Lookback: Dec. 26, 2011-Jan. 1, 2012

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December 26, 2011

Anonymous Press-Republican The Press Republican Mon Dec 26, 2011, 06:42 AM EST

25 YEARS AGO — 1986

▶ "Colorful Black and White: Four Photographers from the North Country," the new Lake Placid Center for the Arts exhibit is set for its upcoming show. Negatives as old as 18 years have been looked through to choose the works of four black-and-white photographers for the exhibit: Robin J. Brown, Thomas John, William M. Crosby and Roger Arrandale Williams.

▶ "It's a high priority," Franklin County Manager John Johnson emphasizes regarding the repair of 15 Franklin County bridges scheduled for 1987. "The idea is to maintain them before they need to be replaced." Of the 191 bridges in the county, 90 of them have been rated as deficient by the State Department of Transportation. Deficiencies could be anything as small as a missing sign, though two of the bridges scheduled for repair are slated for major rebuilding.

▶ The Alpine Air Motel, formerly Santa's Motel and Pool on Saranac Avenue, Lake Placid, is engulfed in a Christmas Eve blaze. The fire started in the rafters and damaged the office and several motel units before the flames were quenched. Several occupants were evacuated, no one was harmed.

50 YEARS AGO — 1961

▶ The colorful holiday program at Lake Placid will be highlighted by the coronation of the king and queen of all events in the "Olympic Village." This year marks the 36th-annual coronation and will be celebrated in an elaborate ice skating show in the Olympic Arena. This years king is Richard Hayes, recording artist and a daily radio and television performer. Carol Jo Towers is this year's queen, a movie starlet just returning from Italy where she was featured in "I Knew Her Well." The pair are champions on the ice.

▶ The National Polio Foundation in Clinton County has set its 1962 March of Dimes campaign for January. Committee chairmen across the county will be seeking out volunteers for the fundraiser.

▶ Just over 2,500,000 parcels of mail flowed through the Plattsburgh Post Office during this year's Christmas rush season, Dec. 11 to 25. There was a 331,000 increase in parcels from last year.

▶ Plattsburgh has taken part in a nationwide study regarding the reading levels of children in a given city in comparison to that of the entire country. According to several educators actively involved in the study and the teaching of children, Plattsburgh children read better than most youngsters in the country.

75 YEARS AGO — 1936

▶ Keeseville's in-progress High School building narrowly avoids serious damage when a fire breaks out on the construction site on Christmas Eve. The fire originated from a small cooking stove being used by the night watchman and was called in immediately as the fire started. Firefighters used one hose and chemicals to extinguish the flames.

▶ The body of a prematurely born baby girl is found on the Moffitt Road in Plattsburgh by Ernest Latour, 24, and Harold Provost, 16, who were picking up rags along the highway. Police brought the body to Eugene Brown and Sons undertaking establishment for an autopsy. It was established that the baby was alive at the time it was abandoned. Police have launched a search to determine who's responsible.

▶ Rhode Island property and $390,000 cash, with a total value of $500,000, are being turned over to Plattsburgh woman Esther Hope Little. The property and cash were her inheritance from her father, William Gilman Low, who was a lawyer in Brooklyn.

▶ Forty-three men and 10 women of Plattsburgh were included in the 438 Work Progress Administration (WPA) workers laid off on orders from the District WPA headquarters in Glens Falls. Those laid off were workers who were considered the best equipped to secure another position, according to WPA officials.

100 YEARS AGO — 1911

▶ More than 60 people, mainly residents of Plattsburgh, enjoyed their Christmas dinner at the Arcade restaurant.

▶ One man from the Plattsburgh Barracks 5th Infantry decided to partake in a more invigorating exercise for Christmas. Musician Bushey fancied himself a swim in Lake Champlain Christmas morning near the old ore dock, saying that the water was fine and the dip was refreshing.

▶ A group of young people gathered to fulfill the charming old English custom of caroling around the city, making rounds to hospitals and the homes of the ill.

▶ Australian Reverend Chas F. Casey stopped in Plattsburgh on his tour around the globe to visit his cousins, Mrs. W. L. Quinn of Cornelia Street of that city and John F. Ryan of Harkness.

— Compiled by Contributing Writer Kaitlyn Wait