The Historians

...Meikle wrote, “She has a banner over her shoulder with ‘Miss Jollyland’ written on it.  From her hairstyle and bathing suit, I’d guess the photo dates from the late 20’s to early 30’s.

Collector asks: Was Amsterdam ever home to a ‘Miss Jollyland’ ?

 by Bob Cudmore

          Americana collector Scott Meikle of Brooklyn purchased a photo of a “smiling beauty queen” at a Manhattan flea market that may have an Amsterdam connection.

          Meikle wrote, “She has a banner over her shoulder with ‘Miss Jollyland’ written on it.  From her hairstyle and bathing suit, I’d guess the photo dates from the late 20’s to early 30’s. I was told the photo came from upstate.  I like the image because the girl seems very real and good-humored.”

          Meikle wondered if the picture came from the Amsterdam amusement park known as Jollyland.  Do you know if there was a local Miss Jollyland contest?  Meikle could not provide a copy of the photo.

          Historian Hugh Donlon wrote that Edward and Thomas McCaffrey built the facility that preceded Jollyland, which they called Crescent Park, in 1914.  “Name change to Jollyland came when the park was taken over by Fred J. Collins in 1923,” Donlon wrote.

          Lifelong Amsterdam resident Sophie Gomula said that Jollyland had an aerial swing, a “snap-the-whip” ride and a roller skating rink in the 1930s.  Gomula said, people walked to Jollyland or took the trolley. 

Thanks to a generous donation from Thomas Stewart, Dave Northrup and James Martin the Historians Podcast 2022 fund drive now totals $1400.00.  If we raise $450 more this month we’ll be on our way to reaching this year’s $6000 goal.  Please donate online here- https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to the now not-so-lonely mailbox at 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.  Keep history alive at The Historians Podcast—where we’re working on Episode 416-Neil Lanctot’s book on the debate that took place over whether America should enter World War I.   Thank you. 

Jollyland was renamed Mohawk Mills Park in the late 1930s and became the home of the Amsterdam Rugmakers in the Canadian-American baseball league.  In 1977, the park received its current name, Herbert Shuttleworth Park.  Shuttleworth was chief executive of Mohawk Carpets and Mohasco and a leading supporter of the baseball team.

In his book “Annals of a Mill Town,” Donlon listed other major parks in the Amsterdam area during the region’s industrial prime.  Veterans Field on Locust Avenue was originally a 50-acre tract of land purchased in 1920 by the Sanford Carpet Mills for employee recreation.  The property was turned over to the city when Bigelow-Sanford ceased local carpet production in 1955.  Akin Park near Old Fort Johnson had a popular dance hall and was adjacent to the trolley line.  Karp’s Park along upper Church Street in Amsterdam was a venue for carnivals and circuses.

Creeler’s Park in the East End was used by soccer players from the Shuttleworth carpet mills.  Later, baseball was played there.  Also in the East End was Ross’ Flats where circuses pitched their tents conveniently adjacent to a railroad siding.  In later years, there was an East End park named for Matthew J. Coessens, who was the first Amsterdam soldier killed on the battlefield, according to Donlon.  That park became an industrial site in 1967. 

MORE ON SNOWMAN

          People are still interested in a photo of children standing around a tall snowman in front of the former Firth’s Grocery Store at Locust Avenue and Lindsey Street in Amsterdam, current location of Mirror Image beauty salon. 

Beverly Jablonski provided a likely date for the event.  Her copy of the snowman photo is dated March 1947.  Sharon Brown Bernaski grew up in the Locust Avenue neighborhood and remembered the snowman-building project.  Bernaski recalled that a tall snowman was first built on the street but city plows knocked it down.  Then, she said, the snowman was built in front of the grocery store.

FORT HUNTER MEMORIES

          In a recent column, Fort Hunter native Arnold Wittemeier recalled the 1930s when his father played in the Fort Hunter Military Band.  Wittemeier did not know why the musical group was called a military band.

“Traditionally a 'military band' means all the instruments (except the drums) are brass, that is no stringed instruments such as in a concert band,” wrote Peter Betz of Perth.

Another Fort Hunter memory was sent in by Nancy Bebb, who remembered going to the hamlet for ice cream at Annie Brown’s: “My grandmother, aunt and uncle lived in Tribes Hill and a trip to Brown's was a treat I'll long remember.”

Wednesday, March 9, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 187, November 3, 2017, Gus Kappler, M.D., recounts his service in Vietnam as described in his book, “Welcome Home from Vietnam Finally: A Vietnam Trauma Surgeon’s Memoir.”

Thursday, March 10, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—Young filmmakers in 1940s Amsterdam

A recent column with a list of names from the St. Stanislaus School eighth grade class of 1940 provided by Fred Wojcicki prompted class member George A. Tralka to recollect stories from his teen-age years...

