The Historians

Memories of Healey’s Park in Perth

By Bob Cudmore

   One of the first local amusement parks built to cater to automobiles and buses on day trips was Healey’s Park on what is now Route 30 in Perth, north of county highway 107. 

   In 1924 Amsterdam barber Thomas A. Healey and his wife Edith bought land in Perth where silver foxes had been raised for fur.  P. Sefton’s Web site Lost Landmarks reported that the Healeys then “hired a farmer to dig out a mill pond and rebuild a sawmill dam, hauled in some sand” and opened the entertainment facility that year.

   The refreshment stand burned down during the first season.  Otherwise it was a great opening year for swimmers and dancers according to a Recorder story from April 1925.  Healey ran a shuttle bus to the park from Amsterdam and was considering a similar bus run to Broadalbin. 

   According to town historian Sylvia Zierak's book “Perth, Memories and Reflections,” the dance pavilion was a top attraction at Healey’s.  A newspaper story said the pavilion featured a “mammoth ten piece orchestrion piano,” a machine that could sound like an orchestra.  Sunday concerts were held with musicians seated on a floating raft in the small lake.

   The Healeys lived on Shuler Street in Amsterdam for many years where his barber shop was located. 

   In 1917, according to a newspaper story, a man named Thomas Healey was fined fifty dollars for putting a slot machine in a candy store owned by Clarence Koch on Ann Street in Amsterdam.  The story did not specifically say the arrested man was the barber Thomas Healey.  The newspaper account did report the incident was the first slot machine arrest in the city and maybe even the state. 

   In 1927 Healey, Albert Cesaretti and Anthony Cavalieri were each fined fifty dollars after the sheriff found three slot machines in a store operated by Cesaretti and Cavalieri at Healey’s Park.  Over one hundred dollars was confiscated and turned over to “the poor fund of the town of Perth.”.   

   When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Healey’s opened a bar at the dance hall.  Some neighbors complained about noise.

   In May 1934 several men were charged with attempted arson for trying to burn down Healey’s dance pavilion.  Gasoline was poured around the pavilion and a lighted flare was thrown, but the flare failed to ignite the gasoline.  The men were frightened away by the approach of Healey and his night watchman. 

   Seven men faced charges, including Max Brown, who was described as an official of Jollyland, an amusement park in Amsterdam that is now a baseball stadium called Shuttleworth Park.  The main suspect, Frank Isola of Gloversville, was sentenced to up to three years in prison.  No motive was reported for the attempted arson.

   The dance pavilion became a roller skating rink in the 1940s.  Edith Healey died at age 59 at her home, then in Perth Center, in 1942.  In 1946 E. Pickrell was listed as the manager at Healey’s, about the year that Thomas Healey retired.

   Healey's Park closed in the late 1940s or early 1950s.  Sefton’s Web site speculated that with post-war prosperity, people were traveling farther on vacation.  More people had weeklong vacations and were not as interested in day trips. 

   Sefton wrote, “Healey's is probably better remembered as a ruin than as a going concern. Cattails had long infiltrated the pond's shallows and surrounded the red spiral slide by the time the dam was breached in the 1970s.”                           

   Thomas Healey died in 1966 at age 88.  Historian Zierak said the park site eventually was bulldozed and its large pine trees were cut down for lumber.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 27, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 117, June 24. 2016-Bob Cudmore covers the 2016 American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley Conference.  Edward Lengel is author of “First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His and the Nation’s Prosperity,” J. L. Bell is author of “The Road to Concord, How Four Stolen Cannons Ignited the Revolutionary War” and Don Hagist explains the online Journal of the American Revolution.

Thursday, April 28, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Top Ten Amsterdam broadcasters

...and #1 was

The current New York State Library exhibit features items from our collections relating to the country of Ukraine; its history and culture, and its triumphs and tribulations.

