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Flashback Friday Archive 2021-22: Flashback Friday: Week of June 24

June 22, 1872 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal

AROUND HOME
     ☞ We are told that several of the parties who found temporary lodgment in our lock-up were strongly suspected of being New York thieves.
     ☞ Wanted—a good supply of the “seven-years itch” for some of our young men serenaders who make night hideous with their calfish songs.
     ☞ A band of traveling musicians made the “day hideous,” on Wednesday, by discoursing some of the most horrid music we have ever been bored with. Gilmore ought to have them.
     ☞ We don’t see what pleasure there is in telling every person you meet that “it’s a hot day.”  If you wish to comfort him, ask him in to take a glass of soda or a plate of ice-cream.
     ☞ We shall not mention the young rascals’ names who were passing ball in Broadway on Sunday, but if the offence is repeated, we will see that they are arrested for breaking the Sabbath.

June 21, 1932 – 90 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Evening Journal

BOYS APPROVE NYACK POSTOFFICE WORK
[Image: Photograph by Bartcraft Studio, clipped from the Rockland County Evening Journal.]
       The ubiquitous small boy was right on hand in Nyack when the excavator broke the ground for the Nyack postoffice. In the bucket hoisted in the air are, [left to right], Arthur Wood Techer, of Tuxedo, who follows every construction job within a radius of many miles; Edward Lapp, Warren A. Palmatier and John Gleason, all of Nyack, who anticipate many more hours of pleasure watching the job.

AIRMONT CHURCH STAGES MINSTREL SHOW AT SUFFERN
       In an effort to pay off all or part of the Airmont Lutheran Church debt, the Council of the church is sponsoring a minstrel show to be staged tomorrow night in the Suffern High School auditorium.
       The performance is put on by a Paterson, N.J., Methodist Church troupe, and the cast numbers some 45 actors, several of whom are women.  In addition to the black-face comedy of the minstrel show, two comedy sketches will be staged, and a full three hours’ entertainment is promised.
       Tickets will be on sale at the door, or may be obtained through any officers of the church or its auxiliary departments.

June 23, 1972 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News

AGNES STOOD US UP, BUT WE WERE READY
       Rockland made careful preparations for a date with Agnes Thursday night and got “stood up” ... to nobody’s displeasure.
       Unexpectedly light stormwinds spared residents who expected a more blustery, rainier visitor.
       More than 20 volunteers at the county Civil Defense headquarters in New City labored through most of Wednesday night and Thursday distributing “hundreds” of sandbags that had been requested. They also manned telephones to give emergency information to residents.
       Following ominous reports from Washington D.C. that excessive flooding occurred there after a 12-hour rain, a “full alert” went into effect here.
        “These boys did one hell of a job," said Rudolph Hazucha, operation training director of the Civil Defense. Donald Brenner, chairman of the county drainage agency, said, “We were much more prepared for this storm than we were Monday.”
       A severe storm that day caused severe flooding in Rockland and neighboring counties. Major roads were closed while homes in West Nyack and Sparkill had to be evacuated. Westchester experienced mammoth flooding.
       Concern mounted here when heavy rain and wind gusts of over 40 miles per hour were forecast for Thursday night. The expected three-to-four-foot rise in tide also was menacing. But the worst didn’t happen.
       Flooding was reported mostly in Grassy Point where sandbags protected two threatened homes.
       With the exception of Piermont where winds knocked down wires at 7:30 p.m., there was little damage.
        “If we have no rain tonight, we’ll be all right,” said Brenner, who later noted that the rains were surprisingly tame.
       Instead of thunderbursts and rain until 2 a.m., the rains peaked about 10 p.m. and went to bed early.
       Residents near Lake Welch in Harriman State Park had feared for the safety of dam walls containing the lake. But the dams were “perfectly sound,” according to Nash Castro, head of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.
       Herschel Greenbaum, chairman of the County Legislature, reported this morning that loans at 5.12 per cent interest are available to residents and small businesses to repair damage from flooding. Noting this is the second time in ten months Rockland qualified as a Class B disaster area. Greenbaum said the funds would be available “in the next few days,” at the regional offices of the federal Small Business Administration (SBA). Requests for aid should be addressed to SBA, 26 Federal Plaza, New York City, 10007. 
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This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan on behalf of the Historical Society of Rockland County. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.

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