Friday, March 11, 2022-Episode 413-The first highlights episode of 2022 with excerpts from seven Historians Podcasts including Evacuation Day in New York City, 100 years of WGY radio in Schenectady, a chat with New York State historian Devin Lander, the case for Benedict Arnold and more.

Oneida County History Center

...in person or Zoom

The Bob Cudmore/Wade Wells Podcast "Down the Page"

Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.
Sir William Johnson and the Mohawk Valley

Sir William Johnson (1715 - 1774) was the largest landowner and an influential individual in colonial Mohawk Valley. He served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs and his relations with the Six Nations of the Iroquois greatly influenced England's control of colonial North America. Johnson Hall Site Manager Wade Wells will discuss this important figure in Mohawk Valley history.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Daily Gazette

Police: Amsterdam man drove drunk, illegally possessed handgun in Saratoga Springs
SARATOGA SPRINGS – An Amsterdam man drove drunk and illegally possessed a handgun and ammunition feeding device early Saturday in…

https://dailygazette.com/

Minden got milk when tanker overturned in weekend accident; No injuries reported

by Ashley Onyon

Photo Caption: The scene Sunday. STAN HUDY/THE RECORDER

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Drone Racing

by Andrew Waite

https://www.leaderherald.com/

   ...my uncle by marriage, Peter Segen, was from Ukraine.  One of his daughters, Barbara Segen Gould, wrote, “He was born in Galicia a province of Ukraine sandwiched between Poland and Austria-Hungary.

The story behind the story-Ukrainian connections in Amsterdam

Monday, March 7, 2022

1916

Bob Cudmore's uncle Peter Segen shortly after he arrived in America from Ukraine

   The first Ukrainians to migrate to Amsterdam did so about 1903.  These early settlers included Simon Kolodeychuk and Elias Yurkwych.

   St. Nicholas Brotherhood formed in 1907 with 26 members from Amsterdam and other communities.  Construction of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Amsterdam began that year on Pulaski Street.  The church was completed and dedicated to St. Nicholas in 1910. 

   There were about 70 Ukrainian families in Amsterdam before World War I.  In 1914 the Sisterhood of the Immaculate Conception of Mary started.  The first president was Anna Kwas. 

   My uncle by marriage, Peter Segen, was from Ukraine.  One of his daughters, Barbara Segen Gould, wrote, “He was born in Galicia a province of Ukraine sandwiched between Poland and Austria-Hungary.  In 1898 when he was born it was ruled by Austria-Hungary, but I remember him saying that its governance regularly switched from Austria-Hungary to Poland to Ukrainia.  Dad proudly called himself a Ukrainian and let no one call him anything else!”

   The family has a letter indicating the original spelling of Segen may have been Sygin.  Segen Gould lives in Connecticut but two sisters, Betty Pronk and Margaret Hisert, live in the Amsterdam area.  A brother, John, died years ago.

   Segen Gould wrote, “Upon the death of his parents, the farm on which Dad grew up was left to either his oldest brother or the two older brothers.  Dad was 18 in 1916 and with a young uncle who I believe was about 30, decided to emigrate.”

   They made it to Hamburg, Germany, and stowed away on a passenger ship bound for New York.  They were discovered and had to work for their passage.

   Segen Gould wrote, “Upon landing at Ellis Island, Dad and his Uncle went through the usual screenings and although without papers, were allowed to remain in the United States.”

   Peter left Ellis Island to work for a coal mining company in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  He developed tuberculosis and was sent to the Mount Loretto convalescent home in the town of Amsterdam.  

   My mother’s sister, Jane Cook, was a cook at Mount Loretto.  She and Peter married in the 1930s.  They moved to a small house on Touareuna Road.

   Meanwhile, at St. Nicholas in Amsterdam in the twenties and thirties, the church sponsored an orchestra, dance troupe and dramatic group.

  Ukrainian immigration to America increased after World War II.  The large number of children led to an Amsterdam parish school.

   The Ukrainian Catholic Youth League organized after World War II.  There were basketball teams for boys and girls and a Ukrainian Boy Scouts troop.  The church rectory was built in 1948.

   When I was young (I was born in 1945) our family lived in a flat on Pulaski Street near St. Nicholas.  My sister and I would look out our window when the church had colorful processions on Easter and other special days.

   A portion of Amsterdam’s St. Casimir’s Lithuanian Cemetery off Widow Susan Road was purchased in 1955 and named St. Nicholas Cemetery

   A Ukrainian–American Citizen's Club, built in 1961 on Amsterdam’s Teller Street, held programs for Ukrainians and others.  By the early 2000s though the club had ceased to function.

   The number of Ukrainians in Amsterdam started to drop in the 1970s largely due to general decline of industry in the city.