Exhibit curated by Shawn Purcell

https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/nysl-exhibit-Ukraine/intro

The World's Largest Silicon Carbide Fabrication Facility Will Support Growing Electric Vehicle, 4G and 5G Mobile, and Industrial Markets

New Facility is a Significant Step in Bolstering the U.S. Supply Chain for Advanced Manufacturing and Semiconductors

Governor Kathy Hochul has announced the grand opening of the Wolfspeed 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility at the Marcy Nanocenter, located on the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute campus in Marcy in Oneida County.

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-grand-opening-wolfspeeds-1-billon-state-art-silicon-carbide

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, April 26, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

Coworking space proposed in Amsterdam; Former dental office would turn to Mohawk CoWorks

AMSTERDAM — One brokerage firm’s search for a base of operations has led to plans to create...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Gloversville High principal DeMallie leaving to become superintendent; Hired by Fort Edward schools

by Andrew Waite

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Go Fund Me helps keep The Historians on WMHT 89.1FM Albany Public Radio

Historians Podcast is carried on RISE the radio service for the blind, Monday at 11:30 a.m. and Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. 

Monday, April 25, 2022- The story behind the story podcast-and serve it with loyal devotion "Eight Minutes"

And serve it with loyal devotion

By Bob Cudmore

   Theodore Roosevelt Junior High in Amsterdam was where many students encountered different ethnic groups for the first time and came to the realization that there was more to life than what was found in their individual neighborhoods. 

   Roosevelt Junior High, which included grades seven through nine, was built in 1924 on Guy Park Avenue east of Wall Street and was dedicated the following year.  The old high school behind it, constructed in 1904, was attached to the junior high when the new Wilbur H. Lynch High School was built in 1930 on Brandt Place.

   Roosevelt Junior High even had a school song.  Yvonne Nadler Bean posted on social media, “Every time I hear (John Philip Sousa’s) ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’, I break into ‘So let us remember this day when we leave Junior High School forever.’”

   Here are the words from the school song:  “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.

   “Then cheer for our school, Junior High, may it live as our standard forever.  The school that we'll love 'til we die. The guardian of our youth.

   “So let us remember this day when we leave Junior High school forever.  And sing as we go on our way.  Oh, Junior High, we pledge to thee our best endeavor!”

   Some say the song is a generic ode to junior high.  A former faculty member said the words were written by longtime principal Fritz Heil.  One alumna said a student named Barbara Casey wrote the words as part of a school contest.

   One of the most popular and effective educators at Roosevelt was art teacher Alfonzo Henderson.  Henderson was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served in the Army Reserves, retiring as a colonel.  An African American, Henderson passed away in 2019 at age 89. 

   Many tributes to him were posted on his online obituary including this from Amsterdam natives Jennifer and Bill Ziskin calling Henderson “a true icon and everyone's favorite teacher!”  Bill Ziskin has also passed away.  For many years he was a drama teacher at Schenectady High School.

   I once drew a floor plan for Al Henderson’s class, going overboard with the size of the garage.  His only comment was, “The garage is the biggest room in the house.”

   New York City public television personality Tom Stewart noted some years ago, “My Guy Park Avenue Elementary School sixth grade class was held in a room in the old high school, part of the junior high building.  We had to report directly to that room, and were not allowed to mix with the older kids. Finally making it to seventh grade with a homeroom and passing classes - now that was cool!”

   Some still remember the bullies.  One man posted on social media. “I remember the bullies beating up on kids in the locker rooms and the teachers slapping students in study hall for talking to their neighbor. Ironic that Roosevelt used to say ‘bully, bully’”!

      Moving up day ceremonies were held when each class went on to high school. The programs featured music, student speeches, pomp and circumstance.  The last class to attend Roosevelt Junior High moved up to Lynch High School in 1977.  The junior high was demolished for the Theodore Roosevelt Apartments.

   Lynch is today a middle school, Lynch Literacy Academy, named for a longtime school superintendent who served for a time as Amsterdam mayor.  Amsterdam High School today is on Saratoga Avenue in the town of Amsterdam.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 26, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Healey’s Park in Perth

In 1924 Amsterdam barber Thomas A. Healey and his wife Edith bought land in Perth where silver foxes had been raised for fur.  P. Sefton’s Web site Lost Landmarks reported that the Healeys then “hired a farmer...

