusses his historical novel, The Last Green Valley that chronicles how members of a German family living in Ukraine were able to escape clashing armies in World War II and find a new life in America.

Caught between two warring forces and overcoming horrific trials to pursue their hope of immigrating to the West, the Martels’ story is a brutal, complex, and ultimately triumphant tale that illuminates the extraordinary power of love, faith, and one family’s incredible will to survive and see their dreams realized.

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Remembering Teddy Roosevelt

Some say he had a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity.

Friday, March 31, 2023-Episode 468-Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family.  The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil. 

We’ll call the baby Henry

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   Descendants of Albert and Katie Sikora have preserved fascinating accounts of daily life during the 1920s and 1930s in Amsterdam. 

   The nine-member Polish American family lived on Clark Avenue, which runs between Forest and Sloane avenues.  In 1931 Albert Sikora is described in a City Directory as a spinner at Mohawk Carpet Mills.

   One of Albert and Katie’s daughters, Paula Sikora Martin, wrote down memories of the birth of her youngest brother in 1928.  The pregnancy was not discussed with the children and a “birthing lady” attended their mother.  

   At first shooed out of the house into the rain by their father, the children eventually were brought inside and told to get sheets for the birthing lady to use.

   “(Sister) Kay and I ran through the house and started pulling the sheets off the bed,” Paula wrote.  “We tried to give them to the birthing lady but she hollered at us--she wanted unused sheets.  

   “Then all of a sudden we were allowed to go to Mom’s room and she introduced us to our new little fat wrinkled baby brother.  I had a new doll to play with!   He was so cute.  Mom was back.  All was well again.”

   The baby’s father wanted to name him Alexander, after a Polish prince.  Paula’s name, for example, was in reality Pelagia Julianna, the name of a Polish princess.  However, his mother prevailed and the baby was named Henry, after the American auto maker Henry Ford. 

   The family always called him.  Harry though and he legally changed his name to Harry when he came of age. 

       Harry Sikora, who died in 2008, served in the U.S. Army, went to Union College and Syracuse University and became an industrial engineer at IBM.  His later years were spent at a farm in Bradford, Pennsylvania and a winter home in Clearwater, Florida.

   “Was four years old when I started school in the first grade,” Harry wrote.  “Mom lied about my age to get me into school early.  Believe she had enough of children by the time I arrived.”

   The school was about seven blocks from their home and his mother told Harry to follow the other children to get there.

   Paula recalled when the family had no refrigerator, no washing machine and no radio.  Eventually, a windup Victrola came their way. 

   Their father finished building a home in 1923 on a Clark Avenue lot across from the flat they were renting in a four family house.  The Sikoras rented out an upstairs flat in their new home.

   “Our renter had a radio—wow,” Paula wrote.  The tenant played the radio loudly and the Sikora children would gather on the hall steps to hear Fibber McGee and Molly.

   Paula married in 1937 but Harry did not want to attend the wedding, saying he would break his six-year perfect school attendance record. 

   Harry wrote, “Heat came from a wood/coal stove, which heated the kitchen and living room area.  Bedrooms were cold during the winter and hot during the summer.  Coal bin was located in the basement.  Had to be carried upstairs and ashes emptied daily.

   “We had two sour cherry trees.  One year, dad made cherry wine in the basement.   When he wasn't looking, I tasted some of it.”

   Ray Knapik and his Mom rented the upstairs flat in Sikoras’ home from 1943 to 1950.

   Knapik wrote, “In the back of the house was the community playground known as the Rockton Diamonds. Had a lot of good friends in Rockton and that was our hangout place.  Learned how to ice-skate on the sidewalk in front of the house.”

Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 27, 2023

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

The Historians Interviews and Conversations. Go Fund Me 2023 needs your partnership in History. Later this year Episode #500

Many fans like to use the U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

..or click the Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore

We’ll call the baby Henry

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   Descendants of Albert and Katie Sikora have preserved fascinating accounts of daily life during the 1920s and 1930s in Amsterdam. 