   However, Ukraine’s independence in 1991 opened the doors for more immigration. 

   Now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has cast a dark cloud over the future of Ukraine itself.

   Information on Amsterdam’s St. Nicholas Ukrainian community was provided by Martha Swidersky.  Swidersky’s father Myron Swidersky is a longtime advocate for the Ukrainian community in Amsterdam.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Was there a Miss Jollyland?

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Gus Kappler, M.D., recounts his service in Vietnam as described in his book, “Welcome Home from Vietnam Finally: A Vietnam Trauma Surgeon’s Memoir.”

Thursday, March 10, 2022

Young filmmakers in 1940s Amsterdam

Friday, March 11, 2022

Episode 413

The first highlights episode of 2022 with excerpts from seven Historians Podcasts including Evacuation Day in New York City, 100 years of WGY radio in Schenectady, a chat with New York State historian Devin Lander, the case for Benedict Arnold and more.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 7, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, March 7, 2022

Daily Gazette

Schenectady County unveils $19M emergency radio system
ROTTERDAM — When the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Office responded to incidents in the western parts of the county as recently as…

https://dailygazette.com/

Sound lessons: HFM BOCES programs teaching more than just practical skills

If Yariel Espinet, an Amsterdam High School junior, ever opens the Mexican restaurant he dreams...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Blasts from the past: Marguerite Gale, Bleeker's silent film star

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Sunday, March 6, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 319- Christie Sausa is author of the book “Lake Placid: Figure Skating, A History.”

Bob Cudmore, Focus on History, Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder

Ukrainians in Amsterdam

Picture:

Bob Cudmore's uncle Peter Segen shortly after he arrived in America from Ukraine in 1916  

Tomorrow, Monday, March 7, 2022-The story behind the story-Ukrainian connections in Amsterdam

   The first Ukrainians to migrate to Amsterdam did so about 1903.  These early settlers included Simon Kolodeychuk and Elias Yurkwych.

   St. Nicholas Brotherhood formed in 1907 with 26 members from Amsterdam and other communities.  Construction of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Amsterdam began that year on Pulaski Street.  The church was completed and dedicated to St. Nicholas in 1910. 

   There were about 70 Ukrainian families in Amsterdam before World War I.  In 1914 the Sisterhood of the Immaculate Conception of Mary started.  The first president was Anna Kwas. 

   My uncle by marriage, Peter Segen, was from Ukraine.  One of his daughters, Barbara Segen Gould, wrote, “He was born in Galicia a province of Ukraine sandwiched between Poland and Austria-Hungary.  In 1898 when he was born it was ruled by Austria-Hungary, but I remember him saying that its governance regularly switched from Austria-Hungary to Poland to Ukrainia.  Dad proudly called himself a Ukrainian and let no one call him anything else!”

   The family has a letter indicating the original spelling of Segen may have been Sygin.  Segen Gould lives in Connecticut but two sisters, Betty Pronk and Margaret Hisert, live in the Amsterdam area.  A brother, John, died years ago.

   Segen Gould wrote, “Upon the death of his parents, the farm on which Dad grew up was left to either his oldest brother or the two older brothers.  Dad was 18 in 1916 and with a young uncle who I believe was about 30, decided to emigrate.”

   They made it to Hamburg, Germany, and stowed away on a passenger ship bound for New York.  They were discovered and had to work for their passage.

   Segen Gould wrote, “Upon landing at Ellis Island, Dad and his Uncle went through the usual screenings and although without papers, were allowed to remain in the United States.”

   Peter left Ellis Island to work for a coal mining company in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  He developed tuberculosis and was sent to the Mount Loretto convalescent home in the town of Amsterdam.  

   My mother’s sister, Jane Cook, was a cook at Mount Loretto.  She and Peter married in the 1930s.  They moved to a small house on Touareuna Road.

   Meanwhile, at St. Nicholas in Amsterdam in the twenties and thirties, the church sponsored an orchestra, dance troupe and dramatic group.

  Ukrainian immigration to America increased after World War II.  The large number of children led to an Amsterdam parish school.

   The Ukrainian Catholic Youth League organized after World War II.  There were basketball teams for boys and girls and a Ukrainian Boy Scouts troop.  The church rectory was built in 1948.

   When I was young (I was born in 1945) our family lived in a flat on Pulaski Street near St. Nicholas.  My sister and I would look out our window when the church had colorful processions on Easter and other special days.

   A portion of Amsterdam’s St. Casimir’s Lithuanian Cemetery off Widow Susan Road was purchased in 1955 and named St. Nicholas Cemetery

   A Ukrainian–American Citizen's Club, built in 1961 on Amsterdam’s Teller Street, held programs for Ukrainians and others.  By the early 2000s though the club had ceased to function.

