Sunday, May 26, 2019-Bob Cudmore’s guest on Magic 590’s Talk of the Town is CEO Beth Hill of Fort Ticonderoga in Ticonderoga, N.Y.
Audio podcast "Twenty One Minutes"
Bob Cudmore’s guest on Magic 590’s Talk of the Town today, Sunday, May 26, 2019 is Beth Hill, CEO of Fort Ticonderoga. The fort is a popular North Country historic site and tourist destination. Listen Sunday at 6:30 a.m. on Magic 590 plus 100.5 and on these North Country stations, 1410 and 96.9. Posted as a podcast hear on The Historians
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, May 26, 2019-Mostly sunny, with a high near 78.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 50.
Memorial Day Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.
"Gazette in Print"
Focus on History in the Daily Gazette tells the story of Tommy Czelusniak, an Amsterdam man whose hobby of pigeon racing helped the Allied cause in World War II.
by Bob Cudmore
Serving with the pigeon corps
At least one Amsterdam man served with the Pigeon Corps in World War II.
Racing pigeons, specially bred birds sometimes called Racing Homers, can speedily fly home. As a sport, the pigeons compete against each other in covering carefully measured distances.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the birds were also used to carry messages during wartime. Electronic communication has largely supplanted use of racing pigeons in wartime today. However, in 2016, a Jordanian official told reporters that Islamic State militants were using racing pigeons to deliver messages to operatives,
Pigeon fancier Thomas A. Czelusniak was born in Amsterdam in 1916, the son of Frank and Mary Kosinski Czelusniak. He told Sam Zurlo of the Daily Gazette in 1989 that he “got the pigeon racing bug” when he was 11. He was a charter member of the Amsterdam Racing Pigeon Club, formerly located on Lefferts Street in the East End.
Czelusniak was in the first group of draftees to leave Amsterdam in November 1940 for World War II. He served three years at the U.S. Army Pigeon Breeding and Training Center as instructing officer in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and two years in Europe with the 285th Signal Pigeon Company and Counter Intelligence.
Czelusniak told Zurlo a bird named G.I. Joe was credited with saving a thousand humans. The United States was ready to bomb the Italian village of Calvi Vecchia which they believed was controlled by the Germans. However, British forces had captured the city. G.I. Joe flew that message across the English Channel and the bombing mission was canceled.
After the war Czelusniak continued to race pigeons. His loft was on Grand Street where he housed 95 birds in 1989. He said the more time you spend with pigeons, the better the result. He once attended a racing Olympiad in Poland.
He worked at Mohawk/Mohasco Carpet for 32 years in the order and sales department. A member of the Amsterdam City Council for eight years, he was deputy mayor for two years. He and his wife, Klara Wojnarowski Czelusniak, raised a family.
Also a singer, Czelusniak was an organizer of the Polish National Legion Glee Club and was Legion president for eight years. He died in 2006.
One of the Americans who died in the Normandy invasion in 1944 was Private Frank J. Sirchia. The late Amsterdam historian Robert Going said Sirchia was known for raising racing pigeons.
Vincent A. Condello got interested in pigeon racing as a young man growing up on Amsterdam’s James Street. Born in 1924, Condello served in World War II with the U.S. Marines in the Philippines. He liked d dancing and his nickname was Jitterbug.
After the war Condello worked for the A&P supermarket chain, married Christine Coluni, raised a family and became proficient with pigeons. Some of his birds could finish a 600 mile race in less than a day and Condello won All-American honors twice. He died in 2007.
Michael Cinquanti, who writes the Amsterdam Birthday Blog, said that Condello displayed a large number of trophies at his home, “Vince wasn’t in the sport because he loved trophies or awards. The betting pools for the events used to get quite sizable and rumor has it that (he) once won $12,000 from a single event. That’s a lot of pigeon feed folks!”
The Amsterdam Racing Pigeon Club closed several years ago, according to long time member Bernie Gutowski, who admitted younger people have not been flocking to the hobby.
Gutowski, who operates Hardluck Loft, now belongs to the Schenectady Homing Pigeon Club which maintains its clubhouse off Burdeck Street in Rotterdam.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Monday, May 27, 2019- The Story Behind the Story Podcast focuses on the Daily Gazette column on an Amsterdam man who served in the World War II Pigeon Corps.
Tuesday, May 28, 2019-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette- Movie “Mohawk” had local premiere; Mohawk encampment 11-29-14
Wednesday, May 29, 2019- From the Historians Podcast Archives- Friday, April 26, 2019-Episode 263-Victoria Riskin is author of “Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir” about her parents. Fay Wray was in King Kong and many other movies. Robert Riskin was a screenwriter.
Thursday, May 30, 2019-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam’s linseed oil plant 02-14-09
Friday, May 31, 2019-Episode 268-Beth Hill is president and CEO of Fort Ticonderoga. Hill discusses the historic site’s emphasis on the year 1758 in this year’s exhibitions, a year in which a large British army was unable to capture the fort, defended by a much smaller French garrison.
Mohawk Valley Path through History
I Love New York
https://www.mohawkvalleyhistory.com/
Episode 267- Linda Thompson is author of the historical novel “The Plum Blooms in Winter.” The book is based on the 1942 American air raid on Tokyo led by pioneer aviator Jimmy Doolittle.
CHARLESTON — The Christian Church of Charleston Four Corners will host its seventh annual Memorial Day parade Monday to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country By WINNIE BLACKWOOD RecorderNews https://www.recordernews.com/news/local-news/154585 The Friends of Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site are set to welcome Thomas Grasso to discuss the bedrock and ice age geologic history of the region, and how this long and complex natural history affected human history by controlling the route of the canal and the obstacles that had to be overcome. NYHB https://newyorkhistoryblog.org/2019/05/geology-of-the-erie-canal-program-at-schoharie-crossing/ Tuesday, May 28, 2019 The Mid-Morning Show with Jason Subik on WCSS 1490 AM 106.9 FM. Phone #518-843-2500. Special thanks to my guests Dr. Nellie Bush Greater Amsterdam School District Board President and Dr. Raymond Colucciello the school’s interim superintendent.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Video Podcast Posted on The Historians
Jason Subik Mid-Morning Program WCSS Radio Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM Amsterdam News and Talk https://www.facebook.com/jason.subik Monday-Thursday at 9 am
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