Wednesday, April 27, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 117, June 24. 2016-Bob Cudmore covers the 2016 American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley Conference.  Edward Lengel is author of “First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His and the Nation’s Prosperity,” J. L. Bell is author of “The Road to Concord, How Four Stolen Cannons Ignited the Revolutionary War” and Don Hagist explains the online Journal of the American Revolution.

Thursday, April 28, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Top Ten Amsterdam broadcasters

Historian Michael Cinquanti has started a collection of top ten lists for Amsterdam and asked me to come up with an honor roll of the top broadcasters. 

Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, April 25, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

Montgomery County starting renovation of former Recorder building for DSS offices

ERICA MILLER/THE RECORDER The former Recorder offices at 1 Venner Road in Amsterdam on Friday. The...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

High schools: Fonda-Fultonville boys’ track and field wins invitational

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Some say the song is a generic ode to junior high.  A former faculty member said the words were written by longtime principal Fritz Heil.

And serve it with loyal devotion

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History  

   Theodore Roosevelt Junior High in Amsterdam was where many students encountered different ethnic groups for the first time and came to the realization that there was more to life than what was found in their individual neighborhoods. 

   Roosevelt Junior High, which included grades seven through nine, was built in 1924 on Guy Park Avenue east of Wall Street and was dedicated the following year.  The old high school behind it, constructed in 1904, was attached to the junior high when the new Wilbur H. Lynch High School was built in 1930 on Brandt Place.

   Roosevelt Junior High even had a school song.  Yvonne Nadler Bean posted on social media, “Every time I hear (John Philip Sousa’s) ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’, I break into ‘So let us remember this day when we leave Junior High School forever.’”

   Here are the words from the school song:  “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.

   “Then cheer for our school, Junior High, may it live as our standard forever.  The school that we'll love 'til we die. The guardian of our youth.

   “So let us remember this day when we leave Junior High school forever.  And sing as we go on our way.  Oh, Junior High, we pledge to thee our best endeavor!”

   Some say the song is a generic ode to junior high.  A former faculty member said the words were written by longtime principal Fritz Heil.  One alumna said a student named Barbara Casey wrote the words as part of a school contest.

   One of the most popular and effective educators at Roosevelt was art teacher Alfonzo Henderson.  Henderson was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served in the Army Reserves, retiring as a colonel.  An African American, Henderson passed away in 2019 at age 89. 

Tomorrow, Monday, April 25, 2022- The story behind the story podcast-and serve it with loyal devotion "Eight Minutes"

   Many tributes to him were posted on his online obituary including this from Amsterdam natives Jennifer and Bill Ziskin calling Henderson “a true icon and everyone's favorite teacher!”  Bill Ziskin has also passed away.  For many years he was a drama teacher at Schenectady High School.

   I once drew a floor plan for Al Henderson’s class, going overboard with the size of the garage.  His only comment was, “The garage is the biggest room in the house.”

   New York City public television personality Tom Stewart noted some years ago, “My Guy Park Avenue Elementary School sixth grade class was held in a room in the old high school, part of the junior high building.  We had to report directly to that room, and were not allowed to mix with the older kids. Finally making it to seventh grade with a homeroom and passing classes - now that was cool!”

   Some still remember the bullies.  One man posted on social media. “I remember the bullies beating up on kids in the locker rooms and the teachers slapping students in study hall for talking to their neighbor. Ironic that Roosevelt used to say ‘bully, bully’”!

      Moving up day ceremonies were held when each class went on to high school. The programs featured music, student speeches, pomp and circumstance.  The last class to attend Roosevelt Junior High moved up to Lynch High School in 1977.  The junior high was demolished for the Theodore Roosevelt Apartments.