   The number of Ukrainians in Amsterdam started to drop in the 1970s largely due to general decline of industry in the city.

   However, Ukraine’s independence in 1991 opened the doors for more immigration. 

   Now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has cast a dark cloud over the future of Ukraine itself.

   Information on Amsterdam’s St. Nicholas Ukrainian community was provided by Martha Swidersky.  Swidersky’s father Myron Swidersky is a longtime advocate for the Ukrainian community in Amsterdam.

Sunday, March 6, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 319- Christie Sausa is author of the book “Lake Placid: Figure Skating, A History.”

Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, March 6, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, March 6, 2022

Daily Gazette

Amid tight housing market, Amsterdam’s foreclosure auction attracts interest
AMSTERDAM — The tight housing market is driving up interest in the 28 homes for sale through Amsterdam’s foreclosure auction,…

Schenectady-based DSD on sharp growth path as green energy expands
SCHENECTADY — Less than three years after leaving the mothership, General Electric spinoff DSD Renewables has nearly tripled its workforce…

https://dailygazette.com/

Huge run, Burchhardt’s hot shooting lead Schalmont girls’ basketball to Section II Class B title

TROY — As she warmed up for the Section II Class B girls’ basketball championship game Saturday...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Ukrainians in Amsterdam

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History, Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder will be posted tomorrow, Sunday, March 6, 2022

Saturday, March 5,2022

Episode 412-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan discusses the life of Marinus Willett.  Willett is well known to historians because of the work he did during the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley.  But Willett was born downstate and returned there after the war to serve in public office.

Maple Weekend is Back in New York State

March 19-20 and 26-27

https://nysmaple.com/

American Revolution Conference in the Mohawk Valley

Fort Plain Museum https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062

June 9-12, 2022

Conference - June 10th-12th (Please Note, the Conference is expanded to include 13 Speakers and Starts 1:00 pm on Friday, June 10th, Continues all day Saturday, June 11th and Ends about 12:30 pm on Sunday June 12th

 Amsterdam and Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, March 5, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, March 5, 2022

Daily Gazette

Motorists swarm Schenectady gas station with one of the last prices under $4 a gallon
SCHENECTADY — Eleven of the 12 gas pumps were running Friday afternoon at the Alltown Fresh on Erie Boulevard but…

https://dailygazette.com/

Maple Hill gets past Fort Plain to claim Section II Class C boys’ basketball title

GLENS FALLS – In the first Section II boys’ basketball championship game to take place since 2020,...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Fulton County Veterans dept. moving to Route 29

by Jason Subik

https://www.leaderherald.com/

This Saturday, March 5, 2022-Focus on History in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder-Ukrainian connections in Amsterdam

...Marinus Willett became the sheriff of New York City

Coming soon on Historians Podcast

Tomorrow,Friday, March 4, 2022-Episode 412-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan discusses the life of Marinus Willett.  Willett is well known to historians because of the work he did during the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley.  But Willett was born downstate and returned there after the war to serve in public office.

Friday, March 11, 2022-Episode 413-A highlights show with excerpts from podcasts including Evacuation Day in New York City, 100 years of WGY radio in Schenectady and State historian Devin Lander; March 18-Episode 414-Annette Libeskind Berkovits discusses her novel “The Corset Maker” the story of a courageous Orthodox Jewish teen, Rifka, who lived in Warsaw Poland in the 1920s and 1930s Friday, March 25, 2022-Episode 415-Violinist Ann-Marie Barker Schwarz explores the history of music in the early days of radio in the 1920s at WGY in Schenetady.  Barker Schwarz is the founder of Musicians of Ma’alwyck. 

2022 Historians Podcast fund drive goal is $6,000. 

Historians with new, old stories every day on "the net"

Monday and Wednesday on WMHT 89.1FM Public Radio Albany RISE

Saturday at 12:07PM WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM

Sunday at 4:30PM WBDY 99.1FM Southern Tier

GoFundMe. https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or send a check to the famous mailbox of Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.  

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Keeping Italian Gardens’ memories alive

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

          Amsterdam transplant Fred Wojcicki from California has contributed a memory of the Italian Gardens of Broadalbin.

          “My brother Joe, who lost his life in St. Lo, France on August 18, 1944, worked for Arthur Chalmers who owned the gardens in Broadalbin during the Depression years,” Wojcicki wrote.  “I had been on the grounds of the gardens a few times with my brother and can still remember Mr. Chalmers going by in his chauffeured limousine.”

          According to Russell Dunn, author of “Adventures Around the Great Sacandaga Lake,” Brooklyn socialite Katherine Husted, a summer resident of Broadalbin, created the Italian Gardens.