   The nine-member Polish American family lived on Clark Avenue, which runs between Forest and Sloane avenues.  In 1931 Albert Sikora is described in a City Directory as a spinner at Mohawk Carpet Mills.

   One of Albert and Katie’s daughters, Paula Sikora Martin, wrote down memories of the birth of her youngest brother in 1928.  The pregnancy was not discussed with the children and a “birthing lady” attended their mother.  

   At first shooed out of the house into the rain by their father, the children eventually were brought inside and told to get sheets for the birthing lady to use.

   “(Sister) Kay and I ran through the house and started pulling the sheets off the bed,” Paula wrote.  “We tried to give them to the birthing lady but she hollered at us--she wanted unused sheets.  

   “Then all of a sudden we were allowed to go to Mom’s room and she introduced us to our new little fat wrinkled baby brother.  I had a new doll to play with!   He was so cute.  Mom was back.  All was well again.”

   The baby’s father wanted to name him Alexander, after a Polish prince.  Paula’s name, for example, was in reality Pelagia Julianna, the name of a Polish princess.  However, his mother prevailed and the baby was named Henry, after the American auto maker Henry Ford. 

   The family always called him.  Harry though and he legally changed his name to Harry when he came of age. 

       Harry Sikora, who died in 2008, served in the U.S. Army, went to Union College and Syracuse University and became an industrial engineer at IBM.  His later years were spent at a farm in Bradford, Pennsylvania and a winter home in Clearwater, Florida.

   “Was four years old when I started school in the first grade,” Harry wrote.  “Mom lied about my age to get me into school early.  Believe she had enough of children by the time I arrived.”

   The school was about seven blocks from their home and his mother told Harry to follow the other children to get there.

   Paula recalled when the family had no refrigerator, no washing machine and no radio.  Eventually, a windup Victrola came their way. 

   Their father finished building a home in 1923 on a Clark Avenue lot across from the flat they were renting in a four family house.  The Sikoras rented out an upstairs flat in their new home.

   “Our renter had a radio—wow,” Paula wrote.  The tenant played the radio loudly and the Sikora children would gather on the hall steps to hear Fibber McGee and Molly.

   Paula married in 1937 but Harry did not want to attend the wedding, saying he would break his six-year perfect school attendance record. 

   Harry wrote, “Heat came from a wood/coal stove, which heated the kitchen and living room area.  Bedrooms were cold during the winter and hot during the summer.  Coal bin was located in the basement.  Had to be carried upstairs and ashes emptied daily.

   “We had two sour cherry trees.  One year, dad made cherry wine in the basement.   When he wasn't looking, I tasted some of it.”

   Ray Knapik and his Mom rented the upstairs flat in Sikoras’ home from 1943 to 1950.

   Knapik wrote, “In the back of the house was the community playground known as the Rockton Diamonds. Had a lot of good friends in Rockton and that was our hangout place.  Learned how to ice-skate on the sidewalk in front of the house.”

Monday, March 27, 2023-Story behind the story. We’ll call the baby Harry

Tuesday, March 28, 2023-Pastries produced popularity

After each game, “Vidge” led a parade of ball players and girl friends to the bakeshop where they enjoyed the many treats inside.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023-Mark Sullivan discusses his historical novel, The Last Green Valley that chronicles how members of a German family living in Ukraine were able to escape clashing armies in World War II and find a new life in America.

The Martels are one of many families of German heritage whose ancestors have farmed in Ukraine for more than a century. But after already living under Stalin’s horrifying regime, Emil and Adeline decide they must run in retreat from their land with the wolves they despise to escape the Soviets and go in search of freedom.

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Remembering Teddy Roosevelt

Memories of Amsterdam’s Theodore Roosevelt Junior High on Guy Park Avenue where a senior housing project exists today continue to come in.

Friday, March 31, 2023-Episode 468-Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family.  The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil. 

