Canajoharie

Twenty Years Ago

The next public informational meeting on the proposed merger of the Canajoharie and Sharon Springs central school districts will be held in the East Hill cafetorium. District Superintendent Richard Rose noted that copies of the completed merger study report are available at all district offices.

From more than 100,000 applicants nationwide, Michael Gifford, a senior at Canajoharie High School, has been selected as one of the 1780 semifinalists in the 1993 Coca-Cola Scholars Program. The semifinals are chosen for their balance of leadership, character and achievement, in school and community. Gifford must complete additional materials, which will be screened by the Foundation’s Program Review Committee. If selected one of the 150 Scholars, he will attend the National Competition in Atlanta to compete for designation as a National or Regional Scholar. The 50 National Scholars will receive awards of $20,000 and the 100 Regional Scholars will receive $4,000. This program, which is the largest business-sponsored scholarship program in the country with an annual outlay of $1.4 million, is funded by participating Coca-Cola Scholars attending more than 220 different colleges and universities across the United States. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gifford of Palatine Bridge.

The Canajoharie Crocodiles continued its winning streak in two recent meets against Amsterdam and Cooperstown.

Mid-County Volunteer Ambulance Corps had a very successful bowl-a-thon at Iroquois Lanes, with more than $2,000 raised by 23 bowlers.

Thirty Years Ago

The feasibility of requesting the Fulton County Board of Supervisors, through a new vote, to reconsider its selection of the controversial Mud Road landfill site was discussed at a meeting of the Bi-County Concerned Citizens Group.

“Bubble Yum” and Canajoharie received nationwide coverage on the televised PM Magazine, seen locally over Channel 10. The segment devoted to Life Savers Bubble Yum showed children of all ages blowing bubbles and telling the show’s host why it was their favorite. The PM Magazine crew earlier in the month spent an entire day at the Canajoharie plants photographing how the gum is made and talking with those responsible for its manufacture.

Forty Years Ago

The first chapter of the controversial Okwari park project came to a close with the recessing of the public hearing designed to determine its environmental impact and whether the DEC would accept the proposal, reject it or accept it with modifications.

Fort Plain

Twenty Years Ago

The Fort Plain Village Board may soon be deciding whether it should undertake a $250,000 water and sewer line project independent of the state Department of Transportation’s planned $3 million street, sidewalk and curbing replacement project. DOT engineer Joseph Oriolo met with village Mayor Albert Nalli to discuss village options concerning the DOT’s planned 1994 project.

Village Code Enforcement Officer Tim Conrad reported that all changes in house numbering required in the village of Fort Plain have been completed for incorporation of the Enhanced-911 emergency system. Conrad noted at the last meeting of the Village Board that some 30 street addresses in the village had to be changed to fall within the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department’s database requirements. The board authorized Conrad to forward the house numbers to the sheriff’s department, prior to the mailing of questionnaires to all Fort Plain residents. Each household in the village will receive the questionnaires, whether or not street address numbers have been changed.

Pat Gracey’s Fort Plain Lady Hilltoppers made very sure they would be in line for a better-than-average seeding in the upcoming post-season Section II Class C competition by posting a pair of decisive wins to close out their Tri-Valley League season.

Thirty Years Ago

For the third consecutive year, the Courier-Standard-Enterprise has been designated a Blue Ribbon newspaper by the National Newspaper Foundation, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. The national Blue Ribbon evaluation is not a contest, but an assessment by a panel of newspaper editors based on high standards of community journalism.

Dairymen in the town of Minden are planning a public meeting to discuss possible ways of combating the twin problems of high property taxes and the depressed milk prices in about two weeks at the Minden town barn.

Forty Years Ago

The Board of Education set the date for voting on a proposition to purchase a 61-passenger bus for delivery for the 1973-74 school year. If passed, the proposition will allow the expenditure of up to $16,000 for the vehicle.

St. Johnsville

Twenty Years Ago

St. Johnsville firefighters are maintaining a security vigil at a Victorian West Main Street home pending the outcome of a Montgomery County Cause and Awareness Team investigation into the fire which destroyed the local landmark. Fire investigators, under the direction of county Fire Coordinator Richard Hanson, have been combing the wreckage of the 78 W. Main St. home in an attempt to find the cause of the fire, which brought out 100 firefighters from four area fire companies during the early morning hours.

At a recent meeting of the Friends of the Library, Dawn Capece, director of the Margaret Reaney Memorial Library, spoke to the group of BLAST-Books, Library and Students Team Up. This youth group, comprised of students in grades four through nine, will explore avenues of interest to the students, which are available through the library. Photos depicting various areas inside and outside the library and museum were received by the Friends and suggestions were made for their use in the upcoming brochure for the library.

Thirty Years Ago

With the sale recently of $350,000 in industrial development bonds by the Montgomery County Industrial Development Agency, 35 new jobs are expected to be created in the village of St. Johnsville this year. The sale of the IDA bonds was approved by the county Board of Supervisors. The loan, which will be repaid over the next 20 years, will go toward the renovation of the Licari Foodland I on Park Place and the acquisition of additional property adjacent to the new building for the construction of a 6,000-square-foot Kinney Drug Store.

Forty Years Ago

A large dairy barn and addition was destroyed by fire at a farm on New Turnpike Road.