          A postcard view shows the gardens in their prime in 1907 with what Dunn described as “fantastic sculptures, sundials, magnificent flowers and columns.”  There was a windmill to bring water to the gardens and a swinging bridge over Kenyetto Creek.  The socialite built a dam on the creek to create a body of water called Lake Husted that she navigated in swan boats.

          Husted, who died in 1921, apparently wanted the gardens to duplicate formal gardens in Italy.  Exotic plants grown in her greenhouses were donated to Cornell University after her death.          

Arthur Chalmers, who headed an Amsterdam button factory that was located on East Main Street, purchased the Husted estate in Broadalbin and renovated the gardens.

          Dunn found remains of the Italian Gardens on private property off Meadow and Thompson streets in Broadalbin.

MUSOLFF MUSIC

          Wojcicki also recalled the Musolff family of Amsterdam and their dedication to good band music.

          “I remember them well and listened to their music in parades along Main Street and in local parks,” Wojcicki wrote.

          Three members of the Musolff family were key players in the Mohawk Mills Band, a men’s concert and marching band.  Members came from all walks of life but the core group was from the carpet mill where the Musolff brothers—Edward, Harry and Frank—were employed.

          Edward and Harry Musolff and fellow musician Butch Robertshaw started the band in 1927.  Edward Musolff met an untimely death in 1930 when, according to a relative, he died of an infection after a boil on his neck was lanced at the mill infirmary.

          Frank Musolff led the band until 1942 when he entered military service.  Then, Harry Musolff became band director.  Other band conductors included Herman Minch, John Arthur Maney, Harris Dersham, Vincent Cresanti and Louis Vorse.

          Wojcicki recalled that the Mohawk Mills Band played in the 1930s for the Amsterdam premiere of the movie “Drums Along the Mohawk.”  The band also performed at Radio City Music Hall in the 1930s for a national radio broadcast sponsored by Mohawk Carpets.

          When the carpet mill ended support of the band in 1952, American Legion Post 701 picked up sponsorship.  Jerry Culick was one director of the band during the Post 701 era.       

ALTAR BOYS

          Wojcicki attended the former St. Stanislaus School on Cornell Street in Amsterdam from first to eighth grade, graduating in June 1940.

          “I served Mass along with pastor Father Anton Gorski,” Wojcicki wrote.  “John Mycek was my servant boy mentor.  Later on, I served Mass with Father Stanislaus ‘Gus’ Gospodarek.  Some of the other servant boys and grade school chums were Bob Halgas, Boloey Bogdan, Chet Smolen, Ed Taberski, Karol Krajewski, Dick Karabin, Vincent Jaracz, Bill Wojcik, John and Bob Kosinski, Alex Boris, George Trailka (whose father was the church organist), Bill Gurtowski (whose father was the church jack of all trades), Ray Majewski, Art Kinowski, Stan Mazur and Al Zawielinski.  I have a 1940 St. Stanislaus” graduating class photo hanging here in my small home office.”

 Amsterdam and Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 3, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, March 3, 2022

Daily Gazette

EDITORIAL: Don’t sack taxpayers on Bills stadium deal
We all love the Buffalo Bills. That is, unless we root for the Giants or Jets or Patriots or some…

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Johnstown working to address downtown parking concerns

by Andrew Waite

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...it was built not to be scary

The Old Main

Wednesday, March 2, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 78, September 20. 2015-Dennis Webster has written “Old Main: New York State Lunatic Asylum in Utica, N.Y.”  Opened it 1843, it was the first insane asylum in New York State and the second one in the nation.

We need your help to reach our 2022 Historians Podcast fund drive goal of $6,000.  We got off to a good start thanks to our listeners but we haven’t had a new donation in several days.  Please donate online on GoFundMe. https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. The Historians on the Internet and Radio  

Coming soon on Historians Podcast

March 11-Episode 413-A highlights show with excerpts from podcasts including Evacuation Day in New York City, 100 years of WGY radio in Schenectady and State historian Devin Lander; March 18-Episode 414-Annette Libeskind Berkovits discusses her novel “The Corset Maker” the story of a courageous Orthodox Jewish teen, Rifka, who lived in Warsaw Poland in the 1920s and 1930s

Thursday, March 3, 2022

The Italian Gardens of Broadalbin

According to Russell Dunn, author of “Adventures Around the Great Sacandaga Lake,” Brooklyn socialite Katherine Husted, a summer resident of Broadalbin, created the Italian Gardens.

From New York City, Jim Kaplan with the story of Marinus Willett

Episode 412-Friday, March 4, 2022

New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan discusses the life of Marinus Willett.  Willett is well known to historians because of the work he did during the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley.  But Willett was born downstate and returned there after the war to serve in public office.

