Thirty years ago — 1993

His book won’t win him a Pulitzer Prize, but it does prove that Richard “Dick” Mekus is a man with a heart, a man who values friends, and a man with an enduring interest in writing. Stricken with cerebral palsy since birth over 40 years ago, Dick had one goal — to write a book. He recently completed a book entitled “Chad,” a story about Chad Shaw, 5-year-old son of Alan and Karen Shaw, his nearby neighbors on East Green Street. Dick and the Shaw family are good friends. The book won him a blue ribbon at the Chautauqua County Fair.

Forty years ago — 1983

Commenting on the decline in attendance at the Chautauqua County Fair this year, a disappointed H. K. Leworthy, secretary- manager of the fair, said the fair started out on a sour note when the rides didn’t come in on time and got worse when the weather turned bad. Flood conditions existed in the Show Arena during the animal meat sale. The crowds were down an estimated 8-10 percent from last year. To add insult to injury, television stations only came down to report on the things that were going wrong at the fair — the type of publicity that kept the crowds down.