BOUND VOLUMES, September 19, 2013
200 YEARS AGO
Bank Meeting – At a meeting of a number of Freeholders from the several towns of the county of Otsego, at the Court House, for the purpose of petitioning the Legislature for the incorporation of a bank in said county, Resolved, That David Little be Chairman, and John Russel, Secretary; Resolved that a Petition be presented to the Legislature at their next session for the incorporation of a Bank in the county of Otsego; Resolved that two persons be appointed in each town to circulate the aforesaid Petition. (Ed. Note: Appointed from the Town of Otsego: Peter Goodsell and Henry Phinney)
September 18, 1813
150 YEARS AGO
Decisions Respecting the Military Draft – It has been decided that under the thirteenth Section of the Enrollment Act, a party drafted, and wishing to furnish a substitute, or pay commutation, must do so on or before the day fixed for his appearance. The privilege expires with that day. If he fails to report, and is arrested as a deserter, he has a right to go before the Board of Enrollment and prove that he is not liable to do military duty. If held to be liable, he cannot escape personal service. Also, under such circumstances, he is subject to be proceeded against as a deserter.
September 18, 1863
125 YEARS AGO
Local Briefs – The outdoor concerts given on Main Street this week by the celebrated Tenth Regiment Band of Albany, in attendance at the County Fair, were greatly enjoyed by the hundreds of ladies and gentlemen who had the pleasure of listening to them.
White robins in this section of the country are rare birds, but three of them have been shot this summer in the Town of Middlefield. Rensselaer Brown and B.S. Pitts each have one mounted. These birds are as purely white as are white doves.
September 21, 1888
100 YEARS AGO
The Otesaga Hotel closed Monday after the morning meal. Manager Paul L. Pinkerton and his assistants are at work this week winding up the affairs of the season of 1913, and putting things in shape for the winter. Manager Pinkerton believes that resorts of the class of the Otesaga have suffered during the last few years by the introduction of the automobile, in that people who formerly came to stay several weeks are now given more to touring, stopping overnight wherever night overtakes them; lingering a
little longer, perhaps in a place like the Otesaga, but not in sufficient numbers to compensate for the loss of the steady season’s business. This condition will be overcome in time as the automobile becomes less of a toy. The Otesaga has had a very excellent season compared with most of the well-known resorts.
September 17, 1913
75 YEARS AGO
Application for a WPA Project for the improvement of Doubleday Field was authorized at the regular meeting of the Village Board of Trustees held Monday evening. Mayor Theodore R. Lettis executed the necessary papers. The application provides both for the work incident to the enlargement of the field through the purchase of additional property made possible through the generosity of Mr. Stephen C. Clark, and the erection of a new grandstand according to plans recently approved by the Board. Work will be commenced upon the enlargement project by the village force at once, without awaiting the approval of the project by the WPA. The total cost of the project will be about $23,000 of which the village will pay about $6,000 to $8,000 with the state and federal governments paying the balance.
September 21, 1938
50 YEARS AGO
The village’s Board of Zoning Appeals Monday night unanimously disapproved an application submitted by the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital for permission to convert into a parking lot a vacant site east of Bassett Hall on Beaver Street. The action followed a public meeting earlier that evening. Dr. James Bordley III, Bassett Hospital Director, appealed for a favorable ruling on the application. A number of persons spoke briefly in opposition. Voting against the application were former Mayors Alva C. Welch and Ross J. Young, Planning Commission Chair Frederick L. Rath, Jr., and Harry N. Shepherd, four of the five members of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
September 18, 1963
25 YEARS AGO
Approval by village trustees last week to pay a Rochester consultant $13,600 to submit studies on a village parking garage is an endorsement of years of planning and evaluation according to trustee Pamela Washburn. The project was approved in spite of predictions by Mayor Harold Hollis that a parking garage could cost more than $2 million. “All of that you can’t know until you have the plan. I think that’s why the trustees went ahead with having this possibility looked at and evaluated,” Washburn responded.
September 21, 1988
10 YEARS AGO
A strong, healthy and vibrant red-tailed hawk was released into the wild on Wednesday, September 17, one month after being rescued by a concerned high school student. Tom Krietsch, a tenth-grader at Richfield Springs Central School noticed the bird on the afternoon of August 15th as he was driving by the Little Lake access point with his friend Alan Stokes. “When I saw it, it flew up into the air, and then collapsed to the ground. I knew something was wrong and that I should do something.” Krietsch was able to secure the hawk by covering its head with his shirt. “Once I put the shirt over its head, it seemed like it fell asleep.” Krietsch and Stokes drove the bird to Exeter Veterinary Clinic. The Clinic passed the female hawk onto Bonnie Folnsbee of Adirondack Foothills Wildlife Care at Poland, New York. As Folnsbee was preparing to x-ray the bird, it coughed up a chunk of animal bone that had lodged in its throat. The hawk was released by Folsbee where it was found. “It is very important to release rehabilitated hawks where they are found because they are very territorial,” explained Folnsbee, who, along with her husband Wesley, nursed the bird back to health.
September 19, 2003