Bound Volumes, Hometown History

March 6, 2025

110 YEARS AGO

March, 1915

90 YEARS AGO

Prospects for a good season at Camp Deerslayer and gains in membership were reported at the meeting of the Executive Board of the Otschodela Boy Scout Council. Estimates received from eight of the 36 units in the council showed that the camp on Otsego Lake will have its largest year in attendance. The Council went on record as being opposed to the Neustein Bill which seeks to regulate camping. The Council believes that the regulations would make the cost of camps such as those operated by Scout Councils and other similar organizations prohibitive. Sixty-three new scouts and 23 new scouters have been added during the last two months. The membership now stands at 766 scouts and 344 scouters. The latter are men past scout age who act as leaders for the scouts.

March, 1935

70 YEARS AGO

A survey of homes in the West Oneonta Fire District is being conducted by Fire Department officers to provide a file of information on how best to fight fires in the district. The survey is being compiled by Vivan L. Tilyou, First Assistant Chief, Lawrence N. Graves, Second Assistant chief and Chief Allan R. Beach. “As fast as possible, we are visiting homes in our district,” Chief Beach said. The survey includes a check on water supplies, number of feet of hose needed to reach water and how many trucks will be needed in the event that water is some distance from a home or farm. Mr. Beach also said that the department would appreciate being informed in advance if residents are planning to burn off brush or an old building.

March, 1955

30 YEARS AGO

Both houses of the New York State legislature return to Albany this week intent on passing a bill to restore the death penalty in New York. And this time, there is a governor who is prepared to sign the bill into law. Former governor Mario Cuomo, who lost last November to Governor George Pataki admits that a death penalty law is popular. “So are a lot of things that are wrong,” he adds. Cuomo predicts that capital punishment won’t deter crime, will be costly to enforce and could lead to even more lives lost. Cuomo’s loss to Pataki came in part because of his opposition. For 12 years as governor, Cuomo vetoed death penalty bills. For six years before that, Governor Hugh Carey vetoed death penalty bills and once threatened to commute any death sentence should a death penalty law be enacted over his veto.

March, 1995

20 YEARS AGO

Even as officials crack down on the clandestine labs cooking up potent batches of methamphetamine across the country, there’s no consensus on how to handle the drug’s toxic by-products, experts told federal lawmakers. A House bill co-sponsored and introduced by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-New Hartford) would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to draw up voluntary standards for cleaning such sites and fund research on the health impacts of such environments, particularly on children and first-responders. “We want to put this on a fast track,” said Boehlert.

March 2005