Twenty years ago — 1998

Julius Szymanski of Gowanda was presented with the Special Service Award at the 64th Annual Cattaraugus County Volunteer Firemen’s Association convention. Mr. Szymanski joined the Hidi Hose No. 4 Company in Gowanda in 1946 and has been a member of the county volunteer association since 1948. He served as president of the group in 1964 and has been the company representative for the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs since 1985. He was appointed state fire warden in 1965 and became the District 1 fire coordinator in 1972. Mr. Szymanski was presented with an engraved pin, certificate and plaque during the ceremony.

Thirty years ago — 1988

A half-scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., will be brought to the Dunkirk Lighthouse grounds located off Point Drive North, from Aug. 26 – Sept. 1. This event is sponsored by the Chautauqua County Armed Forces Memorial Park Corp. It may be the only stop in New York State as plans are to visit as many states as possible this summer. The half-scale replica was designed a constructed over a two-year period by John Devitt and other members of the Vietnam Combat Veterans Ltd. of San Jose, Calif.

Forty years ago — 1978

In 1937, Arthur R. Maytum of Fredonia recorded a history of the Chautauqua County Fair from its beginnings in 1872. He noted that the original piece of property owned then (and now) by the Chautauqua County Agricultural Association was purchased from Frank May of Dunkirk at a cost of $2,388.68. To get the organization under way, a racetrack was built, horse and cattle barns were erected and a wooden fence was constructed around the grounds.

Fifty years ago — 1968

Air Force Lieutenant John M. Williams, son of Mr. and Mrs. MacLeod Williams of Shorewood Drive, Dunkirk has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal for active duty he was engaged in while in Vietnam in 1967. Mr. Williams is a 1962 graduate of Dunkirk High School and a 1966 alumnus of Syracuse University.