 Amsterdam and Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Daily Gazette

Johnstown funeral home owner posts bail following arraignment on 3 new charges
Brian M. Barnett, the 35-year-old Johnstown funeral home owner accused of improperly handling human remains, has posted bail after he was…

New travel center in Fonda could help fuel community
FULTONVILLE — As Bobby Naske watched the new Pilot Travel Center being built in Fultonville, he knew he wanted to…

https://dailygazette.com/

High schools: Broadalbin-Perth Alpine skier Cotter wins state slalom championshi

Broadalbin-Perth’s Colin Cotter posted the fastest time in both runs, storming his way to the...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...it's March and it's Tuesday on The Historians

Sportsmen’s Show drew thousands to Amsterdam

[email protected]

“Focus on History” by Bob Cudmore from the files of The Daily Gazette 

          Larrabee’s hardware and sporting goods store on Market Street was selling Ike Walton fishing boots for $6.95 in March of 1937 as over a thousand hunters and fishermen attended the annual Sportsmen’s Show in Amsterdam.

          Sponsored by the Amsterdam Fish and Game League, the shows were held in the gymnasium and auditorium of the former Theodore Roosevelt Junior High on Guy Park Avenue during the school’s annual Easter vacation.

          “It was a big thing,” said city resident Mario Checca.  “They chopped wood, sawed wood and rolled logs on the water.”

          The league formed in 1931 and the annual shows began in 1933, first at the South Side armory then at the junior high.  Some years were missed during and after the war but the event resumed with an entire week of activities in the late 1940s, attracting tens of thousands of visitors.  Proceeds went for fish stocking and other conservation work. 

“The club roster at the time included prominent business and professional men who provided gradually improved know-how combined with enthusiasm that made the beavers being exhibited suffer in comparison,” wrote historian Hugh Donlon in his book “Annals of a Mill Town.”

          The men of the league became famous for hearty pancake suppers served in the junior high cafeteria.  There were canoe tipping, ax wielding, fly-casting and sharp shooting competitions and demonstrations, along with professional exhibits.  In 1937, the show featured the world’s biggest snowshoe, sent by a Maine manufacturer.  In 1938, league members put on a skit called “Trappers’ Justice” in which local marksman W.H. Jacoby hit the bulls eye on a card held by Robert Knapp, while Art Grass played the harmonica.  Leyman and Arnold Watson of Hope Falls won the men’s log sawing contest that year while Mildred Moore and Sarah Colson won the women’s competition.

          In 1946, the show featured state lumberjack championship events.  In a program ad, the popular Bigler’s Tavern across from the junior high urged sportsmen to make Bigler’s their “headquarters…before and after the show.”  There was no show in 1947 but in 1948, the event ran for eight days, featuring live bears and trick log rollers from Michigan.  An estimated 25,000 attended.  Larrabee’s sponsored a live radio broadcast by station WENT and William Cerrito from the store’s sporting goods department was president of the fish and game league that year.

          Local native Charles Wharton, who died in July at the age of 97, preserved the memorabilia that form the basis for this story.  A banker, Wharton was an accomplished Adirondacks outdoorsmen who was founding treasurer of the fish and game league and a prime mover in organizing the annual shows. 

He told an interviewer several years ago that people came from all over the state on buses and up from New York City to “see how we did things.”

“Real pine logs right out of the woods,” Wharton said, were used for the log rolling competition.  So many pine boughs decorated the junior high, he said, that, “The place smelled like the north woods.”

The shows ended sometime in the 1950s, according to historian Donlon, after professional entertainment companies that competed with the volunteer event asked the State Education Department to rule if it was proper to hold the show in a public school.

Donlon said the answer from the state was “an official frown,” adding, “That brought an end to one of the most ambitious and successful community undertakings ever recorded in the valley.”

As kids, it was eerie

Tomorrow, The Old Main

Wednesday, March 2, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 78, September 20. 2015-Dennis Webster has written “Old Main: New York State Lunatic Asylum in Utica, N.Y.”  Opened it 1843, it was the first insane asylum in New York State and the second one in the nation.

Thursday, March 3, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—The Italian Gardens of Broadalbin

"Dunn found remains of the Italian Gardens on private property off Meadow and Thompson streets in Broadalbin"

Jim Kaplan with the days of old stories from New York City

Episode 412 this Friday, March 4, 2022

New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan discusses the life of Marinus Willett.  Willett is well known to historians because of the work he did during the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley.  But Willett was born downstate and returned there after the war to serve in public office.

