Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Bob with the Tuesday Update
Mohawk Valley Weather-Tuesday, February 5, 2019-A chance of showers, mainly before 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near 47. Breezy,
The blizzard of 1958
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History, Daily Gazette, 03-18-2017
A 27 inch snowstorm February 16 that followed a 9 inch snowfall a week earlier isolated many rural Montgomery County families in 1958. Blizzard winds and cold temperatures followed the second storm. Warmer temperatures in late February helped with the cleanup.
For four days a U.S. Army helicopter was used to evacuate isolated families and bring in food, fuel and medicine to Charleston and other towns. There were ten foot snowdrifts on roads in the county.
Ralph Bohlke was 13 years old then and lived on Route 160 on the border between Princetown and the town of Florida in the hamlet of Scotch Church.
Bohlke wrote, “I remember that 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.” He was able to go outside through a dog door on a wood shed attached to the back of the house.
Bohlke and his mother Genevieve stayed home to make sure the furnace kept working. His 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 the old Cedar Street.
Bohlke wrote, “I remember digging a tunnel out to the road in the driveway. When my father came home after 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.”
There were about 100 rescues in rural Montgomery County. Sheriff Alton Dingman and State Police reached the snowbound Norman Phillips family on Dorn Road in the town of Florida. Two of their children were sick but survived the ordeal.
Amsterdam’s remaining carpet mill, Mohasco, closed the Monday after the second storm, as did Beech Nut in Canajoharie. Some farmers had to dump their spoiling supplies of milk. Amsterdam city schools closed for a week. County highway superintendent Harry Mason borrowed heavy equipment, including a large rotary snowplow loaned by New York City.
My cousin, Barbara Segen Gould, lived then on Touareuna Road between the town of Amsterdam and Glenville. Gould has a picture showing her standing on a drift that is higher than the apple tree branch her swing was attached to. Two plows came to open their road after they were snowed in for a week.
A local couple trudged uphill through deep snow to a birthday party during the February 16 storm. The four-year-old birthday boy was Jerry Snyder, one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League.
Snyder and his parents lived at the top of the hill at the corner of Columbia Street and The Mall in Amsterdam. The Mall is a “hill off a hill” as it begins on the steeply inclined Northampton Road.
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 at night and on weekends.
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.
Snyder wrote, “They had decided that a little snow wasn’t going to keep them away from my birthday party; they said it had taken them well over an hour to make the walk.”
The spring of 1958 brought major flooding along the Mohawk River. After that, the Army Corps of Engineers built retaining walls along the south side of the river in Amsterdam.
Many of The recent Bob Cudmore Daily Gazette Stories can be found here:https://dailygazette.com/life/history
The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame is accepting nominations for 2019. The Hall of Fame was started in 2015 and now has 38 AHS alumni. This year up to 10 new members will be inducted in two wings: academic and athletic. Nominations may be made through the GASD website. https://www.gasd.org/ The nominating forms are found by clicking community or athletics on the top banner and scrolling down to Hall of Fame. Nomination forms may also be picked up at the Athletic Director’s office at Amsterdam High. Nominations will be accepted until April 30th. Inductees will be announced in mid-June. For more information contact Richard Allen at halloffame@gasd.org
Today, Tuesday February 5, 2019 on The New York History Blog Bruce Dearstyne: Broadening Historical Programs’ Horizons and The Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave, NY, has announced they are searching for volunteers. https://newyorkhistoryblog.org/
Jason Subik Show
WCSS Radio Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM
Monday, February 4, 2019
Next live Facebook feed this morning at 9
https://www.facebook.com/jason.subik
This Week on The Historians
Wednesday, February 6, 2019-From the Archives- Episode 156, March 24, 2017-Sam Maggs discusses her book on women who made often unheralded contributions, “Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History.” Bob Cudmore discusses the story of a debutante spy.
Thursday, February 7, 2019-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Who was Richard Montgomery?
Episode 252
Friday, February 8, 2019-Historians Podcast, Episode 252-Pulitzer Prize finalist Nick Bunker discusses his book, “Young Benjamin Franklin: The Birth of Ingenuity.”
Nick Bunker
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Bunker/e/B002R0IKYO/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1549276837&sr=8-1
Thanks to generous contributions from Amsterdam Reads http://www.amsterdamlibrary.com/Amsterdam-READS-2013.html , James Kaplan of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association https://lmha-nyc.org/ and Mohawk Honda of Glenville https://www.mohawkhonda.com/ , the 2019 Historians Podcast fund drive has reached $700, 17% of our $4,000 goal for the year. Please help us reach that goal. www.gofundme.com/2019-the-historians
To invite Bob to speak to our organization, please email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
The Ballston Area History Roundtable is set to commemorate Black History Month with a program entitled “Race and Prejudice in Ante-Bellum Saratoga County” on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 7 pm, at Brookside Museum, 6 Charlton Street, Ballston Spa. New York History Blog https://newyorkhistoryblog.org/2019/01/race-and-prejudice-in-ante-bellum-saratoga-county/
The Fort Plain Museum presents the first annual George Washington’s Birthday Symposium held on Saturday, February 16, 2019, pre-registration is recommended. Four renown historians/authors will present on Washington;Edward G. Lengel, “Setting the Example: George Washington's Military Leadership” Bruce Chadwick, “George & Martha” William Larry Kidder, “George Washington's Ten Crucial Days: Trenton and Princeton” Norman J. Bollen, “George Washington and the Mohawk Frontier”This event will be held at The Fulton-Montgomery Community College, located at 2805 NY-67, Johnstown, NY 12095. The event starts at 8:15 am and will end at 3:30 pm. Admission fees are $35 for advance registration, $40 at the door and there is a discounted rate for students of $20. The admission fee includes a lunch sandwich buffet and refreshment breaks. There will be an author book signing with books available for purchase. To register, send an email to fortplainmuseum@yahoo.com with your name, phone number, email address, city and state. A check can be made out to and sent to the Fort Plain Museum, Attn: GW BDAY, PO Box 324, Fort Plain, NY 13339. We also accept credit cards by phone, 518-774-5669 (if no answer, please leave a message). Visit our website, www.fortplainmuseum.com for details.
CANAJOHARIE — The Palatine Settlement Society will hold its 14th annual antique show and sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 2, 2019 at the Arkell Museum, 2 Erie Blvd. The admission is $5 LeaderHerald http://www.leaderherald.com/news/in-brief/2019/01/14th-annual-antique-show-set-2/
Bob Cudmore and The Historians Podcast on The Radio each Saturday at 8:40am WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM and on line http://www.wcss1490.com/
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