   Lynch is today a middle school, Lynch Literacy Academy, named for a longtime school superintendent who served for a time as Amsterdam mayor.  Amsterdam High School today is on Saratoga Avenue in the town of Amsterdam.

Tuesday, April 26, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Healey’s Park in Perth

Wednesday, April 27, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 117, June 24. 2016-Bob Cudmore covers the 2016 American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley Conference.  Edward Lengel is author of “First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His and the Nation’s Prosperity,” J. L. Bell is author of “The Road to Concord, How Four Stolen Cannons Ignited the Revolutionary War” and Don Hagist explains the online Journal of the American Revolution.

Thursday, April 28, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Top Ten Amsterdam broadcasters

Less Words, Better Weather

Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, April 24, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Make Us Part of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...spend a lot of time talking to yourself

Saturday, April 23, 2022-From the Archives-May 21, 2021-Episode 371-Bevis Longstreth is author of Chains Across the River, a historical novel dealing with the great chains that American forces stretched across the Hudson River during the American Revolution to prevent the British fleet from sailing from New York City to Albany.

In the Revolution, a British deserter could become a traitor to the Crown by joining the Continental Army and there become a hero. Chains Across the River tells the enthralling tale of one such soldier, Captain Thomas Machin, a brilliant engineer of flawed character born, educated and trained in England. He enlisted in the British Foot and was posted to Boston, where he saw action at Breed's Hill before deserting to join the Continentals.

The Historians Podcast on WCSS in Amsterdam, 106.9 FM and 1490 AM  following the Noon news today.  

The Historians Podcast 2022 fund drive still stands at $2100.  That’s a third of our $6,000 goal but we have been STALLED for the past couple weeks. Please donate online here- https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

Please donate to keep history alive at The Historians Podcast-where we’re working on Episode 423, an interview with Fort Plain native Charles Gehring, who has translated Old Dutch records of the 17th century New Netherland colony which included what is now New York City, Albany and much more.

Tomorrow, Sunday, April 24, 2022-Focus on History in the Daily Gazette and Monday in The Amsterdam Recorder-Junior High, serve it with loyal devotion

Here are the words from the school song:  “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.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Saturday, April 23, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

Amsterdam cleanup event slated for today

Saturday marks Amsterdam’s Earth Day Cleanup, a community-wide event that organizers hope...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

High schools: Gloversville splits baseball doubleheader with Amsterdam 
On Schools: Broadalbin-Perth baseball looking to shake off slow start
After winning its first sectional title last spring, the Broadalbin-Perth baseball team headed into this season with its sights set...

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...call me "Bob"

This Sunday, April 24, 2022-Focus on History in the Daily Gazette and Monday's Amsterdam Recorder-Junior High, serve it with loyal devotion

Thursday, April 21, 2022

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.” 

Friday, April 22, 2022

Episode 419-English classics professor Edmund Richardson is author of The King’s Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria, the story of a deserter who discovered a civilization founded by Alexander the Great in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C.

Mabee Farm Historic Site Rotterdam, Schenectady County, will celebrate Earth Night tomorrow, Friday, April 22, 2022 with an evening of music, art, and workshops that honor Earth and its natural surroundings.

http://schenectadyhistorical.org/events/

Saturday, April 23, 2022-From the Archives-May 21, 2021-Episode 371-Bevis Longstreth is author of Chains Across the River, a historical novel dealing with the great chains that American forces stretched across the Hudson River during the American Revolution to prevent the British fleet from sailing from New York City to Albany.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, April 21, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

Two days later, utility continues power restoration work

More than 1,500 customers in Fulton County and more than 2,000 customers in Saratoga County remained without power on Wednesday evening as of 8 p.m., two nights after a forceful spring snowstorm swept through the Capital Region...

https://www.recordernews.com/

National Grid: Remaining Fulton County power outages to be restored by Thursday at 4 p.m.

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...the people who do and the people who don't

Historians Podcast Episode 363

How the Adirondack forest preserve was motorized.  The guest is John Warren, founder and editor of New York Almanack.