 Amsterdam and Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Daily Gazette

Fonda-Fultonville senior Carter Petersen becomes fifth athlete from family to reach championships as a hurdler
FONDA — Every family has its traditions, legacies that pass from one generation to the next. Maybe it’s a family…

New York to lift statewide school mask mandate by Wednesday
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Sunday that the statewide masking requirement in schools will be lifted by March 2…

https://dailygazette.com/

Graduation rate reaches 84% at Amsterdam High School

AMSTERDAM — Amsterdam High School’s graduation rate reached 84% last school year, but it’s unclear...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

High schools: Broadalbin-Perth’s Cotter wins boys’ slalom at state Alpine ski championship

LH Staff

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...oh, what the heck

This Historians narration is "7 minutes" long

Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on the winter of 1958.

...from The Gazette https://dailygazette.com/

‘My heart is broken’: As Russia invasion continues, Amsterdam’s Ukraine community prays for peace
AMSTERDAM — In the days since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, Nataliya Romanishin has done her best to stay in touch with…

Tomorrow is March 1, 2022

From the Bob Cudmore Library of  Daily Gazette stories—Sportsmen’s shows in Amsterdam 

The league formed in 1931 and the annual shows began in 1933, first at the South Side armory then at the junior high. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 78, September 20. 2015-Dennis Webster has written “Old Main: New York State Lunatic Asylum in Utica, N.Y.”  Opened it 1843, it was the first insane asylum in New York State and the second one in the nation.

Thursday, March 3, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—The Italian Gardens of Broadalbin

 Husted, who died in 1921, apparently wanted the gardens to duplicate formal gardens in Italy. 

Jim Kaplan is back on The Historians schedule this Friday, March 4, 2022

Episode 412

New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan discusses the life of Marinus Willett.  Willett is well known to historians because of the work he did during the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley.  But Willett was born downstate and returned there after the war to serve in public office.

The winter of 1958

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   Snow disrupted life in the Mohawk Valley in February 1958.  For four days a U.S. Army helicopter evacuated isolated families and brought in food, fuel and medicine to Charleston.

   There were about 100 rescues in rural Montgomery County.  Grateful families provided plow operators with coffee and food.  Some farmers had to dump spoiled milk.  Amsterdam city schools closed for a week.

   According to the Recorder a mid-February snowstorm deposited 27 inches of the white stuff on top of a nine inch snowfall the week before.  High winds tossed the snow into drifts as high as ten feet and “blocked most roads in Montgomery County.”

   In Scotch Church on the border between Princetown and the town of Florida a returning family member was briefly mistaken for a bear.  On a more optimistic note, the snow didn’t stop a birthday party in Amsterdam. 

   Ralph Bohlke was thirteen in 1958.  Snowed in by the first storm for seven days, relief arrived in the form of a Schenectady County plow that got to Bohlke’s home on Route 160.  That evening produced the second snowfall and the Bohlkes were snowed in another seven days.  Relief finally came from a town of Florida plow. 

   Bohlke wrote, “I remember there was so much blowing snow that it was the only time in my life that I could not get out the front or back door.  There was even a porch on the front door, but the snow was still blown up against the door so we couldn’t get outdoors.  We had a wood shed attached to the back of the house with a dog door.  I climbed out of the dog door to get outside.”

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   Bohlke and his mother Genevieve stayed home in Scotch Church to make sure the furnace kept working.  The snow was almost even with the telephone lines.  Bohlke’s father, Harley Bohlke, stayed in Amsterdam with an aunt, Elizabeth Folmsbee on Guy Park Avenue, as he had to operate his business, Mohawk Cleaners & Dyers, on Cedar Street.  

   Bohlke wrote, “I remember digging a tunnel out to the road in the driveway.  When my father came home after the two weeks, he had a black bear hat on and when I first saw it I wasn’t sure who or what was coming through that tunnel.  Fortunately it was my father with groceries in both arms.”

   Bohlke said, “As kids, we loved the two weeks off.  We played basketball in Aucompaugh’s barn and did a lot of tobogganing.  We would go right over apple trees, going airborne, and crash into the snow.  Since there was so much snow, we would just go right into the snow and get buried.  You could not sleigh ride as the snow was too powdery and too deep.  Those were the days.”

   Meanwhile an Amsterdam couple trudged uphill through deep snow to a birthday party for four-year old Gerald R. Snyder during the snowstorm. 

   Snyder and his parents lived at the top of the hill at the corner of Columbia Street and The Mall.  The Mall is one of the steepest streets in a very hilly city.

   Snyder’s aunt and uncle lived in an apartment down the hill on Stewart Street and often came to Snyder’s house to watch television.

   Snyder and his mother Eileen saw two figures in the distance trudging through waist deep snow.  When the walkers got closer, they were recognized as Snyder’s aunt and uncle, Anita and Haverly Hewitt.

   The spring brought flooding along the Mohawk River.  After that, the Army Corps of Engineers built retaining walls along the south side of the river in Amsterdam.

 Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, February 28, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, February 28, 2022

Daily Gazette

‘My heart is broken’: As Russia invasion continues, Amsterdam’s Ukraine community prays for peace
AMSTERDAM — In the days since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, Nataliya Romanishin has done her best to stay in touch with…

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Gloversville boys’ basketball knocks off No. 1 seed Troy in double OT in Class A quarterfinals

https://www.leaderherald.com/

The Historians with Bob Cudmore on the radio this afternoon, Saturday, February 26, 2022 12:07PM following the Noon News. WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM 1490AM http://www.wcss1490.com/ Episode 411 Jim Coulthart is an aviation historian. He has a collection of WWII aircraft incidents, and accidents with ties to Central New York. 

...it was a humdinger

Amsterdam City Street, Friday, February 25, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

Picture:Daily Gazette-Photographer Peter R. Barber

The winter of 1958

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   Snow disrupted life in the Mohawk Valley in February 1958.  For four days a U.S. Army helicopter evacuated isolated families and brought in food, fuel and medicine to Charleston.

   There were about 100 rescues in rural Montgomery County.  Grateful families provided plow operators with coffee and food.  Some farmers had to dump spoiled milk.  Amsterdam city schools closed for a week.

   According to the Recorder a mid-February snowstorm deposited 27 inches of the white stuff on top of a nine inch snowfall the week before.  High winds tossed the snow into drifts as high as ten feet and “blocked most roads in Montgomery County.”

   In Scotch Church on the border between Princetown and the town of Florida a returning family member was briefly mistaken for a bear.  On a more optimistic note, the snow didn’t stop a birthday party in Amsterdam. 

   Ralph Bohlke was thirteen in 1958.  Snowed in by the first storm for seven days, relief arrived in the form of a Schenectady County plow that got to Bohlke’s home on Route 160.  That evening produced the second snowfall and the Bohlkes were snowed in another seven days.  Relief finally came from a town of Florida plow. 

   Bohlke wrote, “I remember there was so much blowing snow that it was the only time in my life that I could not get out the front or back door.  There was even a porch on the front door, but the snow was still blown up against the door so we couldn’t get outdoors.  We had a wood shed attached to the back of the house with a dog door.  I climbed out of the dog door to get outside.”

   Bohlke and his mother Genevieve stayed home in Scotch Church to make sure the furnace kept working.  The snow was almost even with the telephone lines.  Bohlke’s father, Harley Bohlke, stayed in Amsterdam with an aunt, Elizabeth Folmsbee on Guy Park Avenue, as he had to operate his business, Mohawk Cleaners & Dyers, on Cedar Street.  

   Bohlke wrote, “I remember digging a tunnel out to the road in the driveway.  When my father came home after the two weeks, he had a black bear hat on and when I first saw it I wasn’t sure who or what was coming through that tunnel.  Fortunately it was my father with groceries in both arms.”

   Bohlke said, “As kids, we loved the two weeks off.  We played basketball in Aucompaugh’s barn and did a lot of tobogganing.  We would go right over apple trees, going airborne, and crash into the snow.  Since there was so much snow, we would just go right into the snow and get buried.  You could not sleigh ride as the snow was too powdery and too deep.  Those were the days.”

   Meanwhile an Amsterdam couple trudged uphill through deep snow to a birthday party for four-year old Gerald R. Snyder during the snowstorm. 

   Snyder and his parents lived at the top of the hill at the corner of Columbia Street and The Mall.  The Mall is one of the steepest streets in a very hilly city.

   Snyder’s aunt and uncle lived in an apartment down the hill on Stewart Street and often came to Snyder’s house to watch television.

   Snyder and his mother Eileen saw two figures in the distance trudging through waist deep snow.  When the walkers got closer, they were recognized as Snyder’s aunt and uncle, Anita and Haverly Hewitt.

   The spring brought flooding along the Mohawk River.  After that, the Army Corps of Engineers built retaining walls along the south side of the river in Amsterdam.

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Tomorrow, Sunday, February 27, 2022--From the Archives-Episode 56, April 12, 2015, Times Union reporter and historian Paul Grondahl on CBS commentator Andy Rooney and Albany public relations man Ed Lewi.

Today "Less weather"

First time this week, there has not been a storm warning...

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, February 26, 2022

Mohawk Valley News, Saturday, February 26, 2022

Daily Gazette

Focus on History: It was the winter of ’58
Snow disrupted life in the Mohawk Valley in February 1958. For four days a U.S. Army helicopter evacuated isolated families…

https://dailygazette.com/

High schools: Fonda-Fultonville/Johnstown’s Hicks, Canajoharie/Fort Plain’s Douglass advance to state wrestling semifinals

Fonda-Fultonville/Johnstown junior Owen Hicks and Canajoharie/Fort Plain senior Reed Douglass both...

https://www.recordernews.com/

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