25 YEARS AGO — 1986

▶ More than 425 youngsters flocked to the Champlain Square Shopping Center in Champlain to see Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, who were visiting the center. According to organizers, the turnout was one of the largest in the region.

▶ Plattsburgh's volunteer fire department, Rescue Hose No. 5, has narrowly escaped a crisis. The department was recently informed that they had to vacate their building on Durkee Street by June of next year. Fortunately, a solution was found during a meeting with Plattsburgh Mayor Carlton Rennel. The department has potentially found a new home in the old Lombardoni Fruit Co. building on Sailly Avenue.

50 YEARS AGO — 1961

▶ Vermont's Robert T. Stafford, a Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee and former Vermont governor, toured the Plattsburgh Air Force Base. Stafford, accompanied by Col. Fred W. Miller, visited the air crews on alert status, had lunch at the Officers club and toured the missile Site 2 in Alburg.

▶ Forest Hills chain representative Paul Dichter has announced that a 25-acre tract on Route 9 North will be the construction site of a new factory outlet center next spring. Originally, the center was going to be built in the Plattsburgh Industrial Park, but Dichter said he found the new site preferable.

▶ Four people were left homeless after a fire consumed the farm tenant house they were living in in the town of Chazy. The five room wooden structure on the Minkler Road was used as a tenant house for farm workers. It was owned by Warren Duprey, who says that a portion of the damage was covered by insurance.

▶ 6-year-old Cathy Anne LaPorte suffered a bruise to the face after the Saranac Central School bus she was riding in struck a utility pole in Dannemora. The other 38 passengers escaped injuries. The bus was operated by Harold Lawrence Cromie, who said that the vehicle's breaking power was lost, causing it to begin backing down a hill.

75 YEARS AGO — 1936

▶ George Coon and Andrew Burleigh escaped tragedy on Riley avenue by leaping out of their stalled car to avoid being struck by an oncoming freight train. The automobile, operated by Coon, was heading west when the brakes of the car locked and the motor stopped working. Moments after abandoning the vehicle the freight train struck and demolished the car.

▶ Twenty-three cheese wheels with a total weight of 874 pounds were stolen from a Massena cheese factory. This is the third theft within a few weeks. The thieves have netted a total of 40 cheese wheels, this theft included.

▶ The Ways and Means committee is sponsoring the annual Christmas Night dance for the benefit of the Champlain Valley Hospital. The dance, which will be held at the Hotel Witherill in Plattsburgh, is expected to be one of the biggest social events of this holiday season. The Christmas Night dance traditionally opens the winter social season in Plattsburgh.

100 YEARS AGO — 1911

▶ Geo B. McClelland, or "Diamond Dick," died in Kansas City after a life of show business and national fame. After initially running away from Ogdensburg in 1872, McClelland entered show business with "Buffalo Bill" and later trooped for himself at the Chicago Fair. McClelland visited his former home in Ogdensburg in April of last year.

▶ Oscar Christensen was presented with a stick pin as a token of his friendship with the night force of the Sentinel Publishing Company. The pin also represents the forces appreciation of his faithful services during his one year employment at the publishing company. Christensen is leaving for his home in Brooklyn for a new signed position.

— Compiled by Contributing Writer Kaitlyn Wait