Historic Tales from the Adirondack Almanack

https://www.amazon.com/Historic-Adirondack-Almanack-American-Chronicles/dp/1596297271

Northern New York's Adirondack Park is a naturalist's wonderland of high peaks, plunging chasms, pristine waters, and stunning vistas. In this collection of columns from the popular series the Adirondack Almanack, author John Warren reveals another side of this charming land. Stories of bank robberies, the Ku Klux Klan, gambling, buried treasure, rattlesnakes, and earthquakes abound.

Tomorrow, Thursday, April 21, 2022

From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam remembers 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, April 22, 2022-Episode 419-English classics professor Edmund Richardson is author of The King’s Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria, the story of a deserter who discovered a civilization founded by Alexander the Great in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C.

Saturday, April 23, 2022-From the Archives-May 21, 2021-Episode 371-Bevis Longstreth is author of Chains Across the River, a historical novel dealing with the great chains that American forces stretched across the Hudson River during the American Revolution to prevent the British fleet from sailing from New York City to Albany.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, April 20, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

Amsterdam awarded $4.3 M for wastewater treatment plant upgrades

AMSTERDAM — A $4.3 million state grant award for upgrades to Amsterdam’s wastewater treatment...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Broadalbin-Perth budget keys on low tax levy, student well-being, future preparedness

by Andrew Pugliese

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...Horses trained by Hughes won many major races, including the Whitney at Saratoga and Monmouth Handicap in New Jersey.  Among the jockeys Hughes worked with was Amsterdam native Louis Hildebrandt

Horse trainer a native of Amsterdam

By Bob Cudmore

          Grace Bergen of Amsterdam has contributed an obituary of Amsterdam horse trainer Hollie Hughes, who died at the age of 92 in 1981.  At the time of his death, Hughes was living in East Rockaway on Long Island.  He was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Fort Johnson.

          Hughes was born in Amsterdam, the son of Edgar and Almeda Miller Hughes.  He married an Amsterdam woman, Anne Mitchell.  He went to work fulltime for the Sanford family stables when he was 17. 

Stephen Sanford, the carpet mill executive, created his Hurricana Farm in the town of Amsterdam in the late 1870s.  To this day, that stretch of what is now Route 30 is swept by winds.  Stephen’s son John and grandson Stephen or “Laddie” continued to operate the stables until 1976.  A few of the buildings remain.  The farm itself—later known as the Sanford Stud Farm—encompassed much of the area on Route 30 that has been commercially developed in recent years. 

Hughes rose quickly through the ranks of groom, foreman and assistant trainer and became head trainer in 1914 when he was only 26.

          Hughes trained George Smith, the horse that won the 1916 Kentucky Derby bearing the Sanford colors, purple and gold, today the school colors of Amsterdam High.  According to the New York Breds web site, Hughes had trained George Smith but was serving in the U.S. Army when the horse actually won the Derby. 

Horses trained by Hughes won many major races, including the Whitney at Saratoga and Monmouth Handicap in New Jersey.  Among the jockeys Hughes worked with was Amsterdam native Louis Hildebrandt, who still lives in the area and who has written a book about his career as a jockey called “Riders Up.”  Hildebrandt rode the Hughes trained horse Roundview to victory in the Monmouth Handicap in New Jersey and the Flamingo in Florida.  Roundview won the Whitney in 1949, after Hildebrandt retired from horse racing.

According to Hildebrandt, Hughes was an astute real estate investor, buying property around Lynnwood, Long Island where he lived during the Second World War and selling the property after the war.

Hughes was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame in 1973 and a New York Bred race is named in his honor at Aqueduct.

Historians Go Fund Me

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SANDY FAMILY

Amsterdam native Cheryl Sandy Hallett of West Palm Beach, Florida has begun compiling a family history for her father’s eightieth birthday.  One of her father Ed’s nine siblings was George Sandy, Jr., who operated Sandy’s Coffee at 66 Center Street on the South Side.