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, March 26, 2023

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In production on The Historians

Episode 468-Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family. More information next week.

The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me 2023 needs your partnership in History

On-Line or the U.S. Mail, Use this Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore

Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire.  Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers in the 1950s for the French army in Indochina.  She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.

Saturday March 25

Historian Peter Betz

Sunday, March 26

We’ll call the baby Harry

Bob Cudmore every weekend in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder

One of Albert and Katie’s daughters, Paula Sikora Martin, wrote down memories of the birth of her youngest brother in 1928. 

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, March 25, 2023

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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“I recall that the church at Christmas time was particularly beautiful,” Sidlauscus wrote.  “At midnight Mass, all main lights were turned off, and a series of smaller lights turned on.  These lights were on the ceiling of the church, and ran the length of each of the three aisles, from the entrance to the altar. 

The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This weekend, Sunday, March 26, 2023 we'll name the baby Henry from The Daily Gazette.

Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore  or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

Memories of St. Casimir’s

By Bob Cudmore

The pending closure of St. Casimir’s Church has brought back memories for Amsterdam native Richard Sidlauscus.  The historically Lithuanian church on East Main Street in Amsterdam is to close in May.

A second generation American of Lithuanian descent, Sidlauscus now lives in Connecticut and has not lived in Amsterdam in 42 years.  He has not been to Mass at St. Casimir’s in more than 15 years. 

“I finally came to realize that whenever St. Casimir’s is mentioned, it evokes memories of a time, place, people and events that were a major part of my youth,” Sidlauscus wrote.

Sidlauscus said that in his youth Lithuanian was spoken regularly on East Main Street from Schuyler Street to the city line.  He remembers the distinctive lilt of Lithuanian, beginning low and ending at a higher pitch.  There were businesses with names like Maldutis Bakery, Pakenas Cleaners, and Piliponis Grocery.

“If you were Lithuanian in the Amsterdam I grew up in, St. Casimir’s was the center of your religious and, to a great degree, your family social life,” Sidlauscus wrote.  “You went to Mass there; you attended religious instructions in the lower level of the church; you were married there; your children were baptized there.  Your relatives were buried in St. Casimir’s Cemetery.  You went to church picnics at the grove near the cemetery off Widow Susan Road.  You went to family dinners, club banquets, wedding receptions and showers at the American Lithuanian Club on Liberty Street.”

In the summer, the Sidlauscus family usually attended the 8 a.m. service so they could go on picnics to Wells or Great Sacandaga Lake.  The rest of the year, the family went to Mass at 9 a.m. as religious instructions followed in the school. 

The Mass was in Latin in those days but the gospel was read in English and Lithuanian.  Everyone stood for what seemed forever, Sidlauscus said, when the Passion was read as the Palm Sunday gospel.   

“I recall that the church at Christmas time was particularly beautiful,” Sidlauscus wrote.  “At midnight Mass, all main lights were turned off, and a series of smaller lights turned on.  These lights were on the ceiling of the church, and ran the length of each of the three aisles, from the entrance to the altar.  There were also lights over the altar.  With just these lights and candles lit, the church was magical.”

Sidlauscus said his father used to say you could get drunk by breathing in the back of the church among all the standing worshippers who came to midnight Mass directly from their Christmas Eve festivities.

Sidlauscus recalls when the men of the Holy Name Society would march down the aisle to take their places for the annual communion breakfast, wearing suits and

Emil Suda of Amsterdam enjoyed visiting Pingitore’s Shoe Store on East Main Street when he was a child. The proprietors kept toys on the floor to entertain children.  Suda said Pingitore’s had a toy dump truck and a silver robot with a flashing light on its head. 

Friday, March 24, 2023-Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire.  Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers in the 1950s for the French army in Indochina.  She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.

Dr. Mahvash M. Majeed "Welcome to the Village" (All the Episodes) on Buzzsprout  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1648825

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 23, 2023

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Caroga committee to explore short-term rental regulations

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