Information surrounding her grandparents, Hallett said, is limited.  They were George Sandy, Sr. and his wife Jennie or Joan Costanzo. 

Hallett wrote, “They ran a grocery on Bridge St. (which may have been owned by Jennie's parents Pasquale and Carmella Costanzo) and then on Broad Street next door to their home.  I've heard that they helped the Italians when they arrived in America and the Catena family has said that if it wasn't for George, Senior, they wouldn't have survived here.”

ROCK IN THE RIVER

A recent column mentioned an island in the Mohawk River opposite Elk Street in Amsterdam that author Tony Pacelli wrote was a popular spot for summer gardens.

In his book “Past and Present,” Pacelli recalled a landmark in the river itself, “the rock” in the river near Vrooman Avenue.

          Pacelli wrote, “You had to wade 20 to 25 feet until you located it.  Youngsters 10 to 16 used to dive and flip off the rock and swim to the buoy in the middle of the river and back.  This was a feat that was noticed and admired by the clique.”

Hollie Hughes

https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/trainer/hollie-hughes

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 20, 2022

From the Archives March 26, 2021-Episode 363-How the Adirondack forest preserve was motorized.  The guest is John Warren, founder and editor of New York Almanack.

Thursday, April 21, 2022

From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam remembers 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, April 22, 2022-Episode 419-English classics professor Edmund Richardson is author of The King’s Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria, the story of a deserter who discovered a civilization founded by Alexander the Great in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C.

Robert Yates, John Lansing & The Constitution

by Peter Hess

New York Almanack

https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2022/04/robert-yates-the-constitution-of-the-united-states-of-america/#more-75288

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, April 19, 2022

April 29-Episode 420-Paul Craddock is author of Spare Parts: The Story of Medicine Through the History of Transplant Surgery; May 6-Episode 421-Chris Lamb, author of Stolen Dreams: The 1955 Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars and Little League Baseball’s Civil War.

https://dailygazette.com/

Construction of Montgomery County SPCA shelter coming this year

AMSTERDAM — After over a decade of planning and fundraising, the Montgomery County Society for the...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Johnstown Town Board passes solar farm zoning rules, again

by Jason Subik

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Monday, a new day, new week and The story behind the story podcast  plus Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 6 inches. The higher totals will be at elevations of a 1000 feet or greater.

Monday, April 18, 2022

The Historians Podcast 2022 fund drive still stands at $2100.  That’s a third of our $6,000 goal!  Please donate online here- https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Keep history alive at The Historians Podcast-where we’re working on Episode 422, a highlights episode with excerpts from six recent podcasts.

This Friday, April 22, 2022-Episode 419-English classics professor Edmund Richardson is author of The King’s Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria, the story of a deserter who discovered a civilization founded by Alexander the Great in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

By Bob Cudmore

   Electric-powered trolley cars that ran on metal tracks in city streets helped set the stage for the industrial boom in Amsterdam in the early 1900s.

   The trolleys were operated by the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad (F.J.&G.)  The company also provided interurban electric trolley service to and from Johnstown, Gloversville, Fonda, Amsterdam and Schenectady.

    Businessman Charles H. Vollmer, a veteran of World War I, saw an opening in 1927 for an Amsterdam bus line that continued under local control until 1956. 

   The city granted a franchise to Vollmer in 1927 for bus service in the Park Hill neighborhood near the Bigelow-Sanford carpet mills, which was not served by the trolleys operated by the F.J.&G. 

   Historian Hugh Donlon said people found buses more convenient than trolleys.  Bus passengers were picked up at the curb, not in the middle of the street.  And buses were more maneuverable in motor vehicle traffic.

   By 1938, F.J.&G. abandoned its trolley lines in favor of buses.  Donlon wrote, “After trolleys disappeared, bus operation warfare between the F.J.&G. and the Vollmer Lines in Amsterdam continued in futility and with steadily shrinking patronage.”

   World War II temporarily brought more business than the buses could handle.  In a 1943 newspaper ad, Vollmer pleaded for patience from his customers.  Ridership had skyrocketed but labor was not available during the war.  New buses could not be purchased and parts to repair old buses were hard to find.

   Vollmer, who also owned trucks and oil tankers which hauled goods from Boston to Philadelphia, was suddenly stricken at his Van Dyke Avenue home.  He died at City Hospital on July 24, 1944 and his widow, Katherine Mason Vollmer, took over the business.

   Vollmer had the Amsterdam city contract to collect garbage and ashes but had trouble finding enough workers to do the job.  After Vollmer’s sudden death the garbage piled up, contributing to Mayor Wilbur Lynch’s loss to Joseph Hand in the next mayoral election, according to one of current Mayor Michael Cinquanti’s birthday books.

   Vollmer’s widow remarried in 1950 and became Katherine Vollmer Sann.  She sought state permission to increase Amsterdam bus fares from ten to fifteen cents.  The F.J.&G. also sought a fare increase. 

   The late WCSS radio personality Lloyd Smith remembered the buses struggling to reach the top of Amsterdam’s hills “loaded with shoppers, General Electric workers and (my) grandpa who worked at Alco.”

   Vollmer told state regulators the company lost $47,000 on city bus service from 1951 to 1956. 

   Mohawk Valley Transit from Utica headed by Wallace Sweet, absorbed both Vollmer’a and F.J.&G.’s Amsterdam bus lines in 1956.  The Recorder noted it was the first time in 30 years that local public transportation would be provided by one company.

      The F.J.&G. waiting room on Amsterdam’s East Main Street became the waiting room for Mohawk Valley Transit.  Both the former F.J.&G. bus garage on Division Street and the former Vollmer garage on Gardiner Street continued in use.

   Fire leveled the Division Street bus garage in 1959. The block long building and six buses owned by Mohawk Valley Transit were destroyed, even though firefighters doused the flames within fifteen minutes.

    Donlon wrote, “In April of 1971 when it appeared that Amsterdam would be left without area transportation, the state came to the rescue with funds for a fleet of buses and began contributions toward maintenance of scheduled runs.”   

    The city of Amsterdam discontinued bus service in 2018 when the public transportation deficit ballooned to $1 million.  The state budget includes funds for  Capital District Transportation Authority to extend bus service to Amsterdam and Montgomery County this fall.

Tomorrow

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Sanford Stud Farm horse trainer Hollie Hughes

Grace Bergen of Amsterdam has contributed an obituary of Amsterdam horse trainer Hollie Hughes, who died at the age of 92 in 1981.  At the time of his death, Hughes was living in East Rockaway on Long Island.  He was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Fort Johnson.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

From the Archives March 26, 2021-Episode 363-How the Adirondack forest preserve was motorized.  The guest is John Warren, founder and editor of New York Almanack.

Thursday, April 21, 2022

From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam remembers Teddy Roosevelt

 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.”

Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, April 18, 2022.

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Many return to services on Easter, Passover weekend as COVID reshapes worship

FULTON COUNTY – The Grace Lutheran Church community in Johnstown was back together for its Easter...

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Historians Podcast 2022 fund drive now totals $2100 of our $6,000 goal! Please donate online https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

... The city granted a franchise to Vollmer in 1927 for bus service in the Park Hill neighborhood near the Bigelow-Sanford carpet mills, which was not served by the trolleys operated by the F.J.&G.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   Electric-powered trolley cars that ran on metal tracks in city streets helped set the stage for the industrial boom in Amsterdam in the early 1900s.

   The trolleys were operated by the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad (F.J.&G.)  The company also provided interurban electric trolley service to and from Johnstown, Gloversville, Fonda, Amsterdam and Schenectady.

    Businessman Charles H. Vollmer, a veteran of World War I, saw an opening in 1927 for an Amsterdam bus line that continued under local control until 1956. 

   The city granted a franchise to Vollmer in 1927 for bus service in the Park Hill neighborhood near the Bigelow-Sanford carpet mills, which was not served by the trolleys operated by the F.J.&G. 

   Historian Hugh Donlon said people found buses more convenient than trolleys.  Bus passengers were picked up at the curb, not in the middle of the street.  And buses were more maneuverable in motor vehicle traffic.

   By 1938, F.J.&G. abandoned its trolley lines in favor of buses.  Donlon wrote, “After trolleys disappeared, bus operation warfare between the F.J.&G. and the Vollmer Lines in Amsterdam continued in futility and with steadily shrinking patronage.”

   World War II temporarily brought more business than the buses could handle.  In a 1943 newspaper ad, Vollmer pleaded for patience from his customers.  Ridership had skyrocketed but labor was not available during the war.  New buses could not be purchased and parts to repair old buses were hard to find.

   Vollmer, who also owned trucks and oil tankers which hauled goods from Boston to Philadelphia, was suddenly stricken at his Van Dyke Avenue home.  He died at City Hospital on July 24, 1944 and his widow, Katherine Mason Vollmer, took over the business.

Tomorrow, Monday, April 18, 2022-The story behind the story podcast--the wheels on the bus go round and round-public transit in Amsterdam.

   Vollmer had the Amsterdam city contract to collect garbage and ashes but had trouble finding enough workers to do the job.  After Vollmer’s sudden death the garbage piled up, contributing to Mayor Wilbur Lynch’s loss to Joseph Hand in the next mayoral election, according to one of current Mayor Michael Cinquanti’s birthday books.

   Vollmer’s widow remarried in 1950 and became Katherine Vollmer Sann.  She sought state permission to increase Amsterdam bus fares from ten to fifteen cents.  The F.J.&G. also sought a fare increase. 

   The late WCSS radio personality Lloyd Smith remembered the buses struggling to reach the top of Amsterdam’s hills “loaded with shoppers, General Electric workers and (my) grandpa who worked at Alco.”

   Vollmer told state regulators the company lost $47,000 on city bus service from 1951 to 1956. 

   Mohawk Valley Transit from Utica headed by Wallace Sweet, absorbed both Vollmer’a and F.J.&G.’s Amsterdam bus lines in 1956.  The Recorder noted it was the first time in 30 years that local public transportation would be provided by one company.

      The F.J.&G. waiting room on Amsterdam’s East Main Street became the waiting room for Mohawk Valley Transit.  Both the former F.J.&G. bus garage on Division Street and the former Vollmer garage on Gardiner Street continued in use.

   Fire leveled the Division Street bus garage in 1959. The block long building and six buses owned by Mohawk Valley Transit were destroyed, even though firefighters doused the flames within fifteen minutes.

    Donlon wrote, “In April of 1971 when it appeared that Amsterdam would be left without area transportation, the state came to the rescue with funds for a fleet of buses and began contributions toward maintenance of scheduled runs.”   

    The city of Amsterdam discontinued bus service in 2018 when the public transportation deficit ballooned to $1 million.  The state budget includes funds for  Capital District Transportation Authority to extend bus service to Amsterdam and Montgomery County this fall.

Bob Cudmore at work this Week

Tuesday, April 19, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Sanford Stud Farm horse trainer Hollie Hughes

Grace Bergen of Amsterdam has contributed an obituary of Amsterdam horse trainer Hollie Hughes, who died at the age of 92 in 1981.  At the time of his death, Hughes was living in East Rockaway on Long Island.  He was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Fort Johnson.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022-From the Archives March 26, 2021-Episode 363-How the Adirondack forest preserve was motorized.  The guest is John Warren, founder and editor of New York Almanack.

Thursday, April 21, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam remembers Teddy Roosevelt

 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.”

Friday, April 22, 2022-Episode 419-English classics professor Edmund Richardson is author of The King’s Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria, the story of a deserter who discovered a civilization founded by Alexander the Great in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C.

Historians Podcast 2022 fund drive now totals $2100 of our $6,000 goal! Please donate online https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, April 17, 2022

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